Boy, that escalated quickly…I mean, that really got out of hand fast! (Troubadour)

 The location, Troubadour in Earls Court is a combination of 4 parts: wine shop, wine bar, café and live music venue (apparently there is also an art gallery and serviced apartment but we never made it that far).  The wine shop is stocked with an interesting mix of quite different wines, particularly strong in French, Italian and Argentinian.  The wine bar is situated directly under the shop and any wine bought in the shop can be drunk in the wine bar for no additional corkage.  Additionally, food can be ordered from the café menu and staff from the café come and take orders which we found very convenient.  Lastly, the café is a very popular local eatery serving some great food, including a 1.5kg Cote de Beouf, Classic Coq au Vin and Poulet du Soleil (a grilled chicken).

 

Ok, so no-one was killed with a trident but the last Wine on Wednesday certainly jumped up a notch.  It all started much like any other event but at some stage we decided that going upstairs to get a bottle of wine every now and again was a bit too much like work and so multiple purchases were made each trip.  Then, when the wine bar shut and we were heading to the café to continue the evening it seemed like a good idea at the time to buy a couple of additional bottles at the cheaper wine shop prices, this, however didn’t stop the immediate purchase of a bottle of Champagne when we got to the café…

Following our evening of boozing downstairs we decided on 2 of the Poulet du Soleil which were fantastic and exactly what the doctor ordered.  The menu was great and I will definitely be heading here again specifically for dinner (and maybe a couple of wines).

Speaking of wine (which we did more than on most other WoW events), quite a lot was drunk and I will do my best from a very rusty memory to recall a few.  The start was easy, following on from my awarding Pinot Noir the wine of the season, I went with what I thought to be a very safe option with a Volnay Burgundy which was unfortunately quite disappointing and followed this with a very enjoyable Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  It was at this stage we changed up to multiple purchases with an American Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc and French Malbec combo, which we found to be “doubting itself” and “having length but no girth”.  As you can imagine, this is where the night began to get away from us, with the next round including a Chilean Cab Sauv.  The last wine I remember-ish (following the bottle of Mumm) was an Argentinian blend (mostly Malbec), chosen because of its tag rather than label.  This was followed by something French…I think.

 

I can hugely recommend all aspects of Troubadour, but this place should come with a warning.  All I can say is that I’m glad I didn’t have to be anywhere the following morning.

Cork & Bottle (Jamies)

Well, in my efforts to find new locations and bars I took a few hours on the internet researching wine bars in London trying to find the next locations for our events.  I decided on Jamies St Martins Place as they had a substantial wine list, a central location and some good food options, also, the photos on the web looked promising.  Unfortunately, when I got there the place turned out to be an after work bar.  Loud music and very crowded.  I got a glass of extremely average Chardonnay (for £8) and waited for everyone to show.  After 5 minutes I knew we couldn’t stay as we couldn’t have the kind of social occasion we were after and decided a last minute venue change was called for.  As we were only a couple of minutes’ walk from one of my favourite wine bars, the solution was simple….Cork and Bottle (C&B).

There were 5 of us in total which doesn’t sound a lot, but if you know C&B, without a booking it was a tight squeeze.  Although busy as usual, the staff were hugely accommodating and the evening was a success.  Fortunately, none of the other WoW patrons had been to C&B before which meant everyone was very happy to learn of an amazing wine bar in the heartland of tourist and tack.

Thanks to Burnsy, my new-found love for Pinot Noir prompted me to choose a Burgundy to start, which we followed with Cote-du-Rhone, an obligatory Argentinian Malbec and finishing with something different, a Negroamaro from Puglia.  We accompanied these with a cheese selection from the cheese counter and a charcuterie board.

After the inauspicious start to the evening we had a great time and Cork & Bottle stays as one of the places to go for wine in London.  (On the way out a I bought a couple of my favourite La Crema Chardonnays).

Cheers,

John.

WOW for WoW!!! (The Sampler)

Back in January, we had a night of wine and food at The Sampler in South Kensington and what a great place.  I found this place by accident when Dave and I took Sam to the Natural History Museum and thought we’d give it a try.

With a fantastic wine list, accompanied by an assortment of French style snacks (cheese, meats, pate, etc) and a basement seating area, I can’t recommend this place highly enough.  There’s no wine list as such as it is a wine shop at ground floor and any wine can be bought to drink downstairs with a £7.50 corkage fee.  In addition to this, they also have a number of tasting machines, with 80 different wines to try, including an “icon” which includes 8 iconic wines to try.

From the machines I tried a glass of The Cream by First Drop, a top shelf shiraz from the Barossa.  We also had a bottle of Bramare Malbec from Argentina, a large Italian Barbera and an equally enjoyable Amorone.

All I can say is, next chance you get, check this place out for an evening, hugely enjoyable!

Cheers,

John.