Wine Clubs And Wine Tasting Events, Alcohol and No Alcohol Around Britain

Angela Lansbury trying Grenache Rose from a can at a show. 

Wine Clubs

Near Trafalgar Square, about half way between Charing Cross and Embankment stations, an easy 5 minute walk from each, is the Civil Service Club which is the venue for the Central London Wine Club. They meet the second and fourth Wednesday evenings each month and are open to guests. No need to be a member of the Civil service or its club. Just book and pay though their website. (New website from November 20th. Like all theatres and other places of entertainment, you pay in advance to reserve your seat in a place where seats are limited by fire regulations. Also for wine clubs, unlike restaurants, the number of bottles ordered depends on the numbers signing up.

If you want a venue with unlimited wine stocks, the ideal venue is a restaurant, but they mostly charge corkage, so the organizers have to budget carefully. Turning up with a magnum might involve the hosts in more changes. An alternative is a members' club with cellars, like 67 Pall Mall, where you pay a joining fee and a montly or annual fee.

Other wine clubs in London and the home counties which I have attended include wine clubs in St Albans and Welwyn, which attract people who live in those areas. Put into a search engine the name of your location and the word wine club and see what comes up. Very useful if you live in a new area and want to meet friends. 

Some clubs attract young people. Others attract the retired. Or a mixture.

Restaurants & Shops Tastings & Themed Evenings

Many restaurants, bars, and pubs, and wine shops have evenings based on wines from a particular country, or season. Also embassies, promoting the wines and vineyards of their country. If you attend one of these events, you are likely to meet somebody from the local area or further afield. You might get invited to an event, or meet somebody interesting in attending a wine club you start, or in helping you to organize a meeting.

If you attend a trade fair for a country, or hospitality, for luxury travel, or group travel, or a wedding fair, you might meet suppliers of sparkling wines, low alcohol and no alcohol wines, mixers, spirits and juices.

Those attending might include owners of wineyards, winemakers, owners of bars and restaurants, sommeliers and head waiters, students of wine (not necessarily youngsters) people celebrating weddings and anniversaries.

Suppliers of wine such as Berry brothers also have wine tastings before Christmas and at intervals throughout the year.

If you order a case of wine, or even do an internet search, you might be sent useful advertisements and invitations and information about wine events and societies. 

WSET

WSET runs courses for the interest of amateur enthusiasts, sommeliers, and those specializing in sake.

Wine clubs have also been started by members of big businesses such as banks. You might find that your company already has a wine society. Or if there is a newsletter, you might be able to start one. It is a good way to network with others in your company, or to network if the club is open to guests and outside members.

Why would you need to give your details or pay money in advance? First of all, for the security of the venue, and the event. Secondly, to ensure there is enough wine, water, crackers, bread, or food, for all attending. Thirdly, you need enough wine glasses. Even if the event is bring a bottle, if ten people each bring a bottle, you either need a tasting sheet to provide information and enable people to note which wine they liked, or enough glasses of different types.

What if the event provides no food, or asks you to bring your own wine glasses?

Big events open either to trade only, or to anybody willing to pay, are held at major stadiums, in London at Olympia, and Excel. In Singapore a popular venue is Expo. Get on their mailing list. You can also look at Eventbrite and Meetup.

If you order wine by the case, for a wedding, anniversary, birthday, housewarming, club Xmas party, you might be able to hire for a fee, or free, glasses from major wine shops or warehouses. You then get on their list invited to tastings or events.

Another option is to join the Wine Society. You can then visit their huge shop in Stevenage has large selections of wine bottles. You can join online in advance for about forty pounds which gives you a discount towards your first purchase. 

For the driver of your car, there will be water, or a coffee machine. And toilets. And at Christmas chocolates in gift boxes, and other snacks and gifts. 

My husband and I have attended several lunches. At one of them we made permanent friends of another couple who meet us in London to have lunch at an art gallery.

Before driving all that way, to Stevenage, check their opening times and events. It may be possible to ask a member to take you in as a guest, or to stop at the cashier and pay for membership on arrival, without waiting, but please check the latest regulations of the society, and the UK laws on club membership and drink driving.

No Alcohol Drinks

For non drinkers, it is very handy to see the variety of low alcohol and no alcohol drinks which you can give to drivers and non drinkers, and people on pills for temporary or permanent conditions. You can now buy no alcohol wines, beers, ciders, and decaffeinated teas, and coffees.

Alcohol In Food And Drink

Keeping informed about spirits in food is also handy. For example, you might see alcohol in the list of ingredients in Christmas pudding and other dishes which you wish to buy or serve. The same applies when you look at menus or get served in restaurants or people's home, when you responsible for events serving adults or children. 

Useful Websites On Wine And Events (alphabetically)

Central London Wine Society

https://www.67pallmall.com/

wine@clws.org.uk

Berry Brothers & Rudd

https://www.bbr.com/events-and-experiences

Decanter

https://events.decanter.com/london/your-details

The Wine Society

https://www.thewinesociety.com/

WSET

https://www.wsetglobal.com/wset-school-london

-ends-

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Wine Labels And Words from Italy, Spain and France and where to learn about wines

Upcoming Sommelier Course

Federica, Vice President of the the UK Sommelier Association who were adding their expertise at the Zonin1821 Portfolio tasting 2026, told us that there will be a sommelier course in April including pairing wine and food.

I have compiled a handy glossary ready for the next time I try new wines from new bottles, new labels, to read on websites and when I go to buy, 

Handy Glossary of Wine Words

Translation Of Wine Label Words into English

altemura - high wall, possibly a fortified house, mansion or castle

atelier - studio or workroom of an artist or designer (not attic which in Spanish is atico)

Asti - placename in Italy

bianco - white

blanc - white (French)

brut (French) - dry

brut nature - naturally dry, no sugar added at the end to the dosage in the bottle

Burgundy - place name in France

Castello - castle

Castello di Albola - the maker's name

Champagne - place name in France, and the Champagne method

Chianti (place name in Italy)

Chianti Classico - wine from the Chianti region using  San Giovese grape variety

Classico - classic

del - of the

di - of (Italian)

doppia - double (as in coffee)

gris (grey in British English gray in American English a pinkish grey grape, not dark nor greenish white)

Manduria - a place name

Monin - family name from Italy. They still have their family wine production on north Italy, but have grown to a worldwide company, with one of their headquarters in London, managing and promoting labels and wines from Italy, France, Lebanon, Chile, South Africa, New Zealand and other countries.  

nero - black (Italian), dark (red wine)

noir - black (French)

Primitivo - the Italian name for the grape known elsewhere as Zinfandel. Lots of it comes from the heel of Italy.

prinicipi - Italian, the i ending is plural

rosado - rosé in Spanish

rosato - rosé in Italian

Santo - saint

Sasseo - Wine label name from the Italian word for stone 

Sasseo Primitivo di Manduria - uses the zinfandel grape

Vin - wine

Vino da tavola - Italian for vine of the table, table wine, basic everyday wine, or weekday wine

IGT stands for Indicazione  Geografica Protetta, the Italian version of  IGP which is French for indication géographique protégée (IGP), indication of quality, meaning wine from protected geography, a level below an appellation (named region), but wine still grown and made in a specific area. Their place. Their grapes. Their style. 

portfolio - collection

sommelier - (French) wine waiter, wine steward, butler, wine specialist in a restaurant who advises customers on which wine to order, within their budget, to match their tastes, or to match their food. Originally the person in charge of beats of burden transporting heavy containers of wine.

Spritz

What is a spritz or spritzer? I thought it was a mixture of lemonade and soda and alcohol. Wikipedia enlightened me.

en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Spritz_(cocktail)

Spritz (cocktail) - Wikipedia

A spritz is a Venetian wine-based cocktail, commonly served as an apéritif across Italy. It consists of Prosecco, a mixer (usually soda water), and a flavouring ingredient, which can be a bitter liqueur, ...

The UK Sommelier Association in central London is active in wine education, involving many events throughout the year. Sommeliers are known as the gatekeepers and advocates, sometimes buyers, sometimes sellers, enthusiasts admiring the old, and excited by the new.

Useful Websites

https://vinopedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

https://winopedia.weebly.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_label

https://www.decanter.com/learn/italian-wine-labels-understanding-docg-doc-igt-439719/

Please follow my blogs, and share links to your favourite posts.

Delights Of Sweet Whites, Italian Wine tasting, matching and comparing, Prosecco, Champagne, More

 

Italian Zonin1821 History

I went to the Zonin1821 portfolio tasting 2026 event. Zonin1821 is an Italian company, in the wine business, founded by the Zonin family in 1821, long before I was born. They started in the Veneto area, famous for the port of Venice, and Prosecco wine, and the Zonin bottle label is associated with this region.

They set up Zonin UK in 1998. How come I had never heard of them? This event aimed to put that right and it did. 

They now have wines from Europe, France, Spain and Italy, and the Lebanon,  South Africa, Chile and Argentina, and going south, from South Africa and New Zealand.

At a walk around tasting, I started with my favourite, Prosecco. From Italy. I compared a couple of them.

Then I went on to Asti, from Italy.

A couple of sweet Moscatos, muscats, sweet, of course.

Then a couple of Champagnes, from France, of course, to compare with Prosecco.

Wine Tasting

The walk around wine tasting of their wines had the usual arrangement of a good event, spittoons scattered about, because you could not drink many wines without ending up dancing on the table, falling asleep, or, as the old joke goes, under the table or under the host.

Some people like to taste wines without food, the better to isolate and concentrate on the aroma and savour the flavour of the wine. Others say, to be healthy, sober and sane, they prefer to taste wine with matching food. For them, a treat was to come. A chance to sit down, contemplate the colour of the wine in the glass, sip the wine and take tiny bites of flavoursome food with each wine.

The Zonin1821 Pairing Atelier: An Interactive Tasting Experience

A rare novelty, a sit down event, a masterclass, not just the usual sipping of half a dozen or more wines, whilst listening to an expert and watching slides, but this time tasting seven wines with assorted small plates of  food, savoury - and sweet. 

We took the glass of each wine in turn, nibbling something from each plate of food, deciding which food went best with the wine. 

The fanned pear is on the left. The glasses are numbered on the paper sheet below. But we changed the order, putting the sweet wine last. We had letters, for the food? But sometimes one wine went with more than one food.

Practical Problems - Cutlery

At first I did not know how to divide up the food using spoons and a pastry fork. But the meat proved to be soft so you could tear it apart with fingers or the fork and spoon.

Practical Problems - Losing Your Catalogue

I had already lost my programme which had my marks out of 7 of all the wines I had liked at the walk around tasting. When you put down your programme book, beside a dozen others, to taste the wine, then look for your programme, where is yours?

Luckily I had taken photos of my favourite wines, so the bottle labels were my memory aids.

Next time I go to a wine tasting or event, I shall take a sticker with my name and phone number to put on my programme. That way I can see at a glance that a programme on the table is mine, before I leave. If I drop it, the finder can call me to let me know.

Note Taking Problems

Next, where should I make notes about food pairing? 

The slide show, early on, included a slide with a list of the foods, and a list of the wines. Very good.

I reckoned it would be easier and quicker when making notes for members of the audience to have the slide copied onto a handout. The food on the left of your tasting page. The wines on the right. Then draw a line between the wine and the food it matched. 

Or a list of all the matches. Circle your favourite. 

Or a tick box for each pairing. Give it marks out of 7. From 1 for not good to 7 for heavenly.

My effort to write down the name of the wine, three to six words, then the names of the food, each of which had three ingredients, meant I needed to see the slide with the names of food, and missed commentary whilst I was trying to list the names of the food and wines. 

I spoke to Federica afterwards, and she agreed that each time they held the event they could incorporate changes and improvements which would make it better and better, even better.

Solution - A Food and Wine Pairing Sheet

Meanwhile, I am thinking about printing off my own pairing sheets. I would carry them around on my red clipboard.

Fabulous Food  - And Wine Matching

The food was fabulous. My favourite was the fanned pear, with stilton cheese in a creamy mousse. The name of the chef was not mentioned. The chef or supplier deserves a mention.

Which came first, food or drink, when planning the pairing? I presumed the wine producers and promoters would have picked seven wines to promote and asked the chef to do a pairing. At very least they might have asked for food to match in colour, for the red wine,  the red meat, for white wines, white savouries, and a sweet dessert. 

In a restaurant the sommelier might be shown the dish of the day, or dishes of the day. The chef created or selected recipes using what he has found, fresh, seasonal and reasonably priced in the market. The sommelier then has to match up wines to the food. 

Many restaurant diners would pick the food first, then ask the sommelier for a wine to match.

At home you might have bought a new wine from the Zonin list, then wondered, what food can I cook to go with this?

Buying Zonin Wines On the Web

After I got home I searched on the internet for Zonin wines. Up popped their wines on Amazon. Quite reasonably priced. 

I also found their website. The group is very successful, an umbrella group, connected with wines all over Italy and other places.  In addition to the bottles with their own label, their portfolio includes wines with other labels.

What if you or one of your group cannot drink wine. In addition to those abstaining for religious reasons, people could be driving, taking pills, and you could have youngsters or cautious drinkers. I liked Zonin's refreshing Limoneto Spritz, sparkling wine with lemon juice. You can buy it from Amazon in a 75cl bottle, or in a collection of cans 25cl.

Low and No Alcohol

Whilst their entire collection was new to me, they were excited about what is new for them. They have kept pace with the trend towards low alcohol wines, and non alcohol wines, and wine not only in bottles, small bottles, but also in cans.

Training Sommeliers

They are training sommeliers, and their own staff worldwide, as well as wine writers, wine educators and influencers on pairing their wines with food. I tried six wines, whites, a rose, and reds, with six different savoury and sweet dishes.  

Denni di Rosa, left. Federica Zanghirella, Vice President of the UK Sommelier Association, centre. Christopher Burr MW, right.

Federica Zanghirella, Vice President of the UK Sommelier Association, left. Christopher Burr MW right.

Three Wise Wine Experts

Instruction and enlightenment came from three delightful personalities.

Federica Zanghirella Vice President of the UK Sommelier Association. Glamorous and efficient, explaining how we were to save the delicious food to have some with each wine. Reminding us how in educational sessions we were sometimes given salty and sweet morsel to demonstrate how wine tastes different with different foods.

Christopher Burr MW. A Master of Wine always has worldwide knowledge. A walking encyclopaedia of wine. 

Denni di Rosa BA, knowledgeable on the Italian region, his homeland, Zonin's global ambassador, was an impressive presence in stature and knowledge. He explained each wine in detail.

They all emphasized that matching the wine with food, and picking our favourite pairing, comparing our choices with those of the producers and experts and the majority opinion, was not a test, but should be fun.

Matching Wine With Food

We all wrote down which wine we thought suited which food, the best match, not only on colour, red wine with red meat, white wine with white meat or fish, sweet wine with dessert, but the wines might complement or contrast in flavour. Though the recommendations are a guidelines, a consensus of popular opinion, the fun of wine tasting and wine pairing is finding what you like, for a one off enjoyable surprise, but ideally something to add to your internal recipe book and shopping list.

I am a vintage customer, stuck in the Sixties, liking sweet wines, sparkling, white and rose. So my favourite pairing was the pear dessert with the sweet wine, Castello di Albola, Vin Santo del Chianti. From Tuscany. The wine variety was Trebbiano Toscano, Malvasia del Chianti. Size 50 c.

Here is Denni di Rosa. Proudly holding the wine I praised as my favourite.

My favourite wine paired with the pear dessert was from label Castello di Albola, Vin Santo Chinati Classico DOCG, varietal Trebbiano Toscano Malvasia del Chianti, 50 cl, costing more than £20. From Tuscany in Italy. On Amazon you can buy red or white wines with the same characteristic grand house on the label.

Useful Websites On Zonin Wine

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Castello-Albola-Santo-Chianti-DOCG/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=zonin

https://www.bottledandboxed.com/product/6697_zonin-prosecco-brut-millesimato-doc-75cl

https://www.zonin1821.com/en/

zonin.co.uk

Sommelier Association

https://www.uksommelierassociation.com/

Wiki on wines - Vinopedia

https://vinopedia.org/wiki/Indication_G%C3%A9ographique_Prot%C3%A9g%C3%A9e_(IGP)

Please follow me and share links to your favourite posts.

Dessert in the Desert. French Menu Words Made Easy For French Restaurants and Travelling to French Speaking Countries

Flag of France

You can find French menus is France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, St Martin in the Caribbean, many more French speaking islands, French speaking Africa, and major cities all over the world.

A fancy French restaurant - how exciting. But how do I read the menu? Here are some French words you may see on a menu. Mystery solved.

amuse-bouche or amuse gueule - literally to amuse your mouth - complimentary, compliments of the chef, a teeny taste to keep you busy with a bite size morsel while they are preparing your next course

croissant - crescent, crescent shaped flaky pastry often eaten for breakfast, in Paris and France and sold freshly baked.  Where do they find the room to cook, don't worry, it might actually mean baked in an oven or microwave from supplied dough, or shaped dough. Find it in supermarkets in London even a tiny branch of Tesco Express. Nowadays the crescent is often straightened out.


Croissant cut to show texture. Photo by SKopp in Wikipedia under croissant.

Biftek - beefsteak - a Franglish or mixed English and French word, English beefsteak pronounced the French way

boeuf - beef - the English word beef comes from the French word for beef or cow, (vache being the female or dairy cow)

bombe - bomb or ball shaped desserted, often chocolate with ice cream inside, sometimes exploding to reveal contents when heated, an exciting surprise.

dessert - dessert or sweet dish - from/outside of, the service, just like hors d'oeuvre or starter is outside the service of the main course. From des servir, so the letter 's' doubled. Now you can remember that dessert is the sweet dish. Desert with only one s is the noun sandy desert, short of water and short of the double s. Desert, to desert, the verb to desert also has a single s. Only the sweet dessert with too much sugar has the double s. Alternatively remember that the word sweet has a double e and the word dessert has a double s.

flambé - flamed (The word is pronounced flom-bay to rhyme with Bombay. That upward accent tells you that your voice goes up at the end of the word as if you were asking a question. The accents are there to help you. The same system is used in translating other languages including Chinese). Just think of flambé like the word comb which has a silent b and you will instantly see and remember that the word flambé means flame.




glacé - glazed or with icing or preserved as in glace cherries

hors d'oevre - literally outside of (the main) work or main course, starter

Maitre d - master of - all the other waiters, man in charge of dinner time servers. Want help, not satisfied got a complaint or compliment, call for him. He may wear a smarter outfit.
menu - menu


Petits fours, picture from Wikipedia.

Petit four (singular) or petits fours (plural) - Petit means small as in the word petite which is feminine ending in e. The four is the oven like a furnace, so you know this is some cooked concoction, not merely fruit, but little things cooked in the oven. Up come tiny biscuits and cakes and chocolate whatnots and all or mostly marzipan shapes, sweets to end the meal.

Pain au chocolat - bread or pastry with chocolate chips or filing inside, for breakfast in France and UK supermarkets and hotel buffets

Pot de chocolat - pot of chocolate, or chocolate pot

The sommelier. Photo from Wikipedia.

sommelier - knows something about serving the wine, much more than you do and is happy to advise because he has a qualification in serving wine and spends hours choosing the wines and bargaining and buying and storing them at the right temperature and serving them at the right temperature hopes to get a tip if you like his suggestions

service compris - service included (as in the word comprised)

valet parking - they park your car and take the keys so they can bring it back. Check if this service is complimentary, if the restaurant make a charge, if you have a choice, if you are expected to leave a tip

Where do you find French?
WIKI SAYS:
French is an official language in 29 countries across multiple continents,^[5] most of which are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 84 countries which share the official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France, the Canadian provinces of Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick as well as other Francophone regions, Belgium (Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region), western Switzerland (cantons of Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel, Vaud, Valais), Monaco, partly in Luxembourg, the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in the United States, and in northwestern Italy (region of Aosta Valley).

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:French_pastries

Note that the French accent in Paris is different from the French accent in Canada. To hear the french click on the sound symbol in Wikipedia, Google translate and several other websites.

You can use your French in Belgium, Canada, France, Switzerland and French islands in the Caribbean such as St Martin, and in many more countries as well as when reading menus in French restaurants, in kitchenware shops.

.

To learn more French and many other languages such as Spanish, you can use the free websites for beginners, such as Duolingo and Memrise:

Useful Websites
Free Language Learning
duolingo.com
memrise.com
https://translate.google.com/



SHOPS
Cheese Shops in London, England

https://www.lafromagerie.co.uk/
French Department Stores worldwide
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printemps
www.galerieslafayette.com

TRAVEL
UK Tourist website

visitbritain.com


French Tourist Board Website

http://ee.france.fr/


BELGIUM
http://visitbelgium.com/

CARIBBEAN - ST MARTIN

http://www.stmartinisland.org/

Official website of the Tourist Office of St Martin island in the Caribbean, information on the island of St Martin, French West Indies.

Canadian Cities Tourist Board Website
http://www.visit-canada.com/

Swiss tourist official website
https://www.swiss.com/

General Information on food, wines and service
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sommelier

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Recommended Restaurant - Le Bistrot du Sommelier - for perfect potatoes, lovely lemon cake and Chadonnay Fruit Juice!

Problem
Where to go for a fine, bun farewell lunch or dinner in Singapore?

Answer
We opted for Bistrot du Sommelier on Armenian Street in the heart of the business and museum district in Singapore. A sommelier is a wine expert in a restaurant.

Restaurant Table Choices
This restaurant is in three parts, up a steep staircase to the bar with a view down over the streets. The cosy restaurant indoors. Or outside.

Other diners chose to move outside after dinner. We presumed because one or more wished to smoke. Or they wanted to stand up after a heavy meal (to reduce hours spent sitting - as sitting all day is supposed to be unhealthy).

 If a group has had a lot to drink and is talking loudly, it is a good idea to move away from cosy twosomes muttering sweet nothings or talking confidential business. If you are the ones not wanting to be overheard or disturbed, you might choose to be outside, because of despite of noise from traffic or construction works.

Delightful Decor On Wine Theme
We opted for inside. I was immediately impressed by the interesting decor. When they say sommelier they mean it. All the waiters are quietly confident and knowledgeable about wines.

Everything is wines.Two grand chandeliers are made of a stack of inverted wine glasses. On one side were tables for two. On the other side, banquettes, with wine cases used to make the banquettes backs and base facades.

Wooden Platters
The platters for the food were wooden pieces with wine names, too, not rough and mis-shapen with cracks like in many restaurants, but framed oblongs neatly-sealed and gleaming.

Chardonnay Juice
When it came to ordering food and drink, the first pleasant surprise was the alternative to wine for a non-drinker. I had a grape juice made from Chardonnay to accompany my fellow diner's chardonnay wine.
 I was surprised, a bit disappointed, that it came out of a bottle - made in France. I suppose I assumed it would be made from grapes thrown into a blender, like most juices in Singapore shopping malls.

But, a good idea. I shall try that next year with the tiny amount of Chardonnay grapes we grown from one vine in our garden in London, England. We had previously allocated them for wine-making, ore eating, but making grape juice is a third use for garden grapes.

We also have friends in Singapore who grow a vine on a balcony. We could ask for some grapes, and give them half the juice we make, at very least a glass or two to drink with us, as a thank you.

A visit to a restaurant serves two purposes, no, three, more. To enjoy food you don't buy or don't have time and expertise to make at home. To benefit from the knowledge of the waiter or chef or sommelier. To get out of home. To have time to talk, without worrying about buying groceries, cooking serving or washing up. To eat out when working or visiting museums and attractions away from home. To enjoy funky decor. To enjoy smart toilets with flowers and music.

 (In Bistrot de Sommelier wien theme and flowers. For music go to Sheraton Towers hotel in Singapore. Actuallly the downstairs toilet door needs attention, if a customer is fussy about such things. I am.)

To go home with ideas for your own cooking. To learn the ingredients of wines and dinner dishes so you are more enlightened next time you go to a restaurant or talk about food to family and friends.

The three-course set menu was good value.

Duck Terrine
The bread was good, with a crunchy outside. I wasn't enamoured with the duck terrine, and felt its flavour was eclipsed by the pickled cucumber.

Chicken In Garlic
However, things improved exponentially with the main course. I had poultry with cooked garlic cloves.

The pommes dauphinoise came up in a separate little round pot, with perfect cheese topping. How do they find such good potatoes!

Lovely Lemon Cake
Finally, the perfect lemon cake. Moist and very lemony. Like sucking a lemon. Strong flavour.

Christmas List
We left with their list of foods and wines you could buy from them for dinner at home. Looking at other customers at weekday lunchtime, (a small survey of only three tables midweek) I could see, that guess, hear from phrases echoing around he room as they raised their voices, that other customers were in finance or property or entrepreneurs so I imagine they are not short of money and are into working lunches. For them, entertaining whilst sealing a business deal, the Christmas prices would be good value, cheese with truffle at much more than it would cost from even a speciality cheese shop.
Not so tempting for us, but could be a good deal for you or somebody you know.

Thinking more about it, a restaurant can make more money by selling foods for Christmas at home, as well as satisfying customers who might have wanted to eat at the restaurant, if it closes (or charges high prices at Christmas) or is fully booked for the busy Christmas period, to keep the customers happy with an alternative option from their favourite reliable restaurant and stop them going out for dinner somewhere else.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Where to find real 100 per cent Maple Syrup, Maple Farm Visits, and Maple Gifts

Maple Syrup, 100% pure and Canadian, with maple leaf design label, on kitchen worktop, showing it is popular and nearly used up! Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problems To Solve
My maples syrup is nearly finished so I need to stock up with another. What's 'real' maple syrup? Where can I buy it? Can I see it being made or learn more from the source?

Answers
Maple syrup which is 100 per cent maple syrup is obviously, well, probably, best, but what's the difference?

Maple flavour syrup will have less maple syrup and more of other ingredients. Read the label.

The real test is to buy one of each and see if you like the difference. Do a blind test.

Story
We did a blind test in Singapore. Maple syrup and other imported food products are expensive in Singapore. So when the Canadian one hundred per cent maple syrup which we had brought with us from England ran out we tried the cheaper American maple flavour syrup from a local Singapore supermarket. The real maple syrup won the taste test in our family.

Sugars and Syrups
Flavour apart, is maple syrup good or bad? Is eating maple syrup adding sugar to your diet or removing it? That may depend on how much you are consuming.

Also consider whether you are using it as a substitute or addition to your diet. Other factors include: whether you are overweight, or dieting.

A separate issue, if you are a healthy weight, is whether you want to reduce your risk of cancer. Another question is who produces the tests, are they independent and who do you believe?

What Colour and Grade Is Your Syrup?
I was very interested to see that grading is even more detailed than a simple percentage of maple syrup used. Maple syrup comes in different grades. As far as I can tell, in the US a darker grade comes from syrup taken later in the season (a bit like late harvest grapes producing sweet wine). The darker, stronger flavour syrup is used in cooking.

Quality Needed For Cooking
I have often had ice cream supposedly flavoured with vanilla and foods supposedly flavoured with maple syrup and not detected much taste. Maybe the restaurant owner or cook or supplier has either used maple syrup as a selling point and not cared or not realised that you get a stronger flavour with a different kind of maple syrup.

So, if you are cooking, as well as eating, check what you are getting. In restaurants I frequently ask to see the bottle of the house wine and the bottles of any unusual ingredients used. I usually ask because I am impressed with the good quality and want to compliment the sommelier or chef and am curious as to what produces better results.

However, a discussion on whether a cheaper or different ingredient produces equally good results or 'good enough' results is also worthwhile. In my experience cooks and chefs are keen to show off their knowledge and expertise.

I used to be shy about discussing production. But if you are friendly most people are friendly back. If staff are young and inexperienced and know less than you do they may well be grateful to be given new knowledge and choices.

Maple Syrup Photo
I was sitting thinking: "Where do I find a picture of maple syrup? I don't want to take one from a website without permission, even though they will probably allow it, writing will waste time. Wikipedia is a source of free pictures but people can go straight to Wikipedia and read (admittedly no longer short articles in popular style, increasingly authoritative, detailed and too long for a quick read)."

I raised my eyes from my screen and saw my breakfast maple syrup sitting on the shelf in front of me!

I took a picture of the front from close up and it was distorted. I called to a friendly professional photographer, "My photo's distorted! What do I do?"

He answered, "You're too close."

So I took a picture from further away which meant I had to spend time cropping it.

The picture did not show much information.

I turned the bottle around and took a photo of the label on the back. Then I read it.

I had probably read it the first time I bought the product, a year or so ago. I would have been looking for the ingredients.

This time I read every word. Firstly an interesting story about the origins of maple syrup production. usefully If found  and the reason behind the company name - which I had not remembered. Now I have a memory aid for the company name. When looking in a supermarket, even when not buying, I can check what they stock and whether it is the brand I bought before or another one. The brand I bought was Buckwud. W U D  for wood. I shall create my own memory aid, "This buck would buy Buckwud.'

Maple syrup bottle on kitchen workshop showing Bukwud label. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Refrigerate or Not?

I noted something else. The label says keep the syrup refrigerated (only after opening?). That's interesting because we have a constant dispute in my family. I want to refrigerate everything. Others in my family says that honey goes solid. Websites tell me not to refrigerate eggs - then another website or consumer says you can or should. I would always go by advice from the producers. In this case the producers say refrigerate.

Maple Syrup Visits and On-Site Shops, Vermont
Canada produces the majority of the world's maple syrup.
You can visit producers for rmont/maple_sugarhouses_open_year-round.aspx

Where to buy maple syrup? Everywhere worldwide. Look for real maple syrup. I've tried the almost maple syrup and it doesn't taste the same. In addition to maple syrup, the factories have websites selling all kinds of products, maple butter, BBQ sauce, and candies.

Tips

General article on Maple syrup:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_syrup

For a discussion on maple syrup and sugar see:
https://authoritynutrition.com/maple-syrup/

Visits
CANADA
https://www.todaysparent.com/family/activities/best-maple-syrup-farms/
USA
http://www.visitvt.com/about_ve
Vermont is in the USA.

For Products To Buy
Canadian producer has products including maple leaf shape bottle and recipe pages.
https://www.maplesyrupworld.com/pages/maple-syrup-recipe.html

http://www.dakinfarm.com/Pure-Maple-Products.html
(Ten minute video, changing exhibition of photos, display of evaporator. Large shop with farm produce.)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=maple+leaf+tshirt

Action To Take
1 RESEARCH LOCAL SUPERMARKETS Check out brands and label of maple syrup in my nearest supermarket.
2 HOLIDAY TRIP PACKING NOTES Remember to buy Maple Syrup when going overseas to live or stay. Add shopping note to top of packing list.
3 WISHLISTS Note names and websites of farms offering maple syrup visits for next family visit or business trip to Canada or northern USA. Make a travel wishlist, add notes in my diary, email myself, or bookmark websites so I can find the information on my next trip. If leaving laptop behind, make note in mobile phone.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See also previous post on Canada. Please share links to your favourite posts.

How you can identify bad wines and choose good wines at restaurants

Corked wine smells of damp cardboard. It is still drinkable but the smell is gained by an unsterile cork. Some harbour bacterial infections which get in contact with the wine. A particular chemical called TCA is the culprit. The maker can't tell. This problem is eliminated by screw tops.

Corked wines, pretty obvious, smell musty. A sommelier will detect lower quantities. The wine waiter would if he tasted it. Given the opportunity, if you are in doubt, he would often frown and grab it from you.

Wine can be maderised, kept too hot, smells like Madeira wine, storage problem, oxidation, smells like fruit cake.

Wine can be oxidised because too old, depending on how old you like your wine. Some would accept it, thinking it leather-y. Others would not drink it. Some people will collect wines back to the late 1970s. Others will only buy, drink immediately, or collect for drinking later, winds from the 1990s.

What about a wine that smells and taste completely sour so you want to spit it out?

This is not the same as people who don't like the wine, make a bad choice? You should really have the wine matched to your food, because this will alter the apparent taste. You can check styles of wine with food at home. For example, if you always order chicken and chocolate desserts, or if somebody in your family always orders steak and tiramisu, you can try out a wine at home so as not to waste money in a restaurant..

Serve two meals at home with particular wines. Note on a card index card how the first wine tastes with the main course and dessert. Check how a sweeter wine tastes with dessert. Then how the sweeter wine would taste if you tried it with the main course as well. Make a column on the back of the card index card of the wines which go well with your favourite dish or dishes. Make another column for wines which don't go.

Check the restaurant menu online to see which main courses and wines they serve. You can also check the year of the wine. Do they have wines at two prices, more for the older wine, or less for the older wine? Do you care?

This is up to the sommelier. Some sommeliers have an open bottle (left over from another table? - sh! - or more likely used to serve wine by the glass). Some sommeliers, it's even been offered to me by bartenders at a cheap place such as Water's Edge in Ruislip, if you ask, or are hesitating they might offer - they will pour you a tiny sip. Sometimes just one of the wine you are considering, or two if they have two rose wines by the glass.

I try not to try to many if I don't like either of the first two I'm inclined to refuse more out of politeness or embarrassment. Occasionally at a restaurant or a wine shop which has lots of open bottles for a wine tasting, you are offered even more, even three, (if you are pally or a regular or a big spender or at a wine tasting more) until you like one and choose to stick with drinking and paying for that one.

If you want to try regular tastings, a local wine shop might offer weekly events, sometimes free in the hope that you will buy wine. (Many regular customers feel reluctantly obliged to buy something.) Others are very happy to buy a bottle of one of the wines offered. Alternatively, if they don't like any, quite happy to buy somethings, in exchange for an hour or two's entertainment: drinks and nibbles for two members of their family, a chance to chat to the wine shop owner, a visiting vineyard owner, local shopkeepers, local people, visitors from overseas. if you'd had two glasses of wine in a local wine bar it would have cost the same and you would not have had a bottle of wine to take home. So it seems a reasonable deal to voluntarily top up from the shop (rather than the local supermarket) with one of the wines you want for the next weekend or for taking to a friend's party.

I have two birthdays and an anniversary to attend in the next three months. I will probably have at least one meal at home and at least one meal out.

I have already asked my family which sort of restaurant they would like. One member of my family likes Indian food. I wasn't expecting that. I prefer non-spicy, Italian. They have named a restaurant. Time for a sneaky peek at the menu to choose my dishes. Then at the wine list to select my wine. Rather than arguing on the day, I can discuss in advance.

Studying Wine
I have reached only WSET level one. That involved about 20 hours of studying with self-marked tests which you keep doing until you reach more than the pass mark. Then a one day course with teaching and tasting and tests, ending with a multiple choice test. (The first level might be taken by a waiter or would-be sommelier and worker in a wine shop, or wine buyer or wine enthusiast.)

Every meal with family and friends involves discussion of wines, vineyards, the wines, or the recent discoveries on the internet.

Another member of my family has passed level three and is studying for the diploma, which involves several exams, which are several weeks apart, spread over a couple of years, with many people re-sitting some modules.

We plot our travels around vineyards, wine shops, restaurants, wine events. We check the vineyards on google maps to see the slope, the sun and shadows, the rainfall, the vineyard shop, the local village or city shops selling wines and restaurants serving meals with the local wines.

Talks and Workshops
I am Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, researcher, author, speaker. (Not related to the actress, who does wonderful publicity for the name which is shared by at least four people on the internet.)

I am the person you can contact f you would like a free talk to Toastmasters (of which I am a member of two clubs in the UK, probably joining another in Singapore) or a low price amusing talk to a group of under 30 for amateurs and novices on wine labels and wine personalities such as the merry widow, Verve Cliquot. I can also do a well-organised proper formal talk or workshop for a higher price for businesses or charities with a larger audience. (Anywhere in the world via Skype or if you pay for transport and any accommodation needed such as at a conference.)

If you want a workshop with slides and vertical tasting, the same wine such as one from Rioja through the years to compare different styles or production, go to grape deal.com

Angela Lansbury, BA Hons, CL,  ACG, travel writer and photographer, researcher, author, speaker.
More about Angela Lansbury on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Amazon, Lulu.com

French words of the day: en primeur, fait accompli, faux pas, sommelier

In catalogues and newsletters for wine I find words used by sommeliers, the wine trade and wine buyers. On ebay and in clothes catalogues I find faux leather.

en primeur - I thought it was literally in first place - best wine (of season for that wine maker?) but I was muddling it up with premier cru which is described below. Wikipedia says this:
En primeur or "wine futures", is a method of purchasing wines early while a vintage is still in a barrel, offering the customer the opportunity to invest in a particular wine before it is bottled. Payment is made at an early stage, a year or 18 months prior to the official release of a vintage. A possible advantage of buying wines en primeur is that the wines may be considerably cheaper during the en primeur period than they will be once bottled and released on the market. However, that is not guaranteed and some wines may lose value over time. Wine experts, like Tom Stevenson, recommend buying en primeur for wines with very limited quantities and will most likely not be available when they are released.^[1] The wines most commonly offered en primeur are from Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône Valley and Port, although other regions are adopting the practic

faux - false or imitation, faux leather is not leather but looks like it is
faux pas - false step / mistake / embarrassing mistake
pâté - smooth paste, usually meat, in a glass or china pot sealed with fat or foil on top and a lid
The hat on the letter suggests a mission letter s following - paste or pasta, same origin
premier cru
sommelier - wine expert or head wine waiter in a restaurant