Annual Davy's Summer Wine Tasting

This year was my third attendance at the Davy's Summer Wine Tasting in Greenwich. Each year I have been here in the UK, I have attended this tasting with friends, and it is always a fantastic event. Held at the Davy's Cellars in Greenwich, the tasting venue has switched between the Davy's warehouse and the cellars themselves. This year, I enjoyed the cellar setting, with more ambiance and fun corridors to walk down to discover new wines.


As I normally do, I started out with sparkling wines and whites at about 10:45am, making my way onto the reds around 12 in time for our 1pm lunch reservations. The sparklings that stood out to me where the all of Lallier Champanges, the Prosecco, and the Laurent-Perrier Brut and Ultra Brut. The Lallier Brut Millesime Grand Cru 200 (£35.95) was outstanding, managing to exude toast without being very full bodied. The Lallier 1er Cru Rose Champagne Brut was also absolutely delicious, and at £29 a more reasonablel value.

Of the whites, my favourite stand bys of Sancerre (Blanc Cuvee Les Moulins Bales Leon Vatan 2007 and Rose Les Villots Leon Vatan 2006, both at £12.50) and Pouilly Fume (Domaine du Bouchot 2007, £12.50) stood out. The best value white was by far the Davy's White No 1. At £5.50 a bottle, it is a nice, dry, quaffable wine.

By the time I reached the reds, I was only interested in something that would really take my breath away, and I found it in the Chateau Gigognan Vigne du Prieure Cotes du Rhone 2005. Let's just say it takes like a Chateauneuf du Pape, but at £13, it is well below the typical CdP price point. This one is well worth buying by the case for Rhone style red wine lovers. There were also some good value Chilean reds, but to be honest, there are always good value Chilean reds around.

As always, an enjoyable, intimate and successful event. Well done Davy's!

Wine and Cheese Party, Boston, MA

In May, I organised a wine and cheese party for a friend's wedding in Boston, Massachusetts. The party was catered by Christy Tenhaeff, a local Boston chef who is friends with the bride. I chose all the wine selections, and matched them with cheese pairings that Christy sourced for me.

The event was a huge success, with the goal being to expand attendees horizons on wine regions and varietals that they may not be familiar with. The wedding was a destination wedding for most of the guests, so the wine and cheese party kept with the theme, and all wines came from other destinations, specifically outside the U.S.


Here are the eight wines we served, all sourced from Ball Square Fine Wines in Somerville, MA. Ball Square did a fantastic job working with us remotely, and they were accommodating every step of the way with our requests and requirements. All the wines were between $11-17, except for the dessert wine, which was a value at $20 for 750ml.

• Sparkling: NV Santome Prosecco, Italy - clean, refreshing and well-balanced. Guests really enjoyed discovering a non-champagne sparkling wine.

• White: 2006 Nasiakos Moschofilero, Greece - a Sauvignon Blanc-style wine, this was excellent and a huge hit with the guests. I know from my travels to Greece that not all wines are this high of quality, so I was pleased to serve this as a good example of what the region can produce.

• White: 2008 Huber Gruner Veltliner, Austria - this was another fun wine to serve. Aromatic, minerally, white flowers and stone fruit flavours.

• White: 2007 Gerard Bertrand Chardonnay, Southern France - This was the safety wine, but was not as popular as I expected. It was a lightly oaked Chardonnay, but guests were more intrigued with the more exotic varietals on offer.

• Red: 2005 Sartori Valpolicella, Veneto Italy - Lightest of the reds served, I was reduced to the one liner of "this is like a Pinot Noir" which of course, it is not, except for its place on the lighter red spectrum. This Valpolicella had bright raspberry, light spice and oak. The light body and medium acidity paired it well with the mini por sandwiches.

• Red: 2006 Chateau Coupe Roses Minervois, Southern France -The heavy-hitter of the group, this is what I offered to those who say they only like Cabernet Sauvignon. It is actually a Carignan, Grenache and Syrah blend, but the high tannins and somewhat closed fruit give it a Cab-like quality. The actual flavours were more raspberry and herbs.

• Red: 2006 Crios de Susana Balbo Syrah/Bonarda, Argentina - This wine is absolutely delicious. Dark chocolate and black currant, this wine is medium bodied and incredibly drinkable.

• Dessert: 2005 La Foncalpre Monbazillac, France - I love serving dessert wines because I feel that many people have such a limited experience with "stickies" or ice wines that they are always surprised by the smoothness and honey like quality of a Sauternes, or as served here, Sauternes-knock off from a nearby Bordeaux appellation.

The event was a fun and I hope informative experience for the 35 guests. I provided tasting cards so they could remember what they drank and track down the wines if they are locals. I know that the hosts, Brea and Nathan Ashcraft, enjoyed themselves and thought the party was a success.

Me on the right with the bride and groom