It was certainly a week of wine for me last week, as well as being chosen to be a judge at People's Choice Wine Awards I was also chosen to be a taster for UK Wine Hour.
Sorcha Holloway is the founder of #ukwinehour which as you can see from having a hashtag is a Twitter event - every Thursday at 7pm UK time.
It is such fun each week, although I confess I don't always manage to be there or be there on time but as it's a hash tag it is so easy to read back through everyone's comments.
Each week there is a focus and last Thursday Sorcha had arranged Marco Ventrella to answer tweeted questions with KWV wines generously sending bottles of their wines to selected tasters, me being one. KWV wines are South African and this year celebrate their 100th anniversary #KWV100
The wines arrived the week before, as I was only expecting a bottle I was very surprised when a large box arrived, even more surprised when inside was a bottle of Laborie Blanc de Blancs, KWH The Mentors Petit Verdot and a bottle of Cruxland Gin with its very stylish leather strap cap cover.
 |
| Wines received for UK Wine Hour |
If someone is kind enough to send me a bottle of wine to taste and review I feel it is only right that I do it justice and so on Thursday I had great fun photographing the three bottles, preparing food pairings and cocktail ingredients.
 |
| Making the most of the sunshine to display the ingredients ready for my gin cocktails |
Just being Hubby and myself for the tasting we decided to make it last all day ..... in other words pacing ourselves!
It's always interesting to pair food so I put together a cheese and charcuterie platter to enjoy with Laborie Blanc de Blancs - the platter consisted of:
Brie Stilton Salami Chorizo Dried Ham Walnuts
The Blue cheese was good but we both agreed the salami was superb, the fatiness in the meat being cut through by the bubbles.....
... ah yes the bubbles, great golden colour with a fascinating edge of green. The brioche aroma with hints of butter lead to a mouth of toastiness and a nutty finish. Having recently holidayed in the Champagne region enjoying a variety of fizz I have to say this bottle of Blanc de Blancs from South Africa was superb.
Our selection from Hotel Chocolat and Green & Black's chocolates that we brought home from our Manchester trip made a perfect dessert with the Laborie especially the truffles dusted in cocoa.
Next task was to decant the KWH The Mentors Petit Verdot; this is a grape I really like but have, as far as I know, only had French wine before. Quite a heavy red at over 14% this Stellenbosch Petit Verdot looked so inviting in the decanter.
 |
| Breathing nicely |
With a couple of hours before UK Wine Time we decided to have some fun experimenting with Cruxland Gin - what a surprise to discover this was made from grapes and 9 great ingredients. It was hard to decide which mixers to use to enhance what looked like being a great gin.
The magical nine!
I tried a hibiscus mixer from Merchant's Heart and Hubby tried apple, elderflower and a touch of soda. Both drinks were good but did nothing for the gin, certainly didn't add to any flavour from the ingredients. After much thought and discussion we both decided it was best neat with ice so all the nine could be savoured.
Oh my goodness what fun, I have no idea how many people were asking Marco questions or tweeting about their tastings but the hour just flew by. Hubby ended up reading the tweets on his iPad whilst I posted the tweets on my laptop, it certainly made for a very jolly evening .... of course we were tasting the Petit Verdot too.
It was so deep in colour, aroma and taste. Plenty of rich fruits, a touch of violets on the nose and a rich, juicy cherry flavour giving a great finish.... we both loved this one. It was similar to the French wines I have had but this had more depth and is a wine I will certainly buy again as would many other Tweeters.
Thank you Sorcha for the opportunity to taste and review these three superb bottles from KWH Wines. Thank you Marco for all your interesting tweets and videos.
It's sherry week this Thursday - log on and follow #ukwinehour for an hour of chatting with fellow wine enthusiasts, it certainly makes a great night!
No comments:
Post a Comment