- Details
- Published: 13 October 2012 13 October 2012
I got home after a long patrol on Portobello Road and, I have to say, my feet were feeling tired and flat. Strumming through the options of a evening sip on the couch, I was reminded of an email conversation with Nicky from RandR PR. The conversation was about another sparking but the suggestion came that I try this. Thus the good minded lady sent me a bottle to taste.
I think it is the first sparkling sauvignon blanc I have tasted, at least that I can remember. Instantly it separates itself from the memory banks of champagnes, prosecco's and the like. It provides another option. Villa Maria in its still form is a point scoring fighter for quality and value. It's success is built on this factor. Sparkling sauvignon is a subjective challenge. I could see myself buying this again to drink with others to gauge their opinion. My own is that is a good palate freshener. It hasn't the depth and personality of good benchmark champagne but it does have a sense of honesty about who it is and a place on the retailers shelves as a tasty alternative for an easy evening of chatting and guzzling. Though strictly not for wine snobs (but I am betting Villa Maria doesn't aim for that anyway!).
Happy drinking!
Follow us on social media:
Climate change podcast
Discord in Odesa; pruning at Shabo goes on!
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.
An aperitif by the coliseum
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.
Artichoke pasta and very fine Pigato
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!
Soave: volcanic wines with elegance and longevity
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.
An American In Paris; Tanisha Townsend (@GirlMeetsGlass) discusses podcasts, Paris wine bars, & what she's drinking at the moment
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.
Wine tasting in Galicia: The pilgrims search for Albarino
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.
