Gerald's Bar (Melbourne)

During  our recent trip down under we had the opportunity to celebrate an event spontaneously with the WoW in house artist Vincent van Chaz.

We headed to Gerald’s Bar in Carlton North, an inconspicuous surrounding with a flamboyant wine menu.  The ambience was unquestionably Melbourne (having been there for 2 days I had already worked out that “Melbourne’s too cool”).   What a great place, though, exemplified by the wine-by-the-glass policy (determined by the first orders of the night, with the first bubbles and the first 3 reds and whites ordered).

 

We went with a bottle of Efferus from Ruggabellus, a very drinkable and enjoyable red blend.   We partnered this with some chocolate for some reason.  When drinking with an artist anything can happen.

Cheers,

John.

Vats Wine Bar – 17th October 2012

Well, it’s been a long time since I updated the blog with our last event.  Unfortunately, since then I’ve been off in Australia and Germany so apologies for disappearing.

Back in October, we had an evening at Vats Wine Bar over near Russell Square.  All I can say is make sure if you’re in the area that you check this place out, a great set-up with an equally-impressive wine list.

The evening started out as a family reunion with just myself , my brother and my mum, but turned into a great night with the addition of a few familiar faces as well as a couple of newbies.

We tried some really nice wines, with the Montagny and the Saint Emilion the real crowd pleasers.

Thanks to all who showed up, look forward to seeing you at the next event, cheers,

JG.

Vats Wine Bar

Unfortunately the weather is changing, not a good time of year for many reasons, however, as the colder weather drives us indoors and the clocks go back to deliver darkness both before and after work, it’s time for another season of Wine on Wednesday.

I thought we should start somewhere fairly central and the next venue will be Vats Wine Bar between Russell Square and Holborn tube stations.  Set near the Piccadilly and Central lines should make it easy to get to and from for all.

Vats Wine Bar

Wednesday 17^th October – From 6:30PM

51 Lambs Conduit St

WC1N 3NB

I have added a few names to the invite list and for the information of the newcomers, Wine on Wednesday is an informal get-together of people (roughly once a month) who enjoy wine in a social environment.  There’re no rules or set ways, typically, we take turns buying bottles of wine from the list and sharing with the others in the group, which allows the opportunity to taste a variety of wines.  The events vary depending on the venue and number of attendees, however, we keep a very relaxed atmosphere.  From time to time I will try to book us on a formal event such as a tasting, although this is not very common.  Wine knowledge is not important, the only requirement is a willingness to have a good time.  Wine discussion is typically kept to a minimum, so don’t be concerned if you can’t tell a Chardonnay from a Semillon.

Once again, I would love for as many to come along as possible, but need to confirm numbers prior to the day to guarantee a place so please let me know if you're interested in coming.  Likewise, please invite friends or colleagues you think may be interested in coming along to have a great evening in a different venue to meet new people and try some new (or old favourite) wines.

Cheers,

John.

(White) Wine Wharf on Wednesday

The night started with a quick tour up the Shard for Dave and Jonny and continued on to Wine Wharf, followed by a bight to eat at Applebees.

As it was a warm, muggy evening we started with an Australian Verdelho and this set the white wine trend for the evening as we followed this with Chardonnays from America (La Crema Monterey which turned out to be the firm crowd favourite) and Bulgaria and finishing with a couple of French Sauvignon Blancs.  The Bulgarian wine turned out to be very easy drinking and pleasant.  Unfortunately, it was a bit lost as we drank it following the much larger Monterey number.

Applebees, if you’ve never been is a fish restaurant in Borough Market which has a great menu and friendly staff.

Another enjoyable WoW, sorry for the late notice, I’ll try and give a bit more notice for the next event.

Cheers,
JG.

Wine Wharf for Wine on Wednesday

OK,

 

My slack organisational skills have come to the fore again, resulting in my first choices all being too busy to reserve.  As a result I have booked us a table (area) at Wine Wharf at Vinopolis at Borough Market for tomorrow night (20/06/12).

 

Wine Wharf

Stoney Street,

Borough Market,

SE1 9AD

 

It's a great spot with a good wine list so promises to be a good night.  As always, please bring along any like-minded friends

 

I have booked for 7:30 as I have some stuff to do beforehand but if you want to get there early the table is booked under my name.

 

If you're intending on coming along please let me know so I have a feel for numbers.

 

Cheers and look forward to seeing as many of you as possible tomorrow night.

 

JG.

Willy's Wine Bar - Review

Another excellent Wine on Wednesday last night.  A good sized group of 8 descended on Willy’s Wine Bar on Fenchurch St, unfortunately by the time I got there at 7, the keen beans were closing in on the end of the second bottle which I had a taste of, an easy drinking Cotes du Rhone.

An early ominous sign was that the place was pretty deserted, however, the size of the wine list more than made up for the lack of patrons.  Split into grape varieties rather than just reds and whites made choosing simple and their monthly discover series highlighting Californian wines prompted me to try the De Loach Zinfandel which I can highly recommend.

Our staple crowd favourite Malbec also got a run as we tried the La Puerta and Tapiz offerings.  Kev mixed it up in the middle with a 3 Stones Sauvignon Blanc.

All-in-all an enjoyable evening in a comfortable surrounding.  The only downside was that they don’t do food in the evening so when we finished up we were all pretty starving.

Planet of the Grapes - Review

Well, it's about time I wrote up our visit to the fantastically named Planet of the Grapes.

Due to the late notice about this event, it was just the three of us who made it along but that didn't detract from a great night of interesting and enjoyable wine and conversation.

The wine bar had a large selection of wines to choose from and rather than have a wine list, you chose wines off the shelf similar to shopping, with an additional £10 corkage fee to drink in house.  This is a great concept and would suit perfectly if you wanted to have a meal and enjoy it with a high end wine.  For us, however, this mark-up made quite an impact on the price of the wines we were trying, typically in the £20-40 range.

Not deterred, we sampled a few of their wares, including a delicious Argentinean Shiraz, Malbec and finishing with the safe option of the Chocoloate Block by Boekenhoutskloof.

Overall we had an enjoyable evening, and my thanks go out to Sammy and Troy for coming along.