Chateau Petit vedrines 2008If you plan to treat yourself once this week then make it a bottle of sweet wine from Sauternes in SE Bordeaux.  Sweet botrytised grapes (that have undergone a form of rotting whilst still on the vine which we refer to as noble rot) appear in nearly all wine shops and supermarkets but are very under-bought by the masses.  This is crazy as the depth of flavours are often out of this world.

This evening I have been drinking a Chateau Petit Vedrines 2008, Sauternes from Jeroboams in London.  It is relatively young but absolutely perfect with some Saint Agur blue cheese and Ryvita.  These wines are more versatile than they get credit for.  We often refer to them as "pudding wines" but they can also make great aperitifs as well.

The colour is very golden and rich.  It is an alluring drink that when you pour it in the glass you'll see that the glycerol grips the sides leaving a film coating (or "legs").  Dip your nose into the liquid and inhale deeply savouring as much as you can becuase more than likely there will be a shock of pleasure wafting over your senses.

This is made from a Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend and has hints of honeyed tropical fruit, a little apricot and underlying whiff of kerosene.  It is a perfect wine for cutting through the fat of the cheese, complimenting the flavours and inspiring a massive amount of "I want another glass"ism.

The best advice is look along the shelves of sweet wines in your local supermarket and pick one out from Sauternes, Barsac, Fargues, Preignac or Bommes.  These villages are situated at the extreme end of the Graves region in SE Bordeaux up the Garonne river.

Call a friend to come over and ensure the wine is chilled.  Perhaps treat yourself to some tasty blue cheese or fine paté.  That'll get you started.  From here you can go on to sample sweet wines from as far field Greece, Hungary, Moldova, Australia, the Americas... and so on...


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Climate change podcast

Last week a picture was posted on Twitter of vines in Shabo, a large estate that lies to the west of Odesa on southern Ukraine’s Black Sea coastline. The image seemed benign at face value but the reality, of course, is that the city of Odesa has been bracing itself for attack by Russian forces. 

 

As COVID-19 conspires with the grimmest of winds and rain to force a societal retreat behind our own front doors, the word ennui springs to mind. The muddle of displeasure is pierced when Natalia hands me a large bulbous glass of a liquid I do not recognise.

 

 

Britain’s lamentable exit

On the eve of Britain’s official departure from the EU, my partner and I decided to explore a small town on the Italian Riviera where thewintry cold doesn’t feel so much like cold war bite.

I had warned my significant other that I would be having an inverse departure party, a release of the sanity valve if you like!

 

Sitting inside the ancient castle walls inside the town of Soave, a short drive from Verona in northern Italy, the unique slightly almond aroma of the indigenous grape, Garganega, rises gently from my glass. The castle sprawls up the side of an extinct volcano that gives the region its variant soil structures that mark out the better quality of Soave wines.

 

Tanisha Townsend decided to move to Paris 4 years ago after regularly passing through the city en route to the world’s most famous vineyards. In fact, it was about 2 years ago at the Printemps de Champagne Bouzy Rouge tasting in Reims that I saw (who we shall now refer to as) GirlMeetsGlass chirpily speaking to her web followers on Snapchat.

 

The cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, the final resting place of Saint James, rises out of the landscape, infested with antiquity. The rambling steep streets give way to shafts of dramatic light, emblazoned chapels, and tightly packed tapas bars, dusty, as old novels pressed together in antiquarian bookshops.

 

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