Since the Olympics and Paralympics lit their last firework there’s been little reason for me to venture out east and it’s made me rather sad. So I was pleased to be invited to a preview night of a new London wine shop that’s opened up in Liverpool Street giving my Oyster card good reason to take me, and you, in an easterly direction once again. ………
Archive for 2012
New Street wine shop, old school ideas….
Riesling in wunderland….
When the French release a wine there’s fan fair and dancing, price wars and road trips. Take Bordeaux’s annual en primeur campaign and Beaujolais Nouveau. Other wine producing countries have similar wine occasions too but often they go under the radar for their more modest approach. Take the Germans for example. Good at football, making cars and general efficiency but when it comes to wine they’ve struggled to reclaim the hearts of this nation that once couldn’t get enough of their wines and frequently fail to get the attention they deserve amongst the wine drinking masses.
Tantrums and trophies….
Three of the world’s largest international wine competitions are held in the UK and across the year the wine calendar is divided into a delirium of sample sending, extreme tasting, result announcing and the grand finale of award dinners where the ‘super’ trophies are revealed.
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Now I’m impressed. ………
We’re all going on a summer holiday….

….no more worries for a week or two…..
In the pink…..
The sun is shining and my freckles are out so it can only mean one thing…. I’m not in the UK!! I’m on a short but well needed holiday in Portugal. It’s not all
pleasure play I’m not far from Sir Cliff Richard’s winery and my curiosity couldn’t resist a pit stop, more on that later. For now though the sun is out, the fridge is stocked with rose and in the words of Sir Cliff “we’re all going on a summer holiday” so here are my top tips for drinking rose this summer, it’s better late than never: ………
Inspiring imbibing….
To this day my brother claims credit for starting the stone washed jeans look that came about in the 80’s. As a teenager growing up in suburbia a long time before mobiles, camera phones and social media it’s tricky to explain how his fashion sense trickled so powerfully into the wardrobes of some of the greatest rock and pop idols of the time. But we never question it, of course. Twenty years have passed and luckily stonewashed jeans have yet to make much of a resurgence, however my brother’s influence on people around him has gone from strength to strength.
When it comes to inspiring Britain to get on their bikes there’s no denying that Wiggo is the new Boris, but I’ve been cycling long distance way before Wiggo became a household name and before Barclays stumped up the cash for Boris’ bikes. The inspiration behind it? My brother.
My brother is a keen cyclist. He’s cycled round the world on some serious expeditions, none less than 400km a time. China, Eygpt, Kenya, Vietnam, Cambodia, Paris…. a great way to take a break and get fit, you might think, but he’s no normal athlete. ………