wine

The Whisky Event

One of my favourite whisky events of the year takes place in The Great Room at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane on the 2nd June. Over 60 exhibitors will be present with over 600 whiskies to taste. Unlike other events, the quality of the whisky here is always exceptional, with many fine and rare bottles shared by the distilleries and Independent Bottlers. One of the highlights of the evening is the food - a lavish Kosher buffet that is included in the entry price of £100 (£180 for two people).

Scotch Malt Whisky Society

As a whisky lover, I am unsure why I hadn’t joined the Scotch Malt Whisky Society before. Not only are there a serious amount of their own bottles, but also members rooms throughout Scotland and one in central London. With 32k members worldwide, I am rather slow to get on board!

I have been suffering from a rather nasty cold, which has prevented me from tasting, so a little behind in my diaries. This edition focuses on a selection of wines that have passed over my desk recently. I believe it is important to enjoy everyday wines, to provide perspective on the finer wine we enjoy. I recently had lunch with an old friend at Luca (report coming soon), who happens to be one of the world’s finest wine writers. When he is not drinking 1st Growth Claret, or sipping on DRC, he often buys a £8 bottle of white from Waitrose to enjoy.

As you might expect, this time of year is pretty busy for all drink writers, and I for one have a desk of samples to taste through. This seems to pale into insignicance though compared to the sheer amount of Whisky Cask investment firms adverts I am being fed on social media. I urge you to avoid these and the promises of great returns unless you have specialist expertise. It is not regulated, casks are often vastly overpriced and you may not even own the cask you think you have bought. Buyer beware. 

On to this editions tastings:-

Romania can count back in millennia, when it comes to experience in wine making; in fact it has one of the world’s oldest winemaking traditions and is even one of the world’s largest producers.  

Working as a Sommelier in the early 1990s, I vividly recall oenophiles' desire to seek out and enjoy Cloudy Bay, Sauvignon Blanc. It almost seemed like a right of passage. The only issue was availability - it was nigh on impossible to get hold of. Was this what made it so sought after, or was it the tropical fruit bowl in a glass that was so different and new? 

I cannot be certain of my first encounter with Chilean wine, but most likely was Los Vascos in the early 1990s. The pioneering estate, owned by Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite), bought credibility and respect for the country which has paved the way for it to become the 7th largest wine producer in the world. 

With its proximity to Adelaide and excellent wines, the Barossa Valley is used to welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. But venture four and half hours south and slightly to the east and you will discover another world-class wine region - Coonawarra. An Aboriginal word meaning honeysuckle, it is drastically smaller in size in terms of wineries with 30 (Barossa has circa 150) and is renowned for its Cabernet Sauvignon more than Shiraz.

If I were to compare Napa Valley, one of the gems of the American west coast, to a piece of high jewellery, it would be an IF diamond. Flawless is reserved for only the finest, purest and best, and like every wine-growing region, there are exceptional to mediocre estates.

Do you know your Pierogi from your Bigos, or your Kluski from your Zurek? Well, it might come as a bit of a surprise to many but the city of Kraków (Cracow in English) in southern Poland near the border to the Czech Republic became the first recipient of the ‘European Capital of Gastronomic Culture’ for 2019.