Blog
Winning Wines from Hambledon Vineyard for English Wine Week
In a blind tasting organised by Noble Rot magazine in 2015, one English vineyard came ahead of Pol Roger, Taittinger and Veuve Clicquot, bagging the highest score of all the wines tasted. Located on Hampshire’s South Downs, on the Newhaven Chalk formation, Hambledon Vineyard possesses the same terroir that can be found in the very best sites of the Côte des Blancs in Champagne - could this be the reason it produces such winning wines?
Wine to the rescue! Berkmann Wine Cellars to save restaurants and bars with Help4Hospitality
The hospitality industry is one of the sectors that has undoubtedly been hit the hardest during the Coronavirus pandemic and the future is still uncertain for many of our beloved restaurants, hotels, pubs and bars. But, pulling together and creating initiatives, like Help4Hospitality, that are designed to support each other in the industry - chefs, bartenders, suppliers, wineries, venues - is keeping the hope alive that hospitality could be the phoenix that gloriously rises from the ashes. I know I for one will need giant drink after these and I’ll need somewhere to drink it!
Harvest Supper with Simpsons Wines at The Pig at Bridge Place
The Pig Hotel at Bridge Place in Canterbury is a sight for sore eyes in the late afternoon sun in October. The period country house stands proudly in the beautifully manicured grounds – not too manicured, mind; there is a working kitchen garden that is tended to daily, the fruits of which are used on the menu from dawn ‘til dusk in dishes, teas and cocktails. The heady herbal aromas of the garden even lend a hand in the treatment huts, helping guests to unwind and find their inner zen.
Sipping on Blanc de Blancs at Jenkyn Place
Being invited to a private tasting of Jenkyn Place’s first ever Blanc de Blancs in their beautiful Hampshire estate, standing next to the very vines upon which the ‘blancs’ were grown… it’s a yes from me. Even when dark clouds started to roll in and the heavens threatened to open, there was nothing that could dampen the enthusiam for the occasion – which is English winemaking in a nutshell, as it goes. By midday, there were blue skies, sunshine, Scotch eggs and puppies bounding around the garden – and a vertical tasting of Jenkyn Place Brut Cuvée from 2006 to 2014. It couldn’t have been more perfect (including the Scotch eggs, which still had soft, orange yolks).