What could be better than being offered a free wine sample whilst in the midst of your Saturday morning shopping?
Not only is it free wine, but can also bring added benefits such as taking the edge off the rather large night before and making navigation of those packed pavements a much more pleasurable experience.
So, where can I find this free wine?
Most off licences provide free tastings over the weekend. Oddbins have a wine club that you can join in-store with wine tastings held most Saturday mornings. These are completely free and there is no obligation to buy.
Smaller chains and independents also hold regular tastings and these are great places to try more unique wines as they tend to stock products that aren’t available in supermarkets and larger chains.
If you’re a South Londoner, Green and Blue Wines in Dulwich has a bottle open for customers to sample most Saturday mornings. They stock a great selection of organic and biodynamic wines (more to come on this subject next week). They also host ticketed tasting events for very reasonable prices, check out www.greenandbluewines.com for more details.
Philglas and Swiggot on Northcote Rd in Battersea, provides free tastings whenever suppliers or wine makers are passing through town. On the 8th of May, Charlie from Nyetimber will be in store from midday to introduce customers to his fabulous English sparkling wine. www.philglas-swiggot.com
For a wine and dine night out check out Davy’s www.davy.co.uk. I was fortunate enough to attend a tasting with Rusden Wines of Australia last month - a small, family owned and operated wine company. We were lucky enough to have a member of the Rusden family over to talk with us about his wines and impart some of that Australian charm which is always entertaining. The tasting of six wines, followed by a three course dinner which included the most succulent steak I have had in years, was around £35.
There are so many opportunities to sample wines all over the city and this is where the wine specialists shine through. Through providing not only free wine, but the opportunity to have you questions and queries answered, your interest in wine inspired and your knowledge increased. So get out there and taste the night (or day) away!
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Any cousin of Pinot Noir is a friend of mine...
Beyerskloof Pinotage 2009, from South Africa, is currently on promotion at Morrisons for £5.49, slightly reduced from £6.49. It’s also available from Sainsburys for £6.79 and is excellent value at any of these prices.
Pinotage is one of the grape varieties that South Africa excels at. Created by crossing Pinot Noir with Cinsault, Pinotage has many appealing qualities including a relatively light body with bright red fruits such as cherry and raspberry – similar to Pinot Noir. Pinotage also possesses a slightly earthy nature which can be expressed through its depth of flavour and texture.
Pinot Noir is a perfect match for most lamb dishes as it doesn’t overpower the subtle flavours of the meat. Burgundy in France and Central Otago in New Zealand are the best areas of production for this variety however the wines they produce do tend to be quite pricey. This is where Pinotage is a great choice. Not only do you get many of the characters of Pinot Noir, but it’s usually a lot cheaper!
Perfect as the seasons change with its lighter body and bright red fruits, Pinotage is also excellent served slightly chilled in the warmer months to provide an alternative to crisp white wines.
It can be hard to find wines from South Africa that aren’t part of the big brands such as First Cape, Kumala and KWV. The amount of South African wine being imported to the UK has grown exponentially over the last two years, with big brands accounting for the majority of this growth.
The larger brands often dominate floor displays and promotional bays in supermarkets with their half price and three for £10 deals. It can be easy to think that these wines are pretty much all that South Africa produces. Or at least all that we see in the UK of South African wine.
It is definitely worth scouring the shelves for wines of smaller production from South Africa where many bargains can be had. Chenin Blanc is another wine that they excel at, as well as Sauvignon Blanc from the Constantia region.
So when you’re after a red wine that’s light, bright and really tasty, reach for a Pinotage. Such great value for money and most importantly, delicious!
Pinotage is one of the grape varieties that South Africa excels at. Created by crossing Pinot Noir with Cinsault, Pinotage has many appealing qualities including a relatively light body with bright red fruits such as cherry and raspberry – similar to Pinot Noir. Pinotage also possesses a slightly earthy nature which can be expressed through its depth of flavour and texture.
Pinot Noir is a perfect match for most lamb dishes as it doesn’t overpower the subtle flavours of the meat. Burgundy in France and Central Otago in New Zealand are the best areas of production for this variety however the wines they produce do tend to be quite pricey. This is where Pinotage is a great choice. Not only do you get many of the characters of Pinot Noir, but it’s usually a lot cheaper!
Perfect as the seasons change with its lighter body and bright red fruits, Pinotage is also excellent served slightly chilled in the warmer months to provide an alternative to crisp white wines.
It can be hard to find wines from South Africa that aren’t part of the big brands such as First Cape, Kumala and KWV. The amount of South African wine being imported to the UK has grown exponentially over the last two years, with big brands accounting for the majority of this growth.
The larger brands often dominate floor displays and promotional bays in supermarkets with their half price and three for £10 deals. It can be easy to think that these wines are pretty much all that South Africa produces. Or at least all that we see in the UK of South African wine.
It is definitely worth scouring the shelves for wines of smaller production from South Africa where many bargains can be had. Chenin Blanc is another wine that they excel at, as well as Sauvignon Blanc from the Constantia region.
So when you’re after a red wine that’s light, bright and really tasty, reach for a Pinotage. Such great value for money and most importantly, delicious!
Thursday, 15 April 2010
New Marlborough Vintage!
I saw my first 2009 vintage bottle of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc today at Morrisons and had to buy it as … it was on special! The Montana Sauvignon Blanc, usually £8.29, was down to the reachable price of £6.
The wine was delicious, bursting with gooseberry, lemon and tropical fruit flavours – summer in a mouthful.
So why is the 2009 Marlborough vintage so good?
After a bumper vintage in 2008, which lead to over supply of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, many grape growers controlled the amount of grapes that they produced by undertaking a green harvest.
Basically this means picking bunches of grapes off of the vine before the grapes fully ripen.
By doing this, the remaining bunches can ripen evenly, resulting in a better quality wine, as well as the overall yield being smaller and bringing the supply back in line with demand.
However, even though many producers undertook the green harvest, not everyone did. Unlike many European countries New Zealand’s wine industry has no regulations or controlling bodies to dictate certain aspects of production, like yield limits. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is still in slight oversupply which leads to…
Cheaper prices for us!
For now anyway.
As wine consumers we quickly become accustomed to paying a certain price for a certain wine. New Zealand wine growers have always held the highest average bottle price for their wines as most of us believe the wine quality is worth the price.
With the shelf prices decreasing, largely due to oversupply, we are becoming accustomed to paying less for these wines. When the supply moves back in line with demand, will we pay the higher prices?
Many think we won’t. One industry observer comments ‘buyers are not going to run sub £5 promotions on Sauvignon Blanc for two years then raise the price; they will simply ask for the same deal’ (IWSR June 2009). This results in pressure on the producers to produce a wine that will sell at lower prices.
Producers don’t have to do this. They can chose to reduce quality to produce a cheaper wine, or continue with producing a quality wine but risk losing their place on off licence shelves.
Do we want to see producers reduce their wine quality just to meet price points? More importantly, do we want to drink wine that is of lesser quality than what could be produced?
Enjoy these wines on promotion while you can, with an understanding of why they are on promotion. Then one day, take a punt. Buy a Marlborough Sauvignon that’s not on promotion – perhaps a brand you have never seen before.
Enjoy the fact that you’re tasting a wonderful wine from the other side of the world, supporting that producer and enabling them to invest in the wines that you love to drink.
The wine was delicious, bursting with gooseberry, lemon and tropical fruit flavours – summer in a mouthful.
So why is the 2009 Marlborough vintage so good?
After a bumper vintage in 2008, which lead to over supply of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, many grape growers controlled the amount of grapes that they produced by undertaking a green harvest.
Basically this means picking bunches of grapes off of the vine before the grapes fully ripen.
By doing this, the remaining bunches can ripen evenly, resulting in a better quality wine, as well as the overall yield being smaller and bringing the supply back in line with demand.
However, even though many producers undertook the green harvest, not everyone did. Unlike many European countries New Zealand’s wine industry has no regulations or controlling bodies to dictate certain aspects of production, like yield limits. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is still in slight oversupply which leads to…
Cheaper prices for us!
For now anyway.
As wine consumers we quickly become accustomed to paying a certain price for a certain wine. New Zealand wine growers have always held the highest average bottle price for their wines as most of us believe the wine quality is worth the price.
With the shelf prices decreasing, largely due to oversupply, we are becoming accustomed to paying less for these wines. When the supply moves back in line with demand, will we pay the higher prices?
Many think we won’t. One industry observer comments ‘buyers are not going to run sub £5 promotions on Sauvignon Blanc for two years then raise the price; they will simply ask for the same deal’ (IWSR June 2009). This results in pressure on the producers to produce a wine that will sell at lower prices.
Producers don’t have to do this. They can chose to reduce quality to produce a cheaper wine, or continue with producing a quality wine but risk losing their place on off licence shelves.
Do we want to see producers reduce their wine quality just to meet price points? More importantly, do we want to drink wine that is of lesser quality than what could be produced?
Enjoy these wines on promotion while you can, with an understanding of why they are on promotion. Then one day, take a punt. Buy a Marlborough Sauvignon that’s not on promotion – perhaps a brand you have never seen before.
Enjoy the fact that you’re tasting a wonderful wine from the other side of the world, supporting that producer and enabling them to invest in the wines that you love to drink.
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