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Wine

Al la Colthard/both ends of the spectrum.

Last week I was in London which was hellish because of the crowds but had two meals that were memorable for different reasons. The first was in Chinatown at Haozhan with a girl friend of many years. I knew she would offer to pay her share but likes value and Haozhan ticked all the boxes. We had [...]

December 16, 2023 // 0 Comments

Vintage Crime: A Short History Of Wine Fraud/Rebecca Gibb (book review)

This morning, on my habitual overnight “tour” of the British national newspapers seeking items or stories of potential interest to Rusters, on the website of the Daily Mail I came across this review by Constance Craig Smith of a new book on the subject of wine called Vintage Crime: A [...]

November 17, 2023 // 0 Comments

Bottle Shock (movie)

This is the 2008 film of the Judgement of Paris which I recently reviewed. It stars Alan Rickman – excellent as he always is – as the wine expert Stephen Spurrier who set up a wine-tasting competition in Paris in which the Californian chardonnay Montelena and Stag’s Head red beat the [...]

July 4, 2023 // 0 Comments

A wine tasting with a difference

In May 1976 the English wine critic Steven Spurrier presented some Californian wines in Paris. Fearing that the distinguished panel was so unfamiliar with them, at the last moment he paired them with some classy French wines like Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Las Cases and Ch. Montrose. In a blind [...]

May 26, 2023 // 0 Comments

A la Colthard: Nice food & drink

We have only visited 2 restaurants so far so I’m going to concentrate here more on the food and drink of Nice. Every morning we send Bob off to his beloved market le Cours Saleya and he returns with an abundance of fruit and vegetables of the highest quality. We have our breakfast of croissants, [...]

April 9, 2023 // 0 Comments

A la Colthard: a Spanish Day in London

Yesterday I went with Alice Mansfield to the Royal Academy to see the Spain and Hispanic World collection of Archer M Huntington, the son of a railroad magnate and avid collector around the turn of the twentieth century of Spanish paintings and artefacts. Alice considered Spanish art underrated [...]

February 6, 2023 // 0 Comments

A private cellar tasting

Yesterday I attended a private cellar tasting organised by a local Wine School. I enjoy these events where participators bring their own choice of wine. Mine was a Slovenian red bottled by Dveri Pax which went down well. My neighbour, who was clearly a wine connoisseur and was anxious you should [...]

November 18, 2022 // 0 Comments

Rathfinny Wine Estate

The Rathfinny Wine Estate was once a large arable farm but was acquired in 2012 by Mark and Sarah Driver who transformed it into a vineyard specialising in the cultivation and production of sparkling wine. Sussex wine growers cannot term it champagne – although their sparkling wine notably [...]

September 25, 2022 // 0 Comments

Estiatorio Milos

Milos is a Greek fish restaurant at 1 Regent St which I visited for the second time on Wednesday. Like Imperial Treasure (Chinese cuisine), which is opposite, it has raised the bar of ethnic cuisine. Fresh fish is flown in daily. I ordered grilled octopus over Santorini fava  which – in my [...]

July 1, 2022 // 0 Comments

A wine worthy of celebration

Last Friday day I arrived – the day before a 21st celebration – at the home of some old friends, one of whom has an excellent cellar. The weather was broiling so we ate late al fresco. My friend served a Chateau Neuf du Pape but the star of the evening was a bottle of Chateau Yquem. [...]

June 19, 2022 // 0 Comments

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