One of the reasons I love my job is that every Friday afternoon, just before we knock-off for the evening, out comes the drinks trolley with a selection of wines. The aim is to celebrate the end of a week (or should I say the beginning of the weekend?) and to bring people from around the business together in a more social context.
There was a time in our careers when you never made a commitment for a Friday night out as on the odd occasion the biggest party was the party in our office! But, now that we are a little older and considered by some as responsible adults, this kind of celebration doesn't happen as often and the next generation just never got into it like we did.
Another reason why I love my job is that I've been responsible for buying the office wine. We have a modest budget, but nevertheless, it's been great fun looking through our supplier lists and selecting wines for client functions as well as budget wines for 'house' consumption.
What's also been interesting is the style of wines my colleagues prefer. In general they tend to enjoy a big busting Sauvignon Blanc, a light Pinot Grigio and a soft, round red - far more popular than a Viognier or Riesling. Below is a selection of wines we've bought for our 2012 list to date:
Bubbles/Rose:
Chateau de Sours Sparkling Rose NV, France
Pinot Grigio Sentito Blush Rose, Italy
White:
The Ned Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand
Fairleigh Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand
Macon Village, Cave de Lugny, France
Pinot Grigio Sentito IGT (Stevlins), Italy
Luis Felipe Edwards Signature Series Viognier Reserva, Chile
Red:
Argento Malbec, Argentina
Barista Pinotage, South Africa
Muriel Reserva Rioja, Spain
Baron Philippe de Rothschild Merlot, Chile
Domaine des Montarels, Vent des Collines Rouge, France
All of these wines are available from either Majestic Wines or Jamie at Bon Coeur Fine Wines (BCFW).
Monday, May 21, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Fifty shades of... Riesling
Riesling just has to be the grape varietal of the season! It’s a wonderful spring wine.
A Riesling is a far less invasive wine compared to some of the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs currently on the market. Take “The Ned” for example. It’s one of our most popular Friday afternoon wines in our office, but without food, or if it’s not ice cold, it can hit you like a slap in the face! It’s astringency is just a little much for me.
I adore the metallic minerality and the oily, seductively silken feel of Riesling as it envelops my mouth. This style of wine is beautifully balanced with the acidity of green apples and citrus and it doesn’t bother me in the least that many of these wines are off-dry as the acidy gives the Riesling a bit of a kick and it's wonderfully rounded structure, cutting through the oiliness - a refreshing balance.
Of course let’s not forget the world-class Rieslings coming out of Australia these days, especially the Clare Valley, an area I am desperate to explore… and the finessed German-styled Rieslings from cooler regions of South Africa. Paul Cluver from the Elgin region springs to mind.
Fortunately, in the UK we have access to so many great wines... So... if I close my eyes tightly, I can imagine myself being seduced by the likes of Christian Grey… oops, I mean picture myself relaxing on a deck-chair, watching the sun go down over the vineyards, glass of Riesling in hand.
Cheers!
(I did note that E L James let her characters enjoy a fine 2004 Klein Constantia Vin de Constance with dessert, although, for those who've read Fifty Shades of Grey, you know what really went on for dessert... I think our author enjoys her food and wines from the detail and care she's taken in her books.)
A Riesling is a far less invasive wine compared to some of the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs currently on the market. Take “The Ned” for example. It’s one of our most popular Friday afternoon wines in our office, but without food, or if it’s not ice cold, it can hit you like a slap in the face! It’s astringency is just a little much for me.
I adore the metallic minerality and the oily, seductively silken feel of Riesling as it envelops my mouth. This style of wine is beautifully balanced with the acidity of green apples and citrus and it doesn’t bother me in the least that many of these wines are off-dry as the acidy gives the Riesling a bit of a kick and it's wonderfully rounded structure, cutting through the oiliness - a refreshing balance.
Of course let’s not forget the world-class Rieslings coming out of Australia these days, especially the Clare Valley, an area I am desperate to explore… and the finessed German-styled Rieslings from cooler regions of South Africa. Paul Cluver from the Elgin region springs to mind.
Fortunately, in the UK we have access to so many great wines... So... if I close my eyes tightly, I can imagine myself being seduced by the likes of Christian Grey… oops, I mean picture myself relaxing on a deck-chair, watching the sun go down over the vineyards, glass of Riesling in hand.
Cheers!
(I did note that E L James let her characters enjoy a fine 2004 Klein Constantia Vin de Constance with dessert, although, for those who've read Fifty Shades of Grey, you know what really went on for dessert... I think our author enjoys her food and wines from the detail and care she's taken in her books.)
Sunday, May 13, 2012
R320 Hermanus Wine Route
Growing up in the Western Cape, I spent countless holidays in Hermanus where the primary attraction of this old fishing town was the beautiful white beaches stretching around Walker Bay, home to the Southern Right whale.
Maybe I was to young to be aware of the growth of the wine industry, but suddenly we went from two prominent vineyards, Hamilton Russell and Bouchard Finlayson, which specialise in the Burgundy varietals of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, to a multitude of exciting vinyards of around 15 wine cellars.
Today, the Hemel-en-Aarde valley is home to some world-class wines. The R320 Hermanus Wine Route was launched as recently as December 2011 and this humble stretch of gravel and tar has become one of the key wine roads in South Africa. Not only are the wines worthy of a detour when visiting the Cape, but so too are the panoramic vistas across the most beautiful valley stretching southwest to the coast. I've visited over 20 wine regions around the world and this is arguably one of the finest regions to visit - it has aptly been named by the locals, who always know best, as "Heaven on Earth".
What was once a dirt road for access to fruit and wine farms, the R320 is sowly being tarred to link the towns of Hermanus and Caledon and open up access between the N2 and coastal towns and in doing so, open up this route to wine and food enthusiasts like me.
Even more unusual, or should I say wonderful, is that these producers have collaborated and launched a 'route wine' under the label R320, where all proceeds will go towards supporting local social upliftment, specifically in education. I can't wait to get my hands on a bottle and see what they have created...
Check out their site for more information on the R320 wine and all vineyards: http://hermanuswineroute.com/
Maybe I was to young to be aware of the growth of the wine industry, but suddenly we went from two prominent vineyards, Hamilton Russell and Bouchard Finlayson, which specialise in the Burgundy varietals of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, to a multitude of exciting vinyards of around 15 wine cellars.
Today, the Hemel-en-Aarde valley is home to some world-class wines. The R320 Hermanus Wine Route was launched as recently as December 2011 and this humble stretch of gravel and tar has become one of the key wine roads in South Africa. Not only are the wines worthy of a detour when visiting the Cape, but so too are the panoramic vistas across the most beautiful valley stretching southwest to the coast. I've visited over 20 wine regions around the world and this is arguably one of the finest regions to visit - it has aptly been named by the locals, who always know best, as "Heaven on Earth".
 |
| For further information visit: http://hermanuswineroute.com/ |
Even more unusual, or should I say wonderful, is that these producers have collaborated and launched a 'route wine' under the label R320, where all proceeds will go towards supporting local social upliftment, specifically in education. I can't wait to get my hands on a bottle and see what they have created...
Check out their site for more information on the R320 wine and all vineyards: http://hermanuswineroute.com/
Cyprus revisited
It's been 21 years since I spent a week in Cyprus. Although I was still a teenager, I can clearly remember playing UNO with my family, sitting around the bed in our hotel room in Limassol and drinking Ouzo. That was the first, and last, time I tried the anise-flavoured aperitif.
21 years on and browsing through the selection of wine at a local Morrisons, I noticed a Cypriot wine. I had a block of Halloumi at home waiting to be cooked. Perfect. I grabbed the bottle and gulped when at the till I had to part with a whole £3.99! This was not looking good!
Anyway, I made a lovely salad of cherry tomatoes, chopped-up cucumber chunks, red onion, wild rocket, and baby beetroot topped with slices of the cooked Halloumi. Dinner sorted. Now to try the wine...
It's a pale straw yellow wine, with a light nose which suggested hints of pear and vanilla. So far so good. Time to taste... I tentatively sipped the wine and do you know what? It won't win any awards, but with my salty Halloumi salad, or with a summer barbeque, for £3.99 a bottle - it ain't half bad! A light, clean, crisp wine.
On closer inspection of the bottle, and for those interested, this is a SODAP bottled wine, produced for the Co-operative Group. A 2009 Island Wines Dry White Wine of the Paphos Region, Cyprus. It's a blend of Xynisteri, Ugni Blanc and Muscat and says that it has "delicate floral and citrus fruit aromas, this wine is fresh and fruity with green apple on the palate and a vibrant and crisp finish". I wouldn't necessarily go as far as using the word vibrant, but an honest-enough description What did alarm me though is the list of ingredients!
In addition to the grape varieties mentioned above, the makers have used tartaric acid, the preservative potassium metabisulphate and the wine has been made using oak chips, yeast, bentonite, a milk product - casein, pectinolytic enzymes, and polyvinylpolypyrrolidone!! This looks more like a skin product than a wine! I am a believer that if you can't pronounce an ingredient, you shouldn't consume it, even if some of these ingredients are used to stabilize or refine the wine. I just pray that this isn't typical of all wine making!
21 years on and browsing through the selection of wine at a local Morrisons, I noticed a Cypriot wine. I had a block of Halloumi at home waiting to be cooked. Perfect. I grabbed the bottle and gulped when at the till I had to part with a whole £3.99! This was not looking good!
Anyway, I made a lovely salad of cherry tomatoes, chopped-up cucumber chunks, red onion, wild rocket, and baby beetroot topped with slices of the cooked Halloumi. Dinner sorted. Now to try the wine...
It's a pale straw yellow wine, with a light nose which suggested hints of pear and vanilla. So far so good. Time to taste... I tentatively sipped the wine and do you know what? It won't win any awards, but with my salty Halloumi salad, or with a summer barbeque, for £3.99 a bottle - it ain't half bad! A light, clean, crisp wine.
 |
| Island Wines Dry White Wine and Halloumi salad |
On closer inspection of the bottle, and for those interested, this is a SODAP bottled wine, produced for the Co-operative Group. A 2009 Island Wines Dry White Wine of the Paphos Region, Cyprus. It's a blend of Xynisteri, Ugni Blanc and Muscat and says that it has "delicate floral and citrus fruit aromas, this wine is fresh and fruity with green apple on the palate and a vibrant and crisp finish". I wouldn't necessarily go as far as using the word vibrant, but an honest-enough description What did alarm me though is the list of ingredients!
In addition to the grape varieties mentioned above, the makers have used tartaric acid, the preservative potassium metabisulphate and the wine has been made using oak chips, yeast, bentonite, a milk product - casein, pectinolytic enzymes, and polyvinylpolypyrrolidone!! This looks more like a skin product than a wine! I am a believer that if you can't pronounce an ingredient, you shouldn't consume it, even if some of these ingredients are used to stabilize or refine the wine. I just pray that this isn't typical of all wine making!
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
Country retreat
Armed with our Americano's from Recipease in Clapham Junction and overnight bags, five of us girls met to escape the wet city and break free for a countryside retreat over the bank holiday weekend.
I've always considered myself immune from all the hype about visiting a spa, but for £219 for a single room, a first rate 3-course dinner, breakfast, lunch, a 40 minute treatment and use of all the spa and sport facilities, this was a deal worthy of further investigation.
The original estate dates back to 1085. Jump forward a few centuries and in 1867 The Poet Laureate, Lord Alfred Tennyson rented Grayshott. Only in 1965 was the estate converted to a health and fitness retreat with further extensions and refurbishments completed in 2005. In 2012, my arrival is recorded.
There were a few little glitches suggesting some updating may be required, but all-in-all the five of us had a wonderful escape from reality, kick-starting with aqua-aerobics, yoga, and our 40-minute massages before dressing up for a pre-dinner NON-alcoholic drink and canapes. I know this is a retreat, but really, no alcohol? This situation was swiftly rectified with a salmon-pink Provencal rose. A perfect wine to reflect the mood of our environment!
Our 3-course dinner in the conservatory was faultless and after an eventful afternoon we crashed into the comfy sofas in the lounge, lazing around the crackling fire where we discussed, analysed and considered the challenges of love and life.
After a peaceful night's sleep and a buffet breakfast (note that fried eggs, hash browns and bacon are not on the menu!) we shocked our systems into red-alert as we jumped from steam sauna to ice-cold plunge pool to the dry sauna to ice-cold plunge pool and back again. Whew! Invigorating!
Tennis (ahem!) was an entertaining event, enjoyed with great hilarity as we chased little green balls around the court. I got to use my lovely new racket for the first time and have promised to get some more practice this year. One forgets what an enjoyable sport it can be.
We returned to devour more food at the buffet lunch, eaten in our gowns and slippers (the old hats we are!), followed by a final splash in the outdoor pool. The water steamed off the surface as it reacted against the unpleasant 5 degree air temperature!
Feeling refreshed, well nourished, well slept and like I'd had a holiday, we reluctantly returned to London. I now see why, in this fast-paced world we live in, how great a place like this can be and I do look forward to my next escape.
For further information visit: www.grayshottspa.com
I've always considered myself immune from all the hype about visiting a spa, but for £219 for a single room, a first rate 3-course dinner, breakfast, lunch, a 40 minute treatment and use of all the spa and sport facilities, this was a deal worthy of further investigation.
The original estate dates back to 1085. Jump forward a few centuries and in 1867 The Poet Laureate, Lord Alfred Tennyson rented Grayshott. Only in 1965 was the estate converted to a health and fitness retreat with further extensions and refurbishments completed in 2005. In 2012, my arrival is recorded.
 |
| Grayshott Spa Hotel |
Our 3-course dinner in the conservatory was faultless and after an eventful afternoon we crashed into the comfy sofas in the lounge, lazing around the crackling fire where we discussed, analysed and considered the challenges of love and life.
After a peaceful night's sleep and a buffet breakfast (note that fried eggs, hash browns and bacon are not on the menu!) we shocked our systems into red-alert as we jumped from steam sauna to ice-cold plunge pool to the dry sauna to ice-cold plunge pool and back again. Whew! Invigorating!
Tennis (ahem!) was an entertaining event, enjoyed with great hilarity as we chased little green balls around the court. I got to use my lovely new racket for the first time and have promised to get some more practice this year. One forgets what an enjoyable sport it can be.
We returned to devour more food at the buffet lunch, eaten in our gowns and slippers (the old hats we are!), followed by a final splash in the outdoor pool. The water steamed off the surface as it reacted against the unpleasant 5 degree air temperature!
Feeling refreshed, well nourished, well slept and like I'd had a holiday, we reluctantly returned to London. I now see why, in this fast-paced world we live in, how great a place like this can be and I do look forward to my next escape.
For further information visit: www.grayshottspa.com
Friday, May 04, 2012
Bauhaus: Art as Life
I arrived at the Barbican centre to see the Bauhaus exhibition. I used to work across the road from the Barbican and had forgotten the sheer scale and imposing nature of the place. I don’t know much about this post-modern movement called Brutalism, but the stark and fortress-like monstrosity of the Barbican cannot be ignored, especially on a cold, wet London night. I hurried through the maize of concrete to find the entrance.
Inside, the Barbican is equally imposing, with block-like spaces and dark corers. This place, playing host to the Bauhaus exhibition, is, in it’s strange way, probably the best place for a Bauhaus exhibition to sit. These contrasting, yet very powerful movements complement each other and create an interesting overall effect.
I studied the Bauhaus a good many years ago, so I enjoyed wondering through the exhibition as names and works were remembered. It is always far more rewarding seeing art for real – rather than in a text book. Names such as the founder Walter Gropius, the expressionist Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, László Moholy-Nagy, Herbert Bayer, et al all came flooding back as I paused to examine examples of their work. The arts and crafts, the powerful graphic design and fonts, the photography and the architecture.
For the ex-graphic designer that I am, I was quite inspired. Even if from a top-level “shallow” perspective, without going into the whole psychology and analysis of the movement… I enjoyed the shapes of the teapots, the eery puppets and looking up close at the posters and photographs in a time long before mine.
What I never learnt back at school, and what struck us at the exhibition was the community spirit these creative personalities and artists had. What fun they had designing invitations for events and parties. The home-made gifts they made for each other on their birthdays, and the fun that came through in their work and photography. The joyful, playful approach and the passion in their approach - to enjoy and relish in their creativity and friendships. Just being silly. Maybe we’ve lost a bit of that as we all strive to pave a path for ourselves in today’s competitive world.
It struck me that maybe the hippies of the sixties and the revolution of Woodstock, was not the first modern break from society. Maybe these conservatively dressed artists of the Bauhaus were the real ones to start a revolution. Maybe. But then, in the late 1930s, times changed with the rise of the Nazis. Radically. So I guess we’ll never know.
Inside, the Barbican is equally imposing, with block-like spaces and dark corers. This place, playing host to the Bauhaus exhibition, is, in it’s strange way, probably the best place for a Bauhaus exhibition to sit. These contrasting, yet very powerful movements complement each other and create an interesting overall effect.
I studied the Bauhaus a good many years ago, so I enjoyed wondering through the exhibition as names and works were remembered. It is always far more rewarding seeing art for real – rather than in a text book. Names such as the founder Walter Gropius, the expressionist Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, László Moholy-Nagy, Herbert Bayer, et al all came flooding back as I paused to examine examples of their work. The arts and crafts, the powerful graphic design and fonts, the photography and the architecture.
For the ex-graphic designer that I am, I was quite inspired. Even if from a top-level “shallow” perspective, without going into the whole psychology and analysis of the movement… I enjoyed the shapes of the teapots, the eery puppets and looking up close at the posters and photographs in a time long before mine.
What I never learnt back at school, and what struck us at the exhibition was the community spirit these creative personalities and artists had. What fun they had designing invitations for events and parties. The home-made gifts they made for each other on their birthdays, and the fun that came through in their work and photography. The joyful, playful approach and the passion in their approach - to enjoy and relish in their creativity and friendships. Just being silly. Maybe we’ve lost a bit of that as we all strive to pave a path for ourselves in today’s competitive world.
It struck me that maybe the hippies of the sixties and the revolution of Woodstock, was not the first modern break from society. Maybe these conservatively dressed artists of the Bauhaus were the real ones to start a revolution. Maybe. But then, in the late 1930s, times changed with the rise of the Nazis. Radically. So I guess we’ll never know.
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