A variety at home

A quick review of recent wines before my blog is filled with our discoveries from our Mosel and Champagne holiday.

In no drinking order the first wine to highlight is The Black Stump Sauvignon Blanc from Laithwaites. We have been a fan of The Black Stump Durif Shiraz but had not tried a white wine under this label, there is also a Chardonnay Pinot Grigio. 

Sauvignon Blanc is my favourite grape although I do prefer the softer French wine than the hard hitting New Zealand varieties. This Australian wine was full of crispness, lovely aromas and flavours yet had the softness I love in Old World Sauvignon Blancs.

Have you heard of Good Pair Days? I discovered them earlier this year, a great idea to help everyone learn more about wine and pairing: full details are in my earlier post. 

This was the red in my first case - Casa Ssntos Lima 'Azulejo' Tempranillo from Rioja in Spain. Yes I know I'm not a Rioja fan but our case was to share and this was one for my Hubby. It had plenty of fruit, spicy and the murkiness that I'm not keen on but Hubby liked it.

I have no idea where this wine was from, it was at the back of my whites so I had forgotten it was there. It was a lovely wine from Austria with plenty of citrus and appley notes. There was a slight fizz which added to its crispness. A great wine with our fish supper and if I spotted it again I'd certainly pick up a bottle or two.

Moving away from wine I was delighted to find Kwak beer at Great Grog when we visited Edinburgh. One of my favourite beers that we bring back from our trips to France, the glass definitely adds to the taste experience. I'm hoping to bring a few bottles back this trip.

These wines were enjoyed with our daughter and her (now) fiance when they visited early May. The engagement excitement was the following weekend when we enjoyed a bottle of White Castle Welsh Sparkling Wine but this weekend we enjoyed Primo Vere Pinot Grigio from Morrisons and Calvet Cahors Malbec, a bottle our daughter had been given. 

To super wines that were perfect with our bbq sitting in the garden. I do find the easy drinking wines are so good when your focus is really on the people you are with, they are easily enjoyed by everyone.

Our visit to Cardiff to see our daughter usually includes a shopping trip to Fine Wines Direct. I'm a big fan of their Franschhoek Cellar selection especially the Sauvignon Blanc, no surprise there. This was a wine I just enjoyed, no pairing, no company, just a lovely glass of wine after dinner. It kept really well too so I enjoyed a second evening of this super South African wine.

And finally a wine Hubby and I enjoyed yesterday to get our tastebuds ready for our holiday. Blutengarten Riesling is bottled in Bernkatel-Kues a village we are staying in for a few days. Although there is no visitor centre it will be interesting to see where this wine originated from and I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities to try more Germa wine, especially as we are staying with a winemaker.

I do like to keep a record of the wines we've enjoyed and my blog is an ideal place for my notes and ramblings ... it is great to look back too although it always surprises me how to time has flown by.