Love Wine Fest - Birmingham

Saturday was the second weekend of our wine November, yes really we have a wine event on every weekend this month; there's a few in December too.

Last weekend we had a wine tasting for just four of us at Majestic Cardiff Bay when we visited our daughter; this weekend, along with four friends, Hubby and I caught the train to Birmingham for Love Wine Fest at the Burlington Hotel.

As with all wine events it is important to plan ahead ..... transport yes, and if needed accommodation, but the most important element ..... food, it's not advisable to go to a wine tasting with an empty tum!

Arriving in New Street we made our way to The Shakepeare, a Nicholson's pub that serves breakfast. It seemed the football fans had the same idea,  we all enjoyed a full English although instead of coffee their breakfasts were accompanied with beer!

The Macdonald Burlington Hotel is ideally situated in the heart of Birmingham, entering through the Burlington Arcade we waited for the lift. To my surprise and delight when the lift doors opened there was Dennis from Georgian Wine Club with his boxes of wine. It was lovely to see him again although briefly; we had a much longer chat later in the day.

Love Wine Birmingham is one of my favourite wine events, the exhibitors are a mixture of big names and smaller businesses and the venue is superb. The room is spacious, with stands around the sides and in the centre with plenty of room to stand and chat with exhibitors and visitors. This year's exhibitors were:

Amanda's Loire Valley Wines    Joie de Vin    Somerset Charcuterie

Arthouse Wine   Cotswolds Distillery     Comté Champagne    Go Brazil

Palmer Dry Gin   Hard to Find Wines     Edgmond Wine   Majestic Wine

Just Perfect Wines    When in Rome     More Wine   Barwell & Jones 

Paso-Primero    R&D Selection    The Wine Society    Planet 9 Wine 

Georgian Wine Club   Wines of Hungary    Sam Sake

Woodchester Valley Vineyard    Simpson's

The Drinking Women's Diet

Casa Silva

Zweisel

Corkers

Ginking

Les Dauphins

Food and Wines from Spain 

Delish Platters     GK Wine House     Pieroth

Our first visit was to Majestic Wine which may seem strange as we only visited them last week but as it was our friend's first wine event we thought we'd started with familiar wines .... however ..... a new wine stood proud alongside familiar favourites. Bread and Butter Chardonnay from California is full of just that; butter, brioche, crème brûlée.

With so many inviting exhibits we were spoilt for choice but as a follower of Paso-Primero on Twitter it was a pleasure to taste Thomas' wine especially his fortified Paso-Vermú with it's deep herbiness.

Hubby and I have been enjoying Cellier des Dauphins wine for many years when on holiday in France and their Les Dauphins wine here in the UK. With their vivid red stylish French labelling their stand looked very inviting with a range of wine including Blanc de Blanc, Cotes du Rhone and the superb Vinsorbes.

Photo credit @LesDauphins

Staying with France it was lovely to try some of Amanda's Loire Valley Wines, it was Richard from Cheshire Wine School hosting this stand. Sancerre, my favourite white, followed by Vouvray, moving onto Méthode Traditionelle Rouge, all just lovely. Great wines, perfect for Christmas, especially as suggested, the sparkling red with Christmas Cake!

Amanda's Loire Valley wines

Joie de Vin have wines from individual producers from all over France and have personally visited them all. Having tasted their wines at previous events I have to say they are superb quality. Hubby was very impressed with the Vieux Chateau Gachet Lalande de Pommerol. I was very impressed with Domaine de la Grange Chenonceaux when at Love Wine Guildford earlier this year, so much so this 100% sauvignon was my first purchase of the day!

A little bit of France chez moi.

Chenonceaux is my favourite Loire Chateau; its grand hall spans across the River Cher. Used as a hospital in WW2 the recovering soldiers were smuggled out of the Chateau on the south side into free France, the main part of the Chateau being on the occupied north bank. 

Chenonceaux Chateau - photo credit @MyLoireValley

Moving further into Europe we discovered more about Italian wines with R&D Selection. Focussing on the Puglia region, wines we both enjoy, the Massimo Falanghina white stood out for me whereas Hubby liked Taro Negroamaro and Enné Negroamaro. 

R & D Selection from Puglia

Arthouse Wines specialise in Italian boutique wine, their Etna Blanco being a 'heart wine - one favoured by the Love Wine Team. And I love it too, so much so it was my second purchase of the day. Another Sicilian wine Etna Rosato is a refreshing rosé wine made from 100% Nerello Mascalese. I quite liked Anglianco, an organic red wine and Preachers, a sparkling wine made from Chardonnay and Armies.

My own bottle of Etna Blanco at home

Meeting up again with Dennis and Berdia at Georgian Wine Club/Cenimex Ltd it was a delight to try their amazing wines from Georgia and Montenegro most of which are fermented in amphoras. The sweet Badagoni Khvanchkara was new to me; Dennis does it every time, bringing exciting wines with new aromas and flavours, so very different, all so lovely. I also enjoyed Lipovac Gea (Amphora) and Lipovac Tellus (Amphora) both from Montenegro.

There were far too many wines to mention them all but I must tell you about More Wine and Just Perfect Wine. It is always good to discover new ideas and More Wine have just that, a can of bubbles. Quelle is a Semi Sparkling Italian wine in a 200ml can, such a great idea and such a great wine. They also had a variety of wine in a box from France, Spain, Portugal and England.

Sparkling wine in a can

Just Perfect Wine specialise in Prosecco and sparkling wine and had six wines for tasting. It was surprising to learn how much the sugar levels vary in sparkling wine. My third and final wine purchase of the day was Ca'Salina Giorgia Spumante Brut which was full of apples, honey and brioche. Made from 100% Glera this wine has no added sulphites, the chemical linked to headaches. 

Just Perfect Wine 

Gin, whisky, meats, cheese, sweets, food platters, candles, even wooden tables made from crates - so much to discover. Wendy Narby was also at Love Wine signing her book The Drinking Women's Diet which of course was a must buy (I'm already hooked, great tips and advice). Hubby is keen to discover more about Bordeaux, an area of France we have yet to visit, so I also bought a copy of Bordeaux Bootcamp which Wendy kindly signed aswell.

Our signed copies of Wendy's books.

We had a great day with our friends, we also met up with one of Cuvée Reserve members (my online wine forum). It is always fun to rediscover wine favourites and to discover new wines, even more fun when shared with friends.

Thank you to everyone involved with this year's Love Wine Birmingham, it was lovely to meet Laura Clay, Heather Dougherty and Richard Bampfield again. I'm already looking forward to Love Wine Guildford - see you all there!