I was in the Chiswick area earlier in the week with our friend who has been visiting. Since we were in the neighbourhood, we stopped in to see what Lea & Sandeman had in stock, as they usually have a good selection for decent prices. The salesman was not content to let us browse, though. When I told him I was 'just looking' at his selection of sparkling wines, he pressed me for what I was interested in. Not seeing any on the shelf, I asked if they had any sparkling red wines. The response I got was pretty unbelieveable - the salesman said that they didn't have anything like a sparkling shiraz, but most of the champagnes were made with red wine grapes and why didn't a try something like a 100% pinot noir champagne or a rose prosecco? Hello! These are not even close to a sparkling red wine!!
I had to leave the store at that point because I don't like being treated like an idiot. If he really, really wanted to sell me something, he should have asked what I wanted the sparkling red for and then pointed me to some suitable options. I expect better service from Lea & Sandeman, and just hope this guy was simply having an off-day yesterday.
Showing posts with label Lea and Sandeman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lea and Sandeman. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Sunday, 10 October 2010
My Husband's The Best
My husband noticed that I've been a bit stressed this past week with everything I've got going on at the moment. He's such a nice guy that while he was out at Portobello Market yesterday, he stopped and bought me cupcakes, flowers, and a bottle of Egly-Ouriet grand cru VP champagne from Lea & Sandeman. On top of that, he made dinner to go with it - sourdough-crust calzones, stuffed with all of my favourite things. He is absolutely the best!!
Dinner was wonderful, as was the champagne. It's a pinot noir blend that's been left on the yeast for an extra long time, giving it a perfectly balanced flavour - not too sweet, not too acidic, not too yeasty, not too dry - and a slightly petrol-y nose. It's very much the style of a 'wine with bubbles', and an exceptionally good wine at that.
That said, it didn't have quite as many bubbles as the last time we drank it, so disappointed slightly in that arena. But really, how can I complain when the rest of it was so lovely?
Dinner was wonderful, as was the champagne. It's a pinot noir blend that's been left on the yeast for an extra long time, giving it a perfectly balanced flavour - not too sweet, not too acidic, not too yeasty, not too dry - and a slightly petrol-y nose. It's very much the style of a 'wine with bubbles', and an exceptionally good wine at that.
That said, it didn't have quite as many bubbles as the last time we drank it, so disappointed slightly in that arena. But really, how can I complain when the rest of it was so lovely?
Monday, 20 April 2009
Staycation 8 - The Finale
We didn't intend for it to be a two-bottle day, but that's how our staycation ended.
We had another beautiful day on Sunday, so having armed ourselves with nibbles and reading material, we headed to the patio in our garden with the last bottle of champagne that we bought at The Winery. This was a 1996 Cuvee de Chardonnay Champagne Saint-Chamant made by Christian Coquillette.
This was a nice champagne, with honey and toast flavours that accompanied our meat-and-cheese-based tapas very well. While we didn't have any problem finishing the bottle, we were surprised that we weren't more excited about what should have been a great wine from a good year. Like the bottle we had drunk the day before, it was all quite nice, but not very memorable.
So we pulled out the big guns to go with our dessert (apple pie for my husband, chocolate truffles for me) - the bottle of Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru V.P. that we had bought at Lea and Sandeman on Friday. This is a pinot noir blend that the maker leaves on the yeast for an extra-long period of time - making what is already a 'big' champagne even bigger.
We love Egly-Ouriet as a producer, having visited the vineyards many years ago on the recommendation of a friend and before Robert Parker got so excited about their champagne. The V.P. had everything we love about this producer and more - a crisp acidity with a hint of tarragon on the nose and a slight grapefuit flavour but absolutely no sourness or bitterness. This wine has an enormous flavour but an incredible dryness that makes you want to keep drinking. And, on top of everything else, good bubbles.
With Robert Parker's fandom, the prices of this champagne have gone up since we first tried it - but, it's also easier to find in the UK and other parts of the world now. It's worth every penny, and was the perfect way to finish off our staycation.
We had another beautiful day on Sunday, so having armed ourselves with nibbles and reading material, we headed to the patio in our garden with the last bottle of champagne that we bought at The Winery. This was a 1996 Cuvee de Chardonnay Champagne Saint-Chamant made by Christian Coquillette.
This was a nice champagne, with honey and toast flavours that accompanied our meat-and-cheese-based tapas very well. While we didn't have any problem finishing the bottle, we were surprised that we weren't more excited about what should have been a great wine from a good year. Like the bottle we had drunk the day before, it was all quite nice, but not very memorable.
So we pulled out the big guns to go with our dessert (apple pie for my husband, chocolate truffles for me) - the bottle of Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru V.P. that we had bought at Lea and Sandeman on Friday. This is a pinot noir blend that the maker leaves on the yeast for an extra-long period of time - making what is already a 'big' champagne even bigger.
We love Egly-Ouriet as a producer, having visited the vineyards many years ago on the recommendation of a friend and before Robert Parker got so excited about their champagne. The V.P. had everything we love about this producer and more - a crisp acidity with a hint of tarragon on the nose and a slight grapefuit flavour but absolutely no sourness or bitterness. This wine has an enormous flavour but an incredible dryness that makes you want to keep drinking. And, on top of everything else, good bubbles.
With Robert Parker's fandom, the prices of this champagne have gone up since we first tried it - but, it's also easier to find in the UK and other parts of the world now. It's worth every penny, and was the perfect way to finish off our staycation.
Staycation 7
Saturday was a sunny, warm day so we decided to hang out in the garden and sip champagne while we enjoyed the nice weather. We were hopeful about the bottle we had - an extra brut grand cru from Barnaut that we had bought the day before at Lea and Sandeman.
We've bought some nice wines before at Lea and Sandeman, and had bought this particular bottle because they had told us it's their house champagne. Out of all of the champagne producers that they import, this is the wine that they think best reflects all that's good about champagne.
We were totally underwhelmed.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing bad about this champagne, it's perfectly drinkable. But it's supposedly a pinot noir blend, yet it had no distinct characteristics about it - I've had blanc de blancs with more unique flavours. We were having a hard time finding any words to describe it, other than that it's 'champagne-y'. For all of the bottles we've drunk at this price point, this is decidedly the least impressive, and to be honest, for the £23 we spent, I'd rather have a couple of bottles of cheaper but more interesting wine.
Thankfully the other bottle of champagne that we bought at Lea and Sandeman is from a producer we've bought before and love - we know that won't disappoint!
We've bought some nice wines before at Lea and Sandeman, and had bought this particular bottle because they had told us it's their house champagne. Out of all of the champagne producers that they import, this is the wine that they think best reflects all that's good about champagne.
We were totally underwhelmed.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing bad about this champagne, it's perfectly drinkable. But it's supposedly a pinot noir blend, yet it had no distinct characteristics about it - I've had blanc de blancs with more unique flavours. We were having a hard time finding any words to describe it, other than that it's 'champagne-y'. For all of the bottles we've drunk at this price point, this is decidedly the least impressive, and to be honest, for the £23 we spent, I'd rather have a couple of bottles of cheaper but more interesting wine.
Thankfully the other bottle of champagne that we bought at Lea and Sandeman is from a producer we've bought before and love - we know that won't disappoint!
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