Purple Teeth - Discover. Drink. Discuss.
Follow me here
  • Purple Teeth Wine Services
    • Wine Tasting
  • Blog
  • Wine & Food
  • Advertise/Sponsor
  • Other stuff

A Wine Romance

20/2/2014

 
Picture£12.49 from Majestic (or £9.99 ea for 2) 37.5cl
As a wine lover, it always hurts when my friends claim not to like wine.  Funnily enough, whenever I introduce them to sweet wine, they seem to change their opinion.  If you've never tried dessert wine, why not slip one into your next wine shopping basket.  You could be missing out on something glorious.

Sweet dessert wines aren't for everyone, and perhaps they're not for every night.  But there are some moments when they are simply unbeatable. 

Lurking in my fridge for several months, last weekend was finally the right time to open the half bottle of Andrew Quady's Californian Elysium Black Muscat.  When better to open a wine that you drank at your wedding, which features a love heart on the label, than on Valetine's weekend?

Mr Purple Teeth and I first discovered the Black Muscat grape while on a trip to Sonoma around 10 years ago.  It was love at first sip.  It's rich, deep red colour and highly perfumed, aromatic flavours are just as heavenly as the name Elysium suggests.  There's a hint of rose and some lychee fruit and of course some lovely red fruit.  I often pair it with chocolate desserts, traditionally difficult to match with wine, but it can also work well with blue cheese, or raspberry/strawberry tarts, pavlovas or even just poured on some vanilla ice cream. 
Frankly speaking, I often use dessert wine instead of dessert, though this time, I didn't go for the low calorie option.
Instead I paired with the exceptionally decadent Gü puddings' Gü-zillionaires Shortcake.  Oh My!  Perhaps not the best possible match due to the caramel flavours, but two delightful sweet treats side by side can't fail to please the sugar addict in me.  And that pudding needs to be banned now to prevent my dentist becoming a millionaire.

Picture
One of the things I love about this sort of wine is that (if you have the willpower) it will keep in the fridge for a few days.  I used a vacuum pump, and was still able to enjoy this on day 5 after opening.  I'm not going to claim this as a diet tip, but if you can't resist a sweet treat in the evening, and a little glass of wine, perhaps just rationing yourself to a small glass of this will kill 2 birds with the one stone.
Elysium is fortunately available a bit more widely these days.  We had real difficulty sourcing it for our wedding, all those years ago. Prices differ greatly from £9.59 at StrictlyWine.co.uk (£6.99 shipping fee applies unless you're order is more than £225), to £12.41 via Amazon plus over £8 shipping. If you're a Londoner you can pop into Fortnum and Mason and pick it up for £12.50.  It pays to shop around! Wherever you buy it, I really hope you'll be tempted to give this wine a try some time.  You'll find it on menus in many fine dining restaurants too.
One of my less romantic wedding memories, where we served this with a hot chocolate fondant, is the collection of glasses of this lined up in front of the supposed non-wine-drinker in attendance.  I think she polished off a full bottle.  Now that's a recommendation you can trust.

Cheers!


Comments are closed.

    Purple Teeth

    My name's Heather and I've been enjoying wine for over 20 years. I'm the 2013 winner of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust Rhone prize for oustanding students at the advanced level.
    My mission is to share my passion for the myriad varieties of fermented grape juice, hopefully inspiring you to try something new, or to host  a Purple Teeth wine party in your own home or business.

    My blog mainly features wines you should be able to find on your local high street or online, and occasionally, I will review restaurants, travel and other forms of alcohol, since my qualification covers spirits too.  I believe it's important to enjoy the calories and the cash we spend on alcohol, and I hope my guidance can help you reduce the risk of making a bad buy.
      
    When I'm not drinking wine, you'll find me on the dance floor where West Coast Swing is my dance of choice. Socialising with the friends I've made there from all over the world has also brought me new adventures in alcohol!  And just in case you're interested, I also write a blog called Confidence Within.  You'll find it at heatherharrison.weebly.com


    Remember to enjoy wine sensibly...
    For a woman, 2-3 units per day is the recommended maximum allowance.  This equates to around one standard "pub measure" glass of wine:
    175ml of 13% alcohol wine is 2.3 units (and a scary 140 calories).  
    You'll find all the facts you need about safe, moderate drinking at the www.Drinkaware.co.uk site. 
    Purple Teeth supports safe drinking. Never drive or operate machinery after drinking alcohol.

    Get notified of new blogs

    * indicates required
    / ( mm / dd )
    Email Format

    Archives

    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.