New bubbly, new beer and new wine

Over the last few weeks we've had a few new tastings - all very successful and now on our 'to but again' list. 

The first was something I have been very keen to try, Hubby and I are huge fans of Cellier des Dauphins. Last year, whilst on holiday in France, we were delighted to meet Steffen and Philibert - I have a dedicated page at the top of my blog about our private tasting. 

Les Dauphins (the UK brand) have recently launched a bottle of bubbly - Les Dauphins Blanc de Blanc  available from Waitrose. We don't have a store nearby by passed one a few weeks ago so popped in to buy this new release. 

We enjoyed our bottle whilst sitting on our deck in the summer sun, keeping it cool in our ice bucket after it had been chilled for about an hour.

It had an expected light colour, pale gold with a hint of glisten and plenty of bubbles dancing in the glass. 

It's nose was light fruit, white peaches in a soft subtle way accompanied by a light floral high note. 

Although a dry bubbly it was very smooth, easy drinking and quite refreshing in the heat. I did miss the biscuity tone of champagne but as a sparkling wine it was lovely. 

It did seem a little pricey at £12.99 but I noticed it's now on offer at £9.74 which makes it a very good bottle of bubbles for under £10. 

We're off to France again soon, staying again at Visan which is close to Cellier des Dauphins - we'll be calling in at Cave de Prieure their local cave, I have already seen some lovely glasses and an apron, never mind what wines we'll find there. 

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New beer - very new beer to me as it was from Ikea - yes really. I always look round their food shop when we visit, this time I also discovered Licorice Chocolate - yummy - but definietly and aquired taste. 

Looking round we noticed two new beers, a lager beer and a dark lager. 

At £1.75 they are slightly more than other beers but worth trying. The lager beer was a golden lager, good flavour nicely balanced and very refreshing. The dark lager was my favourite (no surprise there) with it's richness and hint of chocolate/coffee. 

I would buy these again if I was in store, especially the dark one - very enjoyable whilst watching the British  F1 from Silverstone. 

  

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And finally new wine - both from Laithwaites in a mixed case we bought via their Sunday Times Wine Club. 


Vina Tarapaca Sauvignon Blanc 2016  - Chile - £8.99

 I quite like the Chilean SB wine that is becoming more available lately, although it quite tropical for a SB. 

Beautiful pale colour with hints of green, it's nose is light gooseberry (in fact there's a slight similarity to Sancerre on the nose) 

Surprisingly it has a little bit of fizz under all the citrus and green flavour - a really nice wine that's not quite what you'd expect from a Sauvignon Blanc. 



Campanula Pinot Grigio 2016 - Hungary - £8.49

It was a very clean wine, in colour, nose and taste, very clear in the glass with a golden hue. 

Its nose for me was not much more other than a clean crispness.Ta ste wise it's full of lemony zest but not acidic and a very clean crisp finish. 

Although very light and clean with nothing dominating I really enjoyed this wine, well chilled on its own - very satisfying. 

I noticed Campanula also do a sparkling Pinot Grigio - one to try next maybe.

It is always good to discover and try new things - that's one thing I like about wine tasting events, vineyard, brewery and distillery tours, and sharing findings with friends. That's the great thing about my wine forum Cuvée Reserve, we all share our latest discoveries and enjoyed wines. 

This coming weekend we've been invited to friends for a red wine evening - I wonder what we will discover this time, I'll let you know.