Posts Tagged ‘France’

Youth springs eternal….

Thursday, August 13th, 2015

merlot, I hope!Whether this summer ever gets into the swing of things or not the ambitious plans of the drinks industry, to seduce us to try their wares, must plough ahead regardless. From pairing fine wines with fast food to cocktail fruit fusions made by wine producers and abandoning the ancient art of ummm…. drinking through your mouth…. by absorbing your drink in a mist of breathable booze: this season has been all about breaking with tradition.

The main trend emerging from the Médoc region of Bordeaux is not quite so remarkable but for an area that dines out on centuries of winemaking history it’s Merlot of all things that is paving the way for a new future. ………

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Two sides to every region… The Médoc…

Thursday, July 30th, 2015

médoc vines at sunsetI’ve been procrastinating. Baking muffins, mowing the lawn, tidying the house and other random things that have crept to the top of my to do list in favour of putting off my blog posts about Bordeaux.

Perhaps you’ll empathise, because we all know that Bordeaux is complicated, right? About as intimidating as it can get on a wine scale: all those scary classifications, immaculate fairytale châteaux, money can’t buy wines and cellar door tastings that you need a royal birth certificate to gain access to. On the surface, for an everyday wine drinker, it’s not exactly a region that screams drink me! more like ‘you wish you could drink me’.

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Taste of everywhere….

Wednesday, June 17th, 2015

Sancerre origine domaine roblinsA recent trip to Bordeaux with a group of talented sommeliers opened my eyes to a mysterious side of the wine world not often seen by the public. Three days with these energetic, eclectic, enthusiastic and intelligent wine bods firmly put my impression of a sommelier as the ultimate wine snob to bed. Our little French fling was to our mutual benefit, I learnt from them as much as they ate the foie gras from my pregnant lady plate (that’s a lot).
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The original #wineday….

Tuesday, April 21st, 2015
beaujolais VillagesHeadlines take many different forms in the drinks trade; there are the attention grabbers “strap on booze baby seeks funding,” the David & Goliath tales of “Champagne Jayne” and the softer, sweeter entrepreneur success stories of the likes of The New Zealand Cellar but the ones that catch my attention the most centre around the wine trade’s ability to shoot itself in the foot.
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Take Beaujolais for example. Once the envy of wine regions around the world for its Beaujolais Nouveau marketing masterpiece it is now the underdog of the trade, fallen out of favour with the wine drinking fraternities the mere mention of it’s sorry existence is whispered these days with a pitying tone.

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Whistles of the wine world?

Sunday, November 23rd, 2014

31Dover“If you were a wine what wine would you be?” Is a question I get asked a lot. It’s one that I find as frustrating as those magazine articles annually on repeat “what summer style are you?” “Are you a ponytail girl or down and wavy: what your hair style says about you” as if we all need to be pigeon holed in an irritatingly patronising way. Funnily enough I was told what wine I’d be by fellow wine’o @Winebird – and of all the wines in the world she declared me a Côte Rôtie! If only I could afford it!

Following the recent DWCC (Digital Wine Communication Conference) wine is now firmly on the digital map so I can’t help thinking “if I were a wine website which would I be?” will be next on the list and since a recent online find has graced my browser  I will gladly answer it for you now: 31Dover.com
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There is very little other than praise that I can give for this site. It looks good, it’s easy to navigate and just as importantly the wine range is not only eclectic and thoughtful but affordable too. It’s the Whistles of the wine world down to the detail of the monochrome corporate colours. Here’s my edit of their winter collection:

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Be Savvy this Friday….!

Tuesday, May 13th, 2014

Friday this week is officially Sauvignon Blanc day. Who knew?! As if we needed another excuse to open some decent and refreshing wine on a Friday! Here are my top picks from the latest releases from the Cooperative Food so you can be super Savvy this weekend…. ………

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