Wine memories..

It was reasonably warm here in the South of the UK yesterday, it put me in mind of the two fantastic days  of wine tasting we recently spent in Franschhoek & Stellenbosch near Cape Town, South Africa. Such variety and quality on offer! I snapped the picture above at the Waterford Estate where we tried a range of wines all of which were great and a bottle of which I bought all the way home with me in my suitcase (their estate Cabernet) we drank it the other weekend with a nice meal it was lush and transported us both straight back to the sunshine and warmth, albeit temporarily!

Here be monsters...

This map was just released by the State Department of the USA, it's supposed to give travel advice to Americans wishing to visit foreign countries (all five of them). Everything in yellow is in the category labelled "Exercise increased caution", essentially most of Europe! Apparently (according to the septics in Washington) Vietnam is safer than Argentina which in turn is safer than Spain or England, that's news to some of us who own a passport (rather than a MAGA hat) and, unlike the vast majority of Americans, have visited all of these places.

Screaming for Summer

As previously mentioned we had dinner in Trinity, London last weekend and in addition to some scrummy grub we also had a bottle of wine from one of my favourite French producers, Verget. Now this wine was bottled especially for the restaurant (note the non-Verget label) and a small donation to charity is made for each bottle sold, the combination of Verget wine and virtue signaling about giving to charity was irresistible! The wine was a classic Verget Burgundy, fresh as a daisy with copious back-notes of green apples and vanilla and wonderfully balanced, a wine that screams Summer picnics, can't wait! 

London Stories

It was my daughter's birthday this week and so we treated her to a slap up meal in London. We went to Trinity in Clapham which has been nestled at the North East end of the common for at least 20 years and in that time has earned a Michelin star. We arrived during what seemed like a monsoon, it was lashing down, anyway all the pubs were full so we made a dash for the restaurant a whole hour early expecting to have to wait with a drink somewhere. It wasn't a problem and even though the place was full they accommodated us without the slightest fuss, which we all really appreciated. 

After a delicious welcoming glass of bubbles we cracked on into starters, one of the signature dishes here is the Salmon, confit in butter and then served with roe, a burre blanc and topped with pickled cucumber (see above) it was an absolute banger, so tasty, so well balanced as a dish, TBH I could have just had this all night! Anyway after a couple more dishes (all v. good) we bookended the evening with a delicious tart tartin and double cream, so good, a great evening at a top dining establishment!

Saturday Smile

Don't worry we'll get assisted dying through soon too..

Friday Smirk

The boys discussing the age old adage that "if the cap fits, wear it"...

Midweek Mirth

My, my our neighbourhood has gone to the dogs lately, I was out for my walk today and saw this hoe just leaning against the road sign, in broad daylight!