Over the weekend, we had two sets of our neighbours over to celebrate our newly decorated sitting room. One had recommended the company who painted the room, the other is an artist from whom we bought a lovely painting to showcase in the room. We've been fortunate that they're such nice people - they're also adventurous drinkers so we thought we would serve them a bubbly that we like and that they might not have drunk, some Pelorus NV that we ordered through Ocado. One of the drinkers commented that while you could tell it was different from a champagne, it was a huge step-up from the kinds of cava you usually find in the UK and he had a hard time placing where the wine was from. For fun, we also opened the last bottle of Deutz that we had from our Majestic wine order. It was no comparison, the Pelorus was a much nicer New Zealand bubbly.
The best part was that I ordered enough of the Pelorus that we had some leftover to drink with our dinner the next evening, a very good match for our pork chops with mustard cream sauce!!
Monday, 29 March 2010
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Welcome Home
I spent a long weekend in NYC (fabulous!) and arrived home yesterday afternoon. Having no plans for dinner nor any intention of cooking after the red-eye flight, I persuaded my husband to order-in from our favourite local Thai restaurant. When he asked me what I wanted to drink with dinner, I mentioned that I could always have the diet ginger ale I brought back from the US, but longingly eyed the bottle of bubbly that was also in the fridge. He's no slouch, out it came!!
This bottle was the Janisson Blanc de Noirs that I had ordered from the Champagne Warehouse. I was really looking forward to trying it because we tend to like blanc de noirs. This one was surprising - it had very nice stone fruit flavours with a slightly lemon-sour finish. But it had a honey-sweetness to it that we weren't expecting, one that I might not have loved if I were drinking the wine on its own, but that served it well with our spicy curry. So it's definitely a 'go-with-food' wine for us.
That said, I didn't like it at all with the M&Ms we shared for dessert, so it's possibly not a 'go-with-chocolate' wine.
This bottle was the Janisson Blanc de Noirs that I had ordered from the Champagne Warehouse. I was really looking forward to trying it because we tend to like blanc de noirs. This one was surprising - it had very nice stone fruit flavours with a slightly lemon-sour finish. But it had a honey-sweetness to it that we weren't expecting, one that I might not have loved if I were drinking the wine on its own, but that served it well with our spicy curry. So it's definitely a 'go-with-food' wine for us.
That said, I didn't like it at all with the M&Ms we shared for dessert, so it's possibly not a 'go-with-chocolate' wine.
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Wheat-Free Pizza
It's been more than a year since I found out I have a wheat intolerance. I've coped pretty well since then, but one of the things I really miss is pizza, especially when I see a TV show from the US where they're eating a crusty, cheesy, NY-style pizza.
But my husband is so very good to me in so many ways. Not only does he indulge my love for bubbles, but last week he worked up a sourdough pizza crust made with spelt flour. On Friday, I ate my first wheat-free pizza!! Of course it deserved some bubbles, and we drank one of the last two bottles of the 2004 Maison Lenique maker's reserve that I got with my 3-D Wines membership. My husband's efforts deserved a trusted champagne, and we really enjoyed our meal!!
But my husband is so very good to me in so many ways. Not only does he indulge my love for bubbles, but last week he worked up a sourdough pizza crust made with spelt flour. On Friday, I ate my first wheat-free pizza!! Of course it deserved some bubbles, and we drank one of the last two bottles of the 2004 Maison Lenique maker's reserve that I got with my 3-D Wines membership. My husband's efforts deserved a trusted champagne, and we really enjoyed our meal!!
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Hat Trick
On Sunday I was hanging out and watching The Wedding Planner (a movie I hate myself for liking) for the umpteenth time when my husband appeared in the sitting room with a glass of champagne in hand for me. We're a bit long on champagne at the moment and he figured we should enjoy it since it's there. I'm not going to argue with that!
He had put a bottle of Ruinart NV in the fridge. I have friends who like this brand and when I placed my order with Majestic, I thought I would try it to round out the case.
Let me start by saying that this is not a bad champagne. But for the price point (£45/bottle) it just isn't all that. It's nice enough, good acidity coming out with some nutty-lemony flavours. It has a very long finish. The bubbles are fine. But I would rather have two bottles of the Canard-Duchene that we drank on Saturday than one bottle of this - which would cost me the same amount.
The other thing that's caught my attention about this champagne - the box it was in was incredibly overengineered. And while I like to put a link to the maker in my blogs, the Ruinart website was also flashy (making it dreadfully slow) and impossible to navigate - too clever by half and incredibly frustrating, so I never actually found the information that I wanted and therefore can't be bothered to link to it. I feel like what I paid for wasn't necessarily a great champagne, but a huge marketing team that's built a brand. I don't feel the need to drink a name, I'd rather drink something interesting and that I really love.
He had put a bottle of Ruinart NV in the fridge. I have friends who like this brand and when I placed my order with Majestic, I thought I would try it to round out the case.
Let me start by saying that this is not a bad champagne. But for the price point (£45/bottle) it just isn't all that. It's nice enough, good acidity coming out with some nutty-lemony flavours. It has a very long finish. The bubbles are fine. But I would rather have two bottles of the Canard-Duchene that we drank on Saturday than one bottle of this - which would cost me the same amount.
The other thing that's caught my attention about this champagne - the box it was in was incredibly overengineered. And while I like to put a link to the maker in my blogs, the Ruinart website was also flashy (making it dreadfully slow) and impossible to navigate - too clever by half and incredibly frustrating, so I never actually found the information that I wanted and therefore can't be bothered to link to it. I feel like what I paid for wasn't necessarily a great champagne, but a huge marketing team that's built a brand. I don't feel the need to drink a name, I'd rather drink something interesting and that I really love.
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Dining In Style
While our sitting room was being finished, we had most of its furniture and artwork in the dining room which has meant that we've been eating off of our laps since the beginning of the year. But everything is back in the sitting room, so we were able to eat in the dining room again last night. A cause for celebration, worthy of our last bottle of Canard-Duchene 2004 Brut Millesime from Majestic.
We liked it just as much as we did the last time we drank it. It has a very yeasty nose, and a really pleasant apples-and-toast flavour. It stood up to the red Thai duck curry we had for dinner, and then was a pleasant sipper while we cleaned up the dishes and chilled out after dinner. Good flavour, good bubbles, a very nice champagne.
We liked it just as much as we did the last time we drank it. It has a very yeasty nose, and a really pleasant apples-and-toast flavour. It stood up to the red Thai duck curry we had for dinner, and then was a pleasant sipper while we cleaned up the dishes and chilled out after dinner. Good flavour, good bubbles, a very nice champagne.
Saturday, 6 March 2010
New Sitting Room
After six years in our house, we finally had our sitting room painted. The decorators did a great job - the room now looks exactly as I'd envisaged it in my head for so long. So last night, having moved most of the furniture back into the room, we decided to have some champagne along with our chicken/bacon/green bean/parmesan soup.
I had a bottle of Roger Legros Extra Brut chilling in the fridge, one of the bottles from my Champagne Warehouse order, so we opened that. I'd been looking forward to opening this bottle, as it's a low-dosage champagne and I suspected that I would really like it. And I did. Even though it's 100% chardonnay, it's definitely not a blanc de blancs style of champagne, it is much more a 'wine with bubbles'. The tasting notes that came with the bottle said it would have citrus and lychee flavours, which it did. But to me, a better description of this champagne is that it is like a very fresh, very mild goat cheese. It has a soft acidity balanced with a touch of creaminess, a bone-dry mouth feel, and a gently grassy-green finish that lasts.
The only thing that slightly disappointed were the bubbles. They were very fine and plentiful on first pouring, but didn't last long in the glass - you have to drink this one quickly!
My husband thinks that anyone who likes to drink white Burgundy would especially like this champagne, so do give it a try!
I had a bottle of Roger Legros Extra Brut chilling in the fridge, one of the bottles from my Champagne Warehouse order, so we opened that. I'd been looking forward to opening this bottle, as it's a low-dosage champagne and I suspected that I would really like it. And I did. Even though it's 100% chardonnay, it's definitely not a blanc de blancs style of champagne, it is much more a 'wine with bubbles'. The tasting notes that came with the bottle said it would have citrus and lychee flavours, which it did. But to me, a better description of this champagne is that it is like a very fresh, very mild goat cheese. It has a soft acidity balanced with a touch of creaminess, a bone-dry mouth feel, and a gently grassy-green finish that lasts.
The only thing that slightly disappointed were the bubbles. They were very fine and plentiful on first pouring, but didn't last long in the glass - you have to drink this one quickly!
My husband thinks that anyone who likes to drink white Burgundy would especially like this champagne, so do give it a try!
Monday, 1 March 2010
Going For Gold
I have to be honest - I haven't watched much of the Olympics this year. The late viewing and poor selection of events just didn't add up for me. I mean, really, how much curling can you watch in the wee hours?
But the BBC pulled through for me with men's ice hockey (shame they couldn't have shown the women's hockey, too!). And we were lined up properly last night for the gold medal match between the USA and Canada with a big tray of nachos with guacamole and, in true patriotic spirit, our last bottle of Roederer Estate's Quartet from Majestic.
The wine, as always, was impeccable. Our team's performance, unfortunately, was not, and the Canadians took home a well-deserved gold medal. It left me wondering if the Canadians make any decent sparkling wines, something I'll have to look into!
But the BBC pulled through for me with men's ice hockey (shame they couldn't have shown the women's hockey, too!). And we were lined up properly last night for the gold medal match between the USA and Canada with a big tray of nachos with guacamole and, in true patriotic spirit, our last bottle of Roederer Estate's Quartet from Majestic.
The wine, as always, was impeccable. Our team's performance, unfortunately, was not, and the Canadians took home a well-deserved gold medal. It left me wondering if the Canadians make any decent sparkling wines, something I'll have to look into!
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