Let's get started!

Three weeks before I was due back at work after nearly a year away on maternity leave my role was made redundant. What the fizz was I going to do now??

Fast forward 2 months and I have decided to throw myself head first into starting my own drinks experience business. And why not? I love wine and I love cocktails (who doesn't?!) and I love hearing the stories that surround them - families who have been tending their vineyards for 16 generations; a brewer and a winemaker who decided to start making gin together on a small island and so many others. Sharing a bottle and that knowledge and you're all set for a merry old time.

So, here I am!

This blog isn't going to be a regular piece as a) nobody has the time to really sit and read for too long nowadays - and if you do, you should be nose deep in an exciting novel! - and b) I'm not entirely sure I have enough to say to fill pages and pages. However, I think it could be interesting to maybe flesh out the reels/posts/stories I share on my socials and to see what takes your fancy dear reader. Whether it's a recipe and drink pairing I've enjoyed; a trade tasting I've been lucky enough to attend; or just a bar I think deserves a shout out; I hope it will be fun to share a little of my world with you.

And so to get started, my first recommendation: if you are planning on enjoying a cheese board over this festive period might I recommend a wine pairing for you to enjoy? If you are feeling flush, reach for a Sauternes. This wine from the Bordeaux region in France is made using grapes that have been affected by Noble Rot aka mouldy grapes. Doesn't sound that enticing, does it? However, Noble Rot concentrates all the flavours, sugars and acidity to create one of the world's most sought after dessert wines. You should expect notes of ripe lemon peel, poached pears, apricot jam, orange marmalade, pineapple, vanilla, smoke, nuts, ginger and much much more! It's perfect cheese pairing is a blue cheese - think stilton, roquefort, gorgonzola - two delicacies created by mould, the tangy flavour of the cheese makes you want to have a sip of the rich nectar in your glass which in turn makes you crave the cheese again. It works very nicely with a Cornish Quartz, the salty savouriness helps all those fruity flavours leap out of the glass; or a Wensleydale with apricots or ginger or both to match the flavours in your glass.

If you're not sure you want to splurge, then grab yourself a bottle of Monbazillac from South West France. Less than 60 miles from Sauternes, it is made from the same grape varieties as Sauternes and is also affected by Noble Rot giving lovely notes of honeyed peaches and apricots.

Cheers!