A trip to Leicester

It felt so good yesterday to catch the train to Leicester with Hubby and our son. Nothing special I hear you say but this time I had no wheelchair, no crutches, no walking stick and only a helping hand on the way home! It felt so good to just walk around the shops and not need to balance myself against walls/shelves/tables when standing still😃

The reason for our visit was Majestic's Seasonal Showcase, we have not been able to join these events for a while so we made an afternoon of our visit .... and discovered somewhere new!

23 Wine and Whiskey is on the main road from the station to the city. Drawn in by the 'whiskey' sign after our visit to Scotland, we were delighted to see a wide range of whisky from Scotland as well as spirits from around the world. Their wine range was good too with labels we had not seen before. Unfortunately we did not have time to stay long but its a shop we will certainly be visiting again .... and they do tasting events 😉

After a lovely dinner we walked on to Majestic, it's only just round the corner from the station so ideal for us. Their Showcase events are always informal with wine stations around the store; as always we were greeted with a glass of bubbly ... to my delight it was Nicolas Feuillatte 2009 ... and paired with a lovely buttery cake (had they read my last post I wonder 😉)

Nicolas Feuillatte
2009

The two tasting stations had a selection of white, rose and red wines with a variety of cheese, savoury biscuits and spicy sausage as pairings. All the wines were either  the Definition or Parcel Series range, wine from well known producers bottles specifically for Majestic.

Definition Viognier: made by Abbotts and Delaunay this French wine had peach, white fruit and a slight creamy edge. There was a hint of light oakiness on its finish.  £8.99 mix six.

Definition Chenin Blanc: quite a high alcohol percentage for a white at 14% this South African wine had flavours of tropical fruits but a little light on its finish for my taste. £9.99 mix six

Parcel Series Sauvignon Blanc (Chilean): a surprising hint of blossom on the nose this, my favourite, wine had plenty of grapefruit and lime in the mouth. Softer than New World, bolder than Old World this Chilean Sauvignon Blanc is good value at £6.99 mix six

Definition Rose: a dry French Provencal wine from old vines this rose was to my style. It had flavours of stone fruits and melon with a touch of minerality, £8.99 mix six

White wine selection 

Definition Beaujolais: raspberries, redcurrants and white pepper as expected in this Gamay wine, surprisingly it had a tannic finish. £8.99 mix six

Parcel Series Merlot: from the Colombia Valley this red had flavours of plums, damsons and brambles. A good wine but I didn't enjoy the finish , a little bit like wet/damp wood. £12.99 mix six

Parcel Series Cabernet Sauvignon: I always need food with this grape so the pairings were perfect, this Australian red had flavours of dark fruits with a hint of chocolate on the finish. £9.99 mix six

Parcel Series Malbec: the deepest red in our tasting with plenty of cherries and a kick of spice. Malbec had disappeared from the Parcel Series but the winemaker has produced a 2018 bottle. £6.99 mix six

Red Wine Selection

There has been a little uncertainty over Majestic's future recently along with it's sister company Naked Wines. I know a few stores have been ear marked to close, however the store manager at Leicester said his store was staying open with Majestic being bought and moving away from Naked Wines ..... you can follow Majestic on Twitter for the latest, or sign up to their emails. 

It was so so nice to go out with my two favourite chaps and feel normal. Thank you Nick, Michael and Majestic Leicester, here's to a many more such trips!