Archive for March 2025
Restaurant Wine Lists Tasting – March 2025
There can be wide variation in what good quality restaurants charge for similar wines, one of the factors influencing this is whether the establishment works on a fixed mark-up or a percentage. Some restaurants list wines in price order, others attempt to give an indication of style. All the wines in this tasting, from seven…
Read MoreWines of Northern Spain Beyond Rioja tasting – February 2025
The wines tasted were: 1. Muga Cava ‘Conde de Haro’ Brut 2020Region: Rioja, SpainGrapes: 90% Viura,10% Chardonnay; ABV: 12%Seriously good Spanish Cava from Muga in Rioja, fermented in bottle and aged for two years just like Champagne. This gives it similar depth and complexity, balancing youthful freshness and toasty richness with fine bubbles and excellent…
Read MoreBrighton & South Downs CAMRA Pub of the Year
As Pubs Officer I organised the Pub of the Year competition and judging – the region broadly covers an area between Shoreham, Haywards Heath and Seaford with well over 400 pubs, so to get recognised is a real achievement for these pubs. My thanks to all those who visited the nominated pubs and completed judging…
Read MoreGreat British Beer Festival Winter
I attended GBBF Winter held this year at Magna in Rotherham. The venue wasn’t ideal as it is not on the Sheffield tram network and once inside was very strung out with odd bars in corners. What was really disappointing was the lack of a beer list so you couldn’t decide which beers to try. …
Read MoreWhy digital catalogues at wine shows don’t work
When open an A5 catalogue can show c.620 cm2 of information. My phone screen is c.85cm2Hence I can see around 7 times as much information at a glance with a paper catalogue.That is the difference is between being able to see all the wines an exhibitor is showcasing, rather than just one or two. The…
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