Category — Tastings and Events

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

The fair city of Bristol plays host to the Bristol Wine & Food Fair 11-13 July 2008 on the vibrant 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.

Wine exhibitors include Brown Brothers (Austrailia), Rare and Organic (Kent),Badminton Wines, Le Clos Perdu (France), Maison Yvonnick Debray (Burgundy), Quoins Organic Vineyard (Wiltshire),Domaine Chater (SW France), Cono Sur Wines (Chile) amongst others - full details at www.bristolwineandfoodfair.co.uk.
On the food side there are cheese producers, a artisan food market, a chef’s masterclass and more.

Tickets cost just £5.50 for a 4 hour session afternoon or evening - see www.bristolwineandfoodfair.co.uk

There is a rare opportuniy to attend a superb tasting in London on 14th May 2008 at Il Bottaccio, 9 Grosvenor Place, SW1.

The Moët Hennessy Estates & Wines “Discover the Flavours of the World” Tasting will feature iconic estates such as New Zealand’s Cloudy Bay (as well as Cape Mentelle, Cheval des Andes, Green Point, Newton and Terrazas de los Andes). The tasting will take a multi-sensory approach, to reflect each of the six estates: be it the altitude of Terrazas de los Andes, the maritime influence at Cape Mentelle, the science behind Green Point, the gardens of Newton or the visual impact of Cloudy Bay. Canapés – reflecting the local cuisines and emulating the wines – will be served. All the winemakers will be jetting in to the UK for the event.

The tasting costs £60 including canapes, and given the quality of the wines and the opportunity to meet some top winemakers it should be well worth it! There are a limited number of free tickets if you purchase a special case of 6 wines - for more info contact Rosalyn.LANE@mhuk.co.uk.

In Birmingham you’ll find a real specialist wine merchant - Jura Wine - specialising in the organic wines of Jura in Eastern France - and specifically one winemaker - Domaine Tissot.

Seldom seen and little known in the UK these wines can be quite distinctive and in addition to familiar grape varietals such as Chardonnay they also use very distinctive local grapes such as Savignin ( a cousin of Alsace Gewurztraminer), and Poulsard, a distant relative of Pinot Noir.

Jurawine collects the wines in person from our supplier, Domaine Tissot and arranges courier delivery to you throughout the UK.
Jura is part of the region known as Franche Comte and lies in eastern central France between Burgundy & Switzerland. This beautiful area has fine gastronomic traditions, including unusual wine festivals

Specialities of the region include “Vin de Paille” (straw wine), where the grapes are laid out on straw mats to shrivel and concentrate the juices producing delicious, long-lasting sweet wines; and Vin Jaune (yellow wine) which is made from Savignin grapes in a manner similar to Sherry!

You can try some of these wines at the Real Food Festival in London (24-27 April 08), or at the Windsor Food & Wine Festival at the Royal Windsor Horse Show (8-11 May 08) or at the London Wine Show (23-26 October 08)

Jura Wine - , 1 Augusta Rd, Acocks Green, BIRMINGHAM, B27 6LA
E-Mail: jurae@jurawine.com Tel: 0121 243 4042 Mbl: 07850 845518 Fax: 07092 888372

The Bristol Wine Company is offering a series of “mini-tastings” on Saturdays 1.00pm - 5.00pm from 26 April, culminating in the Summer Tasting on 14th June.

The company’s website is evidently quite new and will hopefully be refined over the coming months.
We were somewhat bemused that the online store goes under the name of www.nationalwine.co.uk and it is not clear what the connection between them is? I think the website needs a bit of refinement to make it more legible, user-friendly and informative. It’s all a bit impersonal.

They set themselves a high benchmark- “With a wealth of wine industry knowledge and experience, matched only by our outstanding range, we’re the nation’s sharpest online wine merchant featuring a profusion of outstanding wines, whisky, spirits and Champagne.”  The list is quite impressive with a wide range of products.
The Bristol Wine Company, Transom House, Victoria Street, Bristol BS1 6AH
Tel: 0117 373 0288 Fax: 0117 373 0287 Email: info@thebristolwinecompany.co.uk
 

Joseph Barnes Wines is holding a Rioja Tasting at the Kings Arms Pub, Market Hill, Saffron Walden on 16 May 2008.
The Rioja region produces some of the greatest wines of the world and our selection will not disappoint! .

Marques de Caceres, Rioja Blanco 2006
Bodegas Faustino, Faustino V11, Rioja Rosado (Rose) 2005
Bodegas Luis Medrano Rioja Tinto Sin Crianza 2006
Bodegas Benito Urbina, Urbina Crianza 2002
Marques de Riscal, Rioja Reserva 2003
Marques de Arienzo, Rioja Gran Reserva 1996
Bodegas Benito Urbina, Urbina Gran Reserva Especial 1994
In addition we are offering 10% off all wines ordered on the night!
Numbers are limited to 35 and early booking is recommended. To book please click here or call the shop 01799 528019.