Bordeaux Memories

Back in 2007 and to mark the occasion of my 45th birthday we had a long weekend in Bordeaux, St. Emilion to be more precise (see picture above) The trip was organized by an English chap who lived with his French family near Bordeaux and could speak fluent French, he made arrangements to visit the Chateaux I wanted to see and drove us around in his family Volvo. 

We had a great couple of days and I got to visit some of the top producers and try their wines, wines that I'd only ever read about up until then, it was a real education. I often wonder what ever happened to that chap, I wonder if his wine-tour business is still running, he was such a nice bloke and gave us a really great tour for not much money at the time. Many of the wines I tasted on that trip have become our favourites for the many years that followed, every time we open one it transports us back to that place and to that moment in time, it's fascinating how food and drink have the power to do that to us chimps.

Birthday Treats III

 

A delicious pint of Hacker-Pschorr (an official Oktoberfest brewer) slightly more malt forward (hence the darker colour) than most of the Oktoberfest Lagers but all the better for it, moreish and flavoursome, such easy drinking! Consumed over my birthday weekend in the "Lore of the Land" one of my favourite pubs situated in Fitzrovia (and belonging to the film director Guy Richie) ; does great food as well but we only had a quick drink in there as we had a reservation at Nobel Rot over at Lambs Conduit (see previous post!)

Birthday Treats II

 

Continuing on a wine/birthday theme, we had dinner on Saturday evening at a restaurant called "Nobel Rot", (not the first time I'd visited) it's a bistro style joint with an epic wine list (the wine is their thing really) Since it was my birthday I decided to push the boat out a bit and try something from the top shelf. The 97 Ridge Monte Bello was just the job, I'd had plenty of Ridge wines before but this one is their flagship and something I'd only ever read about and 97 was a brilliant vintage in California, you don't see this wine (at this age) much on lists here in the UK, so I just had to bite the bullet and try it!

It didn't disappoint, absolutely alive and kicking after nearly 30 years under cork, massive nose of blackcurrant and pencil lead with hints of chocolate, on the palette it opened out with blueberries, notes of mint and those chalky smooth tannins that seem to reveal layer after layer of deliciousness, very long. A truly fantastic wine, probably one of the most memorable I've ever had (and I've had quite a few good ones!) I'd love to go out and buy a case but unfortunately for me most other wine lovers feel the same and the prices for the Monte Bello are heart stopping these days, hopefully after we win the lottery I'll drink nothing else, then again I hear the 2013 is even better, there's always next year.

Birthday Treats

It was my birthday this weekend and so we decamped to London to celebrate and meet up with the kids. On Friday evening we had a really chilled meal at one of our favourite little wine bar/bistros on Endell Street near Covent Garden, I found this rather splendid Santa Rita Hills Chardonnay from Sandhi on their list and so we drank it with a simple but delicious lamb and bean dish. It was one of those classic cool climate Californian Chardonnays that was fruit filled and really tight, excellent acidity, really "zingy" and fresh, great stuff!

Saturday Smile

The boys discussing the merits of post hoc rationalization, hindsight is truly a wonderful thing!

Friday Smirk

Hide and seek world champion in perpetuity! 

Manhattan Memories

I remember back in 2018 our family took a trip to New York, we spent a week in the city showing our then teenage kids around our old haunts from when I used to work there, and mainstream tourist spots. It was a great trip and the first time I'd been back since 2001 just post 9/11, the changes to downtown were understandably huge. One of the most memorable experiences was visiting the 9/11 museum, I was expecting uber tacky in that classic American way, far too many stars and stripes etc. But how wrong i was, it was really interesting, sober and moving. 

I was lucky that my Son was born that very weekend back in 2001 and although I was scheduled to be in New York on the 11th I was at home incredulously watching on TV like the rest of the world. At the museum in 2018 I snapped a picture of the famous concrete staircase that provided an escape route for the last few souls to make it out from below the trade centre, I used to use that very same staircase on the route from my usual hotel (Marriot World Trade) to our office which was on Wall St., I can only imagine what it must have been like for those caught up in it all, a sombre memory.