Wine tasting at artisan&vine

We have about 100 wines on the list at artisan&vine. Some of the wines are very hard to find elsewhere - orange wines, zero added sulphite wines, even English wines can be hard to find in London.

Thus far I've taken a very informal approach to sharing our wines with the world. If you've been to one of our wine tastings in the past, you'll know it can be a rather fluid affair. (I hope you appreciate that I HAD to slip that in).

Well - these days we're getting a little more thematic about things. We're still doing weekly Wednesday wine tastings, but now we're hosting specific themes, with a bit more structure & advice around what we're serving.

The schedule of upcoming themes is listed here -> http://artisanandvine.com/Wine-tasting

Please do come by for a visit to try some of our more unusual wines, I reckon you won't be disappointed.

Image: mmm... Corsican rose... perfect in every way! Exactly the sort of thing it's worth getting into on a tasting.

New Real Ale and Kentish Cider

Due to popular demand... we’ve tasted around and selected some artisan finds we hope you’ll love as much as us!
REAL ALE: Duncan Sambrook’s full, fruity and (at least when I pour it) frothy Wandle Ale
KENTISH CIDER: from our long time friends at Biddenden Vineyards - & Cider Works! Straight from the cask at a stonking 8.4% abv!

Wild wine in Chobham Common

I like the idea of "wild" whatever it's format. There's an inference of "place" within the word: if something occurs "wild" then it is likely to be a natural product of a given "place". And we already know I'm obsessed with place.

Sunday was my day off and Andrew (who's day job is working for Natural England (http://www.naturalengland.gov.uk/) and I were both keen to go somewhere Wild, though it had to be somewhere close.

The wonderful conclusion is a stunning place called Chobham Common, just off the M3 it took us around 30minutes to drive there. It's an area of outstanding beauty, especially at this time of year when the heather is in full flower.

We set up picnic and watched the clouds roll over the heaths. Stunning.

What to drink? The warm day called for a refreshing drink so we opted for the Coteaux du Languedoc 2008 from my beloved Mas Nicot. The wine has fresh lime notes and is starting to develop that brilliant creamy finish that was so characteristic of the 2007 vintage. We sell Coteaux du Languedoc for £4.40/glass, or, you can buy it to take home for £14.50/bottle (and an additional 10% off when you buy 6 or more).

Image: fresh Coteaux du Languedoc from Mas Nicot in the gorgeous wild flowers of Chobham Common.

Ale / Lager, Pilsner / Beer, Rioja / Riocka

Last year I underwent an awakening: people like draught beer.

This year, I discovered that while some people like draught lager, others prefer draught ale.

I only served draught lager.

So yesterday I went to visit Duncan Sambrook, of Sambrooks Brewery around the corner from me here in Battersea.

My questions made him pull the face I have to pull when people ask for an Australian Rioja (rioja is their favourite grape). He was confused at my questions, but eager to help.

What did I learn? For starters... here are the answers to some important beer basics:

1. Beer = an alcoholic drink made by the brewing & fermenting of starches

2. Lager = fermenting at cold temps, with "fizz" added afterward

3. Pilsner = a type of pale lager, with predominant hop characteristics

4. Ale = fermented at hot temps, with "fizz" developed during secondary fermentatin (yes, like champagne!)

For seconders, I learnt we really need to be stocking some of this full, flavoursome ale stuff...

At artisan&vine we currently have pilsner & lager on tap... we're now trialling Duncan's excellent local ale by the bottle.

Come by & cast a vote... we're keen for your thoughts!

Image: Duncan's fantastic Wandle Ale... I reckon we're onto a winner...

We've gone crackers... (past tense?)

A friend of mine has a friend, Miriam. Miriam is a foodie. She went crackers long before we did.

Today Miriam brought in a range of her handmade crackers - chilli cheese, herb & cheese, rosemary & garlic. We tasted; they're perfect for wine.

We'll be stocking them from Friday on... come by for a taste of additive free, home made perfection!

PS - yes, Miriam was subject to the standard artisan&vine new supplier interview:

1. show us your product, how does it taste?

2. what's your story? (subtext: where's your passion)

3. what's the story of the product? (tastes like inspiration)

4. what does it cost? will it represent great value for our savvy customers?

Image: homemade crackers!

Wine shop or not shop

I've been thinking a lot lately about the artisan&vine wine shop.
I've been thinking: people seem to really love our wines, but they rarely buy them to take home. Customers enthuse about what they taste at artisan&vine in a way people don't usually enthuse at bars and restaurants. These wines seem to create an interactive, participatory experience.
So, why then, do we sell such a small amount of wine to take home?
The prices are very competitive, of that I'm certain.
Maybe tasting wine at artisan&vine is a participatory experience that includes the feel of our little bar on St John's Hill.
Most likely, I've done a very bad job telling people that there is the ability to take wines home. It's easy to get caught up talking only about the wines and the exciting places they've evolved from.
Should we have a sign? An accompanying online shop? Do we give up on retail and accept we'll always be primarily a bar?
Come visit us soon... I'm sure we'll have dreamt up something in the very near future.
Share your opinion by voting in the poll on this site (until 30 Aug 09).

Image: sometimes I wonder if our pretty little Georgian building looks more like a home than a bar or shop!

Bordeaux, Cahors and Gaillac

This July we did a rather ambitious road trip from Toulouse, up to Bordeaux, back down south to Cahors and then across to Gaillac. We were in pursuit of wine: exciting new wine.
· Bordeaux posed the largest challenge for me. Steeped in tradition, amongst all of my contacts we could think of only 3 producers using biodynamic methods. In a fascinating twist, one of them – Pascal Amoreau of Chateau Le Puy - is an extreme natural wine maker, and doesn’t use any added sulphites in his wines. The result is outstanding: full fruit flavours, incredible depth, a live personality. I hope to be stocking the wines come Autumn!
· We went to Cahors to visit the charismatic Catherine Maisonneuve of Domaine Cosse Maisonneuve. Cahors has stunning countryside: wild vegetation interspersed by picturesque towns and their churches. Like much of Cahors, the speciality here is Malbec and we were treated to an amazing tasting across vintages and parcels. We stock Catherine’s full, earthy Le Combal 2005 at artisan&vine – definitely worth drinking if you enjoy your reds heavy.
· Lastly, we visited Virginie Maignien and Patrice Lescarret of Domaine Causse Marines in Gaillac. This place is lively, floral, spicy and the wines are exactly the same. Virginie and Patrice are dedicated to using lesser known grape varieties that are indigenous to Gaillac – Ondenc, Braucol, Duras – it’s a wonderful taste exploration that necessitates(!) me carrying four of their fabulous wines at artisan&vine.
· Photos and notes from the full journey and tastings here -> http://artisanandvine.com/index.php?mact=Album,m3,default,1&m3albumid=14&m3returnid=56&page=56

Image: me with Dominic from Chateau le Queyroux, Bordeaux

London's Best Wine Bar, Burgundy & 1 Year B'day Bash

In this update – amazing reviews, a one year birthday party, a new wine list and my latest love… Burgundy Burgundy

LONDON’S BEST WINE BAR
Regulars and enthusiasts have thought it for some time… we’re stoked someone other than my Mum put it into writing. This last week wine writer Andrew Barrow of Spittoon.biz and Guardian Word of Mouth wrote a&v up as ‘London’s Best Wine Bar’, full review here -> http://artisanandvine.com/index.php?page=Reviews#Spittoon
We were delighted to receive a flattering write up from wine blogger Robert McIntosh of Wine Conversation also. Robert concludes that passion and commitment, more than the nuances of “natural” are key in making a great wine experience -> http://artisanandvine.com/index.php?page=Reviews#Conversation

BURGUNDY BURGUNDY… CAN I LOVE THEE MORE?
Burgundy... I cannot love thee more. It’s as true as everyone says: this is the place where terroir becomes a fact. Acres upon acres of (almost) only Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with nothing to distinguish what pours from a bottle except the terroir and winemaker themselves... which turn out to be everything!
As a result of the trip, I have quite a few new finds in the bar, new favourites from Domaine D’Arlot, Bret Brothers and Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon.
Photo diary of the trip is here -> http://artisanandvine.com/index.php?mact=Album,m3,default,1&m3albumid=12&m3returnid=56&page=56

OUR NEW WINE LIST – which includes exciting new finds from Chile, Austria, Burgundy & rest of France is here -> http://artisanandvine.com/uploads/pdfs/Full%20wine%20list%20090622%20bar.pdf

ARTISAN&VINE’S ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY BASH!
Somehow a year has passed and as a dedicated member of the a&v mailing list... we’d like to invite you to our 1 year birthday party on Friday, 24 July. The party will start at 6pm and go through to close at 2am. The party is for regulars and enthusiasts – to thank you for your support over the last year. Look forward to seeing you then!

Image: Olivier of Domaine D'Arlot, Burgundy, walks me through the beautiful estate gardens

Plumpton College visit and the week that was

I chose to begin December with a treat and so on Monday just gone I packed up my mini little car and drove down to Plumpton College Vineyard & Winery, near Brighton. I really underestimated just how much of a treat this would be! Matthew and Peter did a wonderful job showing me around their scenic vineyard and state of the art winery. (unfortunately I forgot my camera and Plumpton's website is tragically low on photos so the little snippet below is as best I can do for now).

The real pleasure of a College winery, I came to discover, is the opportunity for experimentation, thought and analysis. Peter Morgan, the winemaker at Plumpton, has a pedigree from France and Nyetimber (UK), and his passion for exploring elements of wine making is obvious. Plumpton has a variety of vats, temperature controlled rooms and laboratories within which students can investigate different cause and effecting wine making. If artisan&vine ever feels like giving me a full day off, I’ll be down at Plumpton signed up for study immediately!

Plumpton College runs a variety of long and short term courses – including one day classes – and is definitely worth checking out. Artisan&vine will be running a day trip down there when the sun comes out again next year.

Plumpton’s wines? If you’ve been to artisan&vine, there’s a very strong chance you’ve heard me rave about The Dean NV sparkling wines. We stock The Dean white and Blush. Fantastic complexity, good brioche flavours, always a hit with customers.

In artisan&vine recently: we usually have a number of party bookings on a Saturday night at artisan&vine. This Saturday gone we hosted Christa and Andrew’s engagement party, which we kicked off with a custom wine tasting; the guest’s loved Dominio del Bendito’s 2006 Silver, (£12.50/btl take home) I do too, it’s an extraordinarily velvety red wine, an alcoholic drinking chocolate; it needs to be tasted to be believed. We also hosted Crodelia’s birthday party. Cordelia and her friends converted the entire back of the bar to a dancefloor and before long pretty much the entire bar was back there dancing. Sometimes our 2am licence still just doesn’t seem late enough.

Press and reviews: we were stoked to learn that we had received View London’s highest rating – 5 stars – for our food, wine, ambience and service. Kelly and her editorial team really do a very thorough job in their reviews and as an occasional customer at other bars and restaurants, I was impressed to see the integrity and attention that View London invest for every review and recommendation list they put together. I’m really over the moon that we now feature on a few of their recommended lists, including best places for a first date!

Pictures: I heart Plumpton College and rue forgetting my camera!

New things and newsy things

I sometimes wonder if I spend too much of my life trying new things. I’m absolutely obsessive about it. Long ago I used to do something of a “self check” that I’d done at least one new thing a day… I reckon I’m clocking one new thing an hour these days, without even trying.
The addictive thing about trying new things is that 9 out of 10 times the result is positive. When it’s not entirely positive, it’s a learning experience.
Last week I started blogging & I tried updating the blog every day. This is a bad bad bad idea. A terrible idea. Working 16hours a day, on a quiet day, is already enough… Henceforth my blog shall be something like a weekly update during one of our quieter shifts (such as this Saturday afternoon). We’ll try this something new anyways.

So much happened this week I’m not sure where to begin!

We launched our new food menu; this is something we plan to keep fresh by evolving every couple of weeks

We also got some more positive press; this time in the online industry newsletter by Wine+. This latest article is the opposite of an anonymous review: I was asked by the good people of Wine+ to write this one myself! After hearing about some of the interesting things we were doing at artisan&vine, the Wine+ team asked me to write up our experiences. Our online scrapbook includes a snapshot (along with shots of some other nice articles about artisan&vine), click

here for the full article, including fantastic commentary from someone I have massive respect for, Peter McCombie, MW.

Our boiler broke… which is obviously very bad news… though our little fan heaters buzz away in the meantime.

In artisan&vine last night: Melanie, wine buyer for Whole Foods Market came by with a group of friends to enjoy some of our wines. Melanie has outstanding taste & has done a great job at introducing some interesting natural wines at Whole Foods, I was stoked by how much she liked our list – particularly the Grand Cru Rose Champagne (£22.40/bottle take home price) from Marguet. The flavour and complexity of this creamy biodynamic rose blows away that of mass produced commercial champagnes; trying it will change your view on champagne. Self-proclaimed devoted regular Tom, his brother Joe & their friends kept us all entertained, particularly when they inspired the entire late night bar crowd to sing happy birthday to David, another of our favourite regulars. Happy 30th David!

Popular buys last night: the 2005 Peyrouzelles (£10.40/bottle take home price) from Domaine Causse Marines in Gaillac, South-west France, is ever popular and last night was no different. In addition to familiar Syrah, is an interesting blend of indigenous grape varieties - Duras, Braucol and Prunelard. Peyrouzelles displays lovely red berries aromas with peppery & spice character. Beautiful fruit flavours are able to shine without being overpowered by tannins.

Picture: our Wine+ On-Trade Insider article, issued 21 Nov 2008