Having enjoyed a rare, undisturbed night of deep slumber, we troupe downstairs for another sizzling five-star fry up, after which I take hold of several livestock to slam in the freezer when I get home: sausages, rib-eye steak etc. I could never have been born a vegetarian. We drive into Chester in the morning and [...]
Filed under: lily & daisy | Tagged: chester, M40, wedding | Leave a Comment »
Lets get down to business… Breakfast – the most important meal of the day (unless it includes KFC…then it is a tie.) I am pleased to report that Churton Heath Farm’s AGA-cooked, no holds barred, English fry up meets my stratospheric expectations and the porkers outside taste delicious on my plate, so much so that [...]
Filed under: family holidays, lily & daisy | Tagged: alun armstrong, haslemere herald, joel hopwood, saint peters church, wedding | Leave a Comment »
Today, we are off to Chester for Joels’s wedding that takes place tomorrow. Some might remember Joel as the person responsible for designing the original wine-journal.com, including the distinctive logo. Someone would have had to pay a fortune for a graphic designer to come up with that. I just plied Joel with nice wine. I have been [...]
Filed under: family holidays, lily & daisy | Tagged: cheshire, churton heath farm, joel hopwood, the grosvenor arms | Leave a Comment »
Busy, busy day. A serious tasting of German 2009s from the UK’s finest importer, Howard Ripley in the salibrious surroundings of friend’s Dominic’s Kensington apartment. There are 84 wines to taste including some rare TBAs and auction wines from the likes of Schaefer, Donnhoff, Weil and Keller, so it an intensive session interrupted by the calamitous [...]
Filed under: germany, lily & daisy, london tastings | Tagged: 2009, camden market, kimono, mosel, riesling, world cup | Leave a Comment »
Work in the morning and then off to Bibendum for a California tasting. Amongst the Staglins and the Ojais is an intriguing blind taste-off between Opus One 2006 and Chateau Margaux 2006. To be honest, I can tell the difference just by their colour…it’s a non-contest, which takes the fun out of it really. Afterwards [...]
Filed under: bordeaux, london tastings | Tagged: 2006, bordeaux, california, chateau margaux, chateau pavie, opus one | Leave a Comment »
Even though I unlocked the front door at the witching hour last night, I am graced with not one nanosecond of a lie in. I am conscripted upstairs by my yapping wife to get the Lily and Daisy dressed and pour them their breakfast cereal of chocolate Coco Pops that are eaten one by bloody one. Most [...]
Filed under: lily & daisy | Tagged: commodore 64, utility bills | Leave a Comment »
The final day of the symposium. I pack my bags and catch the minibus for the last time. Most of the day is taken up with the grand tasting. My flight is not until the late evening by which time most of the delegates have departed, so after a pleasant afternoon discussing South African wines [...]
Filed under: grenache symposium | Tagged: grenache symposium, marseille, nicole rolet | Leave a Comment »
I slept less deeply last night. My fault. I ended up reading David Mitchell’s compelling “The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet” and consequently my mind is roiling with vivid ukiyo-e imagery of Edo period Japan. In addition, my long sausage pillow is annoying me as I cannot wrap it around my head. Today is [...]
Filed under: grenache symposium | Tagged: chester osborne, claude bourguignon, d'arenberg, grenache symposium, phillippe cambie, TCA | Leave a Comment »
A good night’s sleep. The room is cheap and simple: just how I like it and I am ready for some Grenache action. The morning session starts and we are divided into “think tanks”. This is the first time I have been part of a “think tank”. I am used to thinking on my own [...]
Filed under: grenache symposium | Tagged: chateau la nerthe, dean hewitson, grenache symposium, provence, riedel | Leave a Comment »
Today, I am flying down to Provence for the inaugural Grenache Symposium, where I have been invited as a speaker. Grenache is an “away” grape variety for me, unlike say Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. But there is a stellar cast of speakers the calibre of Michel Bettane, Claude Bourguignon, Randall Grahm, Chester Osbourne, Vincent Avril, [...]
Filed under: grenache symposium | Tagged: charles metcalfe, grenache symposium, randall grahm, robert joseph, steven spurrier, tim atkin | Leave a Comment »
