By Rob Pickard
Awarding winning English winery Chapel Down, are giving you the opportunity to join their winemakers for a few days of grape picking and all round luxury vendange fun.
Between 27th September and 28th October, two day packages are available for those wishing to try their hand at an English vendange with a difference.
The weekend will begin at the fabulous Sissinghurst Castle …
By Camilla Bowler
2009 was a rather good vintage in a certain south west corner of France. Rumour has it that it has been pretty good in other French wine-growing regions too! We were therefore more than usually excited this year to be off to the Rhone to taste the 2009s.
First stop was Cote Rotie. At Domaine Jamet, Jean-Paul was on good form, as he …
By Rob Pickard
Leading on from my recent post on sustainable winemaking methods at SAAM, here is a look at Mitchelton, from central Victoria, Australia – another producer putting investment into environmental issues within the vineyard, and leading the way down under. One area in particular in which the winery is investing heavily is its use of water, attempting to recycle and reduce …
By Rob Pickard
Commitments to environmental and ethical issues have come to the forefront of business strategy over the last few years, with Corporate Social Responsibility a key area for company investment. Whether you feel these issues are important in the wine industry, or indeed whether eco-friendly wine production would influence the average consumer’s next wine purchase – many wine producers around the world believe in its …
by Rob Pickard
BBQ opportunities on our beloved rain soaked island are few and far between, so if you’re going to do it, make every effort to do it properly! Doing it properly can of course be affected by many factors, from meat, fish and veg selection, salads and accompaniments, pre BBQ beers, and importantly, wine selection. However, what I discovered on a recent trip to Bordeaux …
Woop! It’s a Bank Holiday weekend. Boo! It’s the last one until Christmas – and that is officially a long time away. Nevermind, after last week’s meteorological pessimism, today I have decided the glass is half full…
By Dan Coward
They say that a day is a long time in politics. Well imagine thirty long days of politics and you’ll get an idea of how ready Australia has been to vote in the general election. Not just because people want to do their democratic duty, but also so that we are spared any more negative political advertising. Both of the major parties have been …
by Gareth Groves
I’d make a rubbish restaurant review blogger. For a start, I’m useless with a camera and always feel embarrased when I do take photos in restaurants. I just feel bad stopping my friends from diving in to their scallops starter while I snap away merrily. All of which is my excuse for illustrating this post with a photo nicked for Odette’s website rather than …
by Gareth Groves
It was melanzane parmigiana that started it. A simple tweet telling the world what I was having for dinner (the world was clearly on tenterhooks waiting to find out) led to a conversation with Chiara Martinotti from Cascina Gilli in Piedmont. Chiara was also about to eat the world’s finest aubergine, tomato and mozzarella based dish and recommended a vivace red …
Once again Shakespeare is spot on. I’m off to God’s Own Country next week for a spot of fishing, walking, swimming, eating and quite probably rain watching: the weather forecast is awful. Instead of one last hurrah for a glorious summer, it may be time to dig out the woolies.
