Portuguese food and wine

Our recent holiday in Portugal was to the Algarve, a rare family holiday with our son and daughter, our first visit to Portugal which was superb in every way. There are a few photos of our villa on my other blog Aimetu's Stitching. We discovered beautiful beaches, rocky cliffs, villages, castles and of course wine and food.

Vinho Verde is a Portuguese white wine most people know as 'green wine' from its literal translation but it actually means young wine as it is only fermented for 3-6 months. Although most Vinho Verde's have a slight green hue which could represent its name it is actually the AOC for that region of Portugal. In the north west of Portugal wine has been produced here for over 2000 years and is Portugal's biggest wine producing region. 

We tried a few Vinho Verde wines whilst on holiday; at our villa, in the local bar and with dinner in Albufeira. There is a lovely crispness to this wine as well as an underlying fizz. Originally this hint of bubbles was due to the fermentation still happening in the bottle and did leave sediment. Over time the wine has become more filtered and now the 'fizz' is added by slight carbonation.  

Round of drinks in our local bar - this was my favourite Vinho Verde 

A very popular brand  - great with our BBQ
Casal Garcia

Having recently visited the Champagne region I was very keen to try Portuguese Sparkling Wine. There was quite a range in the supermarket and in all honesty we chose this one hoping it would not be too dry as our daughter prefers sweeter wine ... it was perfect, not too dry, not too sweet. Made from Bical, Cercial, Arinto and Maria Gomes grape varieties, all new to me, from the Bairrada region, this was very much enjoyed one sunny afternoon on our terrace midst the palms.

Portuguese traditional sparkling wine

Our village, Guia, is known for it's Piri Piri chicken and one restaurant in particular was very popular. It was the first to bring this spicy dish to the village in 1964. A very lively restaurant with fast service. We ordered one whole chicken Piri Piri style and one plain; it sounds a lot for four but Poruguese chickens are much smaller than here in the UK. Accompanied by Sangres beer for the chaps and Vinho Verde for the girls it was a very tasty meal; it's always good to try the locals' favourite.

Famous for bringing Piri Piri chicken to Guia

For our final night in the Algarve we dined at a traditional Portuguese restaurant. From the outside it looked like a plain building but inside was like being welcomed into a family home .... and there was so much food.

Colourful Portuguese restaurant

It was a buffet style starter, of which you could visit twice. So much choice from hot soup, seafood, mini pastries, variety of salads, deep fried vegetables, breads, meats .... such amazing food. 

Buffet selection

All so delicious

For mains I chose octopus, not something I often eat but it was perfectly cooked, delicious; it's so nice to try traditionally cooked food. Our daughter had sea bream; Hubby and our son had venison in red wine with chestnuts. All our mains were large portions and having over indulged on the amazing starters I couldn't manage all my octopus, shame I didn't know the word for 'doggy bag'!

Octopus main

The wine list was very extensive, so much choice, all Portuguese wine which made me realise we have very little choice in our purchases here. I'll certainly be looking into wines from Portugal as every bottle we tried over our week away was superb. I chose a white from Dáo for our fish (the chaps had beer), purely from knowing the region name - both our daughter and I enjoyed it and it matched my octopus really well.

Another lovely Portuguese white wine

The atmosphere, setting, food and hospitality at A Casa Do Avo was wonderful, I wish we had discovered this restaurant earlier as I would have liked to have tried a few other dishes. Complimentary port at the end of our meal made the whole experience a great last night of our Portuguese holiday.

The perfect end to our delicious meal 

A Casa do Avo

During our week a highlight for me was a visit with Hubby to Adega do Cantor which means Wine Cellar of the Singer .... the singer being a favourite of mine, Cliff Richard. I couldn't believe it when I discovered his vineyard was in walking distance of our villa, all be it a fairly long walk along country lanes along side the vines.

Adega do Cantor 

Cliff often visits the vineyard, his land being one third of the wine estate but unfortunately we missed him by a day. However I'm so glad we didn't miss the tour and tasting. Walking up the driveway lined with palm trees gave the impression of something special and maybe something different. The difference was apparent as soon as we started walking amongst the vines; some were brown and still in grape, others were green leaves and had been picked.  Another difference was the height of the vines, grown higher to help when it comes to harvest time, hand picking can be backbreaking work so higher vines are a real bonus.

Vines of many colours 

Succulent red grapes 

As I mentioned this estate is in thirds, three different locations, although close by, giving the opportunity to get the best growing conditions for the seven varieties of grape grown. Sitting under a very large sail canopy Anna gave us a very comprehensive talk about how Cliff started growing grapes, how the company progressed and where it is today .... up for sale for 6.5 million euro!

A tour of the wine making area followed, all outdoor under an extensive wooden roof. Although there was a variety of equipment the actual wine making set up was quite simple, a large press was used to produce the white grape juice and also the rose grape juice. These were then fermented in closed vats. However the red grapes were first put through a sorting machine to remove stalks and pips and although pressed they were fermented with the skins in open topped vats. Whilst fermenting the red grapes were mechanically stirred daily to prevent all the skins rising to the top and forming a crust, the open top vats allowed the carbon dioxide produced from this style of fermentation to escape. Quite a technical process, whilst we were visiting they were emptying the equipment - what a difference between the grapes going in and the waste coming out - this is spread over the vineyards to put the nutrients back into the ground - such a great idea.

Outdoor production

Vat tops ready for the next fermenting

What a lovely place to make wine 

The multi-tasking, hardworking press

Freshly picked

Reduced to this - ready to go back on the vineyard

The final part of any wine tour is of course a tasting, this was no exception and was without doubt the something special hinted at by the palm lined entrance. Held in a cave filled with barrels of maturing wine Anna guided us through four wines starting with Vina Nova Rosé ( Aragonês, Syrah). The other wines we tried were;

Vina Nova Blanco (Viognier, Verdelho,Arinto, Antáo Vaz)
Odna Nova Viognier
Vina Nova (Syrah, Aragonés, Alicante Bouschet)

My favourite was Odna Nova Viognier; a favourite grape of mine this had more depth than I have tasted before due to it being matured with oak shavings in the barrel, such a different taste to an oaked wine. All the wines were so clean and full of flavour, they are available from Well's Wines in the UK and if they have any stock left (they are no longer purchasing any) you may find some in Waitrose.

The four wines we tried 

Maturing barrels

Vida Nova signed tiles 

Every year Adega do Cantor produce a 3Q sparkling wine, the name representing the three estates. Last year's sparkling a white wine but this year a rosé and with only eight bottles left we quickly bought one to try back at our villa. It was perfect enjoyed poolside as an aperitif before our final BBQ, fully of bubbles and summer fruits but without being overly sweet.

3Q rosé

It was such a lovely afternoon in the gorgeous Portuguese sun amongst the vines enjoying great wine. My only disappointment, due to flying home and not in our car, was being unable to bring home a bottle of Cliff Richard's sparkling wine made in the traditional method and aptly named Congratulations.

Imagine my absolute delight to find it in the Duty Free, of course a bottle flew home with us and has subsequently been thoroughly enjoyed at home on my birthday- perfect, just perfect!

Cliff Richard's Congratulations

Champagne - Les Autres Maisons

As well as the Grandes Maisons mentioned in my previous post we also visited two other Champagne Houses. In May Hubby and I visited the London Wine Fair and through Connoisseur Estates discovered Champagne Autréau. I was so pleased to be able to arrange a visit to this Champagne House which is set in the beautiful village Champillon.

Champillon lies on higher ground midst the Pinot Noir vines just north of Epernay with Champagne Autréau standing proud in the centre of the village in a very chic clean inviting building; the three champagne grape variety vines growing at the door.

Being August the village was very quiet and standing looking over the vines to Epernay in the stillness was quite a moment. Bernard Autréau began producing champagne in 1953 with 3 hectares of vines; his family can be traced back to living in Champillon since 1670.

It is very much a family business with his son Eric Autréau producing champagne in 1980 after which their acreage increased to 15 hectares. Laurent Autréau has been working in the family business since 2009; three generations of Champagne producers.

It was Eric Autréau who greeted us and lead us through a tour of Autreau's cave and production area explaining how everything works and how their bottles of bubbles are produced. It was a great tour, in French, my translation skills standing up to the task, and so interesting to see champagne being made in a smaller more personal setting.

Our tasting was in a great room with beautiful glass topped tables made from wooden wheels. Champagne Autréau's branding is clean, chic and gives the impression of something special .... which their champagne certainly was.

Monsieur Autréau opened three bottles for us to taste, all superb, all with more flavour than some of the bigger brands we had previously tried.

Brut Premier Cru – Pinot Noir 40% Pinot Meunier 40% Chardonnay 20% - a Silver Medal wine with beautiful fine bubbles

Blanc de Blanc – 100% Chardonnay, this Grand Cru was my favourite with its citrus flavour and creamier finish.

Brut Reserve – Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in equal quantities from the Grand Cru villages of Ay and Chouilly, this was full of softer fruit with a nutty edge.

Champagne Autréau's champagne had cleaner finer bubbles with such great flavour. I think it was this tasting that emphasised to me how every champagne is different and you cannot say you like or dislike this type of wine until you have sampled a range of styles and producers.

Thank you Monsieur Autréau for your time and hospitality ..... I will reminisce with great affection when enjoying a glass of Champagne Autréau 'chez nous'.

One difference that was very obvious at Champgne Autréau was the price of each bottle. On our previous holiday six years ago we did not visit any smaller houses thinking their champagne would be out of our price range knowing that the larger houses prices are upwards of €25.

How wrong we were! Champagne Autréau prices start at around €14, a much lower price for a much nicer bottle of bubbles. This was a real surprise to me, a surprise confirmed at our second visit.

The Office de Tourisme in Epernay and Reims has free champagne tastings,. These are smaller local champagne producers, a different house each day, who are happy to share their wine and chat about their vines and Champagne.

We had some lovely champagne at both Offices, notably Dominique Boulard in Reims who was very generous in his degustations - we tried four or five of his champagne, all superb but unfortunately we did not have time to visit his property and at the Office de Tourisme tastings no sales were permitted, it was purely for promotion and to encourage visitors to the smaller houses.

This blue labelled Brut Reserve is made from 20% Pinot Noir, 70% Meunier and 10% Chardonnay with the Pinot Meunier certainly giving this Brut an extra note of dark fruitness. The toastiest flavour was in their 2005 Vintage Champagne, a beautiful glass of bubbles. Thank you Dominique Boulard I again discovered new and exciting wines and I do hope one day to be able to visit.

In the Office de Tourisme in Epernay we met Madame and Monsieur from Andreiux-Lefort, a very small champagne producer who is also in Champillon, round the corner from Champagne Autréau. They produce just over 2000 bottles of Brut and 800 bottles of rosé from their 3 hectacres of vines.

Arriving at their address you would never imagine this was a champagne producer, an ordinary corner plot house with beautiful garden overlooking the vines with Epernay in the distance. Monsieur greeted us like friends and invited us into his cellar under the house .... his wine cave!

What an amazing room, so cosy, so welcoming. At the far end the bar had a collection of champagne bottles increasing in size and a small version of the presses seen all over this area. It was a superb room with the table and chairs made in the shape of champagne wires with caplet collections as the seats and table top. One of the caplets was worth over €200.

Monsieur opened a bottle of rosé; it was wonderful, the nicest rosé champagne of our trip. It had plenty of fruitness without being overly sweet with an abundance of fine bubbles. Madame joined us along with three other tourists who had also dropped by as a result of their tasting in the Office de Tourisme. It was a very pleasant time enjoying rosé champagne chatting in a variety of languages: English, French, Spanish.

In the Office de Tourisme I was very impressed by Andreiux-Lefort's Brut, it was full of biscuitiness, lots of toast flavours with a nutty edge. From all the tastings we had this was my favourite champagne. I was so pleased to have visited Madame and Monsieur and to now have their great Brut to be enjoyed at a special moment chez nous as this champagne can only be purchased direct.

I also purchased a bottle of Ratafia which is liqueur made only in this region. It is very similar to Pineau de Charentes a favourite of my Dad's that we brought home for him every year. I'm looking forward to introducing this to our friends at one of our wine tastings for the Scout Leaders.

Thank you Madame at Monsieur for your hospitality, time and great champagne. Your Champagne stopper gift will be used on many other brands but will always remind me of your superb sous-sol!

Two other champagnes I really enjoyed were also new brands to me. The first was one we purchased at the Phare de Verzany and enjoyed at our hotel in Reims with our friends, it was around €17.

The other was a champagne on offer at €13,99 in a French supermarket that Hubby and I brought home to try. It had great bubbles, a deep rich colour, and a biscuit flavour .... wish we had brought more, especially at such a good price!

We had an amazing time in the ‘bubbly’ region of France, when here again I will be visiting many more small houses and hopefully discovering even more about this wine. It is amazing how three grapes grown in the same area can produce such varying wines depending on the skill and blending of the Champagne Vintner - it's a real skill that I look on with great admiration.

If looking for Champagne I would certainly recommend trying others, not just the well known labels. Looking behind the supermarkets own label will lead you to discover many new Champagne names.

I was very taken with the caplet collections, I didn't realise how popular this is, nor did I realise how vast the hobby is. There were Collectors Fairs and some of the Champagne Houses produce limited edition series which are highly sort after; some caplets are worth a fortune!

I too now have started a collection and bought a superb holder from Epernay – I wonder which caplet will be added next !

Champagne - Les Maisons Grandes

Hubby and I last visited Epernay six years ago and it was a real pleasure to return with friends to discover more about this amazing region and its bottles of bubbles. We started in Epernay which is the heart of the Champagne Region, sitting in the centre of the three main grape growing areas - Pinot Noir to the north east, Chardonnay to the south and Pinot Meunier to the west in the Marne Valley. 

The three grapes of Champagne

Over the five days of our stay we visited four large Champagne houses and two smaller houses, as well as enjoying some unexpected tastings. Champagne is such a vast region, vast industry with vast differences that if I blogged it altogether the page too would be vast - so this post is dedicated to the four Maisons Grandes.

Our first visit was to Mercier; a Champagne House located at the top of the Avenue de Champagne, the most expensive road in the world and you'll soon see why. Mercier's history presented itself as soon as we stepped inside, a huge wooden barrel had pride of place in the foyer .... and rightly so. 

Founded in 1858 Eugéne Mercier had the vision of champgne being enjoyed by everyone. He held many publicity events to promote his idea including a hot air balloon but Eugéne's biggest event was to take part in the Paris Exhibition of 1889. He had a barrel made to hold 1,600 hectolitres of his finest champagne and with a team of 24 oxon pulled it all the way from Epernay to Paris. Many houses had to be pulled down to make way for such a huge convoy. He won second prize at the exhibition, first prize going to the Eiffel Tower, and gained many new customers, all wanting his champagne!

Eugéne Mercier's huge barrel and model of his 24 oxon

Mercier's caves were started in 1871 and all told 18km of tunnels were dug out. In these tunnels lie thousand and thousands of bottles of champagne. Mercier is not the only Champagne House on the Avenue de Champagne to have such tunnels - hence the reason it is the most expensive street, just think what lies beneath your feet as you stroll along admiring the beautiful buildings!

Champagne Mercier's cave

Our trip in the cave was by train, a self guided electric train passing tunnel after tunnel opening. It was amazing to see how far they went, how they crossed each other and how many bottles each tunnel held. 

All the tunnels had avenue names, in much the way roads above ground do. They were linked to Eugéne's family or people prominent in the development of Mercier champagne. One of the longer tunnels had tableaus depicting the luxury of wine, these were to make life in the tunnels a little more enjoyable for the workers.  

Mercier tastings

All tours end with a tasting, or two; our Mercier champagnes were Brut Reserve with its fine bubbles and flavours of crisp apples and cirtus, and Blanc de Noir made with only Pinot Noir.

This was a new tasting for me and of the two my favourite, fine bubbles as expected but I didn't expect the blackberry, bramble fruitness, a flavour I have not tasted in a champagne before. 

Mercier Champagne is not a brand we usually buy here at home but I will be looking out for their Blanc de Noir.

Still at the top end of the Avenue de Champagne our second tour was at Castellane. This is also not a brand we see here in the UK, I was quite surprised to discover why. Castellane is the same company as Laurent-Perrier. Two houses, both making great bubbles but not in competiton with each other as Laurent Perrier is sold mainly overseas and Castellane sold mainly in France!

The Castellane tower does just that, it towers over the town publicising this superb Champagne House. As part of the tour you can climb to the top and enjoy a 360 degree view of Epernay and it's vines .... but I didn't.

Castellane's striking tower

Entering through a huge barrel door this tour was not just of Castellane's caves but of the actual production areas. Being August everywhere was quiet as it is holiday time but our guide explained how champagne is made including the amazing 300 year history of discovering the best way to remove the sediment from the second fermenation .... our modern techniques are a far cry from the monks putting bottles in the sand but without their initial idea the process would not have even begun.

Castellane's barrel entrance

Because it is a working enviroment no photographs were allowed on the actual tour but of course there was a tasting. De Castellane Brut is 35% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 30% Pinot Meunier and was a balanced rounded champagne, very refreshing after our tour underground.

Slightly out of Epernay at Chouilly is my favourite champagne house. I was so excited when we visited six years ago and I was still excited this time, even more so when I discovered their new boutique foyer area with it's spectacular entrance

Nicolas Feuillatte's stunning new entrance

Nicolas Feuillatte is very modern factory, very different to the old maisons in Epernay. It was founded in 1986 and unlike many champagne houses does not own any vineyards. Nicolas Feuillatte is a co-operative and buys all it's grape juice, known as must, from local growers. Neither are there any wine presses at the factory so after being picked by hand the grapes are pressed at source and Nicolas Feuillatte's fleet of tankers collect the must.

Nicolas Feuillatte's 'must' tankers

The three different grapes, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are kept separate during the first fermentation. This first fermentation takes place in Nicolas Feuillatte's stainless steel vats which just take your breathe away when you see then. They are so majestic, standing on a first level platform they still tower overhead. Rows and rows stand like cathedral organ pipes in this breathe taking room.

Nicolas Feuillatte's stainless steel vats 

It is only when bottled and yeast added for the second fermentation that the wine is blended together depending on the style of champagne being produced. This fermentation varies too depending on the champagne being produced. Their Selection Brut is laid for 2 to 3 years, their Grande Reserve for up to 6 years, and their Vintage Brut over 8 years.

Once fermentation is complete the bottles are riddled, previously by hand but now by gyropalette. This process slowly turns the bottles to a vertical position with its neck down, each day the turn is a quarter to the left left or right and an eighth of a turn to vertical. With each turn the sediment from the yeast moves into the neck of the bottle until once vertical there is a clean bottle of champagne with a small plug of sediment in the neck, albeit the bottles are upside down.

Examples of the sediment after riddling

Nicolas Feuillatte's modern concrete caves were breathtaking, not because of their structure but the sheer quanity of champagne bottles resting as second fermentation occurred. I could spend many a happy hour here, just gazing in awe at the quantity bottles all containing champagne.

This one 'cave' holds nearly 100,00 bottles

Once fermentation is complete the bottles are taken along a conveyor belt through many machines, handled only by robots. During this voyage the neck of the bottle is frozen in glycol, the bottles turned upright and the frozen yeast plug expelled, a top up liquid added, the cork, caplet and wire added, all the labeling completed and finally boxed. If you buy an individual boxed bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte you will be the first person to ever touch that bottle as it is only handled by the robots though this final process.  

This was for me the best tour, not only because Nicolas Feuillatte is my favourite champagne but the information shared, explained and demonstrated, it's a remarkable process to make those bubbles!

And so to the tasting, as we each had two tastings we all chose a different champagne so we actually tasted them all. I love the yeasty brioche flavour in Nicolas Feuillatte champagne, my favourite tasting was 2008 Vintage Collection Blanc de Blanc.

2008 Vintage Brut - equal amounts of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier

2008 Vintage Blanc de Blanc - 100% Chardonnay

Reserve Exclusive Rosé - 10% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir, 45% Pinot Meunier

Reserve Exclusive Brut - 20% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Pinot Meunier

2008 Grand Cru Blanc de Noir - 100% Pinot Noir

The final Grande Maison visited was in Reims; Taittinger is another champagne that we don't normally buy but one I have tasted at a few wine events. It was another tour full of surprises, after entering ironwork gates the Taittinger building was a square concrete style building, not the grande maison I had expected. 

The film at the beginning of our tour explained why, the site was an ancient abbey destroyed in the French Revolution. The Benedictine monks centuries earlier had extended the underground caves dug out by the Romans in the chalk ground. These caves are beneath Tattinger's modern building offer the ideal location for storing champagne; venturing down the spiral staircase it was amazing to be in the monk's caves. 

Peter the Great visiting the monks in their wine caves

Ancient carving on the cave walls

One of the beautiful ornate ancient doors in the caves

Taittinger's champagne bottles underground 

 A tasting of Tattinger's Brut greeted us upon returning to ground level, a lively glass of bubbly but not quite a full flavoured as some the other Grande Maison tastings.

Taittinger Champagne

Touring and tasting champagne in these four great champagne houses could not have been more different - publicity focused Mercier, modern setting with historic caves at Castellane, ultra modern factory at Nicolas Feuillatte and ancient caves at Taittinger. There was so much to see, so much to learn and of course so many tastings to enjoy.

The diversity of these tours emphasises the huge differences in the taste and flavour of champagne, not one coupe of bubbles tasted the same, all so different, all suitable for different occasions - however there was more to learn in the smaller houses .... but that's another story!

At all our tastings I took a selfie of us all - Nick, myself, Dave and Agnes - not always an easy achievement as the tastings progressed but a super souvenir of our 'bubbly' time !

Our Grande Maison selfies !

Chateau Hearnden's latest cru

Cru ... perfect description, not really to do with the wine in production but everything to do with our next trip ....... Champagne-Ardenne!

My next few posts will be full of bubbles; this post has bubbles too but not quite in the same way. Every so often I put my vintner skills into practice; I say skills but the master vintners have no need to worry just yet.

This time Chateau Hearnden is producing rhubarb wine. I bought the rhubarb at a local village fete. It was soon chopped and in the big bucket with a gallon of hot water .....

....... a month (or so) later this was the result.

Anyone fancy a glass? Thought not!

A careful procedure next to remove all the fruit and growing fungi to reveal a gallon of very concentrated rhubarb juice.

As you can see it still has many fine particles, the next stage is to filter the liquid through a fine muslin and add sugar.

A clearer juice with its energy ready to go. I did leave this a few days to see if it would activate itself but no bubbles appeared. A little wine yeast soon had it activated and bubbling away.

I wonder how long it will bubble for, hopefully we will not come home from holiday to an explosion!

I have no idea when this 'cru' will be ready, wine making at home is a bit of a 'wait and see' hobby so time will tell. I last made rhubarb wine in 2014 and I would say it hadn't really developed fully until last year.

Off now to see how it should be done 😉

What a surprise!

Thursday last week was a superb day - Hubby and I travelled to Cambridge to meet friends whom we last saw 15 years ago when we visited them in Norway. It was as if time stood still, we all looked the same and chatted away like our last meeting was only yesterday.

Cambridge is a beautiful city, stunning architecture, beautiful college grounds but for once I only have the obligatory selfie photo to share as we were so busy chatting with our friends.

We did find Cambridge Wine Merchants ... not really a surprise there ... it was nice to sit in the cool in their Wine Bar. I had a really refreshing, if hard to say when ordering, Sipsmith Sloe gin with Fevertree tonic.

I'm sure Hubby and I will visit Cambridge again soon when we can take it all in a little more and enjoy the beautiful places.

Whilst enjoying lunch my email notification sounded, so after we'd eaten I checked my phone .... what a surprise! It was from People's Choice Wine Awards to say I had been chosen as one of their Round 1 judges. Over 200 people had applied and they chose me !

Extract from PWCA website:

The People's Choice Wine Awards is run by Janet Harrison, founder of Cracking Wine and The Fizz Festival.  Both companies organise fun and informal wine tasting events and wine festivals which always involve an audience vote.  Her experience has shown that wine lovers know a good wine when they taste it - whether they have a formal wine education or not.

In 2017 the inaugural PCWA was launched. Wines were submitted from a wide range of supermarkets, importers, producers and retailers. It is expected that the competition will attract even more wines this year.

The ethos behind the PCWA is simple - giving the consumer the opportunity to vote for the wines they love means that they are at the heart of the process, rather than being disengaged from it. The terminology and categories have been made easy to understand and meaningful to the average wine drinker. This helps them make better buying decisions and helps retailers understand what their customer wants.

Above all, wine is a joyful thing and should be fun - PCWA reflects that spirit.

Wine is certainly fun for me; it's not about quantity or alcohol consumption, it's so much more:

🍇which grapes 

🌍 how and where they are grown

🤗 who has the amazing skill to produce it

🍷 it's colour, aroma, flavour

🍽 what food it pairs with

🎉 what occassion or setting is best to enjoy it 

Wine is a big part of our lives and I feel honoured and privileged to have been chosen as a Round 1 Judge - thank you PCWA for chosing me.

But in the meantime I need to think about packing as it's not long until our Champagne holiday with friends, I'm so looking forward to revisiting this amazing part of France 🍾