Flash Recommendation: Oloroso Abocado

Casa Brindisa, the perfect lunch destination for a museum day out, even sitting outside in December

What: Alameda Oloroso Abocado, Bodegas Hidalgo
Where Out: Casa Brindisa, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London £4.95 glass/ £34 a 50cl bottle
Where In: Highbury Vintners £10.50 50cl
Who: Husband plus 2 tired and hungry toddlers
When: Christmas family day out to the big smoke
Food match: Smoked spanish cheese Idiazabal with walnuts and quince jelly
Conclusion: Luscious, leggy medium sweet sherry, copper in colour, figgy undertones. Made a favourable alternative to a Rioja with tapas.
Bonus point: Numbed the pain of the eldest child refusing all but toasted corn and bread sticks for lunch in protest at the 90 minute queue for the Natural History Museum.
Links: BBR Oloroso Summary,  Oloroso Sherry

Flash Recommendation: Vega Douro Tinto 2009

What: Vega Douro Tinto 2009, Douro, Portugal
Where Out: The Two Brewers, Park Street, Windsor £15
Where In: The Wine Reserve £8.49
Who: Old bestest girl-chums
When: School night
Food match: Pork belly
Conclusion: Super value for a full bodied, savoury wine with dark cherry fruits.
Bonus point: It’s all in the location for my first flash recommendation; Chocolate labradors round our ankles and open fires in perhaps the cosiest pub in Berkshire.
Links: Wines of Portugal

Making me work for my wine

So, I haven’t been able to blog as much as I would like to over the last couple of weeks, partly due to being extra-specially knackered but also because I’ve cancelled the cleaners so have been doing the housework when I want to be blogging! What this does mean however is that the money that I am saving on the cleaners can be spent on more/ better wine. The opportunity to do so presented itself to me when an old wine associate of mine, Tony Hill, one-half of Bordeaux and Beyond, kindly let me help out on his stand at a local wine fair back in November to give me a taste of the wine trade.

Hot and Spicy

The tree – still standing and nobody electrocuted (yet)…

My usual ritual of decorating the Christmas tree this year was a little different to the past few years as I swapped my usual companions, Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley and the rest of the Love Actually cast, for 2 little baby helpers. More of a hindrance than a help to my obsessive-compulsive bauble placement, my 2 year old was tasked with hanging some non-breakable wooden decorations on the lowest branches (averaging 3 on the same branch), whilst my 14 month old removed said decorations and tried to eat the fairy lights.

In past tradition however, I was still able to enjoy a glass or 2 of mulled wine brewed from my own recipe, the perfect accompaniment to help get into the Christmas spirit.