Category — Tastings and Events

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

The wine merchant Caves de Pyrene, based in Guildford, Surrey is a bit of a trade secret. Predominantly supplying some of the top trade outlets, they now have an online website and a wine shop to tempt individual customers. We came across them when we realised that they also imported Didier Barre’s award winning Madiran AC Domaine Berthoumieu, Cuvee Charles de Batz - a gloriously rich, tannic but smooth red from South West France based on the Tannat grape.

As Tim Atkin in the Observer observes:-

Les Caves may specialise in supplying pubs and restaurants, but it sells to the public (by mail order and from its shop) too. In fact, if you conducted a straw poll of wine critics, I reckon most of us would put Les Caves in our top three retailers. They specialise in quirky French and Italian wines, most of them sourced from individual growers. Their aim is simple: to list wines that are ‘true to where they come from, which are made by hand with minimal interventions in the vineyard and winery, and which show maximum respect for nature and the environment’.

Their list is extensive and includes rarely seen wines from Marcillac and Aveyron (France), Corsica, Luxembourg, Morocco, Lebanon and Georgia!

The online store is not really user-friendly, but it is worth downloading their list - it makes interesting reading with excellent background notes on the regions.

They are holding a big bin-end sale on 13 and 14 June 2008 at Pew Corner - including a lunch and music on the Saturday - and 10% of the sale proceeds will go to charity. If you are anywhere near Guildford I would recommend a visit.

Caves de Pyrene
Pew Corner, Old Portsmouth Road, Artington, GU3 1LP
T: 01483 538820 F:01483 455068 E: sales@lescaves.co.uk

The Flying Corkscrew is holding two rather special tastings in June:-

Friday June 13th - Tindall Estate, Marlborough, New Zealand and Stanton & Killeen Rutherglen Muscats

The Sowmans, owners of Tindall Vineyards, will be showing the latest vintages of their Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and Peter Mulford will be taking us through the classic Muscats of Rutherglen, which are sublime on the rocks or over ice-cream, so not just for your Christmas pudding!

Friday June 27th - DEREK SMEDLEY MW - A Vertical Tasting of the Wines of Warden Abbey Vineyard, Bedfordshire.

Derek has been consultant to Warden Abbey for some years now and their wines have become amongst the best in England. He will be raiding their cellar for some older vintages as well as showing the latest vintage. Be prepared to have your view of English wine changed for ever!

For more info see

To book either reply to this e-mail with a contact number or call 01442 412311.

English Wine Week is celebrated 24 May - 1 June 2008, when vineyards around the country will be hosting special events and tastings to promote the improving quality of English Wines.

One of the participating vineyards is Sharpham Vineyard just south of Totnes in Devon. Bordering the River Dart makes it possible to reach the vineyards by ferry from Greenway between Sharpham and Dartmouth.
To coincide with English Wine Week Sharpham is open everyday for vineyard tours and tastings. Wines Cheeses and Devon Strawberries!
Sunday 25th May - Concert at Sharpham Vineyard. Exeter Chamber Choir, Summer songs in the winery
Wednesday 28th May - Belly Dancing at Sharpham Vineyard!

Sunday 1st June - Slow Food Tasting and Lunch at Sharpham Vineyard, to include Blue Grass Music

Classic English wines are produced at Sharpham vineyard as a result of a happy marriage of soil, climate and grape variety known as terroir, and nature has bestowed her gifts freely upon us here at Sharpham. In the winery, we employ both New World and traditional techniques to best develop our unique regional characteristics. Our tally of International Awards confirms our position as one of England’s foremost quality wine producers. We invite you to visit, sample, and make up your own minds about our fine English wine.

For more info see www.sharpham.com