All posts tagged: London

Akitu NZ Pinot Noir

London Wine Scene: Amazing NZ Pinot Noir Tastings, Denbies Wine Estate

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It’s too hot to cook! These days I’m living on watermelon, cheese and ice cream, and occasional BBQ picnic. So, to fill the gap, I thought I’d write up a post about my experience while I’m still savouring in my mouth the flavours of delicious Indian, Thai, Italian, Spanish, French, Hawaiian food I scoffed down, while drinking copious amount of wine around the busy London city. First, I’ll start with my exam, because I know so many people are curious about it. The first classroom day was exciting to finally confirm that the fellow students, whose names appear at random online, were human not computer-generated avatars. After the exam and a short break, tasting workshops started and we evaluated a series of wines according to SAT (systemic approach to tasting). I really need to give credit to Chris, my level 3 instructor, for the very helpful SAT sheet he created. The students at my table rushed to take a photo of! A lot more emphasis was put on assessing the quality of each wine compared …

odettes

London Guide for Food and Wine: London Wine Week

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I’m going through a phase these day, hence the silence on the blog. This May has been a particularly crazy month for me, involving frequent trips up and down. I’m glad it’s almost over and I’m looking forward to relaxing with good wines and food in June. This time of the year is the best time for wine enthusiasts to be in London. The London Wine Fair ended 3 days ago and the London Wine Week will kick off on Jun 5. When I was in London in March, I was surprised by the rising wine and culinary scene. There were so many new wine bars opened in the last 3-4 years and I felt sad to leave for the first time. So I thought I’d share some places I’d discovered for both visitors and locals. You could probably soak up the festive atmosphere in your own style by visiting these places if you can’t be bothered to follow up the event calendar. Or if you want something different. #1. Bottle Apostle As my primary focus was trying as many wines as possible, this …

Review: Memorable Wines at Raw Wine London-Part 2

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I hope you managed to get through Part 1 without too much struggle. I agree that it was rather long but I hope it broke down the notion of natural wine, which is a bit confusing to grasp for many ‘wine lovers’ – hubby didn’t understand a thing in my post, haha. So I’ll keep Part 2 short..ish. The stalls were arranged by country in one big open space, which made it easier to mingle with visitors and stumble upon different stalls, compared to last year. I didn’t take photos of all the wines I tasted but the wines that are featured here are the ones I thought worth a note. I took time, scanning the stalls, relying on my psychic power to lead me through the sea of wine and writing down tasting notes. Though I didn’t taste them by country, I’m going to mention by region for convenience. Now, let’s start with France. Among the few I tried from Languedoc, Chateau La Baronne gets an honourable mention. Their wines were all vibrant with lush fruit and elegance, which people don’t really associate …

Review: Raw Wine London 2017 – Part 1

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Hello! I’m now back home from London and am adjusting to a ‘normal’ life. I know you’ve been waiting to hear from me! Finally, I’ll share some of the experiences but first, I’ll review Raw Wine London. The Raw Wine Fair was more inspirational and educational than any previous wine fairs I’d attended, and I’ll explain why. You might want to grab a glass of wine and sit back before going on because this long post might bore you. There are so many wines to review and so much to say so I’ve decided to write in two posts. The first one will be about my general impression and a few remarkable wines, followed by the second part, which will feature more memorable wines that are worth a mention. To start off, why did I attend the event? I’ve been interested in organic wines ever since the film, Mondovino but wasn’t quite crazy enough to drink ‘only’ organic wine, whose term has evolved into ‘natural wine‘ over time. I’ve always cooked seasonal and healthy, plus some of my wine friends …