Flash Recommendation: Sainte Marie, Estate Wine of Jersey, 2010

Jim Bergerac

I’ll be honest here, my only knowledge of Jersey is that it’s near France, full of millionaires, they have cows and it looks pretty (from what I remember from ‘Bergerac‘). Although I don’t remember Jim (Bergerac of course), ever commenting on the local beverages, I can also add, that they can make rather tasty wine too.

The Sainte Marie 2010 is produced by La Mare Wine Estate, a destination, event venue and local produce champion. Looking at their website, there’s little mention of the wine specifics, which is a shame, as this off-dry Seyval Blanc and Orion blend was delightful. Golden in colour and a peachy palate, the creaminess and acidity of this wine stood up proudly to the spiciness of a home-made curry made by a friend of mine, fresh back from her Jersey holiday. This was also perfectly drinkable with just the poppadums and I can also imagine it would be pretty mean with Jersey Oysters.

Bought from Waitrose in Jersey somewhere in the region of £10.85.

Additional links: Delicious Magazine Article – Jersey

Nyetimber and The Vineyard at Stockcross

My very first interest in learning more about wine started during an English Wine Producers‘ tasting at the Great British Cheese Festival around 10 years ago. The realisation that there could be a future in producing wine made from grapes grown in this country, ignited a real excitement in me that wine had failed to do in the past and it’s what prompted me to apply to complete my WSET courses. A far from romantic affair, run in an old science lab at Bracknell and Wokingham College, both my Intermediate and Advanced courses delivered an anti-climatic one page, 10 minute passing over of wine from England and Wales amongst the intrigue of the rest of the world’s wines.

To distract me further, all thoughts of English wine were then buried under piles of laundry and dirty nappies. Until that is, my interest was reignited in the form of a bottle of Nyetimber Classic Cuvee produced to celebrate my birthday last summer.

Since then, my English wine nerdiness has spiralled, the pinnacle of which saw me presenting an English wine tasting, so, imagine my delight when an invitation to ‘An Evening with Nyetimber‘ came my way! Not just a Nyetimber tasting, but a wine and dinner pairing at the one and only The Vineyard at Stockcross, the 5-star boutique hotel, spa and restaurant between Hungerford and Newbury. Cue much jubilation and clicking of heels (if I could click my heels, but that’s a whole other story) and off I drove into the sunset last Sunday night with the wind in my hair and the promise of a first class dinner and watering .

Perfect Friday Wine-d Down

A while back, my husband and I started a little tradition where on a Friday, we’d go for a quick drink at the pub straight after work with the kids. They’d get to have a juice and some crisps, we’d get to have a swift pint or glass of wine to mark the beginning of the weekend. We can do this because our local pub, The Windsor Castle, is welcoming and child friendly and I like to think we don’t outstay our welcome. However, one night, it was too busy for us to easily blend into a corner! I’m not sure who was more upset, us or our 3 year old daughter, but let’s face it, standing at the bar with a buggy isn’t cool.

To calm the situation, we headed home, but it was OK, we had drinks and MONSTER MUNCH at home! From this event on, our pub tradition has been replaced (not every week mind) by ‘The All Saints Arms’, an imaginary pub named after the area we live in but in the comfort of our own kitchen.

Tonight’s All Saints Arms looked a little something like this….