The Wine Society

We've been members of The Wine Society for over 10 years and have attended their wine tasting events in Birmingham and Leicester. 

It's £40 to become a lifetime member which opens up a huge variety of wines with free delivery on every bottle. There is no requirement to buy a certain quantity to receive lower prices, the wines are the price displayed and even a single bottle is delivered free of charge.

We haven't visited The Wine Society Cellar in Stevenage before although we did visit their beautiful Cellar in Montreuil-sur-mer in France, sadly now closed. They host many tasting and members events at Stevenage so we booked for a drop in tasting, the Premier Inn is just up the road making a perfect weekend away .....until, due to technical maintenance, the tasting was cancelled but as the Cellar shop was still open until lunchtime and our hotel booked we travelled to Stevenage as planned.

The Wine Society is huge, they do offer a warehouse tour which we hope to do one day. I loved the layout and feel of the Cellar with some bottles laid in racks and comfy leather chairs. There was a huge range of French wines, I did spot a white Chateauneuf-du-Pape which of course was added to our order.

There was a huge variety of Champagne and Sparkling Wine which we didn't really look at, I was too absorbed with the lovely Old World selection. Another good reason to visit again and who knows next time we may be allowed 'in the cellar' ... yes I want one! 

The Cellar at The Wine Society has two Enomatic Wine counters which serve a tasting of wine at the push if a button. There was a great selection from all wine countries and a variety if producers. I really liked the Ardèche Viognier and in the red selection The Society's Corbière's and the Lascar Carmenère.

We ordered a selection of wine to be delivered on Wednesday, and they arrived as promised today at the time given by the courier. I ordered my favourite Duo de Deux Mers Sauvignon along with the Chateauneuf-du-Pape. In our red selection we ordered The Society's Cote du Rhone which is produced by Domaine Jaume who we have visited in Vinsobres. 

The Wine Society staff also gave us a bottle of Verdicchio because of the tasting cancellation which was very generous of them. 

Although not our day as expected we really enjoyed our visit to The Wine Society and are now looking forward to trying our wine purchases at home and hopefully visiting Stevenage again.

Dry January

This year I have done Dry January to help raise a few more pennies, or pounds, for Nuneaton North Scout Group Minibus Appeal.

This is the link to my Just Giving page which is currently at 67% of my target thanks to my amazing friends.

Just Giving - Clare Hearnden

Although wine/beer tasting is my hobby and I love visiting vineyards and breweries I don't actually drink much in either quanity or frequency.

I enjoyed looking for and trying new alcohol free drinks, especially my final Eisberg wine which I tried when expecting our son who is now 35!

I think the biggest success was the Zerozecco from Aldi, it was a refreshing drink that Hubby enjoyed too. Here's a collage of my Dry January drinks (I had some more than 1 day).

I began the month with a non-alcoholic Espresso Martini and started February with a lovely Hendrick's Lunar with diet tonic.

It's been an interesting month which has added a bit more to our Minibus Appeal.... thank you everyone!

Voyage to the Canaries

Early December before the festivities began *and passed so quickly) we did a repositioning cruise with Marella. We have cruised with them before and previously enjoyed our repositioning cruise from the Canary Islands to Corfu. 

Our previous cruises have been on Marella Explorer but this time our ship was Marella Voyager, it was like going home with some of the furniture moved. I have already blogged about life on board so this blog is all about where we visited.

Flying from Gatwick after an overnight stay we arrived in Malaga. Spain isn't a country I have visited much off and although dark it was interesting to travel through this popular holiday resort, the Christmas lights added to its welcoming look.

Our second day we awoke in Gibraltar, a place we have visited before and really enjoy as a wander around stop. There were excursions to the top of the rock or the WWII tunnels but we were happy to stroll into the town and browse around.

There is so much history here with it being in a strategic position at the entrance to the Mediterranean. The Battle of Trafalgar was not far away, the sailors cemetry is at the top end of the town, and there is evidence of the previous inhabitants as far back as the Moors 

There was certainly a Christmas feel, a little odd in warmth and blue skies and birds of paradise in fill bloom. 

We were very lucky to be in the main street when the guards marched through.

Being a winter cruise the sun sets late afternoon, great to see before going to dinner. The Gibraltar Rock looked stunning with yellow and orange hues.

Arriving in our next port the sunrise was as stunning as the previous night's sunset hut to our surprise just an hour later it was thick fog outside. Even more surprising were the blue skies the appeared as we set off to explore Cadiz, a place I have always wanted to visit. 

Again we didn't take an excursion instead we enjoyed a wander along the Atlantic coast promenade and around the city square amongst its Christmas decorations and market stalls.

Cadiz is certainly a place I would like to visit again as there was so much to see. We couldn't visit the Cathedral as being a Sunday there were services on. It was a stunning view as we sailed away with another beautiful sunset once out in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Atlantic revealed itself on our sea day, nothing too rough but certainly choppy and quite a hazy sky which was disappointing for our fellow cruisers that enjoy sunbathing by the pool. We enjoyed time on our balcony and a wine tasting afternoon before dinner and watching another superb show.

Arriving in Funchal was quite an experience, wet and windy weather making it hard work for our Captain and the two pilot boats.

As we were docked overnight in Funchal, Maderia, we had planned to walk into town the first afternoon and stay until dark to see the Christmas lights but the weather was not very inviting. Funchal looked stunning with so many lights stretching high into the hills. Funchal is a port that is very popular for New Year's Eve cruises as the whole town is lit up with fireworks.

This was our fourth visit to Funchal, we have previously taken the cable car high up to fantastic views and an excursion into the mountains to a hidden valley. We have also enjoyed a trip to Blandy's to learn about Maderia wine so this visit we decided to wander a round and take in the Christmas atmosphere. It was a bit of a dull start to the day but dry and blue skies did appear later in the day.

Marella Voyager looked stunning looking through beautiful red hot poker plants with the blue skies. The flowers in Maderia are so beautiful.

Our penultimate day was in Tenerife after a day at sea traveling from Maderia. The weather had certainly turned with wind and rain. We ventured out but not for long as it was quite rough. As with Maderia we have visited Tenerife a few times and so did not mind going back onboard to enjoy Marella hospitality.

Our final night's crossing from Tenerife to Gran Canaria was very rough with 6m waves and 70mph winds. 

On our tv in the cabin there is a channel showing the route of our cruise. We were surprised to see how wigglely our journey had been from Maderia to Tenerife and on to Gran Canaria, our Captain was certainly trying to avoid the worse weather. It was quite rough disembarking in Gran Canaria and I know Voyager did not sail that day due to the storm, I think we came home at the right time.

Another great cruise, we do enjoy the repositioning cruises although I don't think we could manage the 8 days at sea to the Caribbean. Voyager was a lovely ship but we do prefer Explorer and are very much looking forward to cruising the Mediterranean on its Marella 30th Birthday Cruise in May.

Christmas at the Hearnden's

It's been a lovely festive season, quite extended with our Christmas Day on 28th. It all began with Hubby birthday on the 21st with a lovely sharing meal at Miller and Carter. The table was full of dishes (we needed a bigger on really) with steak, lamb and chicken taking centre place ... paired with a delicious Argentinian Malbec.

It has been and exciting time for us as Hubby bought a new car. Unbelievably we'd had our BMW Gran Tourer for 8 years, Hubby bought it when he retired. We both loved our 7 seater and have had many driving holidays in it through France and Germany but it was showing its age and we did worry expensive repairs may be looming. 

After trying a few BMW options we chose a X1, it's similar but different to our old car and is definitely lighter to drive. We no longer need 7 seats but wanted to make sure the boot was still big enough for our travels .... it's huge. 

Christmas Day was just the two of us as our grown up children spent the day with their other half's families. We had a lovely day starting with a glass or two of Buck's Fizz before a walk to our social club where we met up with my stepdad fir a Christmas drink.

It was very strange to lay the table for just two. In previous years we've had as many as 13 and had to bring the table in from the garden. 

We had a bottle of Louis Delaney champagne with our salmon starter followed by a superb bottle of White Castle Regent with our turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

Being just us there was no rush, it was almost dark by the time we had dinner which made it quite festive with the lights and candles lit.

Too full to eat any more straight away so our Christmas pudding was enjoyed later in the evening with a glass of Blandy's Clarence Maderia wine.

All in all a lovely Christmas Day followed by a chilled Boxing Day with our son and girlfriend.

Saturday was a food shopping day ready for our family buffet on 28th, the best bit of this was my doughnut treat accompanied by a chocolate Irish Coffee made with Jameson's Stout Edition and Mozart Chocolate Liqueur.

Our Hearnden Christmas on the 28th was superb, time together enjoying sharing gifts, eating a delicious buffet and a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. 

Thanks to my lovely Hubby and amazing family for making Christmas 2025 very special.