Dinner Party Wine

This week we had some friends over on Friday for a meal - I decided to open the other bottle of Glorioso rioja from the Tesco Dining Dozen (my review case). Hubby and I are not really into Spanish wine and food but I did think I should do something to go with such a great Spanish wine. So our menu was:

Bombay Sapphire Bramble cocktail

Baked Camembert with Lindauer Brut (we were going to have the Codorniu Rose but changed our minds last minute)

Chorizo and chicken with Glorioso Rioja or Mar del Sur Savignon Blanc

Walnut and Lemon Pavlova & Beetroot and Chocolate Cake with Nespresso coffee and Glengoyne malt whisky



Beetroot and Chocolate Cake

It was a lovely meal - everything cooked at the right moment without me spending all evening in the kitchen and the wine was perfect. I wonder what I'll do next time.

Hubby and I are getting quite excited about the summer holidays but we have quite a busy time before then - next weekend we are back in Wales at our caravan and hopefully if the weather is kind I'll have some stunning photos to share.

June 14th we are off to Banbury for another wine tasting with SH Jones - it's Loire Valley wines this time which are my favourite - really really excited about this.

The following day we're in Cardiff overnight to then bring our daughter home as she has finished her first year at South Wales University - and what a year she has had - I know a Mum is always proud but she really is going places and has been involved in so much - follow her on Twitter @PhilippaClare

So my next blog looks like being travel based - guess there will be a little wine too. Just before I finish this blog I picked up two 'poorly' plants at Dobbies - an English lavender and a rosemary - just 50p each in the reject bin - now planted in lovely new compost and well watered; growing should start soon :)



Rince Couchon and travel plans

It's a glorious day today - spring at last and my plants certainly know it.We have purchase a few newbie for our local garden centre - you can read about it at Aimetu's Stitching.

Just for a change it's beer that focuses today - Rince Couchon - a fabulous Belgium beer that I discovered in Etaples last year in France.  It's quite light in taste but be warned it's 8% - it has gone down very well this afternoon in the sunny Midlands. I just love the pig on the stem of the glass (it's a girl thing)

Rince Couchon

We are busy planning our future travels - soon we'll be wine tasting again with S H Jones in Banbury. They have many events throughout the year; Loire Valley wine tasting on their list soon had us booking two places. This of course entails an overnight stop so a mini weekend break in June is all booked, the tasks we endure for the sake of our hobby !!

July is looking to be very exciting as I am retiring (early please note). Hubby has booked a super little trip for my last day at school - Eurostar to Brussels - I am so so so excited as we have not travelled by Eurostar before and never been to Brussels. We are staying in a beautiful 4 star hotel so I'm sure it will be a perfect way to start retired life.

August brings on our main holiday to..... France..... where else. We are returning to Etaples where we had a fabulous week last year and felt it was just not long enough. We have booked the same beautiful cottage in the heart of the town and are already planning trips to places we missed last time. Repeat visits will be to Le Vieux Post cafe/bar in the centre of the town where I discovered Rince Couchon; and Planete Ocean where each evening we can sit harbourside enjoying a glass of their very nice white wine.

September is always a brilliant month (birthday time!!) and made veen better this year by Tesco Wine Fair coming to Birmingham - closer to home although that does mean no weekend away. We've already booked our tickets (4; me, Hubby and two very close friends) - really really excited.

So that's our travel plans for this year .... but next year's holiday is already being discussed and researched. I think I love this bit as much as the holiday. It's our 25th wedding anniversary and we have been looking at a variety of holidays from cruises to inclusive hotels. We've chosen (I think) and it's none of those but a trip to ..... France !! We decided as it is a special holiday we should do what we really really enjoy, not what we 'should' do - it will be slightly different to our normal holiday as it includes a return crossing from Spain (new territory) with Brittany Ferries - planning in progress but it's looking good.

That's all from me other than to say if you haven't joined Tesco Wine Community following my 'fame' last blog you are really missing out - go on pop over you'll love it. My glass of chilled Touraine sauvignon blanc is calling so until next time... cheers !!

Member of the Month @Tesco

I was very chuffed to be chosen as Tesco's Member of the Month - their Wine Community is an amazing forum to belong to, as is their Tesco Wine by the Case website.

This month they have published my review of their Fine Dining Dozen Mixed Case - I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and you can read my review here:

Aimetu's Review

Comments are always appreciated, even if you are not a wine drinker.

Life is reasonably quiet on the travel front at the moment - we have some very exciting trips coming up but I'm not giving any spoilers so you'll have to keep popping by. I will however recommend SH Jones events - we did the Matthew Jukes wine tasting with them earlier in the year - they are always very good and there are some good ones on offer.

Yesterday I held a stitching event at The Abbey (Party at the Pub) here in Nuneaton. It was for members of Needlecraft Haven which is a craft forum that I host. We had a great day, pop over to Aimetu's Stitching to find out more.

That's it for this week - all my writing skills were used up writing for Tesco - the only photo that is appropriate for today's blog may be a little self indulgent but as I said before I am very, very chuffed.

The non steep way !!

Over Easter Tesco launched their Spring Festival - they had instore offers  but Wine by the Case (online) offered 25% off two cases of wine as well as free delivery over £50. I know many of the Wine Community members took advantage of such a great offer. There are still some great offers online if you pop over to Tesco Wine.

Anyway not one to miss out I bought some too, "what more" I heard my very full wine rack cry. Well yes, not French but some Australian favourites that are always good to give a gifts or take to friends when invited to dinner.  So we bought:




McGuigan Bin 736 Shiraz Vognier



McGuigan  Bin 218 Chardonnay

I have been keeping on eye on a mystery case that Tesco offer - A Case of Mystery Champagne and Sparkling Wine Mixed Case - and so to make my order up to the free delivery amount I just HAD to add a case. £50 for a mystery case of three champagnes and three sparkling wines. .. how could I resist any longer !!

Easter Monday dawned with 'knock, knock' Tesco calling - perfect start to the holiday week. My Australian wines were quickly stored in the garage before I opened my mystery case with anxious anticipation. I will just add at this point that another member of the Wine Community had also just purchased this case and had returned it - he wasn't happy with the contents (I agreed too when he posted his list) and Tesco accepted the return no hassle.

Knowing this I was quite nervous at opening my case - slowly I pulled each bottle out to reveal 6 bottles of very very acceptable fizz! Here's my mystery case:



Mystery Case

A. Carpentier - a brand we've never tried RRP £24 Tesco sale £14

Nicolas Feuillatte - whoo hoo - RRP £29.99 Tesco sale £14.99 

Lanson Rose in a beautiful girly pink bottle - RRP £35.00 

1551 Codorniu Rose - RRP £14 Tesco sale £6 

Montalto - another newbie for us - £14.99 

Invilla Prosecco - we love this - £9.99 

The total none sale price was about £128 and with Tesco sale just under £100. Hubby was very impressed, we will be ordering this again :-)

Hubby was actually so impressed we opened the A. Carpentier that evening - well it was a Bank Holiday !

Wine accompanied us on our three day getaway to our caravan in West Wales - we take wine with us for a couple of reasons; mainly we know we have wine we like as rural Wales has decreased variety with increased price.

This was our first weekend at the caravan this season (our last visit was to open up so involved cleaning not relaxing!) As a treat we took a bottle of Tim Adam's The Fergus - I cooked steak to accompany it - delicious on both counts !!!



Tim Adam's The Fergus

We had a very relaxing time; walking on the beach with Ruby but very wrapped up as it was a raw wind. There was snow still lying on the higher hills but inside we were very very cosy. Our last day had us venturing out on a walk we've been meaning to do for many years - Llyn Barfog, The Bearded Lake. It has many mysteries linked to it including one about King Arthur. 

We drove up Happy Valley - why that name we've yet to discover - to the Snowdonia National Park car park. The un-tarmacked road lead through a farm but then forked and we were unsure of the route. Maybe that's why the farm dogs barked and danced around us as if known the farmer's wife appeared and gave directions:

 'if you want the non-steep way it's left'

So we went left and.......

..... if that was 'non-steep' I'm NEVER turning right !!



The Bearded Lake

The Mountaineers

Top of the World

Wales always fills us with awe - so many spectacular views on high and low ground. I took these two from the car on my mobile as the scenery was stunning.

Aberdovey

Snow topped mountains

My blog will include many more trips to Wales this year - West for the caravan, South for our daughter's Uni - and many more ramblings about wine..... especially as Tesco have launched their Wine Fair dates for the Autumn - now there's a treat to look forward to :)

Just one final note - if you noticed the tablecloth in my champagne photo it is one of my creations - Aimetu's Stitching is my hobbies blog - you're welcome to pop by.

Snow, Alfie Boe and Cafe Rouge

Last weekend hubby and I went on another adventure. Through work we had the use of a Land Rover Discovery 3L V6 which was an absolute blessing given the weather.

Friday was for me the highlight of the weekend as we were amongst the 12,000 that braved the atrocious weather to see Alfie Boe at the NIA in Birmingham - but more about Alfie later.

The weather was light snow and we found our hotel - Ibis Budget -n quite easily. Much to our relief the car park was outside and plenty of spaces so no worries about the height or size of the Discovery. The rooms were very clean and identical to the Etap Hotels we use in France - budget cost so no tea/coffee but a very good shower, flat screen tv and comfy bed.

Dinner was booked for Cafe Rouge at The Mailbox - this is our favourite CR so braving the now snow blizzard was definitely worth it, although we were wrapped up ready for the North Pole.

Cafe Rouge - The Mailbox, Birmingham

I absolutely adore the salmon nicoise, especially as it's totally free on my Slimming World plan. I'm not so sure about the Ricard or mini creme brulee, both of which are a must when visiting Cafe Rouge.

Braving the snow again, and driving wind we forced our way along the canal to the NIA. It's a huge venue which disappointingly had no big screen so Alfie was a wee bit tiny. However it's his voice that I love and for most songs closed my eyes to appreciate his beautiful tenor voice. The Evening Star review summed up the opening night of his Storyteller Tour perfectly - even Alfie's little slip up !!

We are amongst this huge NIA crowd - can you see us !!

After the show we relaxed in All Bar One with some friends - I couldn't believe it was 12.40am when we left; left to fight our way back to the hotel in driving snow. It felt like New Year's Eve as everywhere was quiet apart from a few night clubs and the roads and paths were completely snow covered. Thankfully our hotel room was warm and cosy.

Saturday morning revealed 3 inches of snow - we trudged our way back to Cafe Rouge for breakfast as we were not going to miss having their French Toast and superb coffee. It was a tricky walk but not so windy; Birmingham was certainly waking up slowly as for a Saturday morning everywhere was very quiet.

Breakfast done we checked out, cleared the snow from Discovery and set off to Cardiff. The Birmingham roads were hardly recognisable but we found our way to the M5...

... and the M5 Droitwich had no snow! It was a very easy drive to Pontypridd to our daughter at Glamorgan University. We had a lovely afternoon meal at Tynant Arms - a Brains pub.

Tynant Arms

When in South Wales for the uni run we usually stay at Best Western in Cwmbran but it is a drive from Pontypridd. This time we stayed at the Legacy International Hotel just off the M4 and it was lovely. The bed was massive and the room warm, clean with tea/coffee and a spacious bathroom. Breakfast was a buffet with a variety of hot and cold food; we'll definitely be staying here again.

Our Sunday lie in was lovely before meeting our daughter and her luggage and travelling home (to snow). Another busy, exciting and very varied weekend.

We did have a challenge Sunday night - a wine tasting. I'd been chosen as one of the ten Team Tesco Taste Tasters and was sent a bottle of Piggy Bank Temparillo 2011 Extremadura to try. It's a red wine from Spain; here's the winemaker, Norrel Robertson's description:

Old, low yielding Tempranillo bush vines are grown on rich, deep red clay soils, which permit the development of extensive root systems so they can survive in a tough growing environment. The exciting region of Extremadura is located in the far west of central Spain, where the warm, dry continental climate is moderated thanks to the Guadiana River. The grapes were picked by hand, then crushed into small stainless steel fermenters. 50% of the blend was aged in American oak barrels for 5 months

Tesco Wine Community is a fabulous place to chat with fellow wine lovers and we all posted up our Piggy Bank findings. Have a read on the forum, or under the review on the Tesco Wine by the Case website - Piggy Bank. A bonus for this wine is 50p from every bottle is given to charity.

Tomorrow is April 1st and spring must be on it's way - I'm not sure what our weekends have in store for the next few weeks but I'll be filling you in so keep a look out for my next post - cheers!

Wales - after a long winter

It's that time of year again - smiles all round as it's 'caravan opening' weekend. Hubby and I do miss going to our little getaway over the winter but it would be a little too chilly.

This weekend is the moment so Saturday we'll be up early and off up the M6 before joining the windy Welsh A roads to the Cambrian coast. It's quite interesting to travel there in the winter as we see so much more when the trees are bare. Quite often we spy a small holding or cottage we've never noticed before because it is usually hidden in summer greenery.

I wonder if we'll enjoy another snowy view this visit - the scenery is stunning whatever the weather but I do love to see the snow hugging the mountain tops.

Snow on Cader Idris

The car will be laden with new supplies- food, household stuff, toiletries and most importantly a 'few' bottles from our cellar.

Some of our French favourites from our trip to Calais Wine, Majestic and Pidou will be moving to Wales along with a very special bottle of Willunga 100 from SH Jones when we went to the Matthew Jukes 100 Australian Wine Tasting.  I think we'll have steak or welsh lamb to go with it.

Here's Matthew Jukes' report from the Leamington Spa tasting event:

8^th February 2013 – SH Jones, Leamington Spa

REPORT – To my shame I have never been to Leamington Spa before. I cannot remember a more beautiful city centre, with chic shops and boutiques, all immaculately tended, and the noble Spa at their heart – I will return. I strolled past the smart SH Jones shop on Regent Street on my way to the Angel Hotel where the tables were set up, groaning under the weight of no less that 48 of this year’s 100 Best. It was great to see seven of the representatives of the various wineries/agencies arrive (including Andrew, all of the way from Brown Bros. HQ in Australia) to help the SH Jones team pour the wines. We needed the help because this event was not only sold out it seemed to have attracted a few thirsty opportunists, too. With around 100 people speeding through the wines in just two hours it was a helter skelter ride. I managed to ‘tell the story’ about every single wine which must be a record, too! Some of the Banbury SHJ squad came on the train to investigate the SHJ sibling operation in Leamington, but on the whole the audience were new to me and new to Aussie fine wine. I do hope that this event has not only ignited the passions of the Leamington SH Jones team, ably led by Tom, but also the assembled tasters. Leamington is apparently a pretty traditional place when it comes to wine habits and so it is about time that this striking town felt the thrill of great Australian wine running through its veins.

Staying with the wine theme - always a favourite of mine - Hubby and I have a very difficult task over the Easter school holidays. We need to drink 3 bottles of Champagne or sparkling wine as school are putting on The Wedding Singer and they are needed as props - I wonder why they asked me :-)

We did make a small start on Mother's Day as we had a bottle or Codorniu 1551 - very nice, quite light with a mass of bubbles. We enjoyed it just hubby and me late evening after a lovely day. Our daughter came home from Uni for the weekend (3 hours each way by train) and we took both sets of grandparents to The Abbey (Party at the Pub) as our son was working behind the bar

Bottle number 1

Thankfully I had no chocolates - still on track for my Slimming World target in time for retiring in July :-) and leaving work too means there is more time for trips, events and special occasions.

One trip definitely on our list is Tesco Wine Fair - this must be our 6th or 7th year and is an absolutely wonderful weekend. The 2013 dates are:

7-8th September - Manchester

21-22nd September - Birmingham

5-6th October - London

12-13th October - Bristol

26-27th October - Edinburgh

The venue have not yet been announced but we are so excited that the Fair is coming to Birmingham as that means a day trip on the train AND a weekend trip to either London or Bristol - yes we will go twice as it is such a good event !!

Of course Tesco Wine is available all year round and there's a great forum at Tesco Wine Community so although the Wine Fair is once a year the fun is never ending.

That's all this time but next weekend we are on a huge adventure which includes:

Alfie Boe - Birmingham - Cardiff

I'm counting down and trying not to get too excited just yet!!

France encore !!

On our travels again – last weekend hubby and I had a weekend in France. Nothing fancy, posh or expensive just a hop across the channel to stay a couple of nights in a country I love, and maybe bring a few goodies home too.

Before I start though I will just give you a few tips and points:

Firstly;

although you can purchase wine and beer and other lovely goodies at a slightly cheaper price in France than here in the UK you do not ‘save’ any money if you include your travel, accommodation and food. Therefore to do a ‘booze’ run is not always economically best, but it does make a fabulous weekend break.

Secondly;

because the shopping, eating out and generally being in France is our main purpose we do travel and stay as cheaply as we can – if we were travelling further afield or having a luxury break where the hotel was the main focus our choices would be different (the same reasons as our first night away in my last blog). I do believe in ‘meeting the purpose’ with costs accordingly matched and saving a few pennies on one part of any holiday means more to spend on another.

So all that said here’s our Calais adventure:

6am departure from home made our trip feel almost like a normal work day as this is the time hubby usually leaves for work. However driving down the M1 with all the other commuters and watching the sky lighten (no actual sunrise) over Milton Keynes was definitely not leading to a day in the office.

The journey passed without incident although we both nearly had a heart attack crossing the Queen Elizabeth II bridge as the charge for a car is now £2.00 – we remember using the Dartford Tunnel both directions seeing the bridge grow more each time, waiting for our chance to drive over (1991).

Traffic being kind to us resulted in arriving early at the Port of Dover where P&O Ferries put us on the next boat; thank you. Our booking was with Direct Ferries who we have used many times – this time our return crossing was a bargain at just £49.50 return !!! 

P & O to France

The Pride of Burgundy sailed across to France in 90 minutes with just a few sways and less than 2 hours from leaving England we were happily wine tasting/browsing in Calais Wine Superstore

It’s an amazing store with 'over 32 wines available every day to taste in their state-of-the-art temperature controlled tasting machines and another 40 wines at the bar’ . We buy our cheaper favourites here – wines we love that are easy drinkers for an impromptu glass in the evening. These wines are our ‘laid back’ favourites as they do not need any planning or food matching – they can just be enjoyed.

Here are some favourites that are now living ‘chez nous’:

Blossom Hill Signature Reserve Chardonnay

Jacob's Creek Three Vines Shiraz Grenache Sangiovese

Merlot Ca'Lunghetta

La Roche Brut

Chardonnay Ca'Lunghetta

Cabernet Sauvignon Ca'Lunghetta

Pinot Grigio Ca Lunghetta

Just next door – well ok to be precise round the corner - is Pidou. This supermarket is a newbie to us discovering it last summer. It has wine, beer and other goods; nothing in size to the big Auchan or Carrefour but it does have a good range of brand labelled glasses and gift sets. I found a beautiful Courvoisier glass and a Disaronno tumbler.

We always stay at the B&B Hotel in Coquelles just south of Calais. It's a travel hotel but is always clean with comfy beds and a small but very adequate bathroom. Towels and showergel are provided and each room has a flat screen tv which receives BBC channels. The double rooms were a very good price at just 39 Euro with breakfast and additional 6 Euros each. It's definitely worth having breakfast; a buffet with bacon and scrambled eggs, a variety of bread, pastries, cereals, yoghurts, fruit juice and hot drinks.

We started using this hotel many years ago was they have four bedded rooms on the second floor; double bed and ensuite bathroom with an added mezzanine homing twin beds; superb for travelling with a family. From the top floor too you can see the tops of the ferries as they sailing and out of Calais - this caused great excitement in the early days. 

B&B Hotel - Coquelles

The hotel is next to a Centre Commercial with a large Auchan, a great bar Le Blierot and most importantly a Flunch. For being a supermarket cafe Flunch is a fantastic place to eat. It's self service for starters, puds and drinks; at the service till you say which main you'd like for which you are given a ticket. After settling ourselves at a table with our starter and bottle of Bordeau it was mains time - hubby took our two tickets, Bavette and Gallette Americane, to the grill where the meat is cooked right in front of you to your preferred liking. A large variety of vegetables, some in delicious sauces, rice, mashed potatoes, chips and pasta are all 'a volonte' - help yourself. It is perfect being able to have different mains and chose what you would like to eat with them. Flunch do Menu Enfant too for younger visitors - a favourite with our two in the past.

Perfect cosy night - well it was minus lots outside with snow - and a good breakfast set us up for a quick trip to Majestic Wines. They also have a very good selection with many of the usual supermarket choices available at a few pounds cheaper than home. We only bought a few bottles which now rest in our 'reserved' rack for special moments.

Robertson Winery Chenin Blanc

Robertson Winery Merlot

Lindauer Brut

Brown Brothers Orange Blossom and Muscat

Our Saturday afternoon was spent driving and mooching around Boulogne - it was bitterly cold but it didn't spoil our plans,if anything it made us walk even quicker to Buffalo Grill for our evening meal. Did it feel strange to be escorted to our table by a clown, with a sheriff and can-can dancer serving at tables ??? no of course not it was Carnival Night - although we didn't join in the quiz or singing !! Staying at the B&B entitled us to a free aperitif which went down well with our complimentary salad starter. Our mains were perfect - similar to our Harvester restaurants and pub was perfect - Cafe Gourmand - mini creme brulee, mini brownie with creme anglais and an espresso coffee. A great meal with a fun atmosphere for a Saturday night.

Cold walk back, another cosy night, waking up to snow, yummy breakfast and a 'choppy' boat home completed our weekend away. It's one of our favourites to do - not too expensive for travel, hotel and food - car full of goodies and time to be in FRANCE !!!

If you get the chance do it :-)