Wine Tasting Riviera . Wine Events Riviera . Fine Wine Works » food & wine matching http://www.finewineworks.com/blog Just another WordPress weblog Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:41:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Love the Loire http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/index.php/2010/02/love-the-loire/ http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/index.php/2010/02/love-the-loire/#comments Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:38:44 +0000 Helen Brotherton http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/?p=242 loire_valley_mapIn between teaching on our WSET® Wine Courses this month, I’ve been busy dreaming up themes and ideas for our forthcoming programme of Gourmet Dinners and Food & Wine Matching events. I suppose being forced to open several bottles from each region with one’s students (we do spit, actually!!) constantly refreshes the memory as to what wonders there are out there to be sipped and studied. The region closest to home that has really made me sit up and be impressed, has been the amazingly diverse Loire valley here in France.

It perfectly wends its way westwards from the very
heartland of central France, giving us elegant Sancerre’s through a dazzling array of fizz’s, white’s, red’s
and pink wines, from searingly bone dry to lusciously and intensely sweet and honeyed. I know my students were all taken aback and seriously stupefied to discover the versatility and variety of Loire wines.

So I’ve opted to take this as my theme for our 1st dinner on the 12th March. Numbers are limited as we will be having a cosy indoor evening with a log fire blazing rather than our more extensive Summer events out on the Terrace overlooking the Med! We shall no doubt kick off with one of the many top notch sparkling wines from the region – made in the same way as Champagne (i.e. Traditional Method) a delicately creamy Saumur will be offered to whet the appetite whilst I entertain with some facts and figures about our chosen region. I’m hoping to track down some Smoked Eel for a pre-dinner nibble I
have in mind….. We shall then glide through a starter of Oysters with Spinach & Beurre Blanc alongside a perky, yeasty and intensely savoury Muscadet Sevre et Maine sur lie. You cannot think of the Loire without marvelling at the array of amazing goat’s cheeses so I shall conjure up a voluptuous Twice-baked Goat’s Cheese Soufflé with a Carrot and Sweet Vouvray wine sauce. The archetypal partner with high acid goat’s cheese is a wine similarly high in acidity (the mouth watering tingly sensation you
experience with some particularly crisp wines gives an indication that there is plenty of refreshing acidity). So we shall travel along to the far East of this great wine country and tackle a really excellent Sauvignon Blanc – a Pouilly Fumé from the producer Laporte – we tried the Les Duchesses PF on the Advanced course last week and it knocked many a pricier wine into a cocked hat, as they say!

The centre piece of the evening is probably going to be my take on Coq au Vin with a Loire twist – think tasty Guinea Fowl with a deep Red Wine Sauce – I’ll be introducing the much under valued but immensely subtle red wines of the region here: I’ve long been a fan of the silky, raspberry fruited Chinon’s and St Nicholas de Bourgeuil wines made from Cabernet Franc. But I’m still toying between that and another Fish course to illustrate how certain lightish red wines can work with fish….hmmm, Loire Perch in a Chinon Sauce, perhaps? The finale will be a delicious Pear Tarte Tatin, which if I can lay my paws on the pear species, Belles Angevines (from Anjou) will be absolutely authentic of the Loire – apparently the buttery squidgy caramelised pastry pud, the Tatin is believed to originate from the
area. Also, orchard fruits are text book collaborators in the food & wine matching world for the honeyed apple character of the great sweet wines for the Loire. Here Chenin Blanc comes into its own and I shall be unearthing either a Coteaux du Layon, a Montlouis or a Bonnezaux to meet the challenge.

And so with drooling lips I ask you to check out our Forthcoming Events page for more details and how to book for this fine Dinner experience –at 60€ per person all inclusive, this is a real must!
Look forward to seeing you in March!

Helen Brotherton
08.02.10

]]> http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/index.php/2010/02/love-the-loire/feed/ 1 “Snow Business like the Wine Business!” http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/index.php/2009/12/%e2%80%9csnow-business-like-the-wine-business%e2%80%9d/ http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/index.php/2009/12/%e2%80%9csnow-business-like-the-wine-business%e2%80%9d/#comments Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:31:46 +0000 Helen Brotherton http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/?p=236 winter vineyard 2009
We have just returned from a mad pre-Christmas Wine trip by car to the UK to visit the necessary “rellys” and friends, exchange pressies and deliver festive bottles of Vilmart champagne to all our
nearest and dearest. I suppose one of the teensy downsides of becoming the sole representative of a chic, exclusive artisan and award winning grower Champagne house, is that everyone expects to be given a bottle of the magic fizz at Christmas time! Not that we are complaining – we know how much pleasure a sip of sensational Coeur de Cuvée can bring!

Also, the exercise ensures sufficient allocation of boot space for the slightly bonkers return journey, which requires us to load up with a wild and whacky range of non – French wines bought in the UK to bring back down to the Riviera to use on our WSET® courses. We have quite a run of courses planned for the first quarter of 2010 and naturally, as per the WSET® syllabus requirements, need to have particular wines from all around the world for the practical (and very pleasant) side of our courses. You try sourcing a Hunter Valley Semillon, and Austrian Grüner Veltliner or a Dry Oloroso Sherry here in b****y France.!! Love ‘em to bits, of course, but it is a tad frustrating that an entire wine producing nation has no interest (or belief that anyone else could have an interest) in tasting anything other than French wine. We have yet to suffer a routine Customs search at Calais by perplexed Douane officials if they open our boot and find 100+ bottles of eclectic “foreign” wines stashed – one day, it’s bound to happen.
The snow chased us down from North Yorkshire to Dover: we crossed the channel OK, only to meet the blizzards head on in Northern France, which slowed down our homeward journey and meant an extra unscheduled stopover en-route. As the snow and ice got heavier and road conditions worsened, we hoped that Day 2 of our journey might see us as far as a Northern Rhône overnighter – stupidly started fantasising about a white St Joseph followed by a hearty Crozes Hermitage to accompany dinner that
night. But, the Great Snow God was in charge and forced us off the road and to head for shelter in Maçon by mid-afternoon. So Supper was a more Burgundian affair with a simple Maçon Blanc Chardonnay to accompany the snails (curious how when in Burgundy, one cannot avoid the lure of these funny little molluscs with garlicky butter…), then a more robust Beaujolais, a Morgon, with our Côte de Boeuf. All extremely pleasant and a testimony to the old Food & Wine Matching adage that you won’t go far wrong if you stick to the traditional fare of the region with the local wines.
So here we are, counting down the hours to the BIG DAY! I would imagine most of you have already decided on what you are going to drink to celebrate Christmas 2009. Funnily enough, having ranted
earlier at how frustrating it is to be limited to just French wines when living in France and envying the UK for their hugely diverse and exciting global wine availability, when it comes to Christmas, you just can’t beat the classics! Champagne is a must – I know, I’m trumpeting the “V” word again (Vilmart), but myself and my marvellous husband will be indulging in a glass (or 3) of the classic vintage Grand Cellier d’Or 2003 as we open pressies. Lunch (for the first time in I think, 25 years….) is being cooked by SOMEONE ELSE!!!. All we have to do is show up at 1.30pm brandishing a couple of pre-chilled Vilmart Grand Cellier NV and we will be admitted and fed and entertained royally! The Turkey feast
itself will, I gather, from one of my ex WSET® pupils who has kindly invited us, is to be accompanied by a trip round France encompassing the Loire, Burgundy and Bordeaux – can’t wait.
Never one to leave the apron hung on its peg for long, and not having had the task of preparing the
festive bird itself, we are having a very English Boxing Day Buffet for friends and with a Glazed Ham, a Home-made Raised Pork Pie with Piccalilli & Winter Coleslaw followed by Raspberry & White Chocolate Trifle & Mince-Pies, we are sticking local, however, for the wine. Chateau de Chaberts in the Var with their cut above Provence wines will provide the quaffers for our Boxing Day gathering.
The trick is to spend “just the right amount” on your Party Wines: go too cheap and you’ll find your indoor house plants suffering from a surfeit of poured away plonk and all your guests will remember is
the hangover. Don’t raid the cellar for the good stuff, either – nobody will notice or be nearly reverential enough if the atmosphere is convivial. Take the time to select a pair of good “all rounders” to see you through and to please everyone. As we seem to be sticking to France, may I suggest you turn your thoughts to the Southern Rhône for the Red and to the lesser known villages (avoid the mad prices demanded by Châteauneuf du Pape, for example) – go for a Visan, a Séguret or a Vacqueyras. For a
White, the fashionable variety at the moment is Sauvignon Blanc – no need to go over the top with a Sancerre or Pouilly Fumé – try a straight varietal from a good producer of one of the above – my mind has wandered to the Sancerre producer La Porte, whose simple Vin de Pays Sauvignon Blanc (from the same vineyard area – durrr!) but at half the price,is a no brainer!

That’s it folks! Fine Wine Works is signing off for 2009 – your last chance to share any quality time with us is at our New Year’s Eve event in Cannes on 31st December (check out our Forthcoming Events page for details).

Bon Fete!

Helen Brotherton
22.12.09

]]> http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/index.php/2009/12/%e2%80%9csnow-business-like-the-wine-business%e2%80%9d/feed/ 1 Our first FWW Summer! http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/index.php/2009/08/our-first-fww-summer/ http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/index.php/2009/08/our-first-fww-summer/#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:31:08 +0000 Helen Brotherton http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/?p=187 Yachting, Trotting, Wining & Dining, Drinking & Thinking – our first FWW Summer!
The Brotherton Family Hotel has now closed its doors for the season! All visitors and friends who have
descended on us over the last three months have now gone back to the UK. The last batch left this morning, a good two hours later than planned so yet another FWW working day goes pear-shaped! However, even though we have had Thomas the Tank Engine to trip over, Shrek on DVD just as we need to make a phone call, a bathroom full of Strawberry Bubblebath and Plastic Sharks and a fridge full of Kinder Chocolate and Winnie the Pooh Yoghurt, we HAVE managed a pretty busy and exciting
Summer workwise!
We’ve done lots of Wine Tasting Events: our own Fun Wine 4 Women concept has been very successful; we re-vamped our Food & Wine Matching Masterclass into a full blown 10 course Degustation Extravaganza Gourmet Dinner – you seriously have to skip lunch to get the most out of one of these! Plus we’ve run some Private Tutored Tastings on board a couple of Yachts and run Wine Tasting Challenges at various Summer Fetes, Charity Fundraisers and the International Club’s big Summer Event – the “We Are The World Party”.
Also, having sworn never to get back into her Chef’s gear, Helen has found herself catering for all sorts of Events and Tastings, big and small – have you any idea how hot a kitchen here on the Riviera can get in July and August???? The trick is to get up at around 5am and tackle pastry and other “oven” work, in the relative cool of the day – chopping can be done later when the temperature hits the mid 30’s!
The Wine Training courses for Yachts have, naturally, taken a break over the Summer, as crews have been busy with their Summer Med season. However, lesson planning and preparations for forthcoming Autumn courses have been ongoing. Oh, and wine sourcing for the Courses too! If anyone can find me a modern Greek red from Naoussa or Nemea here in the South of France in time for my Advanced course in November, I’d be very interested to hear from you!
Marketing plans for our Vilmart champagne are also blossoming nicely (take a look at our sexy new Vilmart Champagne page here on the website!) and we will be working with the Riviera Times to showcase the Champagne at the Monaco Yacht Show later in September. More of that anon!
Our new Winefinder Consultancy Service idea is still in its infancy but more of how that will work when we return from holiday. Yes, we at FWW are taking a very short break to address the now desperate state of affairs that means there is far too much Riesling in my blood stream and a trip to Germany’s wine regions is well overdue! I’m sure we will have tales to tell on our return – so watch this space, as they say.
Helen Brotherton – 28th August 2009
Gourmet Dinner - 10 courses and 8 wines!

Gourmet Dinner - 10 courses and 8 wines!

Yachting, Trotting, Wining & Dining, Drinking & Thinking – our first FWW Summer!
The Brotherton Family Hotel has now closed its doors for the season! All visitors and friends who have
descended on us over the last three months have now gone back to the UK. The last batch left this morning, a good two hours later than planned so yet another FWW working day goes pear-shaped! However, even though we have had Thomas the Tank Engine to trip over, Shrek on DVD just as we need to make a phone call, a bathroom full of Strawberry Bubblebath and Plastic Sharks and a fridge full of Kinder Chocolate and Winnie the Pooh Yoghurt, we HAVE managed a pretty busy and exciting
Summer workwise!

We’ve done lots of Wine Tasting Events: our own Fun Wine 4 Women concept has been very successful; we re-vamped our Food & Wine Matching Masterclass into a full blown 10 course Degustation Extravaganza Gourmet Dinner – you seriously have to skip lunch to get the most out of one of these! Plus we’ve run some Private Tutored Tastings on board a couple of Yachts and run Wine Tasting Challenges at various Summer Fetes, Charity Fundraisers and the International Club’s big Summer Event – the “We Are The World Party”.

Also, having sworn never to get back into her Chef’s gear, Helen has found herself catering for all sorts of Events and Tastings, big and small – have you any idea how hot a kitchen here on the Riviera can get in July and August???? The trick is to get up at around 5am and tackle pastry and other “oven” work, in the relative cool of the day – chopping can be done later when the temperature hits the mid 30’s!

The Wine Training courses for Yachts have, naturally, taken a break over the Summer, as crews have been busy with their Summer Med season. However, lesson planning and preparations for forthcoming Autumn courses have been ongoing. Oh, and wine sourcing for the Courses too! If anyone can find me a modern Greek red from Naoussa or Nemea here in the South of France in time for my Advanced course in November, I’d be very interested to hear from you!

Marketing plans for our Vilmart champagne are also blossoming nicely (take a look at our sexy new Vilmart Champagne page here on the website!) and we will be working with the Riviera Times to showcase the Champagne at the Monaco Yacht Show later in September. More of that anon!

Our new Winefinder Consultancy Service idea is still in its infancy but more of how that will work when we return from holiday. Yes, we at FWW are taking a very short break to address the now desperate state of affairs that means there is far too much Riesling in my blood stream and a trip to Germany’s wine regions is well overdue! I’m sure we will have tales to tell on our return – so watch this space, as they say.

Helen Brotherton

]]> http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/index.php/2009/08/our-first-fww-summer/feed/ 0 A Wine Tasting Event on our Terrace http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/index.php/2009/07/a-wine-tasting-event-on-our-terrace/ http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/index.php/2009/07/a-wine-tasting-event-on-our-terrace/#comments Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:46:35 +0000 Helen Brotherton http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/?p=180 An enquiry back in April to organise and run a Wine Tasting Event and Lunch for a Gentlemen’s Club evolved into quite a happening! Firstly, the club is called the CRAFT Club – I envisaged (foolishly), a group of sedate gentlemen whose hobbies included building Sydney Opera House out of toothpicks or wild flower photography and happily started planning a gentle and not too challenging wine tasting for these charming chaps. When I was advised sometime into my planning exercise that CRAFT stood for “Can’t Remember A Flipping Thing” Club and that there are branches in all sorts of exotic places round the world, I realised that a more tongue in cheek and fun day was more appropriate.

So we kicked off with our legendary FWW Welcome cocktail (home-made Vin d’Orange with Sparkling wine) and bowls of Spiced Nuts and Olives on the back terrace. A real cosmopolitan and international set started to arrive – really interesting men with tales to tell and hailing from Germany, Sri Lanka, the UK, Holland, America and beyond. Through to the front terrace with a view of the Mediterranean and the first challenge was the Guess the Grape – a brief introduction to Wine Tasting (how to Swirl, Sniff & Slurp – Spitting was optional), although I have a sneaky suspicion that most of them were already well versed in the art! Then 2 Mystery Whites and 2 Reds were poured and using my potted Bluffer’s Guide to Grape Varieties the guessing commenced. A very different atmosphere to our Fun Wine 4 Women event back in April, as the chaps, split across two tables on the terrace immediately started issuing challenges & competitive bets to each other.

Having well and truly earned their lunch, we started with a Goat’s Cheese & Spinach Tart with Citrus & Pine-nut Dressing – a perfect match for our now revealed, “Villa Maria” Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. We then invited them to partake of a splendid cold buffet with dishes designed to be sampled with each of the Challenge wines. As usual, I’d over-catered and there was easily enough for 20+ (we had 15 Club members attending), but when I saw some of them returning to the buffet table for 2nds, 3rds and even 4ths, I gathered they must be quite enjoying the grub! A Smoked Salmon & Crayfish Salad (with a delicately oaked Beringer Chardonnay from California), Griddled Tuna with Mediterranean Vegetables (heavenly with a lightly chilled French Pinot Noir) and a Rare Roast Beef with Pickled Red Onions and Salsa Verde (coped admirably with a juicy Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon). Our standard cracking value “Sweetie” (the Sauternes lookalike, Ste Croix du Mont) was served with Roquefort Cheese and following hot on its heels was a squidgy Eton Mess (Strawberries, Meringue & Cream with a Raspberry Sauce), again a delightful foil for the pudding wine.

A round of Vin Triv, our much loved Wine Quiz over coffee and then a spirited final Wine Wizard Challenge (the question “Can you tell the difference between Red, White & Rosé wine?” gave us a duelling representative from each table) – I can’t tell you the “twist” in the challenge here as it will give
the game away……! But a Champion for the Day was duly crowned and our happy guests finally started to wend their way home. If I mention at this point that it was gone 4.30pm when the last one left, I think you’ll get some idea of the day! George Kasilyake did a magnificent job of organising the lunch from the Club’s point of view and FWW certainly excelled themselves with the presentation on the day. An e-mailed thank you from a Craftsman ended with the quote: “….a landmark occasion. A great and enjoyable lunch.”

Helen Brotherton
03.07.09

]]> http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/index.php/2009/07/a-wine-tasting-event-on-our-terrace/feed/ 0 New Wine Courses & Events Dates http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/index.php/2009/05/new-wine-courses-events-dates/ http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/index.php/2009/05/new-wine-courses-events-dates/#comments Mon, 18 May 2009 11:00:08 +0000 Helen Brotherton http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/?p=163 You can find all the details for the following Wine Courses and Forthcoming Events under the relevant sections on this site but as we have such a jam packed Summer & early Autumn ahead I wanted to have the opportunity to shout about it – LOUDLY!

Firstly, our accredited Wine Courses with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. Aimed particularly at Yacht Crew here on the Riviera but open to everyone with a lust and thirst for Wine.
As well as hosting these courses here at our villa, we have also linked up with Cosmo Crew to run some courses at their offices in the Marina Baie des Anges in Villeneuve Loubet. We can also run these on board, when required. Call us to discuss your particular requirements.

WSET Foundation Course (Level 1) – 1 Day
Thursday 11th June – venue tbc
Wednesday 1st July – venue tbc
See Training page for all details as to cost, course content etc.

WSET Intermediate Course (Level 2) – 3 Days
25th – 27th June – Vence 06
7th – 9th September – Vence 06
We are also planning to run this as a 9 session Evening Class for Working Wine Lovers who perhaps cannot devote a full 3 Days to the course. From mid-September – see Training Pages for details

WSET Advanced Course (Level 3) – 5 Days
We will be splitting this course over a short period to give students time to absorb the facts and cover all the ground with home study.
Mon 5th – Tue 6th Oct (2 Days)
PLUS
Mon 12th, Tue 13th & Wed 14th Oct (3 Days)
All details on the Training page of this site.

Forthcoming events:
(Details of all these can be found on the Events page under Forthcoming Dates)

Sat 6th June – “Fun Wine 4 Women”, Vence 06
Weds 17th June – “Vin-dezvous” at the Kookaburra, Nice 06
Fri 17th July – Masterclass – Food & Wine Matching, Vence 06
Sat 1st Aug – “Fun Wine 4 Women”, Vence 06
Fri 14th Aug – Masterclass – Food & Wine Matching, Vence 06

Coming soon – details of our big Autumn event to be held in conjunction with Riviera Times plus our Vilmart Champagne Winemaker Dinner – e-mail us at info@finewineworks.com to go on our Mailing List and receive regular FWW Newsletters plus special offers on our Wine List

Helen Brotherton

]]> http://www.finewineworks.com/blog/index.php/2009/05/new-wine-courses-events-dates/feed/ 0