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 :-)

Wine & Beer - don't mind if I do

Hubby and I have had a fabulous 'Christmas present' weekend; we don't need ornaments, gadgets or food goodies so this year we independantly planned and booked a 'boozy' weekend break as our present.

It started Friday evening in Leamington Spa - a quick check in at the Travelodge was followed by diner at Weatherpoons. Both places ok as they were just the necessitites of the weekend, not the highlight. Our room was clean, quite spacious and the perfect place for a night's sleep, and our Mixed Grill / BBQ Chicken meals were the perfect way to fill our tums before .....

.....the first event !!

SH Jones are an excellent wine merchant having shops in LeamingtonSpa, Banbury and Bicester. They not only stock a great range of wines, beers and spirits but have various events throughout the year. For us they had they perfect start to the weekend - a wine tasting.

Matthew Jukes 100 Best Australian Wines

As Wikipedia quotes ' Matthew Jukes is a journalist, author, wine buyer, lecturer and wine judge. He has been the wine correspondent for the Daily Mail since 1999 and he also writes a weekly column for MoneyWeek, a monthly column for The Week and occasional features for Decanter Magazine. He is responsible for the wine lists at several top London restaurants including Bibendum Restaurant, Chutney Mary, Amaya and Veeraswamy as well as the private wine club Quintessentially Wine worldwide.

He is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and each year compiles his ‘100 Best Australian Wines’ list and he takes the wine on the 100 Best Roadshow around the UK. '

SH Jones had organised a great evening - a glass of Jansz Brut 2006 as we arrived got the evening off to a bubbly start. Matthew shared tasting notes on 12 wines throughout the evening with the SH Jones team topping our glasses up with the next taster. In between we also had the opportunity to sample another 36 of the 100 Best.

Our first main tasting were all white; Riseling, Semillon, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay - all very good wines but not for me. Much as I like white wine my palette prefers Old World whites from the Loire. However I did enjoy, really did enjoy the Australian shiraz wine but before we got there we tasted two Pinot Noir wines which were again very good - the price of Matthew's choices ranged from £9.99 to £59.99 so as I said very good wines.

The final four reds were superb, quite a surprise for me as they got heavier by the pour but I think suited my taste as they had very little tannin; the big red 'put off' for me. My absolute favourite red was one from the table tastings, '2009 Yalumba FDRIA' just the bouquet had my head nodding with approval followed by the taste being so smooth, so rich but soft without the 'tut tut' after taste. Not the cheapest intheroom but so delicious we have ordered a bottle for that 'special occassion'.

Matthew's final tasting was a superb sweet wine 2008 De Bortoli Noble One - this was very smooth, lots of fruit and I thought honey; poured over a smooth vanilla ice cream would be dessert heaven.

We had a wonderful evening and the following morning called into SH Jones shop to purchase a few other wines to bring home:



Plaimont Cotes de Gascoigne Sauvignon
Vouvray Demi-Sec, "La Forcine", Auguste Bonhomme



Pasquiers Grenache Noir
Yalumba Shiraz

We also purchased some organic strawberry beer which is going down very nicely as I write this blog and watch England beat Ireland in the RBS 6 Nations

If you ever visit Leamington Spa (or Banbury) you certainly must pop into SH Jones - a wine merchant with something for everyone.

You should also pop into Cafe Rouge - as my regular readers know it is my favourite place to eat and Saturday was a real treat as we were there for breakfast. Their French Toast is delicious, topped with fresh banana, blueberries and strawberries all drizzled with honey - accompanied by a superb Americano coffee - maybe I need to get up early every weekend for a CR breaksfast.

So that was the wine but what about the beer (strawberry aside) ...

...... the next event of our 'Christmas present' ...

.... a visit to Hook Norton Brewery in the Cotswolds. Tucked away at the end of Hook Norton village it was an amazing sight to arrive at, such an impressive building.

Hook Norton Brewery

In their own words 'Hook Norton is one of only 32 family owned breweries and is the finest example of a Victorian Tower Brewery in the country. Of course, the brewery is about so much more than just its fantastic range of award winning beers. We welcome over 10,000 visitors a year to our Visitor Centre and over 40 of our pubs are at the heart of many of local communities, serving great drink and food to the region.'

We had a brilliant tour with Chris and his Hook Norton accent - his knowledge and obvious love of the brewery and all it's original working parts made the tour feel very personal. Unfortunately the brewery isn't working at the weekend so we will be visiting again to see it up and running, walls vibrating and all. The Brewing Process page of their web site explains the whole story.

After the tour we were treated to a tasting (or 2, or was that 3, or maybe more?). Here's the beers we tasted:

 We also tried their Twelve Days Christmas beer which was hubby's favourite and very good - my favourite was the double Stout as I prefer a rich beer but each one went down very well. Watching the rugby was an added bonus - thanks Richard (we are there, can you spot us)

Twitter: HookyBrewery Hook Norton Brewery
9 Feb Full house for the rugby ( following a tour) pic.twitter.com/DtGtJ0Ct

Our wine and beer weekend was completed by a stay at the local pub The Sun Inn - it made a change to visit a brewery and enjoy the tasting as I am usually the driver. The Sun Inn is a traditional pub with The Red Lion Coffee Shop in part of the pub; if offers accommadation, good food and has a function room.

Our double room was spacious with a lovely modern ensuite shower room, tea/coffee facilities and a flat screen tv. It was a little chilly but since we'd had snow on the way the weather was on the cool side anyway.

We had a massive plate of cod and chips for dinner, very nicely cooked, with a crispy but not oily batter followed by a shared platter of 7 varieties of cheese with biscuits. This morning we've enjoyed a full English breakfast before travelling home after our very very successful and boozy 'wine and beer Christmas weekend'

Snow in the Cotswolds

Thank you to everyone who helped make it a perfect Christmas present - especially SH Jones, Cafe Rouge and Hook Norton Brewery.

Exciting end to 2012 and a warm welcome to 2013

So the festivities are over; today we have pt our decorations away. We try to do it traditionally on 6th: according to tradition, it is unlucky to leave decorations up in the home beyond the end of the festive season, marked by Twelfth Night, and that anyone who forgets to take them down must leave them in place all year to avoid misfortune.

However Twelfth Night is the night before Epiphany, the day when the wise men arrived to give their gifts to the baby Jesus. Some people therefore leave their decorations up and even give gifts for Epiphany.

Anyway our house is now back to being 'normal' with what feels like a little more space. That is until our lovable Ruby came home from the kennels - she is a rescue dog with 'issues' so for the later part of the festivities she went to her second home Witherley Kennels. She has settled there well which is a relief for us when we go away.

The end of 2012 was an exciting new adventure for us - we went to Liverpool by train. This is unusual as we prefer the car but London Midland and Virgin Trains were offering some great deals, it's only one change, and no M6 motorway, so we decided to give it a go. Both journeys were relaxing and stress free; no overcrowding, trains on time both departing and arriving.

We stayed at Hampton by Hilton which is next to Albert Dock. A new build modern hotel with a minimalistic look. A very comfortable bedroom but with an intriguing wardrobe door - sliding from being the wardrobe door to the bathroom door depending on it's position. The floor length mirror opposite gave some unexpected views of the bathroom at times.

 Liverpool was amazing - our first amazement was the amount of chewing gum on the almost invisible pavement. We managed to do so much in just two days:

The Cavern Club

Yellow Duckmarine Tour

Tate Liverpool

Liverpool One

Liverpool's skyline is filled with an array or architecture from ancient to ultra modern. The Three Graces were stunning in the morning sunlight with the Liver Building being the most dominant.

Three Graces

Liverpool is not short of a bar or restaurant either - the top level of Liverpool One is the perfect dining setting - it certainly doesn't feel like you have a shopping centre below. We enjoyed meals at  Red Hot and Cafe Rouge; drinks at Bierkeller but our best visit was to All Bar One where we discovered the most wonderful shiraz Little Yerling Shiraz 2008; a £20 New Year treat .

An exciting time and 2012 was not yet over - Party at the Pub The Abbey Nuneaton helped us see in the New Year. Being as our son is a bartender there we joined them for our final tipple in 2012. Or should I say tipples as we certainly saw the New Year in in style - starting slowly with a fabulous bottle of Fish Hoek Sauvignon Blanc and finishing with a smooth Southern Comfort (I'm not divulging the inbetweens)

Our start to 2013 included a very successful wine and cheese evening with friends. The varieties we tried were:

Cheese:

Cheddar  -  Cornish Brie  -  Wensleydale with cranberries  -  Gorgonzola  -  Emmental 

Marmite cheese  -  Ovejo (spanish)  -  Goats cheese  -  Cheshire 

White Wine:

Cheverny  -  Touraine Sauvignon Blanc

Red Wine:

Sainsbury's Malbec  -   Ca'Lunghetta Merlot  -  Yellow Tails Shiraz

We didn't try matching so much as trying new - and work the following day lead to reserve sampling. A thoroughly enjoyable evening that I am sure will be repeated.

Finally our last 'hello' to 2013 was a goodbye as our daughter returned to Glamorgan University. We decided to make it a short break and took grandparents to see where she was. They were very happy to see she had settled well and thought the accommodation very modern and clean - something wrong there for student digs!

We stayed at the Parkway Hotel, one of the Best Western chain. Its tucked away from the main Cardiff hussle and is a little like visiting an elderly relative where everything is done proper and laid out. We booked their £99 dinner, bed and breakfast deal which included a delicious four course carvery.

The following morning we all visited Cardiff Bay - a reasonably new development with bars, restaurants and an impressive Pierhead. The Doctor Who Experience  had many excited visitors rushing in and the barrage walk was filled with families; dogs, bike, prams, scooters, walking sticks. The area is a perfect family place. We had lunch at Cafe Rouge - using our 40% off voucher from dining in 2012.

Cardiff Bay

So a busy end to 2012 and quite a busy start to 2013 - January is looking good too with a bit of a french theme !

Cheers

Christmas celebrations are almost over - we had a lovely family day. We had a traditional turkey dinner starting with a variety of seafood; prawns, smoked salmon and salmon pate.

This was accompanied by a bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte 2004 Cuvee Champagne. it was perfect. A more intense flavour than the Brut we had earlier this month for my husbands birthday. The golden colour was darker and the flavour richer with many more bubbles, although not gaseous.



Our traditional turkey dinner was perfectly accompanied by a bottle of Il Papaverone. It was my dad's favourite. Sadly he passed away earlier this year and there was a bottle in his wine rack so we saved it for Christmas. All the wines in this range are superb but this was Dad's favourite.



Il Papavero Primitivo 2011

It's an Italian wine, Primivito grape. A lovely weighty red, deep in colour with a rich aroma but not heavy tasting. It matches beautifully with red meat, especially beef or lamb casserole dishes. it's 14% but not overly heady.

We have also enjoyed other wines over the holidays including our favourite Cheverny which we bring home from France. Tomorrow we are off for a short break in Liverpool, our first visit which will of course include a meal at Cafe Rouge. All the deals, bargains and must dos will be here next time.

It'll soon be here

Just over a week to go and the festivities will begin - our house already smells of Christmas as this year I have made mini Christmas Cakes for gifts. I love the smell; spices, rich fruit and of course some Christmas spirit.

I purchased some individual plastic muffin holders (with lids) online through ebay and will be decorating each holder with Christmas ribbon - this gift has already given me a lot of pleasure, baking, decorating, assembling, and hopefully my friends will love it too.

I think we are ready - all our gifts have been purchased but not yet wrapped. The elders in our family love vouchers - so we have a selection of Weatherspooon, Smith and Jones, Dobbies, and RSPB which we know will be greatly appreciated.

One shop I have loved visiting this year has been John Lewis. Their choice of festive gifts is amazing and something for everyone's pocket. Charbonnel et Walker sugar almonds and James' Chocolates mini chocolate bars are for little extras, with a few main gifts that Santa is keeping secret.

Shopping trips for us always include lunch and more often than not that means Cafe Rouge. They have so many great offers on at the moment; set lunches; evening meals; festive menus. I love receiving their newsletter by email, more often than not with a discount offer. Watch out in the New Year as their restaurants are having a new make over with stylish French chic decor.

Christmas is a time for everyone in many different way; family; friends; religious; memories; joy; and for some sorrow. St Laurence's Church hold a festival for all - 60 real Christmas Trees all decorated by different people. The money raised for tree sponsorships and visitors is divided between church running cost and charity. I sponsor a tree every year and my theme this time is family tree. I stitched the names you get in families, the photos are some of our family members. If you'd like to see more of the trees and my needlecraft please visit my other blog Aimetu's Stitching

Finally festive fizz - it is the only way to start and end the season. Our favourite champagne, Nicolas Feuillatte is on offer in Tesco . There are certainly some fabulous wines to help the season go with a swing - the Wine Community is a great place to learn more as well as take part in their festive advent calendar which is full of great tips, offers and competitions.

Enjoy the last few days of preparations - busy shops, lots of cooking, maybe a party or two - it all makes a very Merry Christmas.

A quiet second half to November for us - this meant a chance to sample a few more bottles of wine from our cellar. The cellar is in two parts of our house - an 80+ rack in the utility room and then a few boxes in the garage. We do stock up on our trips to France - Calais Wine, Pidou and Auchan being our favourite places to shop; B&B Hotel our regular stop over and always a Flunch dinner.

We are already planning a trip in February to Calais and our summer holiday in Etaples again. The France Show is on at Earls Courts January 18th - 20th and it's a must for anyone visiting, holidaying or moving to such a beautiful country. Tickets are on offer at just £10 each if you book before 31st December.

Travel tip: if you live north of London park at Watford Junction and take the tube to Kensington Olympia. If you visit London more than once a year it is cheaper to by an Oyster card for using the Underground and Buses.

So back to our wine:


Cuvée Royale 2010

CHEVERNY BLANC

Colour : Pale yellow with green highlights

Nose : hint of blackcurrant, exotic fruits, white flowers

Taste : light fruit  



 Côtes-du-Rhône 2011
CELLIER DES DAUPHINS

Colour : deep sustained red

Nose : fruity with floral highlights

Taste : spice and peppery notes, rich fruit 

Just two from our choice this week. Although we buy most of our wine from France, liking very much Old World wines, we do enjoy New World wines too. Tesco Wine Community is a great place for new and old wine lovers to share tips, ideas and recommendations. I have been inspired by a 'cheese and wine' idea for a New Year party :)

With the festive season approaching fast it's Christmas shopping time - good finds, tips and festive suggestions next time.