Well, Christmas is gone and we have some fresh snippets for you this new year. For
the first time for a while, we have a Travelogue report - nothing to do with wine
(although we did drink some fine South African wines) whilst we sampled the delights
of the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. And this too is the location for Sonia’s Restaurant
of the Month review.
Kathleen Burk continues with part three of her intriguing History of Wine, this time
concentrating on Pliny and Charlemagne - a great vinous double act! She has also
written this month’s Wine Odyssey to Gaillac, in South West France and also features
our Winemakers of the Month, the family Plageoles, who have made wine for six generations.
Sarah Ahmed’s Wines of the Month feature the wines of João Portugal Ramos, one of
Portugal’s great modernisers whilst Stuart George joins a unique tasting of old Madeiras
for this month’s tasting article. We haven’t found a suitable wine list to praise
this month, but the last one was so good, that you ought to cast your eyes on Martin
Lam’s list once again.
And we are in the UK in Manchester for an interesting Hotel of the Month review.
The Latest - our views on wine, food and travel for January 2012.
The event held on Friday November 11, at the Tyddyn Llan Restaurant with Rooms in
North Wales, where Michelin starred chef, Bryan Webb, paid homage to Sonia by recreating
some of the great dishes she invented in the Seventies (menu shown here) went off
with a bang and Sonia will be posting up some of the recipes from in the coming weeks.
You can see the menu.
Finally, Simonette notes in her diary, the creation of a new wine - a Bordeaux A.C.
Rosé for 2011 and an upgrade of their sweet and dry white wines to the appellation
of Côtes de Bordeaux Saint Macaire and an upgrade to Bordeaux Supérieur for their
2010 red. I will let you know when they will be available.
Hoping you didn’t over indulge TOO much the festive season.
Happy drinking, happy eating , happy travelling!
Neville Blech
