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The wines and cellar of Bussaco Palace Hotel – a special experience
I caught up with the members of Baga Friends for dinner last night, who hosted a very special tasting at the Bussaco Palace Hotel (pictured in the poster), a late 19th century gothic hunting lodge. Built for the last kings of Portugal, more recently, it has played host to a dinner for the queen. Though I’ve [...]
Continue reading...What did curiosity kill????
Posted Thursday 15th April 2010
The cat, so the saying goes but I’m with Raymond Blanc when he says “if you lose your curiosity, you die a little.” With chefs in mind, he went on to say “and your food also dies a little.” It’s equally true for wine isn’t it? Those winemakers who engage me the most tend to [...]
Continue reading...Monte Bernardi Chianti – a renaissance
Posted Friday 12th March 2010
Tuscany is, of course, renaissance territory and, when I visited Monte Bernardi in 2005, the vineyards and winery were undergoing a slow but sure renovation. Purchased by the Schelmzer family in 2003, the estate had in fact only been making wine since 1992. Originally owned by the late Stak Aivaliotis, this precocious estate’s wines quickly [...]
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Posted Wednesday 16th March 2011
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