23rd December.  It's raining.  It's blowing a gale.  It's party time.  But not at Purple Teeth's temporary London HQ.  After facing the queues on Oxford Street just to buy the perfect cheese for our Christmas dinner, and being almost swept away Mary Poppins style, I decided:  I'm not going out there, and you can't make me. But London, I promise you, I'm not tired of you yet.

So this begs the question.  Which wine should I enjoy while Mr Purple Teeth had gone to watch Arsenal vs Chelsea in the local boozer?  There are lots of lovely wines laid in for the festive season, and doubtless, 6 kinds of dessert wine will be too many.  But the lure of sharing something unusual with you, proved too much.  So to Georgia I went on this rainy night.

How many of my dear readers have tasted Georgian wine?  I've had only a small, but imperfect tasting (from a plastic cup, in the early hours of a Monday morning, after myriad flavoured vodkas) of a sweet Georgian wine made from the Saperavi grape.  So when I spotted a Saperavi in the "fine and rare" section of the John Lewis food hall (also available from Waitrose Wine online and Ocado) in my first week in London, seeing it was on special offer at the time, I couldn't resist popping it into my basket.  This 2007 Orovela is one of just 8880 bottles made in the foothills of the Caucasus mountains.  Orovela is apparently a kind of Georgian ploughing song, which could be heard echoing through the hillsides in days of yore.  Luckily now, it's an accessible brand of wine that means we don't have to go to a specialist.

The initial impression is instantly interesting.  Dark ruby in colour, there's a pleasing acidity.  It's a heavyweight of a wine, but the acidity lifts it, making it more refreshing than it may otherwise have been.  It's got a deep blackberry and black cherry flavour tinged with spice and oaky, smokey highlights. The velvety tannins are well integrated and give backbone to the medium body. The acidity stops the tannins being too astringent. This wine could probably age for many years, but it won't get the chance in my home. Conditions aren't ideal for extended storage. There's not much space and there are two avid wine drinkers on the loose.

Mr Purple Teeth returned from his pub excursion and declared it a hit.  I'm not sure he'll be replacing his number one slot of Left Bank Bordeaux with this one, but he enjoyed exploring a second glass.

Aside from the fact that it's not from the normal wine regions likely to feature on your home wine racks, the Saperavi variety has another unusual characteristic.  It's made from a "Teinturier" grape variety and is one of the few single varietals made from this type of grape.  The term teinturier comes from the French to dye or to stain. It means the grape flesh is pigmented just like the skin.  Most of the red wines we drink come from black grapes where the pulp is actually green, and the colour comes from the juice's skin contact alone. 
The Saperavi grape is one of the oldest cultivars in Georgia where it originated.  It's consistently been one of the big commercial successes from the region and, perhaps due to it's ability to stand up to tough weather conditions, experimental plantings are appearing in the Finger Lakes area of New York and also in Austrlia.  Maybe we'll see more of it in future.  But if you fancy a taste of 8000 years of wine history, for less than £17 and delivered to your door by Ocado, then pop a bottle of this in your virtual shopping basket.  If you love big dark red wines which pack a punch but still hold some elegance, I'm sure you'll be happy with your very own version of archeology.

Merry Christmas and Cheers to all our readers!

It was recently my pleasure to help a band of talented students get the best wines to match a meal with their mentor. The idea: to introduce new wines, and explore different regions while giving some people who are relatively new to wine an experience to remember.
The Maze Grill Butcher's Block was buzzing if a tad noisy for delivering long lectures on the wine. So here I'll provide some information about the wines, and also some alternatives you might try at home.

Our first course was a Roast Pumpkin Soup with creme fraiche.  It seemed rather a waste to pair a wine with this, so we didn't.  But if you're having something like sweet roast pumpkin you might try a Viognier.

If you'd like to host a Purple Teeth Wine Tasting at home, or need some help navigating a restaurant wine list for an important occasion, or if you fancy joining me on a Purple Teeth field trip to taste wines, please contact me via my Tasting Page.  I really want to help you enjoy wine in whatever way I can.

Cheers!

I'm sorry it's been a little quiet around here on the wine front.  We have been drinking some rather nice wine. It's mostly been drunk in rather nice restaurants and rather nice bars around the city of London. We are spending the month of December here in, what feels like, an attempt to beat the world record for hedonism.  
Life is good, and blogging has taken a back seat, but there are a few posts in the pipeline.

Last night, for reasons of Mr Purple Teeth's business lunch which included a £130+ bottle of Puligny-Montrachet, but not me, I opened a bottle of wine in our temporary abode on Great Portland Street.  At around £16, I was surprised to see this Grand Cru Riesling from my beloved Alsace for sale in the food hall of Oxford Street's John Lewis.  Most of the premium wine stores I've been visiting around town have had extremely premium pricing. Where it's possible to compare prices (because the wine or spirits are available elsewhere) the mark ups have been huge.  Still, this is London.  Luckily John Lewis' "never knowingly undersold" motto seems to extend to the fine wine section, so, boring as it may seem, I've picked up a few bottles there.  Many of them will be for sale in larger Waitrose branches, or in the online offering, so I'll probably cover more of these later.

The nose is pronounced, meaning there's a lot of oomph on the nose when you sniff it.  I first tasted Philippe Zinck wines (from the lower end of his range) last year in Hong Kong.  This Eichberg Grand Cru Riesling is markedly better than his wines at cheaper end of the spectrum.  I love the viscous full body, which is more reminiscent of a sweet wine, although this is a dry white.  It's got great acidity, as you'd expect from a Riesling, meaning it really makes your cheeks go in, just like sucking a lemon, and the mouth waters intensely.  But this is not an unpleasant experience.  On the contrary, this makes the wine really refreshing.  Many of my friends have been put off Riesling because of cheap, sweeter, German versions and some find the acidity too much. I love this grape variety, though.  The mineral, almost petrol-like aromas are not to everyone's taste, but the flavours of lime and also a touch of honey are just so distinctive and satisfying, that I'd happily drink this more regularly than I do.  It's unusual to age most white wines, but this one, a 2009, is doing well and could easily age further, developing more complex flavours.  Riesling is one of the few whites that really benefits from aging, particularly if it's well made from top quality grapes.  At Chateau Purple Teeth, things to tend to hang around long enough to validate the aging potential.

The night was all about cheese.  Mr PT had such an extravagant lunch that I opted for an extravagant picnic at home.  So we've Epoisses (perhaps my favourite cheese and not just because it's washed in Burgundy Marc), Comté and Brie de Meaux from Borough Market, a bit of Stilton as well as smoked salmon and ham accompanied by some fig and walnut bread.  This is a month long experiment in hedonism, after all.  Many people think cheese and red wine, but my (extensive) testing reveals that whites are actually better with cheese.  I first came across this concept with Neuchâteloise Cheese Fondue in my Switzerland days, and I guess it stuck.  But I wanted to taste the wine before tainting it with food.  Would there be any left by the time dinner was served?  It was delicious.  I was onto my second glass before even thinking about eating.

For a Grand Cru, this perhaps lacks some complexity, but that explains it's more affordable price point.  If you've been avoiding Alsace wines because that flute shaped bottle implies sweetness to you, think again.  Try this and let me know how you get on.  For a Grand Cru, it's affordable.  It really stood up to the challenge of the pungent flavours on my plate, and ensured the cheese didn't become cloying or sickly.  You might want to get a bottle in to refresh your jaded Christmas palate.  


Cheers!

There's clearly a surfeit of cash in London these days.  Twice in one day we felt almost like our money wasn't welcome in an establishment with a reputation for service.  
One of the "Leading Hotels in the World" and celebrating it's 175th anniversary in 2012, this luxury 5 star hotel in London's Mayfair has welcomed Roosevelt, Kipling, Conan Doyle, Wilde as well as royalty from several nations. So, on our rather impromptu visit on a Saturday evening, we had expected a little better than a Fawlty Towers style welcome.

Intending to go to a nearby Jazz club and finding it fully booked (more of this later), we'd scoured the area for a decent bar to no avail and ended up in Browns Hotel.  The Donovan Bar was crowded and noisy, so we opted to sit in the quieter, more comfy lounge area where some ladies were still enjoying afternoon tea at 9.15pm.  Here, we believed we could chat, and enjoy a pleasant drink while waiting for some more friends to join us, and while we figured out what to do next.

A member of staff respectfully told us that if we were ordering drinks for the bar it would take "rather a long time because the bar is busy".  Hmm, it's a Saturday night in the pre-Christmas rush, in Central London.  Woudn't you just have more staff?  Nevertheless, we had no intention of trying to find somewhere else. We took our chances, eschewed the cocktail list and decided to order a bottle of wine, figuring that this would be simpler and quicker.  And here the story quickly descended to farce.

Trying to find the right wine to hit the spot for 4 people who've been drinking for 7 hours ahd have partaken of Champagne, gewurztraminer, mulled cider, single malt whisky, muscat dessert wine, and apple based warm or sweet cocktails wasn't going to be easy. But with a limited selection on the bar menu, we decided on an Argentine Malbec. I had either had this particular wine before, or at the least, a reader had reported good things about it, so it was the least likely to offend.  Our server finally returned to take our order.  When he advised us that the Malbec had sold out yesterday, we were somewhat taken aback. My friend made an executive deciision to order some Shiraz from the Margaret River area of Australia.  Some time passed.  

More time passed.  A different waiter returned, with 2 bottles of wine.  "I'm very sorry but we've run out of Shiraz, so can I suggest the Cote du Rhone, or the Cabernet Merlot".  Erm, no.   Yes, it's a nice service touch to present alternatives when a customer can't have what they want, but when you have 6 red wines on your list, is it really acceptable to be out of 2 of them on a Saturday night?  

Anyway, after some discussion, he offered us the Malbec.  Yes, the wine we'd originally ordered...
We advised that was what we'd originally ordered, by this time becoming somewhat incredulous that we'd ever quench our burgeoning thirst.  A few minutes later he returned from the Hix restaurant (also in the hotel), with the bottle of wine we'd originally orderd some 15 minutes earlier.  
Frankly, I was stunned.  While this staff member made good with promises to only charge us for the Shiraz if this bottle was more expensive (it wasn't), I was irked by the lack of knowledge and ability to get it right at a peak time in such an exclusive hotel.  Despite having left my career as a Customer Experience Consultant over a year ago, I still can't help working out what companies could and should be doing better...

Onto the wine at last, since that's what we're here for.  The Doña Paula Malbec was a lot fruitier than expected, both from experience of Malbecs and from the bottle's own desription.  Blackberry and dark fruits abounded with tiny hints of coffee (nothing of the cigar box boasted on the label).  Perhaps it was the impact of too many mulled ciders, but my companiions felt a hint of cherry, morello perhaps, before deciding that Cherry Menthol Tunes was actually the key fruit flavour.  I'm pleased to say that I didn't detect this, though it was a lighter malbec than I'd normally choose.  It just goes to show that what you have on your palate will definitely influence your experience of wine, good or bad.

As for Browns, beautful as it was, I don't think I'll be rushing back.  And as for the "jazz cafe" on Dover Street, when we finally did pay our £15 cover charge to hear the "funk and soul" band advertised, I was horrified to find them playing Dolly Parton's 9-5!   The boys resolved to make the best of the evening, and knocking back some Cuervo Gold, set about achieving this by not letting blood dilute their alcohol stream.  Fortunately, the occasional funktastic tune was spun later.
I kicked off the high heels and indulged in some "solo grooving"  - it's been a while, and let's keep it that way!

Cheers!

Apologies in advance for the photos, all taken with an aging iPhone 4 in less than perfect lighting conditions...

The Shard is likely to become one of London's most iconic buildings - if it hasn't achieved that status already.  Not yet fully opened, and yet, commandeering the London Bridge skyline, it's already achieving a reputation as the the place to see and be seen.

We arranged to meet some Chinese-food-loving friends for a lunch at Hutong, which features at 88 in the National Restaurant Awards' list of the UK's top 100 restaurants.  Impressive given it's only been open a matter of months. And with 88 and auspiciously good luck number in China, we had high hopes.

Reading the reviews, it was clear that we should expect eyewatering prices, spectacular views and knowledgeable service.  What struck us in the end is actually how little the staff seemed to want to take our money.

We'd booked the 2.30 lunch slot, on the basis that we'd get to see both the day time views and the dusky evening views of lit-up London.  Arranging to meet at 2 for a drink, our friends arrived first and were almost turned away from the bar Aqua Shard on the 31st floor, supposedly because it was too busy.  Indicating they'd just wait for us on the stairway, they were quickly ushered into the bar after all, where a table was mysteriously found.  It took a while to get served so they orderd a bottle of Veuve Cliquot (nice friends we have!) so that we could get a drink immediatlely on arrival.

Moving upstairs to the restaurant we were met with a bit of a queue at the coat check and then greeted by the warm and friendly Irish David, the front of house manager, formerly of Sketch, whom we remembered from last December.  He, of course, claimed to remember us, though I imagine that's the Irish gift of the gab.  Needless to say when we sat down it was considerably later than 2:30.    We started to order.  We had in mind the Peking Duck and some Dim Sum as these dishes are not always available in our provincial Chinese restaurants.  "Perhaps you only want half a duck?"  No, we are four people so we'll take a full one.  "I wouldn't order any more than 3 dim sum". Erm, okay then.  Can we order more if we need it?  "The kitchen is closing so no, you can't order anything else later if you want it".  
















Do these people actually want our money?  It didn't feel like it, and we were dissuaded from ordering additional main courses...

Aside from this, our waitress was knoweldgeable and friendly, perhaps aided by my friend's ability to converse in basic Cantonese.  However, it's unforgivable in a restaurant of this standard that when a client asks if a dish contains mushrooms (because of an allergy) a sharing plate is brought to the table resplendant with Chinese fungus.  Luckily enough it was easy to avoid, in the large pieces that decorated the very spicy monkfish dish.  That dish was the standout best by far. Still, "picking around" is not always an option for allergy sufferers and it would have been a shame to miss out on this dish when an ingredient could so easily have been omitted.

We'd been guided to only order 2 main courses, since our duck (the part not served in the pancakes) would also make an appearance as a main.  We opted to avoid having it re-cooked in a stir fry as reviews had led us to believe it became overdone and rubbery.  However being served chunks of bone to gnaw on didn't exactly seem like a perfect alternative, especially as it had become cold.  However, what was worse was the arrival of virtually all the dishes at the same time (with the exception of the rice, which we had to ask for twice).  We were surprised not to see the dim sum before the duck, and we had barely scratched the surface of the duck's delicious amber, lacquered, flame roasted skin when main dishes started to arrive.  This led to a serious lack of space at our table, and dishes going cold, with crispy shredded beef actually becoming more like soggy batter.  (Was there really any beef inside?)  As I reflect on this, in our time at Sketch last year, we also felt rushed through our meal.  Perhaps the staff are trained this way? 

The duck was divine, but at £58 it needed to be.  The monkfish was also amazing. The service, and some of the other dishes were less than perfect.  The dim sum wagyu beef puffs, mind you, were a moment of heaven all of their own.  
I greatly enjoyed pairing a Grand Cru d"Alsace Gewurztraminer with the meal.  (Sorry, no more details available as I forgot to photograph the bottle and there's no wine list on the web site. It was £61).

I was unsure how my friends would take to this departure from the crisp, acidic and citrusy whites which they drink as a norm.  The scent of lychee and the full bodied texture of the wine won everyone over and matched up well to the variety of flavours on the table.  However, we finished our wine and mineral water and weren't offered any more.  We weren't offered any tea at the end of the meal.  We'd been warned on booking that we could have the table for two hours, yet after 90 minutes the restaurant around us was virtually empty, and I felt like we were keeping staff back from having a break.  They didn't want us to linger.
It was a good meal, and yes my iphone photos don't do justice to the view. The staff knew their stuff and were friendly, but somehow it all felt slightly wrong.  This just didn't live up to my expectations of a restaurant in it's class and despite some rather lovely food, it'll probably be my only visit.

Fortunately, cozy and unhurried service was on offer at The Garrison pub, in nearby Bermondsey Street.  We enjoyed dessert wine, single malts and mulled cider, while planning the rest of our assault on London's nightlife.  More of that in another post coming soon.