Italy "That's Amore!"

We had long promised to put on an Italian Tasting and last Thursday I have to say that we knocked the ball out of the court, and the wines were great too.

We tried to cover as much of Italy as possible but you have to remember that the 1000 plus wines from Italy stretch from the Alps in the North to 'almost within sight' of Africa in the south.

To start we jumped into one of Itlay's most known wines Montepulciano d'Abruzzo BUT this one was a rose! It was a great introduction as all the soft, dark red berry fruits were there but in a much lighter style of the wine. The whites were typical Italian with fantastic aromatics and rounded white fruit bodies - the stand out for me was Soave Singat Adalia.

As great as the whites were the reds were outstanding. The Italian big boys of Barolo and Chanti were textbook examples of what the grapes can do. The Barolo could use a year or two on its side but if you like your wine as chunky as it is ethereal then the Patrizi is the one for you.

To finish we had Corte Sant' Alda Recioto - a wine so good I tried to run off with both bottles before we had tasted them. Recioto just means that the wine is from semi dried grapes and that the frementation was stopped early to give you a full bodied wine but still very sweet. If you've never tried a sweet red wine it can be a litte bit of a shock but it is a once in a lifetime wine, the red berry fruit is layered with bitter cherry and sweet raspberries.

From the crowd I could tell that they all had a great time and we'll be seeing a lot of you at future nights.

What we tasted in full

Gran Sasso Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Rose
Ponte Pietra Trebbiano-Garganega
Soave Singat Adalia
Fiano Di Avellino Mastrobardino
Lacrimarosa Mastroberadino
Ponte Pietra Merlot-Corvina
Valpolicella Allegrini
Barolo Patrizi
Chanti Classico Berardo Riserva Castello di Bossi
Recioto della Valpolicella Corte Sant' Alda

Keep watching this space as next up is the German and Austrian Night.

Old Firm Wine Part Two

As promised, here's a wine to balance our Vin de Pays de Gers from yesterday. It may not have Celtic in the title, or indeed a green and white striped label, but the Montepulciano Paradiso is a nod to Celtic park nicknamed Paradise by Celtic fans.

The wine is soft, juicy and fruity and is literally made to go with lasagne, or anything in a tomato based sauce. Ideal also, for sitting in front of the telly watching the match on Sunday. Enjoy :)

A Wine For Sundays Old Firm match(Part 1)

Okay its a big jump but we have just got in this Petite Gasconne(As in Paul) which is a Vin De Pays Du GERS!



The blend of grapes is very high in Colombard but includes a great a number of the regions other white grapes, and is a great example of what the region can do - it's South West France, under the Armagnac region.

The wine is a wee beauty at only 11.5% abv. On the nose it's quite full bodied but very refreshing, citrus and stone fruits mix together for ultimate enjoyment.

On the palate it's light, zesty, slightly fizzy, off-dry and just crying out for a warm summers day*


We got just over two cases in so jump at it before it's gone.


Don't worry we'll find a Celtic linked wine tomorrow.


*Warm summers day not included.

Whisky and Ginger

Sorry we've away for so long but with over 20 tastings in this month alone we're fighting through the back log......

Anyway the lovely folk at Fever Tree offered us a few samples of Ginger Ale and Ginger Beer for us to try with our own Blended whisky SO

Inverarity Blend with Ginger Ale: The ginger is quite strong with out dominating. It added a pleasant spicy kick that grows on you with every sip.

Inverarity Blend with Ginger Beer: A bit too strong for us and the cloudy haze dose not make for an attractive drink.

And just to add an Islay twist we had a little bit of Laphraoig Quarter Cask left so lets see what happens....

Laphroaig Quarter Cask with Ginger Ale: Beautifully balanced between smoky, ginger and a sweentness that came from nowhere and swept us away. Huge thumbs up from all three of us!

Laphroaig Quarter Cask and Ginger beer: Guess what we love the Laphroaig and Ginger Ale so much we're just going to have another one!

A great wee tasting for a Wednesday afternoon and a big thank you to the guys and girls from Fever Tree - they also do one of the best tonics on the market.

Still time for a glass of red

In the busy tasting month that is February we have decide that we should find some odd moments of calm to let you catch up with some new wine, whisky and even rum!

First up is this stonking great big Chilean red Amplus One (75% Carmenere, 20% Syrah and 5% Carignan). We let it decant for at an hour before we jumped in and boy what a rush.....it has that typical Carmenere herbal nose with layer of dark berry and red berry fruit. The palate had a richer style fruit but with a soft milk chocolate mouth feel.

Good news - utterly brilliant wine for under £15!

Bad news - let one of our customers try it and he bought all that we had left!