As recommended by The Times, here is a list of 100 winter wines to enjoy all for under £5. So if your feeling a bit chilly and need something warming inside check out the list for a bargain thriller, and be sure to let us know what you think on Bottletalk.
Yesterday saw the announcement of the medal winners for the International Wine Challenge.
This year 9,358 wines were judged from 35 different countries, by 400 judges. The judges came from 19 different countries and included 33 Masters of Wine. 260 Gold medals were awarded, 1,129 wines won Silver medals and 1,839 wines won Bronze medals.
The top 3 medal winning nations remain the same as last year – France, Australia and Italy. France scooped the most medals with a total tally of 635. English wines continue to show improved form with 21 medals in 2007 up from 16 last year.
Of the UK Supermarkets Tesco stocks most medal winning wines whilst Sainsbury’s can claim the most Golds. Waitrose own-label wines won 3 Silver and 5 Bronze medals.
Here at Bottletalk HQ we’ll be sure to be trying a few of these award winners and letting you know what we think on the site.
With English wines now winning awards over and above some of their more established competitors and many international wine companies buying up acres of southern England now’s a very good time to find out what you might have been missing.
If you feel a bit in the dark about what English wines have to offer English Wine Week from Saturday 26th May to Sunday 3rd June provides the perfect opportunity to find out more. With events taking place throughout the country at vineyards, restaurants and local fairs there’s sure to be something in your area that will give you the opportunity to taste a drop or two or learn more about this emerging industry.
Throughtout April in the UK if you buy any two different Montana wines - one of which must be Montana Sauvignon Blanc - you can get a free copy of The Wine Travel Guide to the World from Footprint travel guides.
Montana wines are available at many UK wine retailers including Sainsburys, Asda, Oddbins, Morrisons and Tesco.
To get the free travel guide you need to send in till receipts for two different Montana wines and a cheque for £2.80 to cover postage.
How many times have you bought a wine based on a promotional price? Or bought multiple wines you didn’t really want because of a three for two type offer? We may be all falling for “artificial promotions” that are anything but a good deal.
According to a fascinating article in The Guardian, brought to our attention by regular Bottletalker Wine-Scribbler, up to 80% of sales of some wine brands are generated through “half price” offers that are anything but genuine.
There are some good quotes in the article from wine industry insiders confirming that what have long been speculated to be dubious “offers” are exactly that and give no real value to the wine drinker at all.
Old but innovative, the London based wine merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd have started a regular series of podcasts which can either be accessed from their site or subscribed to through iTunes.
According to the company, the ‘podcasks’ provide the latest updates on wine news, en primeur releases and wine events as well as featuring exclusive interviews with some of the biggest names in the world of fine wine.
First Press - the UK wine trade’s first fully-interactive Ezine, has just launched featuring an interview with JancisRobinson. First Press has been produced by Nicky Burston of World Wine Agencies. It has a lifestyle look and feel and is easy to download, or email directly to friends. Issue 1 of this new quarterly features wine celebrity interviews and podcasts, up-and-coming news and events and includes a prize draw for tickets to Old Trafford.
Threshers are at it again with their 40% off coupon. Not quite the same deal - 40% off all wines excluding Champagne and sparkling. This ‘viral’ campaign won’t be as big as last time but will obviously help them shift some bottles. Runs from 22nd March - 1st April 2007. Get your Threshers 40% off wine voucher here.
Use the voucher and get yourselves a few bottles of this Saint Veran - unbelievable value!
Cheers
The Bottletalk team
UK vineyards produced their largest crop of grapes last year due to the warmer weather attributed to global warming. This produced record amounts of grapes for the British sparkling wines making a name for themselves worldwide.
Bumper crops were seen in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and Essex vineyards because 2006 was the hottest year on record.
The harvest broke the two million litre mark for the third time since records began in the late 1980s.
Having had a successful Wine Relief tasting night last Saturday, Virtual Wine are now running a Cross-Blog-Auction in conjunction with Hugh MacLeod and Tim Atkin.
Cartoonist and blogger Hugh MacLeod of gapingvoid.com and Stormhoek.com has drawn a special Wine Relief cartoon, and wine expert and journalist Tim Atkin has specially selected 12 bottles of wine from his cellar in aid of Wine Relief.
Visit Virtual Wine to place your bid and do your bit for this year’s Comic Relief drive.