Battle of the Blanc de Blancs Part 1 On Saturday night I hosted an intimate dinner party for a dear friend from the UK who was in Sydney for 24hrs to celebrate his birthday. This sparkling event called for a range of blanc de blancs Champagnes to match seared salmon in miso broth with mushrooms and asparagus. We began logically enough with the extremely magnificent value Pierre Gimonnet Gastronome 2004, which was “absolutely lush” as they say on Gavin & Stacey, followed by the slightly older Pierre Gimonnet Fleuron 2002 (nb these wines are currently on promotion @ $100 for 2 bottles at your local Vintage Cellars). We finnished on…

English Wine Week Special Report. Once upon a time before the invention of speed limiting cameras, the M25 orbital motorway that circumnavigates London was known as the playground of boy racers, but these days, within a short distance of central London, you can find yourself amongst sparkling vineyards at the foot of the SouthDowns, just a few miles from the sea. In the past decade English Sparkling Wine has won a veritable sea of international awards, wowed the serious sparkling critics such as Serena Sutcliffe and Jancis Robinson and, due to a combination of increased expertise and favourable climactic conditions, become an international contender in bucking the current economic climate.…

Diary Date LIWSF 2009 Highlights. Last year thanks to the desperate ratings battle between Channel 9 and Channel 7, millions of Australians got to see GR on the telly practically every week – if not twice in time-lapse shift on two channels – so I was determined on my next trip to London to see if the taste lived up to the hype – hence Mission Murano with a mate last week during LIWSF. Opened in 2008 Murano is a fine-dining Italian restaurant in the heart of London’s Mayfair. A classically tailored interior features magnificent painted fresco and traditional blown glasswork light fittings in the Murano style setting the tone…

Diary Date LIWSF 2009 Highlights: Bright lights, bikinis…its Brazilian bubbles! A trip to the most significant trade tasting event in the world’s wine calendar (London International Wine Fair) is always a great opportunity to open your eyes to new wonders  – even if your speciality is just to focus on the sparkling side of life. At this year’s event at Excel I thoroughly enjoyed tasting many boutique cavas and proseccos dotted around the exhibition hall, as well as tiny production family Champagnes from the Marne Valley. England took out more than 20 awards in this year’s international wine competition and relative sparkling newcomer Camel Valley in Cornwall won a gold…