Glass of Bubbly
Sittella Winery
Founded in 1998, Sittella is one of Western Australia’s newest, privately owned wineries. Owners Simon and Maaike Berns have the support of an enthusiastic team of professionals to create and produce high quality traditional wine styles, from both their own and contract vineyards throughout the Swan Valley and Margaret River Region. The winery is named…
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Sharpham Vineyard
We have a stunning vineyard on the banks of the River Dart in Totnes, Devon, producing some wonderful wines. This thousand year old farm consists of five hundred acres owned by the Sharpham Trust. The house, designed in 1770 by Sir Robert Taylor, overlooks the fields and wooded slopes above the River Dart, two miles downstream…
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Pruning The Vines
I recently visited the Champagne region carrying out some research into new champagnes (new in the sense they have no presence in the UK market) and I am delighted to say that we discovered some amazing new champagnes. I’ll blog more about these soon, but one thing I love about visiting the region is that…
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Champagne Cult London
Champagne Cult (as of July 2015 this venue is now closed) is a lounge bar specialising in fine whisky, Champagne and cigars. Situated in Bishopsgate, minutes away from Liverpool Street Station. Champagne Cult serves excellent canapes along with a good selection of Champagne, including Perrier Jouet, Bollinger, Laurent Perrier, Billecart Salmon, Dom Perignon, Krug and Pol Roger. You can…
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An Introduction To Sparkling Wine
I remember my first trip to New York. I went with work and got put in business class, which I’d never travelled in before. I was nailing all the free stuff in the lounge before the flight, and then once we got on the plane there were only about 10 of us in the whole…
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Italian Sparkling wine
There are 20 unique wine regions in Italy with over 350 types of grape. The major types of sparkling wines from Italy include Prosecco, Asti Spumante, Lambrusco and Franciacorta. Prosecco is made from the white Prosecco grape ‘Glera’. Prosecco is also a region in Veneto, northwest Italy. Most Prosecco wines are meant to be enjoyed young and fresh. The…
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Production of Cava
Cava is the second largest traditional method wine by volume in the world, after Champagne. The Cava Denominacion de Origen (DO) was established in 1986. The Cava DO covers five regions in Spain: Cataluna (where the majority of production is based), Aragon, Navarra, Pais Vasco and La Rioja. Production is only about two-thirds that of Champagne, approxiamtely…
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Sparkling Wine Grapes
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are two grape varieties commonly blended together to produce sparkling wines and Champagne around the world. Pinot Meunier is sometimes added to enhance the character of the wine. Pinot Noir is one of the oldest grape varieties to be grown for the purpose of making wine from as early as the first century…
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Should Champagne houses list disgorgement dates on bottles?
Should Champagne houses and sparkling wine list disgorgement dates on their bottles? Most Champagne houses don’t put disgorgement dates on their bottles, however, Bruno Paillard have been putting disgorgement dates on their bottles for nearly 30 years and were the first to do so. Other Champagne houses that also list disgorgement dates include: Lanson, Krug, Dom Perignon, Bollinger, Tarlent, Charles…
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