Ipswich

Whilst on holiday we had a short trip to Ipswich, somewhere we had considered for a weekend away as the marina looked lovely... and it was.

Briarbank Brewery and Isaac Lord's are some of the Grade I and Grade II listed buildings on the Quay, some as old as the mid 1400s.

Isaac Lord was a trade merchant in 1900; Ipswich sits on the River Orwell and was a major port trading in coal and corn as recent as 1980s.

It was an amazing pub with so many different floors making full use of the old building. A perfect spot to enjoy a drink harbourside.

Ipswich town centre was bustling with shoppers in and out of the well known high street names. There were some amazing buildings, now used as shops, banks and community places. The two churches had towers built using flint giving a very ornate design to their structures.

Ipswich was a great day out and lovely to visit the marina. I'm not sure there would be a weekend's worth of activities but it's certainly a place to stop by if passing nearby.

Woolsthorpe Manor

A recent day out saw us visit Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire, famous because it's the birthplace of Sir Isaac Newton.

Near Grantham in the village of Woolathorpe-by-Closterworth this manor house was originally a yeoman farmstead.

Isaac was born here on 25th December 1642 and spent his childhood on the farm exploring all around. Inside it's quite a large dwelling with a huge kitchen and parlour. The original doors were amazing, imagine who in the last 400 years has touched them as they walked through.

Isaac Newton was very clever from a young age and went to University at Cambridge. He returned to Woolsthorpe in 1666 when the University closed due to the plague.

He continued his work, some of his etchings are still on the bedroom walls. It is here that Isaac began to question how and why an apple falls down from its tree.

The original tree is still in the orchard but not surprisingly is now needing support. It was observing an apple falling from this tree that led to Isaac Newton discovering the laws of gravity.

In 2015 Major Tim Peake took some pips from the original tree into space on his Principia voyage on the International Space Station. 

One of these pips has now been planted in the orchard and is growing well. I wonder what Isaac Newton would have thought about man travelling into space and orbiting Earth. 

Thank you National Trust for upkeeping this important Grade I listed building that is so important to our scientific world, we had a superb guided visit.

London Wine Fair 2023

It was so good to be back at The London Wine Fair, I have certainly missed this huge celebration of wine.

I am not a wine maker, an importer, a stockist or a wine expert; I just love learning more and more about this amazing drink in it's abundance of variety and style. I also enjoy the social side of wine, sharing my discoveries with others online but most enjoyably at get togethers with friends.

The London Wine Fair is huge with wines from around the world. There are major suppliers and big brand names as well as smaller producers and those seeking support. We met so many lovely people, discovered new grape varieties and now have many more locations added to our holiday wish list.

Our next holiday is actually quite close to one of the English vineyards we discovered. Shotley Vineyard is located in the east of England on a headland between the River Orwell and the River Sour. It's a relatively new vineyard with the original 4 acres planted in 2017 producing the first vintage in 2020. The Shotley Vineyard Pinot Noir we tasted was lovely, hopefully we'll visit them soon.

We are always drawn to French wines and to my delight Joseph Mellot had their range of wines at the Fair. Tasting their delicious Pouilly-Fumé and my favourite Sancerre I was transported back to our holiday a few years ago in this very special part of France.

A French wine I also love (and with a long story behind it) is Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc.  What a delight to discover it again, although occassionally I do find it available here in the UK. Famille Ravoire have an extensive range of Cotes du Rhone wine, it was hard to choose a favourite but I really enjoyed Saint-Joseph.

Bordeaux is one area of France we have yet to visit which I think is why we still have not found a Bordeaux wine that is just right; a wine certainly speaks more when tasted in the right location. Hubby did however enjoy tasting this superb selection of Bordeaux wine and was quite taken with the Lalande de Pomerol.

I think we underestimate our wine knowledge at times, we have over the last decade or so expanded our wine knowledge. As well as discovering new wines it was a surprise, and a bit of a comfort, to recognise many of the wines presented. In particular the Rustenburg range from South Africa; Bread and Butter wines from North America and Marques de Riscal from Spain.

A relatively new concept in the wine industry is wine in cans not bottles. This is something of great interest to me as when putting my bartender hat on for our Scout Group fundraising events we are often left with half bottles of wine. Serving wine in cans would be a super way of only serving the amount required, although it is at a higher cost per serving. 

There were quite a few wines in cans at the London Wine Fair; The Uncommon and Canvino caught my eye, initially due to the superb designs and presentations but on tasting definitely from the delicious wines. 

The Uncommon is a range of English wine, all produced in the south east, and were the first English wines produced in a can. The wines all have named characters: Gerald (Bacchus) and Eleanor (Pinot Noir rosé) are wines whereas Alfie (Bacchus, Chardonnay) and Peggy (Pinot Noir rosé) are lighter spritzer.

Canvino is sparkling Bianco and Rosé wine from Italy with the carbonation by traditional methods so no added carbon dioxide. Canvino is made with only natural ingredients with their cans being fully recyclable.

Discovering new wines is always exciting, no more so than when they are from new countries. Serbian wine was one such discovery; Aleksić wine produced by female wine makers was superb. Amanet, made from Vranac grapes, was a bold strong red full of dark fruit with a delicious long finish was my overall favourite red. 

Hubby really enjoyed Anima wine from Romania in particular their 3 Fete Negro, a blend of Feteasca Neagra from three different vintages, 2015, 2016 and 2017. It was full of dark fruit and chocolate with vanilla highlights. 

We were both very surprised and impressed the wines from Tura Winery in Israel, not a country we associate at all with wine. Their range of white wines made from Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Viognier were all superb, as were their reds produced from Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. It was a pleasure to discover these wines and learn so much more about the Israeli climate.

The London Wine Fair is huge and as you can see from my lengthy post full of exciting discoveries and tastings. A one day visit is not quite long enough but we had an amazing time. One area of the Fair we particularly enjoyed was Wines Unearthed, an area for wine producers looking for UK buyers. Although we could not support in a direct way I hope our visit has helped if only in appreciation. 

There are two producers in particular that we really hope will be supported in the UK: Quinta de Ventozelo from the Douro region of Portugal and Cape Dreams from Cape Town, South Africa. 

Quinta de Ventozelo has an extensive range of grape varieties. We are already familiar with some Portuguese grapes but discovered so many more. The Douro is a location that has been on our river cruise list for a long time, hopefully one day.

My overall highlight was an absolutely delicious Chenin Blanc from Cape Dreams, South Africa. They are a family run vineyard with quite a range of wines and I for one would be delighted if their wine was available in the UK. I have tried many Chenin Blanc wines from this region but Cape Dreams'wine was so crisp, so clean, full of apples and citrus with a hint of sweet pineapple, it really was superb.

Such an amazing day, thank you London Wine Fair ... we're eagerly awaiting 2024!