SNV30239

SNV30239

Blogging about

I love blogging about... books

Tuesday 31 October 2017

A day of fizz, fizz, glorious fizz

 Merely being asked to judge entries in The Glass of Bubbly Champagne and sparkling wine awards is rather intoxicating in itself.  After all, these are my favourite tipples. I adore champagne, cremant, cava, English sparkling wine, prosecco and sekt....just the sound of the cork popping perks me up a treat!  Without fail, Friday night means fizz night.




So this time last week, I trotted off to London for the second of day of judging being held at the Marriott County Hall hotel in Westminster where I joined the other judges.

We were seated at two tables, ours was rather jolly, before even the tiniest sip of any fizz touched our lips. They included Cecile Bergart from the Champagne region in France who now runs the Hampshire Wine School and Francesco Gabriele, Director of Wine at Chewton Glen in Hampshire.

















Others on the table included Richard Bampfield, Master of Wine and Richard Moore, and I was dying for another Richard to join our table, so we could call him Richard III! That was not to be, but other judges were Martin Day, a restauranteur who runs the Pipe of Port  in Southend, Anna Caidon a journalist with Le Sommelier magazine, Govert Deketh the General Manager of the  Marriott County Hall Hotel and Cherry Constable, a freelance wine writer.

So, after hellos and introductions, Christopher Walkley , the founder of Glass of Bubbly , explained our mission.





The previous day, a panel of professional wine experts, which included Masters of Wine, Master of Sommeliers and other enologoists) had decided which wines went through the Round 2 of the judging. So we knew right from the start that these wines were highly commended .

Our job was to select the best in a number of categories.


and although we were judging only three categories, there were rather a lot of bottles to try.













Faster than the speed of sound , our table started sipping and gurgling our way through our first category which was Love or Hate.

 This was an interesting category, and the one which provoked so much discussion. There were some very interesting wines which perhaps didn't fit the brief, and some which we called the marmite wines..some of us loved them, others didn't share the same enthusiasm.

 First Date was another category .and each wine was poured perfectly by Armando Pereira, a writer and sales executive with a Glass of Bubbly. Of  course he had an idea of what was being poured, but gave nothing away as we mused, muttered and marked the wines.

 We sipped , we spat...and talked about  how nervous is everyone is on a first date, and how you wouldn't want to over indulge on alcohol. Getting hammered on a first date would never lead to a second one would it? So we were looking for an easy wine, perhaps lower in alcohol which would go with most dishes.

Cecile and Anna were obviously enjoying themselves,


as was Richard Moore





Our last judging category was Summer Days, and here we were on much safer ground. Bottles of fizz enhance any summer gathering, and we were looking for light, not too expensive, fruity wines. Boy, did we get them....and I was itching to take some of them home. One I was sure was an English sparkling wine, all fresh English morning and a whiff of the hedgerows, but Cherry thought that it couldn't be, bearing in mind the price of English sparklers .



After over three hours of debate, deliberation and dedication, (we took this very seriously) it was time for a glass of bubbly to drink!

from front left to right: Richard Bampfield, Richard Moore, Govert Deketh, me, Cherry Constable, Anna Caidon, Cecile Bergart, Francesco Gabriele and Martin Day.


Christopher and Eve (Editor in Chief of a Glass of Bubbly) thanked us and presented us our judging certificates,
 
 
and we all waltzed off in a haze of bonhomie to go home, leaving a mass of empty bottles.
 
 
 


What a wonderful afternoon tasting some excellent wines and enjoying the company of so many knowledgeable wine professionals sharing news and opinions. I can definitely say I've acquired a taste for this and relish further similar opportunities.

I also can't wait to find out which wines win the World's Finest Glass of Bubbly Awards 2017. The results are being announced on November 23rd at the Marriott County Hall hotel in Westminster .

 

Sunday 22 October 2017

Days of virginia creepers and giggling....

I love to look out of my bathroom window in the early mornings of autumn, seeing the mist disappear as the sun comes out, and watching the green leaves of the virginia creeper turn redder by the day.





The more sun a virginia creeper gets , the redder the leaves become, and it's wonderful to see fiery reds, russet reds and every shade in between.

So why do I get the giggles every time I see a Virginia Creeper? Whether I'm walking around  our village, admiring my neighbour's houses clothed in their autumnal finery





or out in the city...wherever I am, if I see a virginia creeper, my lips twitch and I'm off again, giggling away.

I blame my mother.

 Mrs Malaprop, as I sometimes call her, was a character in Sheridan's play called "The Rivals" written in 1775. Like the very amusing Mrs Malaprop, Mama often uses words which don't have the meaning she intends to but sound very similar to those that do. For example, calling windscreen wipers  "windowscreamers."


Amusing yes, but then at other times, there are no words to describe what happens after one of her malapropisms. Like the time at my friend's wedding. The vicar sported a very bouffant hairstyle - think Donald Trump with some backcombing. At the reception, Mama and her friends were talking...."Did you SEE his hairstyle?" one asked . "Yes!" replied my mother...."I swear he's had a .....

What she meant to say was a blow wave but what was actually said was something completely different. Of course she had no idea why there was a stunned silence and then people holding onto each other killing themselves laughing. Mama was mystified, then mortified when I had to explain.

What does this story have to do with a parthenocissus or virginia creeper, you may ask?

Well, it was a glorious September morning when my children were small. We were in North Somerset at my parents' house and the children were playing on the lawn. Jean, Mama's friend, and a very talented gardener, wandered into the garden.

"Oh," she exclaimed " the autumnal colours in your borders are lovely this year."

I could see Mama was thrilled, praise indeed . "But turn around Jean, the piece de resistance is my vaginal creeper!"

My father almost choked, Jean's mouth hung open in shock. I got the giggles, and couldn't stop. My sides ached, Jean was howling with laughter, and my father's face had turned virtually the same colour as the virgina creeper, but once again, Mama hadn't a clue what she'd said.

So if you see me giggling away to myself during the autumn and I'm near a virginia creeper, now you know why......

 

Sunday 8 October 2017

A day at Sulby Gardens

 

A new garden to explore is always a joy isn't it? A weekend wander around a garden with cake and coffee at the end of a visit is a pleasure for so many of us.
 
To get a chance for a private visit to a garden with two friends who happen to be gardening experts, and enjoy a ramble around with the owners, is even more of a treat.
 
That's why I loved going to Sulby Gardens, to record a programme for BBC Radio Leicester's gardening programme, "Down to Earth" doing just that. Derek Cox and Josie Hutchinson , from the programme's panel of experts were with me.
 
Tucked just inside the Northamptonshire side of the border with Leicestershire, Sulby Gardens consists of twelve acres of formal gardens, kitchen gardens, orchards, a wood and even an ice house.
 
 
 
 
Alison has lived here since 1976. She and her husband Chris were fired with enthusiasm after reading John Seymour's 'The Complete Book of Self Sufficiency' and were inspired to buy a walled garden and live in the Head Gardener's Cottage there.
 
There were glasshouses and old storerooms which still bear the pencilled notes on the doors detailing how many fruits and carrots were picked in the early 1900's.
 
 
 
 
Part of the old apple store is now a conservatory where expertly trained (according to Derek) grapes festoon the ceiling.
 
 
There's a rather large glasshouse from 1904, which was the original carnation house.


 A place to sit out of the rain, looking down to part of the kitchen garden



Alison's husband Chris died nine years ago at the age of sixty. However he's left quite a legacy and they both have amassed a wonderful collection of sixty three varieties of apple trees .


There's a certain romance to the names of the old and new varieties of apples grown ...and there's also a dozen varieties of pear trees .We tasted two or three varieties as we munched our way around the kitchen garden and then found ten varieties of plum trees on the verge of ripeness.



Bill Barker has been the Garden Manager here for twenty years or so, and he too has played an important role in the development of the garden, especially since Chris's death. In fact Alison says he's an important reason why she has been able to stay here - she simply couldn't have done it on her own.

On the right hand side of the walled garden, glass houses previously abutted the walls for a couple of hundred yards or so.
.

And that's why Sulby Gardens is so interesting...because the gardens belonged to a minor stately home built in 1792 and designed by Sir John Sloane. Echoes of its gardening past are all around, but the house itself is no more. It was demolished in the early 1950's .

We winced and shuddered as we heard this - having seen photographs, it was a beautiful building. Yet we were able to admire what remained of the more formal area of gardens








It's ironic, because so many owners of old houses have, over the years, sold parcels of their estates or gardens for housing or development. Alison and Chris did the exact opposite, they managed to buy extra land to increase their garden, to build a wood and seven ponds.




 With the wood, they inherited an ice house. I was dying to see this...Josie walked over it without knowing at first!



This dates from the late eighteenth century and is listed.




 We all trooped down the stairs and inside in single file, the temperature immediately dropping as we did so. No torches, but fortunately I had my trusty iphone to light our way




This was where tons of ice, were hacked from the stream running through  the gardens by the gardeners, and thrown into the hole. Meat, game and fish, butter and other foods were kept here on the ice until needed for the table.

By now, we had spent two hours wandering around the gardens, enjoying the views and the plantings. We'd also admired the way that Alison, Chris and Bill have enhanced the gardens over the years and developed flower meadows and wildlife habitats for mammals, insects and birds.

By now, the drizzle and wind had died down and we were able to relax on a garden bench in the sunshine.

Left to right...Bill Barker, Josie Hutchinson, Derek Cox, me and Alison Lowe




Such a lovely day and such an interesting garden, with so much to see . You can hear the programme we recorded by clicking this link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05gydwf

You can also see the gardens for yourself as they are open on Thursday 12th October from 1 pm to 4pm and again on  Friday 13th October from 11am until 4pm...

Alison and Bill will be around, and you've got the chance to buy some bottles of fresh apple juice too, which is pressed and bottled by Bill, but only sold to garden visitors at open days for the National Garden Scheme. There's plenty of apple cakes to taste too!

Here's just three of the varieties, and Sunset, the bottle I have tasted is absolutely delicious and addictive.






Sulby is worth a visit any time of year though and opens regularly....so do check with the Northamptonshire branch of the National Garden Scheme to find out next year's dates. You will be so pleased you did!