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Cantinarte

A trip to Abruzzo in Italy to taste some fine organic wines.

Understanding Rioja

Rioja (pronounced “ree” + “OH” + “kuh”) as we know it is a red wine, made using the Tempranillo grape. Graciano, Mazuelo and Maturana Tinto are also grown in small quantities as blending companions. What will you taste? You can expect a Rioja red blend to have complex flavours, earth and leather layered with dark […]

Crozes-Hermitage

Producer of the Month – Domaine les Chenêts Crozes-Hermitage The vagaries of weather had made Madame a bit distracted the last time we visited Domaine les Chenêts a few years ago. They had had some heavy rains and hail which had destroyed a proportion of the crop. By now, the weather had swung to the […]

Person picking grapes in a field, clouds and trees

Why Not Welsh Wine?

To celebrate St. David’s Day why not open a bottle of fizz to celebrate? Maybe even a Welsh fizz? 10 years ago, we wouldn’t have even thought of this but in the past decade we’ve seen a rapid development in the wine scene here in Wales, both in quality and in drinkability. We are seeing […]

Dry January

Let’s face it, I’m not going to join the Dry January army and give up drinking wine for a month. Not even a week actually! I recognise that for my physical and mental health, a moderate consumption is necessary. However, I would no more aim to practise this for just a month any more than […]

Eiswein in Canada

Exploring the Frozen Elegance of Canadian Eiswein My first surprise was to see grape vines growing wild. I spotted them immediately as we walked along a local footpath on my first day there. I have never witnessed this before, they twist and turn and bind themselves to the very tops of the trees. Pointing them […]

dylan and Kim red wine glasses and bottle

Martin Freixa Old Vines 2020

Martin Freixa – a visit from the producer Today we tried the Martin Freixa wine – with the producer! What a treat. It’s a good job I liked the wine isn’t it? It was rich, full, and fruity. This wine is Limited Edition, with only 5000 bottled, the bottle we opened was number 4860! And it […]

Penderyn Single Malt Whisky

Penderyn Single Malt Whisky has been successful in gaining protection in law as a Welsh product in the UK. PGI means Protected Geographical Indication and it is the 20th product from Wales to achieve GI accreditation, following in the footsteps of the protected designation of origin (PDO) for Welsh wine and the protected geographical indications […]

What Wine goes with Lamb?

We are often asked what wine matches certain foods and we really enjoy the challenge of choosing something good. So what wine goes with lamb? It’s a classic meat from North Wales and much loved by visitors and locals. My brother John farms lamb that graze overlooking the beautiful Cardigan Bay, if they were any […]

Wine Waste

The equivalent of some 650 million bottles of wine are thrown away every year in the UK. I was shocked when I first read about this wine waste and immediately cross-referenced to see if it could possibly be true. It seems that it is indeed true. How on earth does this happen? I suppose it […]

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