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.

White Castle

In mid April we had enjoying a few days away with friends in Abergavenny, a market town in Monmouthshire, Wales. We had a great time exploring the town with its traditional market hall, castle and museum, but the highlight of our stay was our tour and tasting at White Castle Vineyard in Llanvetherine.

Hubby and I met Robb and Nicola Merchant, the vineyard owners, a few years ago when our daughter 'adopted a vine' for us. We were the proud supporters of a Phoenix vine, you can see how delighted we were in my previous White Castle Vineyard post. 

It was a real pleasure to arrange a trip for our friends to discover the delights of this wine gem nestling in the beautiful Welsh countryside. Robb and Nicola made us all so welcome; Robb's tour was so informative about how they started in the wine industry and how it has progressed, taking them on an amazing journey and at times 'pinch me' experiences. 

Their next project is to have their own Winery so their wine is grown and produced on site. They are now crowdfunding, with support starting from £20, to make this dream a reality. Their crowdfunding page  has details of the various pledge rewards as well as the story of how it all began.

On the site of White Castle Vineyard is a 16th Century Croft Barn, a Grade II listed building that was once part of the Great Trerhew Eastate. The barn was derelict but with the help of various grants, support and hard work it has been restored with new weather boarding between the original 1581 wooden beams.  It's a stunning building that is now used for a variety of events including weddings. 

As I mentioned before we adopted a vine and our plaque was put on our Phoenix vine. Each row is numbered, as is each vine in each row so it was easy to find our vine. As our adoption year has finished Robb gave us our plaque as a keepsake and to my absolute delight a cutting which I have nursed all the way home and have everything crossed that it will take.

After a stroll around the vines listening to Robb's expert advice on growing, pruning and harvesting we returned to the Cellar Door for a superb wine tasting. Hubby and I have tasted most of the White Castle range and whilst the wines are slightly higher priced than our usual purchases we had no qualms in suggesting the visit to our friends. The oohs and aarghs accompanied by very smiley faces was evidence a plenty that everyone was very impressed and thoroughly enjoyed each glass. 

Our first tasting was Gwin gwyn which translates from Welsh to English as wine white. It's produced from the Phoenix grape and is my favourite White Castle wine. 

An invitingly clear wine in colour with aromas and flavours of citrus and elderflower and a clean crisp finish. Cellar Door price £20.00

Moving on to a wine I have not tasted before, our second tasting was White Castle Rosé. Its appearance in the glass a soft salmon followed by an abundance of summer fruit flavours and an elegant finish. Cellar Door price £19.00

I felt very very spoilt with our first red tasting. I am not a great drinker of Pinot Noir as I struggle to find a wine that I like, however on a previous visit Hubby and I tasted Robb and Nicola's Pinot Noir Precoce Reserve and fell in love immediately. This wine is really superb, full of vanilla and dark fruits with a hint of oak from it's barrel aging. 

Cellar Door price £32.00 

Our final red was Harry, named after Robb and Nicola's grandson. Produced from Rondo grapes this wine had a deep colour corresponding with the deep fruit in its flavour.  A medium bodied wine benefiting from it's time in oak to develop. 

Cellar Door price £24.00

Our final tasting brought us full circle with its name being connected to the Croft Barn. 1581 is a fortified wine taking its name from the age of the barn beams. A smooth and very moreish wine that would be a perfect match to a cheese board, poured over ice cream or enjoyed straight from the bottle.

Cellar Door price £27.00

Siegerrebe is White Castle's other white, we do already have a bottle at home. A delicious wine full of peach, blossom and honey flavours with a hint of spice on its finish. Cellar Door price £22.00

Our absolute favourite red is White Castle's Regent. We have enjoyed this with our Christmas dinner for the last few years, it's a great pairing. It's full of dark fruits with cherry notes and soft tannins giving a long lengthy finish. Cellar Door price £25.00

Although not included in our tasting at the vineyard I can say White Castle's Sparkling Wine is superb. It has an abundance of fine bubbles, is full of gooseberry and elderflower flavours and was perfect to celebrate our daughter's engagement in 2022 to her Welsh fiancé. Cellar Door price £32.00

Thank you so much Robb and Nicola for such a warm welcome, fun vine tour and fantastic tasting. I know we all had a great afternoon with plans to revisit discussed already. I wish you every success with your crowdfunding and will be watching with delight as your winery becomes reality.