Category — News Elsewhere

The wine trade is reporting a big increase in the demand for rose (pink) wines.And this is not just for light summery wines or in response to a few good weeks of weather and a peak in picnics.
Rose wines have generally been misunderstood - they are not “compromise” wines for those undecided between red and white; neither are they blends of red and white wines!
Rose wines are generally wines made from red wine grapes which are either pressed only lightly or left in contact with the skins for only a brief period, The skins and pips etc are the source of colour and tannins, and hence rose wines are lighter in colour and tannin.
So, grapes as Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Pinot Noir can make excellent rose wines, full of character, flavour and structure. For example a good rose can be a great match for lamb - not reserved for fish or poultry.

Majestic Wine is running a summer promotion on rose wines from as lttle as £3.79 a bottle for the Argentinian Terra Brisa, a blend of Syrah and Malbec - “A deep pink, fruit driven rosé with aromas of fresh strawberries and cherries. The palate reveals plenty of juicy summer berry fruits with a crisp and elegant finish. This is an ideal summer apéritif. “

Waitrose Wine Online is offering the chance to win 2 tickets to see England vs South Africa at Lords Cricket Ground in London.

Waitrose Wine Online offers 2 Cabernet Sauvignons and 2 Chardonnays from South Australia

Courtesy of Wolf Blass we have 2 pairs of tickets to give away to see the First day of the Forth Test match Cricket between England and South Africa on the 7th August 2008 at the Oval, with overnight accommodation if required.

For more info see www.waitrosewine.com/
Closing date for competition 18th July 2008

Just right for stocking up in the run-up to Christmas, the Wokingham Wine Fair takes place on 6-7 December 2008 - a few miles east of Reading and the M4 in Berkshire.:

The Wokingham Wine Fair brings together members of the ASDW, the Association of Small Direct Wine-Merchants which was formed by a group of British independent small wine merchants directly selling to the general public via mail order and the internet. There are currently around 20 members each of whom is passionate and knowledgeable about wine. We offer customers a specifically selected, interesting and often exclusive range of wines at very reasonable prices. The British public are well served by supermarkets at the lower end (sub £5) of the price range but it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find quality wines as big brand names dominate high street shops and supermarkets.

For more info see www.nickdobsonwines.co.uk

Birmingham hosts Channel 4’s roadshow to showcase the best of food and drink available in the UK from 10-13 July 2008.

Imagine a picnic in a park. Now multiply it by thousands of people. Invite all the best restaurants in the area to contribute the food, and discerning vintners to bring the bottles. Make sure some of the guests are famous chefs happy to help out with cooking hints, and organise live music to eat and drink by. This is a Taste Festival.

Amongst the wine-related exhibitors will be
Bordeaux Wines

Desire du Vin
Domaine Debray

Respected Edinburgh wine merchants Valvona and Crolla are supplying the wines for a 5-course wine tasting and dinner at the VinCaffe bistro:-

Producers of our cult Pinot Grigio(the pink one!) are coming to VinCaffè on the 20 June to host a dinner and wine tasting from their fabulous range of wines. We will be preparing a 5 course meal influenced by the region of Fruili where their wines come from.

Tickets cost £45 per person for tasting and dinner Contact Vincaffe, 11 Multrees Walk, Edinburgh, EH1 3DQ Tel: 0131 557 0088

Bath is the location from Channel 4’s roadshow to showcase the best of food and drink available in the UK from 3-6 July 2008.

Imagine a picnic in a park. Now multiply it by thousands of people. Invite all the best restaurants in the area to contribute the food, and discerning vintners to bring the bottles. Make sure some of the guests are famous chefs happy to help out with cooking hints, and organise live music to eat and drink by. This is a Taste Festival.

Amongst the wine-related exhibitors will be
Badminton Wines
Great Western Wines
Wines of South Africa
Bordeaux Wines
Wines of Chile

The Bristol Wine and Food Fair runs from 11th-13th July 2008 on Bristol Harbourside

an exciting new three day event celebrating wine, fine dining and good food….Taste over 100’s of wines from all over the world, for free. Buy by the glass, bottle or case.
Learn from the experts at wine and cheese tutored tastings, pick up handy tips from inspirational chefs, sample signature dishes from top local restaurants and buy produce from the region’s acclaimed food, drink and cheese producers.

More than 35 wine producers, importers and merchants will welcome you to explore the world of wine and unravel some of its mysteries. It’s a golden opportunity to meet experts face to face, ask questions and sample some great wines in a relaxed environment. You will be able to choose from a massive range of different wine types and styles, to suit all tastes and budgets, allowing you to sample before you buy.

Within the wine fair we will have over 15 winegrowers and wine makers representing themselves from the UK, France and Spain.

You need to purchase tickets @£5 for either an afternoon or evening session. You can buy wine by the bottle or case, with a collection area or cheap home delivery.

Amongst the exhibitors will be an organic wine specialist,  local organic vineyards. some of the best local wine merchants, French vineyards (Bordeaux and Languedoc), a Chilean producer and many more.

For more info see www.bristolwineandfoodfair.co.uk

Channel 4’s roadshow to showcase the best of food and drink available in the UK moves to London’s Regents Park for 19-22 June 2008:

Imagine a picnic in a park. Now multiply it by thousands of people. Invite all the best restaurants in the area to contribute the food, and discerning vintners to bring the bottles. Make sure some of the guests are famous chefs happy to help out with cooking hints, and organise live music to eat and drink by. This is a Taste Festival.

Amongst the wine-related exhibitors will be

Wine & Spirit Education Trust

Wines of Argentina

Wines of South Africa

Lovely Bubbly

NZ Wine Distribution Co

Freixenet

Fitou Mont Tauch

Champagne Devaux

Chateau Select

Bordeaux Wines

Jospeh Barnes Wines‘ latest wine tasting is to be held on Friday 13th June with Liz Bowen, English winemaker at the renowned Domaine Sainte Croix in the Corbieres (Languedoc, Southern France), who will be conducting a tasting of the full range of the estate’s wines.
The event will be held at The King’s Arms Pub on Friday 13th June 2008 from 8.00pm - 11.00pm. The price is £16.00 per person to include light snacks at the end of the evening.
Numbers are limited to 30 persons so early booking is recommended.
There will also be the opportunity to purchase Liz’s wines at a 10% discount.
So don’t let the date put you off! For further details Email info@josephbarneswines.com or call the shop on 01799 528019.

Joseph Barnes Wines, 13 Market Row, Saffron Walden, Essex CB10 1HB

The Sussex Wine Company will be holding a tasting of Classic Italian wines followed with great antipasti from Lazzati’s restaurant of Lewes. 7pm - 9pm on Thursday 12 June 2008 at Farncombe House, 16 Market Street, Lewes, BN7 2NB Tel/Fax: 01273 477 205 Email: info@thesussexwinecompany.co.uk(£25 per ticket).

The Sussex Wine Company is an independent online wine merchant, based in East Sussex, founded on a few basic but fundamental principals:

1. Value for money at all price points,
2. A personalised service tailored to the need of the individual.
3. Promoting smaller, boutique wineries from around the world.
4. Absolute passion and belief in our products!

With English Wine Week coming to a close on Sunday 1 June 2008, there is still time to visit a local vineyard, one of which is likely to be within striking distance as they are peppered across the map from the Isles of Scilly in the Southwest up to Yorkshire and Lancashire in the North and everywhere in-between including the South East and East Anglia.
On Saturday 31 May 2008 Quoins Organic Vineyard(at Bradford-on-Avon near Bath in Wiltshire) will be offering a guided tour of the vineyard which will include a tour of nearby Avonleigh Vineyard) - for more info email to alan@quoins.demon.co.uk

Quoins Organic Vineyard has been developed under Soil Association organic certification. No inorganic fertilisers, herbicides nor pesticides are used.
The vineyard was planted in 2002 and the first crop of grapes was harvested in October 2005 with the first bottles of wine available being sold from August 2006.
We also sell wine from the neighbouring Little Ashley Vineyard - Madeleine Angevine and Schonburger.
Our own wine is sold as single varieties of Madeleine Angevine, Orion, and Rondo.
We take great care to produce wine in a traditional way, working with nature and the seasons to impart exceptional character.

See www.englishwineweek.co.uk for more info on English Wine Week

Quoins Organic Vineyard
Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire BA15 1NF T:01225 862334
E: alan@quoins.demon.co.uk

Another event to celebrate English Wine Week takes place on Saturday 31 May 2008 at Duncan Murray Wines in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, with free in-store tasting of English wines (noon-2pm) - from Three Choirs (Gloucestershire)and local vineyard Welland Valley, with proprietor David Bates.

We’re a rapidly expanding independent wine merchants in Market Harborough, Leicestershire. Our mission? Well, we want to offer our customers a superb range of wines, beers and spirits that they’ll be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.

We’re especially enthusiastic about Southern French wines: Duncan Murray dedicated (?!) 2 years to tasting the best this region has to offer and getting to know the winemakers. The result is an extensive (often exclusive) selection of fantastically-flavoursome yet affordable wines from an area that still has oodles of potential.

The selection of wines looks very interesting with a number of little-known wines, but all with good information and tasting notes.

Duncan Murray Wines
10 Adam & Eve Street, Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 7LT - Tel: 01858 464935

Down in Worcestershire near Upton-on-Severn (Elgar and cider country) Titlridge Vineyard is offering a free guided tour of the vines with a tasting of their wines and some local cheeses on Sunday 1 June 2008 at 12.00 noon.

Three varieties of vine are currently in production - Schönburger, Huxelrebe & Seyval Blanc - while a fourth variety, Phoenix, will be cropping shortly. England lies on the northern limits of vine production & the wines we produce here at Tiltridge are clean, crisp & fruity - typical of the English style. Our two small vineyards of 0.5 acre & 1 acre are grown on the double guyot system where the vines are pruned back to two replacement canes each winter. On average, we produce about 3,000 bottles each year, but there are large seasonal variations as the harvest is very dependent on the weather conditions each spring & summer brings.

This is part of English Wine Week, a week long celebration of English wines which runs from 24 May to Sunday 1 June 2008. However, you might need to take this opportunity whilst you can, because over on www.spittoon.biz Andrew is reporting that within 80 years England may be too hot for wine-making, which if true should mean that at some point between then and now conditions should be perfect for making great wines!!

Titlridge Vineyard
Upper Hook Road, Upton upon Severn, Worcestershire, WR8 0SA
Tel: +44 (1684) 592906 / 592266 Fax: +44 (1684) 594142

The Channel4 sponsored Taste festival comes to Leeds Milllenium Square from 5-8 June 2008, offering visitors a great opportunity to taste fine foods and wines available in the region.

Imagine a picnic in a park. Now multiply it by thousands of people. Invite all the best restaurants in the area to contribute the food, and discerning vintners to bring the bottles. Make sure some of the guests are famous chefs happy to help out with cooking hints, and organise live music to eat and drink by. This is a Taste Festival.

Amongst the wine exhibits will be Bordeaux Wines, Wines of Chile, Faustino Rioja, Wines of South Africa and Playford Ros representing Villa Sandi - Italian Proscecco producers.

Leeds Brewery and Goslings Rum will also contribute to what promises to be a great cocktail of wine and food.

For more info and tickets see www.channel4.com

In Spain:-

This spring Time Out has teamed up with the Spanish-based Institut del Cava to offer one lucky wine enthusiast and a friend the chance to win a luxury, tailor-made, bacchanalian adventure to the beautiful Cava region of Spain.

The trip, on which winners will discover the ‘Route of Cava’, includes seven nights in five-star accommodation, chauffeur-driven visits to Cava bodegas, exclusive tasting sessions and delicious dinners in some of the regions top restaurants.

The perfect drink for warm summer evenings, Cava also makes the perfect accompaniment to any meal. ‘Cava’ is actually the Spanish term for the wine cellars and has been adopted as a generic name for high-quality, sparkling wines from Spain. Cava wines may be white or rosé, but never red!

In addition, four runners up will win an exclusive sampling case containg six bottles of assorted Cavas.(closing date 30 May 2008) To order an exclusive Cava sampling case, containing six quality bottles, call 01483 274 666 or email info@aawines.co.uk

In London:
Meanwhile until 15 June 2008 the Insititut del Cava is also offering a BOGOF (buy one get one free) glass of Cava at a rather impressive list of London gastropubs Should this gastropub twofer leave you longing for more, online Spanish wine peddlers, AA Wines, will sell six bottle Cava sampling cases during the same period - see http://londonist.com for more details of the participating grubpubs!

Oddbins has 20% off all sparking wines including CAVA until 8th June 2008, so for example Codorníu Cuvée Raventós Cava Brut NV is now £6.79 reduced from £8.49