We enjoyed a couple of really good bottles over the weekend. Don't worry - we didn't only drink two, but two were particularly of note.

First, with The Fisherman and Mrs Fisherman (if I call her Fishwife I'm in deep trouble) a 1988 Hospices de Beaune Volnay-Santenots by Bouchard was ...   more »

Hot on the heels of my trip to the US I headed off to Devon for a meeting of the NTHKWS (Not the Hong Kong Wine Society), UK Chapter. We now outnumber the donor branch which, given that there is only one criteria for membership: you had to be a ...   more »

One of the constraints of my hectic travel schedule is that too frequently it robs me of the opportunity to post posts. Conversely it does, however provide much material.

Last week whilst in Miami on business we had Thursday dinner in The Forge. A strange old place: part Munsters living ...   more »

Our efforts to explore the culinary hotspots of Wiltshire continued on Saturday with a visit to The Bell in Ramsbury. Ramsbury is apparently famous as it is the location of the start of the Band of Brothers TV series. Apparently. Have to say it is a very attractive old village with a great deal of character.

The Bell was very good. A pleasant ambience, a short and interesting menu with a wine list to match. Somehow you always know you are in safe hands when you spot a few favourites and a the odd unusual bottle.....

So it was that we started with a bottle of Cave de Ribeauville, Gewurztranimer, 2003 and followed it with a Hochar Pere et Fils wine made by Chateau Musar. This is what attracted my attention as it is not something you see very often. Chateau Musar is famous for two reasons. One, it produces some damn fine wines and two, it is in the Lebanon.

The Hochar family own and run the estate and what we drank was, in Bordeaux speak, the second wine of the Chateau. It was excellent. Clearly Cabernet based but with the more exotic (!) blend of Carigan and Cinsault, not a combination widely available from France (OK Fisherman, correct me if I'm wrong!). It really is a joy to go find a restaurant where both menu and wine list are short and focussed, offering something you don't see every day.

We'll be back.   more »

Quiet LIttle Drinks - QLD's to some - are always the most dangerous. Last evening, full of good intentions, I headed to Chuzzlewits for a glass of wine with a couple of colleagues, ideally to tee me up to face going into Safeway's before heading home for a nice nicoise ...   more »

This is a great article from the Guardian - a lefty rag which I never read.. but for one moment, sod the politics and enjoy a bit of simple prejudice...

A drinking woman's guide to wine
Polly Vernon

I was so very glad to hear that women are fuelling the ...   more »