Posted by peter | August 19th, 2010 (by peter & susie)
We are thrilled to announce the guest star appearance, for one night only, of the quite brilliant Helen Masters, winemaker at fabled New Zealand wine producer Ata Rangi.
We were lucky enough to visit Ata Rangi during our trip in February. Not only did we enjoy a brilliant, not to mention highly instructive visit and tasting but we also got to savour a fantastically convivial supper at Helen’s home.
(You can read Susie’s report of our visit and dinner here. And
read more
Posted by peter | August 18th, 2010 (by peter)
Continuing the theme of our ‘And finally…’ compilations, three news items have caught my eye over the last few days.
With two of them, I didn’t know whether the appropriate response should be raucous mirth or head-in-hands bewilderment.
And with one, there was both laughter and tears – but the latter were a direct result of the former. (If you’re in need of a really good wine-related belly laugh, fast-forward to the end of this piece for the link.)
First up, then,
read more
Posted by peter | June 16th, 2010 (by peter)
What a day to be by the seaside in Sussex.
Southern England was basking in glorious, uninterrupted sunshine today as the Saturday Kitchen bandwagon rolled into the wonderfully named Shoreham-by-Sea to sample the surroundings and pick up some delicious wines.
I had been advised by numerous wise heads that Shoreham was renowned for the remarkably high density of pubs in its town centre. (‘Best place in England for a pub crawl’ was one comment.)
It took a herculean effort, but we
read more
Posted by peter | May 20th, 2010 (by peter)
What do you get if you cross fruit cake and Wensleydale with a jeroboam of Belle Epoque 1995 and a French blimp?
It sounds like an ungodly union.
But all these things could be found in close proximity this week at the London International Wine Fair, which took place in the cavernous Excel exhibition hall in Docklands.
It’s a gigantic event, equivalent to an aircraft hangar pumped to the rafters with booze and hot air.
This monumental gathering of the wine world takes place every
read more
Posted by peter | May 5th, 2010 (by peter)
I was informed prior to this shoot that some sort of boating activity had been arranged.
Given my recent history with Saturday Kitchen shoots, including firing artillery guns and riding atop tanks, I half expected some sort of mini submarine or pocket battleship.
In the event, it was more of a dinghy, and the only battle I had to fight was to wriggle out of wearing a wetsuit (which would have been obligatory under health & safety regulations until recently, I was informed).
The
read more
Posted by peter | May 2nd, 2010 (by peter)
Though the wider world may be blissfully unaware of it, it is wine competition season in the UK.
Behind closed doors in warehouses and halls across the south-east of England, hundreds of wine experts (and a few lucky punters) have been sniffing, swirling, cogitating and discussing the merits – or otherwise – of thousands of wines. This as part of the UK’s three major wine competitions: the Decanter World Wine Awards, the International Wine Challenge and the International Wine
read more
Posted by peter | April 21st, 2010 (by peter)
This week the Saturday Kitchen bandwagon (a ruthlessly efficient phenomenon, if prone to the occasional meander) rolled into Farnborough in Hampshire.
This town is best known for its air show, held once every other year (it is shared with Paris), at which all kinds of aircraft are put through their paces, from vintage flying machines to high-tech jets, including the Red Arrows.
So we did the natural thing and made a beeline for the aerodrome.
This, we were reliably informed by our
read more
Posted by peter | April 14th, 2010 (by peter)
“Ah, Verona,” said Susie’s mum when we told here we were off to Italy for a few days. “I’ll look that up on my tea towel.”
By way of explanation, Susie’s mum (a very well informed and delightful lady) has a tea towel that details all the major towns of Italy. Very much like the one we found on a stall in the Piazza Erbe the next evening (see photo, right).
As a life lesson, it’s worth some thought: who needs Google when we have tea towels?
We were off to Verona at
read more
Posted by peter | April 12th, 2010 (by peter & susie)
Entering the vast Vinitaly wine fair on the bright, warm Friday morning was an even more chaotic and unruly process than usual.
In addition to some unorthodox door-keeping tactics, this was due to the imminent arrival of the President of the Republic.
When someone had mentioned this to us the day before, we’d blithely assumed this meant one S. Berlusconi; we were soon put right by an ice-cream-wielding nonna on the streets of Verona, who shuddered at both at our
read more
Posted by peter | March 10th, 2010 (by peter)
Our Kiwi odyssey came to an end in Nelson, with the obligatory visit to local vinous heavyweight Neudorf.
We were hosted by the delightful Judy Finn, wife of Tim, in their bright yet breezy Upper Moutere base, where they have been since first setting up in 1978. (They had an option to buy the plot or go sailing round the world with friends; the yachting world’s loss was the wine world’s gain.)
Neudorf has around 35 hectares of vineyard, with production split between Brightwater
read more
