On the grapevine
This week I have enjoyed Wild Rock Gravel Pit Red 2007, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, Bon Coeur Fine Wines (01765 688 200), £8.99.
This is a fabulous, deep-flavoured red made from Merlot and Malbec grapes grown in the sunny, dry climate of Hawkes Bay. Ripe bramble fruit with layers of peppery spice and a clean, food-friendly finish. Bon Coeur sell by the case.
Pick and sip
Picking grapes looks great fun, but when you actually get to grips with your secateurs your back is guaranteed to ache within an hour
or so.
Grape Escapes offers you the chance to pick grapes for a short while, and then follow your batch back to the winery and follow it through to the press and into the fermentation vat. Their Champagne harvest trip is a two-night self-drive trip with arrangements made for you to pick grapes at a small Champagne house. You get a harvester's lunch and a
gala dinner.
Prices start at 359 per person. Check their website, www. grapeescapes.net
Key investor
Christian Seely, the head of AXA wine operations, has invested his own money in a five-hectare vineyard in Hampshire planted with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
The aim is to produce quality sparkling wines.
With Seeley's huge experience at prestigious properties such as Quinta do Noval in Portugal and Ch Pichon–Longueville Baron in Bordeaux, this venture will be one to watch. The first wines will be made this year.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -8 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: -5 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South
