This one’s a little bit different. I submitted it as part of my portfolio for my MA Travel & Nature Writing and thought you might enjoy a little jaunt around the vineyards of the Médoc with me. There’s a Roswell alien next to me tying the laces on his trainers. Behind him, Captain Kirk is…
Inside Moët & Chandon
Woop woop, I’ve finally completed all my assignments for my MA Food and Wine Culture. That means I finally have a life again, well until I start on the dissertation. It also means I can finally catch up with my blog, and how about a glass of Champagne to celebrate? Last month my husband was…
The art of Pommery
Like Dijon, Reims has always been a stop-over destination for us when we head down to Italy. We usually arrived late at night and left first thing in the morning. Now, thanks to my wine studies, I have been lucky enough to spend more time in these beautiful cities and take in more of their…
Marathon du Médoc – the party marathon
Back in February when I said to my husband, ‘Do you fancy running a marathon,’ I had no concept of how life changing training for a marathon would be. Fast forward to September, I’ve lost 23lbs and many inches, tried various horrible tasting power gels, ran hundreds of miles and become best friend’s with the Nike…
Barone Ricasoli, Tuscany
The Ricasoli family have owned the Castello di Brolio since 1141 and claim amongst their clan the Iron Baron, Bettino Ricasoli, former Prime Minister of Italy and wine experimenter. So on another very hot day in the Siena countryside we headed up to the castle (no thanks to sat nav!) to learn about the wine,…
My sense of smell
I had always thought that I had a pretty poor sense of smell. People around would say, ‘wow can you smell that, it smells amazing (or awful),’ and I would sniff at the air and there would be nothing, or a little of something but nothing that I could identify. I just presumed that’s how…
Three Choirs Vineyards – my introduction to English wine
With the increasing popularity of English wines (particularly the sparkling kind), Three Choirs Vineyards are leading the way in choice, expertise and quality. On a crisp November afternoon I visited the vineyard in Newent, Gloucestershire, and was surprised by the scale of the enterprise. Alongside the vineyard, there is also a restaurant, tasting facilities and luxury…
Learning to Drink 