King Richard III and Yalumba

Quite a mix and actually other sides of our our amazing globe but they are linked - tenuously but its there :-)

Yesterday we had a lovely day at the King Richard III's visitor centre in Leicester. It's a really amazing exhibition about how they found him, all the DNA testing, other dating work and reconstruction work is so clever. It was a lot of dedicated by a group of very talented and clever people.

Beautiful wooden carved chair as the centre piece
to the opening informative film

King Richard III's portrait

King Richard III's reconstructed face

The history behind his reign, The Battle of Bosworth and Shakespeare's play was explained so well. Plenty of time to look at all the information, and interactive exhibits to add to the fun of learning. The battlefield is just a few miels from us and we have walked around it many many times. Over the last few years we've watched the 'body in the car park' story come to life with King Richard III finally being laid to rest in the Cathedral.

My stepdad was invited to the Cathedral for the occassion, a special day for him as it was also his birthday. Yesterday was my Mum's birthday so this year both their birthdays have been King Richard III focussed.

I hadn't realised how close the car park where he was found was so close to the Cathedral. It was actually the grounds of a priary at the time and the Cathedral was a parish church. Hopefully in these three pictures you can see the geographical link.

He was found in the square roofed building
 the other side of the wall

He was found just over my right shoulder and that's the
Cathedral spire over my left shoulder

The roof of the Visitor Centre looking
towards the Cathedral.

Although the carpark is not part of the Visitor Centre's actual grounds (you can see the wall in the first picture) they have been 'given' the area. It really is amazing how close he was but as I said this site was once a priary. His resting place is as they exposed it and is now under protective glass. There is a laser light that shows how he lay.

King Richard III's grave

Photo from the Visitor Centre web page 

Unfortunately because we visited on a Sunday the Cathedral was closed for a service, we'll ave to visit another day to see his final resting place. There was a plaque in the Cathedral previously and this is now in the Visitor Centre.

Previously in the Cathedral

Outside is a statue of King Richard III - more like the Shakespeare interpretation I think. I used to teach Shakespeare and one thing we focused on was context and looking at how the plays reflected the time. Shakespeare wrote many of his plays to please the Queen as that meant he was kept in favour, this being said he was always going to put King Richard III in a negative light and praise Henry who was Elizabeth's family. It's always good to think about the time a book/play was written and did that effect it's views.

King Richard III and Leicester Cathedral

I found it amazing that using DNA descendants could be traced - what an amazing thing to happen.

PHOTO: Australian-born Wendy Duldig (centre), along with Michael Ibsen (left) and Jeff Ibsen (right),lay flowers on King Richard III's coffin before a procession through Leicestershire  (Reuters: Suzanne Plunkett)

Did you spot the tenuous link? Wendy is from Australia and so is Yalumba Wine. They are one of my favourite winemakers - we first discovered Yalumba at a Mathew Jukes' 100 Best Australian Wine Tasting with SH Jones.

I have been a member of Tesco Wine Community for a few years and have enjoyed being on their taste panel for many wines, but I was especially delighted to be chosen to review two of Yalumba's red wines.

With the Bank Holiday and a weekend away it was a balancing act to get both tastings in on time but here are my reviews as posted on TWC:

As we're away for the BH weekend and having limited time this week I have only been able to review the Old Bush Vine Grenache. We chose to open this bottle as we are huge fans of Yalumba and have tasted many in the Y series: this Grenache was new to us. 

But it won't be new again .... absolutely beautiful. 

The label with it's set type print gives the air of age and quality which is matched by its dazzling redness in the glass. Its high ABV and depth of flavour is a real surprise and delight, quite unxpected from its light strawberry red appearance.

The wine's fruity nose with a light background of spice leads perfectly to a mouth full of ripe red fruit, with smooth caramel, chocolate notes and a lightly tannic and spicy finish. It's one of those wines that just melts your inside and puts a huge comfy smile on your face. 

Hubby, son (new to wine appreciation) and I shared the bottle last night, hopefully next time my glass will have the biggest share as this wine is superb.


Y Series Shiraz Viognier 

Such great labels that make the Y series look so inviting and this bottle's label is no exception with it's rising horse matching the rising fruits within its nose. Blackberries, cherries and plums all dance around matching the dancing highlights within the cherry redness in the glass. 

And the dancing continues with more deep fruit, swirls of vanilla and a little tease of spice making this wine so exciting and almost new with every sip. 

Yalumba wines are certainly Australian highlights: both the Y series Shiraz Viognier and the Old Bush Vine Grenache are two to be enjoyed and savoured, pure delight in both bottles. 



I was stunned and delighted to discover that my reviews have been chosen by Yalumba as one of the winners for their pop up dinner in Chester with their winemaker Louisa Rose. This is the first dinner prize I have won with Tesco, and it couldn't be better. I am so so excited and will of course be blogging all about the event.

Thank you Tesco and Yalumba.

MS Cake Bake - THANK YOU

As you may know I have MS - diagnosed in 1999. It doesn't stop me but it does limit me and some days are worse than others. I'm quite proud of the fact that I hide it well and unless you know me or watch me closely you probably wouldn't guess. My legs are not always stable, I sometimes walk with a limp, I can wobble as I walk, my hands have little surface feeling and at times don't quite do what I expect them to do, writing can be hard, holding cups/cutlery can be difficult and some days I am so tired I just stay on the sofa.

Bad days I stay home, mainly because home is the best place :-) and without my fantastic Hubby Nick even my good days would not happen. We have an amazing life, as you can see from my many blog posts, but I do only post the 'good stuff' - no-one wants to read about the bad !!

Here's my latest piece of 'good stuff' - last Thursday I hosted a Cake Bake Day here at home in aid of the MS Society; their official Cake Bake Day was on 15th May.

Over the two weeks prior to Thursday and for the next week I have taken orders for large cakes. A maximum of two cakes a day and spread a few days apart - the whole event has taken a lot of planning, not my baking but my own ability and rest. Baking two cakes a day was do-able if they were not too tricky, if they were then it was one cake. The icing happened the following day so I could rest in between.  The cakes for my Coffee and Cake at home were made over the two weeks prior too (freezers are amazing things) so again it looked lots but was actually 'slow and steady'.

Gingerbread People

Coffee and Walnut Cake

Victoria Sponge

Chocolate Guinness Cake

Schokogugelhopf for my Blackout Prize

I am so so grateful to all my friends and family for their amazing support for this - my cakes were very well received with amazing donations. I have four cakes to make this week for my final orders.

The only thing that really had me frustrated with a little 'blue air' was on the morning of my Cake Bake when I had to blow up and TIE the balloons - this definitely needs more thought next time as my fingers were useless - it was quite funny. Guess it's a job for my lovely Hubby next time. 

I also do cross stitch - great for MS resting and so long as I watch my hand and make sure I'm holding the needle I can stitch quite a lot (I have often looked up at the tv then back at my stitching only to find my hand in the air and the needle still in the fabric, so funny)

For my friends who live too far away to share my baking I launched a Just Giving page to raffle a Little House Needleworks cross stitch chart entitled 'Baked Goods' - for every £1 donated I'll be putting their names in a hat and drawing a winner on May 31st. I am so grateful and quite amazed that £31 has already been donated - THANK YOU

http://www.justgiving.com/owner-email/pleasesponsor/Clare-HearndenCakeBake2015

The main reason for this blog post is to say THANK YOU - certainly not for sympathy or praise - and it is a BIG thank you as my Cake Bake total is amazing. The actual total is yet to be finalised but with money already in, orders this week and my online page, the total will be 

OVER £250

MS needs so much research into causes, symptoms, medication, cures, life style help and support. Since my diagnosis so much more has been discovered and developed but more funding is needed to continue this vital research into a condition that affects so many. 

And hopefully days like CAKE BAKE will also increase awareness as MS patients are often judged - wobbly walking must mean someone is drunk - can't get change out their purse must mean they are high on something - slurred words must mean they are not in a fit state - WRONG, it could just be a 'bad day' and a helping hand would be appreciated.

THANK YOU to all my friends who give me a helping hand when I need it and a who have given so much to my Cake Bake and helped MS Society with their future research and the support they give.

Wine surrounded in mystery.

Last week Hubby and I enjoyed another great evening at Majestic in Leicester at their Wine Course. £5 deposit secures your place on their selective course which usually samples 8 or 9 wines. This time our son also joined and as always it was a night of discovery and surprise.

However before that I need a little help - last night we enjoyed a lovely chardonnay from Concho Y Toro. Rio Lento is a lovely light wine, un-oaked with vanilla highlights and a smooth creaminess. But where did we buy it from ?

Initially we thought a recent purchase from our trip to Calais - could it be Calais Wine, or Majestic Calais. Having checked our receipts and their online shop it doesn't appear so. Hubby then thought The Wine Society but again no, which leave SH Jones, a great little wine merchant in Leamington Spa but I'm not sure. Google for once is not helping as a search on Rio Lento Chardonnay results in a variety of holidays !!

Can anyone solve the mystery - I do hope so as I'd quite like another sip or two !!

Returning to our Wine Course at Majestic - all the wines were a mystery to our son as although he's a bartender he specialises in cocktails, but some surprised us too. On arrival the table was laid for 10 with 3 whites and 3 reds per setting already poured - very inviting but equally mysterious as not a bottle in sight. But before sitting at the table we were offered a glass of bubbly - a light wine with large bubbles, pears and a hint of orange. This was revealed to be Prosecco Romeo & Juliet NV Treviso £12.99

We settled down at the pre-laid table and focused on our first white, very pale in colour, quite fruity with acidic notes. It had me puzzled a little as although is was undoubtedly a sauvignon blanc it didn't appear to be Old World, more new area such as Chile. However it was Old World, French and from the Loire Valley which really surprised me, but from an area we have not visited, Nantes. This city lies at the mouth of the Loire and the area is more widely known for muscadet; a good wine but for me I prefer the sauvignons from further up river.

Pierre-Jean Sauvion £9.99

We tried the next two white together - both had a more golden colour compared to the first but were very similar. Wine 2 was a chablis with it's unmistakable pear drops and vanilla, and Wine 3 a creamy chardonnay with slight tannin

2012 Chablis from Domaine Vocoret was a lovely chablis with a classic old label highlighting it derived from 'vielles vignes' and the Chardonnay from Chile. Luis Felipe Edwards Gran Reserve from Casablance Valley is one of our favorite chardonnays and already sits awaiting on our rack. Both wines are great value at £11.99.

After enjoying 3 whites Majestic surprised us with another bottle of bubbles - fine bubbles, biscuity and elegant. A real treat to try Heideseck Monopole 2007 Gold Top £30.00.

For each tasting we were asked to think about colour, nose, taste and finish. Although everyone's pallet is different we did find some similarities as we tasted the white trio. It wasn't until after each tasting that the bottle was revealed - quite a surprise with some wines and non more so than our first red!

Full of damsons, oaky with a hint of espresso, a lovely red which we just couldn't place. It was another example of Chilean wine, Errazuriz Estate Series Pinot Noir 2013 £10.49.

Surprisingly the second red also had everyone puzzling, although it isn't easy when the wine is a blend. Merlot was definitely noticed with a dry tannin, but also apparent was a hint of licorice and some earthy notes. The blend was cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc (the earthiness) and merlot and was in fact a Bordeaux from the right bank area of Medoc. The cabernet franc was actually the most dominant in this red which may account for why we were all unsure. A deep red that would be enhanced by serving with food, Chateau Greysac 2008 £14.99

Our final red was my favourite - a lovely malbec, always so deep with cherries, hints of coffee, oak and slight tannin. This wine was from Mendoza, Vinalba Reservado Malbec 2013 £12.99 and as with a good malbec had a beautiful chocolaty coffee finish.

An amazing tasting, always lots of information given by the knowledgeable Majestic staff and always good wines to try. Every time we visit I learn more and more especially as Majestic also provide small nibbles of food to wine match. Theses matches are not always complimentary to the wine, some are given to purposefully highlight what not to drink - such as spicy Doritos with the Malbec or smoked salmon with Chateau Greysac !!

There was yet one more tasting and this was a real mystery - dessert wines are delicious and are amongst my favourite wines, especially at the end of a meal with a small piece of chocolate. The mystery ?? this dessert wine was a red !! A totally new experience for Hubby and I; definitely positive experience as a bottle was purchased without any question.

Elysium Black Muscat 2013 Andrew Quady £9.99 - very dark in colour with a rosie pallet this was pure delight and the perfect was to end such a brilliant Wine Course

 - thank you Majestic Leicester 

Calais Encore !!

Last weekend saw us and our good friends Rob & Kathy and Dave & Agnes pop over to Calais for the weekend. Obviously wine and beer purchase were top of our list but we were also there to enjoy being in France and having a mini break.

Our drive round London on the M25 was amazingly uneventful, even crossing the beautiful Queen Elizabeth II bridge (although it's a bit pricey now and you have to pay online before you cross). It's an amazing structure with great views westward towards Canary Wharf and eastward on the Thames Estuary.

Queen Elizabeth II Bridge

After meeting at Medway Services and driving on to Dover we were very lucky to be allocated an earlier crossing. A fairly smooth P & O sailing on the Pride of Canterbury soon had us arriving on French soil, with a quick hop along the motorway to Pidou Supermarket - well there's no point in delaying our shopping.

Pidou has a vast array of wine, mainly well known brands sold in the UK supermarket; Echo Falls, Blossom Hill, Hardy's VR, as well as spirits, bottled beer and matching beer glasses. Our favourite easy drinking Cotes du Rhone is Celliers des Dauphins and is best priced at Pidou.

Our favourite Cotes du Rhone

Next stop Majestic, probably our favourite shop and checking our receipts now we're home most of our purchases were made here. It's great to see a shop full of all the wines we see at home but at a much more appealing price. The exchange rate at the moment is fantastic making the prices even better. I'm not going to include tasting notes this time - plenty of blogs to follow as we enjoy our buys.

Leon Perdigal (another Cotes du Rhone) was a must, as was a bottle of our favourite champagne Nicolas Feuillatte. Majestic have a great selection of Luis Felipe Edwards, Oxford Landing, Yalumba and Brancott Estate wines; it's a hard choice to decide which to bring home but they do have a tasting station for the obligatory sampling. Duc de Belmont was a red recommended by our friends, it's always good to try new wines.

Majestic Calais - tasting station

And so onto the third of our shopping trio (they are all next to each other) Calais Wine. This shop is amazing, so many offers and so many great wines. I love Otra Vida Viognier and at 3 bottles for £6 it could not stay in France. A new wine to me but recommended by one of our friends was Stoneleigh Sauvignon Blanc; I'm looking forward to trying this well chilled on a sunny evening.

Calais Wine - an amazing place

One of my favourite wines

Shopping done we drove in convoy to our hotel - Ibis Calais Tunnel Sous la Manche. It's in a great position, easy to access from the autoroutes and is next to Cite Europe for all the bars and restaurants. Our Friday night meal was at 3 Brasseurs, a micro brewery that has chains in Northern France, Belgium and Canada. I had a pallet de degustation which is four small glasses of their four main beers; the others had a beer cocktail, red wine and a little something to share !!

3 litres to share - fabulous idea

My set of four - the darkest was my favourite

The food there is always good, I had their version of a pizza, Flammekueches. For dessert we had Cafe Gourmands which are a great idea. There is a selection of mini desserts, usually about 4 or five and an espresso coffee or cup of tea. It's always hard to choose which dessert is the nicest. We had one Saturday night too when we had another great meal at one of the others restaurants in Cite Europe.

Friday night's Cafe Gourmand - all delicious

Saturday Night Cafe Gourmand with an additional glass of wine

Saturday morning we all squeezed into our 7 seater and set off south, not far, just 30 minutes to Montreuil-sur-Mer. This medieval town was the inspiration for Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. and unknown to us held their markets on a Saturday! After squeezing round the tiny streets we managed to park and take a walk along the town's ramparts. The views stretch far and wide, almost to the sea. It's very evident that the town had a moat as some of the ramparts are steep walls with banks on opposite sides.

Montreuil is where The Wine Society has it's french shop and being as we're members we called by. Unfortunately the wines they stocked were not the ones we or our friends were hoping to buy but we did find Duo des Deux Mers which is one of our favourites. It's a good place to call by if you are in the area.

Montreuil's Ramparts

The Wine Society Shop in Montreuil

Duo des Deux Mers

Moving on from Montreuil we travelled towards the sea and stopped for lunch in Etaples. Nick and I have had three holidays in this harbour town with fishing it's main trade. The weather was beautiful if a little windy but warm enough to have a small picnic on the harbourside watching a few boats sail back in and some small planes taking off from the airport opposite.

On returning to Calais we did our final shopping at Auchan, one of the large supermarkets. Although wine was on my list I do buy many other things in France and this trip had a must - a new Raclette cooker. Our previous one was in much need of being replaced and we found just the one in the electrical department. A new t-shirt, hand wash (refills), shower gel, smoked garlic, cheese, olives, pate, vanilla sugar, coffee and cordials were all happily added to our trolley before we had just a quick look in the wines. We do also bring beer home, namely Belgium beer and this time the brands included Rince Cochon and Kwak. Our best find in Auchan was a Sauvignon from the Ardeche which I had enjoyed last holiday and a great Cremant de Loire which is one of our favourite sparkling wine.

Cremant de Loire

As mentioned we dined in Cite Europe Saturday night, there are plenty of restaurants and bars and although inside it actually feels like you are outside. After two nights at the Ibis and a great two days in and around Calais it was time to travel home. The Pride of Kent cruised us back to Dover over an almost still Channel.

A brilliant weekend with great friends - one I'm sure will be repeated. If you'd like more details about visiting Calais there is a separate page at the top of my blog - definitely worth a trip.

And if you like to chat about wine why not join my online forum Cuveé Reserve, where members share tasting notes, upcoming events and other wine related tips. Please mention you found the forum through my blog and I'll authorise your membership - Cuveé Reserve.

The Wine Society

I've been looking at The Wine Society website for a little while, wondering about their vast variety of wines and contemplating joining. I was delighted at Christmas when our grown up children bought us membership and my drooling, contemplating and pondering could at last have the final stage of ordering and most importantly tasting.

The Wine Society first began at the Great Exhibitions in 1874 when a co-operative company began to buy good quality wines and sell them to members. Over 1500 wines are sourced by nine buyers and sold to members; the Society is non-profit making with surplus monies being used to enhance service and supplies.

Membership is a one-off fee of £40 giving you a unique share number. Our membership came with a £20 voucher off our first order which was an added bonus.

And so to choosing wine - what a task ! We decided to choose a random selection as opposed to a mixed case, although we were tempted by Top Society Sellers - a case of the top selling Society wines, 6 red and 6 white. 

Our 'name-the-day' delivery arrived as arranged and we opened our box in eager anticipation. All the wines looked tempting however we dutifully laid them in our rack ready for selection as required, and as we have now tried a few I thought it time to blog our findings (all photos are from The Wine Society page) - tasting notes are always subjective but here's what we discovered.

Duo des Deux Mers - France 2013 I was very intrigued with this wine, and I loved it.

It's from the south of France but as the name suggests from two regions. The duo refers to the two grapes in this white, sauvignon from Gascony and viognier from the Languedoc; Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean being the two seas. 

.

A lovely pale yellow colour with a nose full of gooseberries and pineapples, with a background of crisp green apple. It had a slightly syrupy palette with a smooth finish. A pure dry tasting wine full of  kiwi and gooseberry flavours - but without being sharp or acidic.





The Stop Gap Chardonnay - France 2013  Another wine that interested me because of its origins, fruit from the Languedoc and Beaujolais, and another I loved.

This white burgundy had a deep yellow colour which matched its creamy vanillaness. It was full of pears, peaches with a spicy tingle to its finish. A lovely unoaked wine with a nose of red apples and just a hint of vanilla.







The Society's Ruppertsberger - Germany 2013  Not our usual choice of grape but this German Riesling caught our eye; it's blended with silvaner which is a new name to us.

Very sparkly in the glass, its straw yellow having striking highlights. We were expecting an oily nose but this Riesling was full of green grass and apples, quite refreshing. It's palette was smooth and cream, with some vanilla; a little like a chardonnay but with a crisp sauvignon finish - not at all as we expected but very much enjoyed.

The Society's Cotes du Rhone - France 2103 A favourite red grape and a part of France we love so we were keen to try this wine.

A beautiful deep red colour with scarlet highlights led to a nose full of damsons and cherries. Our mouths were filled with the same damsons, sour cherries but joined with a smokey dryness that had a smooth finish. An really enjoyable soft Cotes du Rhone that was without oak and full of fruit.

This will be on our favourites list - a lovely example of a smooth french wine.






Malabarista Tempranillo-Granache - Spain 2012  This wine again is not our usual choice, we are not keen on Rioja but this is from the neighbouring region of Navarra.


It's nose was full of dark fruit but yet quite light, unlike it's colour which was a deep, almost claret-like red. Quite acidic high notes were immediately evident on tasting followed by damsons, plums and a slight aniseed/liquorice note. It was certainly full flavoured with slight tannin and long finish.





We have enjoyed our first few wines from The Wine Society, not only tasting but discovering more about them and adding notes to our tasting book. It's great to have the catalogue to mark wines we've tried - a book that will be travelling with us next weekend as we're visiting France and will have the opportunity to call in at Montreuil-sur-Mer and the Wine Society's french shop.