Image credit: Michel Guillard – Collection CIVC Since completing my WSET Diploma last year, it is not often I find myself in a room geeking out about structure, blind tasting and blending components. But a few weeks back that is just where I found myself and it was perfect! The Vin de Champagne is aContinue reading “My inner geek and the Champagne Bureau of Australia”
Category Archives: Europe
The brand Barolo – a tasting with Accademia del Barolo
It is “a shared philosophy of quality” that unites the twelve families of Accademia del Barolo, Matteo Sardagna of Poderi Luigi Einaudi tells us as we begin to taste a selection of Barolo from the 2012 vintage. Yesterday a small group of press and media were invited to a tasting led by Gianni Gagliardo and Matteo Sardagna, as aContinue reading “The brand Barolo – a tasting with Accademia del Barolo”
The Drinks Business: Delamain Cognac
Published The Drinks Business, 22 April 2016. Trade is at the very heart of the Bordeaux region in France and just to the north of the city of Bordeaux is the home of Cognac, one of France’s most well known brandies – the other coming from Armagnac, to the south of Bordeaux. For centuries trade hasContinue reading “The Drinks Business: Delamain Cognac”
Hong Kong and the Super Rhônes
(Image credit: Chêne Bleu) The term Super Rhône is employed by the Sarment Wine team to reference the quality of particular wines despite the official labelling being Vin de Pays (VdP/IGP). In France the VdP classification, or the newer term IGP, is used to identify wine that is produced in areas outside the officially recognised qualityContinue reading “Hong Kong and the Super Rhônes”
The Drinks Business: Stazione Novella, Hong Kong
First published The Drinks Business 12 August 2015. (Image credit: Credit: Black Sheep Restaurants) Hong Kong is currently basking in beautifully sunny summer weather so the recent arrival of Italian bar Stazione Novella to the hustle and bustle of Soho on Hong Kong Island is a welcome sight. Credit: Francesca Martin As the title suggests Stazione Novella isContinue reading “The Drinks Business: Stazione Novella, Hong Kong”
Bubbles in Wan Chai – Champagne Thiénot at Berry Bros. & Rudd
A relative newcomer to the world of sparkling wine, Champagne Thiénot was established in 1985 by Alain Thiénot. Given that many of the great names in Champagne can trace their history back centuries it speaks volumes that a comparative youngster has gained such a foothold in the minds of Champagne drinkers. Last night Berry Bros.Continue reading “Bubbles in Wan Chai – Champagne Thiénot at Berry Bros. & Rudd”
A taste of Georgia in Hullett House, Hong Kong
Hullett House, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Image courtesy of Hullett House. Last week I attended an event showcasing wines from Georgia hosted by Debra Meiburg M.W. and her team from Meiburg Wine Media. In the interests of transparency I should mention that I have worked for Debra previously and that my inner wine geek isContinue reading “A taste of Georgia in Hullett House, Hong Kong”
A taste of Spain in LKF Tower, Hong Kong
From my first visit to Spain many years ago to work as a flutist in an orchestra in northwest Spain I was hooked – the food, the culture, the language – everything about Spain worked for me. I met my husband in a Spanish language class, we cook and eat out at as many SpanishContinue reading “A taste of Spain in LKF Tower, Hong Kong”
What I’ve been drinking … Mullineux Wines, Journey Wines, Chateau Rauzan Segla
Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines, Swartland, South Africa, 2011, White Blend Journey Wines, Heathcote, Australia, 2012, Shiraz Chateau Rauzan Segla, Margaux, France 1983, Bordeaux red The white blend from Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines in Swartland South Africa is one of my all time favourite white wines. It satisfies so many different requirements being the perfectContinue reading “What I’ve been drinking … Mullineux Wines, Journey Wines, Chateau Rauzan Segla”
The Drinks Business: BIVB Live and Chardonnay
Published The Drinks Business 22 May 2015 (Image credit: Saint-Aubin Credit BIVB) The summer months have arrived in Hong Kong and the weather is rather grey at the moment, which makes the latest installment of the BIVB’s (Burgundy Wine Board) Live and Interactive seminars the perfect antidote. We arrived to find six little glasses of sunshine waiting forContinue reading “The Drinks Business: BIVB Live and Chardonnay”
Simone Madden-Grey : Happy Wine Woman 