Good Wine, Good Coffee, Good Food

Hubby and I visit Tesco Wine Fair every year, it's a great event and there is a wonderful online Wine Community for sharing tips, ideas and of course recommendations. On Halloween Tesco Wine held a great Twitter party - we had great fun sharing jokes, pictures and spooky themed wine ideas. I was very lucky and won one of their prizes - well done to the other Halloweeners who won too - it was a great night.

Tesco are offering 25% off wine and champagne at the moment if you buy six bottles. Although our cellar is fairly full we couldn't resist when visitng our local store. Our purchases were:



Tesco Finest Pouilly Fume - a crisp white delicious well chilled.

Tesco Finest Cotes de Gascogne - we have yet to try this !

McGuigan Cabernet Sauvignon - Australian - we had this in a restaurant
recently and now have a bottle to try at home

McWilliam's Hayfield Pinot Noir - Australian - we like this brand but have never tried this.

Fish Hoek Chenin Blanc - South African - I love their Sauvignon Blanc but have not tried their Chenin Blanc

Casillero Del Diable Cabernet Sauvignon - Chilean - we don't normally like Chilean wine but this was recommended and the Tesco forum so we bought a bottle to try - superb, a lovely deep red with a few spicy under notes. Next time we're trying it with chilli !!

Saturday saw us drive to Bristol to meet our daughter from the train as she has come home for a few days from Uni. We hadn't quite planned a trip south but had a lovely couple of hours in Cheltenham on the way home - a range of shops from high fashion to bargain buckets. A few bits and bobs purchased we realised the car needed moving because the ticket had run out and it was a limited time space - so we grabbed a coffee from my favourite coffee house Caffe Nero.

As I am following Slimming World I find it difficult to grab a snack but Caffe Nero do a lovely snack pot of fresh fruit (although it's not in every cafe). Americano, hot chocolate, caramel wafer and fruit pot to go we made it back to the car just in time. I did remember to get my loyalty card stamped at Caffe Nero so I am well on the way to my next free coffee.

We drove on through the Cotswolds and decided to call in at Stratford Upon Avon for a late lunch/early dinner. We like many of the brand restaurants; Bella Italia, Strada, All Bar One to name a few but my favourite is Cafe Rouge. I love France, the food, the wine, the people, everything and Cafe Rouge is perfect for me everytime.

I decided to try their set lunch which is a change for me as I usually have Salmon Nicoise. There was a good choice at great value.

Set Lunch Menu-One course for £7.95 or two courses for £9.95, available every day from 12pm - 5pm.

Starters

Chicken Liver Pâté

Smoked Salmon Crostini

Baked Mushroom Florentine

Mains

Tuna Niçoise Salad

Penne Pasta

Chicken Provençale

Omelette & French Fries

I enjoyed the pate followed by a delicious crisp tuna salad with potatoes, egg, anchoives and beans. Hubby and daughter enjoyed a bread board starter followed by half a roast chicken with french fries. Their fries are the best I have tasted and I couldn't resist pinching just one. Hubby is always impressed with their draught Stella, saying it is better than English pubs and almost as good as when we're in France. Every visit is enjoyable for us, Cafe Rouge is definitely our favourite.

I'm not sure where our weekends are taking us next; I'm sure they will be full as we're always busy.

Tips from this weekend:

Tesco Wine offer

Join Tesco Wine Community online

Caffe Nero loyalty card

Cafe Rouge Set Lunch Menu