Nyetimber English Wine At Hedonism Shop London

 

Big basket with the wine producer's name Nyetimber, for new wood.

Nyetimber event at Hedonism wine shop in central London. Photos by Trevor Sharot.

Big basket with the wine company name Nyetimber, deck chairs and red and white gingham.

The event on Tuesday July 8th 2025 was ice cream matched with wine.

Useful websites

Nyetimber

Hedonism

-ends-

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Pull-apart, quick on quick off spectacles - to look at a centenary bottle and sparkling blush wine from cantinepaulis in Sardinia, Italy

Video by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

He pulls the spectacles apart at the bridge of the nose and puts them aside. To replace the spectacles, he pushes them back together. Connected by magnets?

He said he bought them on Amazon. I saw these and looked them up once before.  I had thought they would be handy whether traelling or at home. If I remember rightly, the cheapest spectacles (now only fifteen pounds for a pack of two pairs) were those for eyes the same strength (or weakness) in both eyes. You can order online glasses from a prescription done by an optician, with both eyes different at a higher price. They are not - yet - available from my optician for varifocal lenes, and when I asked my optician he said he could order them, but they were not ideal for me because they did not come up with lenses to correct for eyes which had slight astigmatism

  

But if you have a separate pair of reading glasses used at home and when travelling, a handy idea.

I had such an entertaining time talking to him.

His company is on the island of Sardinia. The company name is cantinepaulis. Not Paul's canteen. A pauli is a marsh. the large marsh is a park with pink flamingoes.

I asked, 'Aren't all flamingoes pink?'

He answered, 'I don't know. But ours are, because they eat prawns.'

I used to eat pink prawns. I didn't turn pink.

Until I developed all allergy to shellfish.

I has stopped at his stand at the Real Italian Wine & Food, trade show, at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London on April 29th 2025. I was attracted by the blush wine he was displaying, and his welcoming smile. 

The blush wine is available as sparkling. It also comes in two shapes of bottles, straight-sided and curvy.

After I got home, I went onto their website and clicked on the little Union Jack symbol to read it all in English, quicker than my Italian from 6 months of learning Italian on Duolingo. However, their leaflet is in Italian, so I have translated some words below.

I learned that the winery is a co-operative. So, not a family business named after a Mr Paul. Instead named after a marshy area where there are lots of growers who formed a co-operative years ago.  That accounts for the large numbers of bottles, red, white and rose, and sparkling, and different bottle shapes.

The Co-ops

Co-ops operate like supermarkets. They bring together lots of suppliers giving you a big choice in one place. 

I went to the masterclass at the show, featuring Sardinian wines. The most memorable statment for me was that co-ops, although often considered suppliers are cheap everyday wines, not as good as the individual suppliers, perform a very useful service for their own members. The co-ops provide employment, sustaining their members through the bad years, economically and/or weatherwise, and promoting them in the good years. And offering reasonable prices within the budgets of tourists and locals alike.

I went onto their website and was able to find a blush sparkling wine for about ten Euros and another for twenty. I like sweet wines, but many people prefer drier.

Sardinian and  Italian

The co-op has operated for over one hundred years. One unique wine was launched with a special label to celebrate the centenary, celebrated in 2024. I had tried translating paulis in google and the Italian translation brought up nothing. But google went to AI, I kept googling. Eventually I found out the answer. The translation was marsh, but it was the Sardinian language. I had heard long ago that Italy had had many languages and Garibaldi united the country and made one of the many languages the universal Italian. I think of Sardinian as a dialect. Yet I find it confusing when the Chinese call their totally distinct languages dialects, giving status to Mandarin. Now I sympathise with the Chinese. From a foreigner's point of view, it's challenging enough to learn one language for Italy or China. Anyway, you and I now know one word of Sardinian. The word is easy to remember. It sounds like the name Paul. Pauli for marsh.

I have translated words from their leaflet, which will help any look at bottles and websites and leaflets in future.

Handy Translations For Wine Lovers, Wine Drinkers, Wine Buyers, Wine sellers

Italian - English

allieteranno - they will cheer up

antica - old

bianco - white

brut - dry

Cantine - cellar

caraterra - character

cari - dear

coi - with

cui - which

dal - from the

della - of the

di - of

dolce - sweet

e - and

enologo - winemaker

fondatori - members (the i ending is msculine plural)

giorno - day

Giulio Cesare - Julius Caesar

it - short for Italy

maestria - mastery

la (feminine) - the

nostra - our (feminine)

nostri - our (plural) nostro - our (singular masculine)

ogni - every

oltre - beyond

pauli - Sardinian language for marsh

per - for 

più - more

ricordi - memories

scorci - glimpses

soci - members

spumante - sparkling

Sardegna - Sardinia

sapore - flavour

scelte di vite - life choices (choices of life)

selvatica - wild

terra - earth/terrain

tra - between

uve - grapes

via - street

vigneti - vineyards

vini - wines

vitigni - vines

English - Italian

Useful Websites

wwwcantinepaulis.it

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Otcmuky-Magnetic-Presbyopic-Adjustable-multiplier_x/dp/B0C73NK6WW/

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Slovenian undersea bottles growing bubbles

Visit Slovenia and see these amazing under sea bottles. Take a tour in a boat and the driver will bring up a bottle. Then go to the stud farms to see the famous Lippizaner horses. End up enjoying the local layer cake, made with apples and custard.its local name is prekmurska Gibanica. More details from www.maresanto.com

Slovenian bottles of wine are stored underwater. You can take a tour and a diver will bring up a bottle for you. Every bottle is different with bits of shell Mare Santo, sparkling wine.

The next Vinexpo Asia is in 2024 in Hong Kong, May 28-30 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC)

https://vinexpoasia.com/newfront/marketplace/

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A few words of Spanish from maps and daily life - how many do you know?

 

Spanish - English

agua potable  drinking water

antorcha torch

arriba above

bebida drink

calle principal main street

carne meat

casa house

cena dinner

cerveza beer

ciudad town

comida meal

computadora laptop

de of

desayuno breakfast

fresa strawberry

gran casa big house

leche milk

mercado market

naranja orange

nuez walnut

olivos olives

piscina (swimming) pool

pueblo village

puente bridge

puerta door

queso cheese

revista magazine

ser be

sopa soup

tiempo weather

vino blanco white wine

vino espumoso sparkling wine

vino tinto red wine

English Spanish

beer cerveza

breakfast desayuno

bridge puente

door puerta

drink bebida

house casa

milk leche

soup sopa

town ciudad (c like city)

red wine vino tinto

village pueblo

walnut nuez

white wine vino blanco (adjective after the noun)

Vineyards to visit and English wines to buy: Tinwood and Gusbourne, Nyetimber

We drove from London to Bognor Regis on the coast of West Sussex. As we neared the coast, we passed signs to wineries. I am now researching wineries so we can do a circular vineyard tour with lunch at a winery and visit to two or three winery shops.

On previous occasions we have visited Nyetimber, which has a stunning setting overlooking the valley. 

Going  west , we also visited a vineyard in Wales. 

Denbies had a wonderful outdoor vineyard tour, and indoor tour, . Their huge supermarket of wines and wine related souvenirs was great. The smart restaurant, where we had booked a table for four for lunch, for entertaining an overseas visitor, was the final perfect touch.

England produces sparkling white wines. From grapes grown on the same chalk that stretches down to the French Champagne region.

Gusborne

Free self guided tour of the winery.

Tinwood

Accommodation in one of three lodges.

Cream tea with each of their three sparkling wines at about fifty pounds.

Useful Websites

Denbies

https://www.denbies.co.uk/tours-and-experiences/

https://www.gusbourne.com/visits/new

https://www.gusbourne.com/tours

Nyetimber

https://nyetimber.com/shop/

https://nyetimber.com/nyetimber-vineyard-open-days/

Tinwood

https://www.tinwoodestate.com/shop/

https://www.tinwoodestate.com/the-vineyards/vineyard-tours/

Food photos to show your waiter or server or restaurant manager.

Problem
How do you order food when you don't speak the language?

Answer
Show photos. (More in previous post.)

Bread.

Coffee. Coffee with decoration.

German marzipan centre stollen cake.

Chocolate cake with nuts and vanilla ice cream.

Bread with nuts and fruit to accompany coffee.

Plate and cutlery.

Champagne bottle, rosé wine, jug of water. 

Meat with mushrooms, sauté potatoes and green beans.

Toilet and washbasin with toilet paper and soap.

Fruit bowl: green apples, red apples, oranges, pear (right).

Cake with fruit - orange slices on top.

Cheesecake with fruit topping and jug of cream. Background chocolate cake.

Pub lunch of baked potato in its jacket with butter, cheese, tomato, mushroom, peas. Napkin and fork.

All photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Teacher of English and other languages.

Streatham Wine House, new wine bar in Streatham, London

Where is it? Just down the road from Streatham Hill Station, opposite the gigantic bingo hall which keeps changing colour. If you stand or sit near the bar window, you can watch the lights changing colour.

The bar is run by three people, Jimmy Smith, wife Beth, and friend Matt. Jimmy runs courses on wine at the West London wine school. I studied and passed level one of the exam on wines and spirits. Another member of my family has taken levels one and two and is now doing the two year diploma course. Jimmy teaches wine buffs including people in the trade working as sommeliers or wine distributors so he knows a lot about wine!

Many of the people at the opening, like us, had responded to emails about crowd-funding. We had travelled from afar, but others we spoke to lived locally.

The cheese, pickles and salami I tried on opening night were good.

So were the two sparkling wines. Jimmy explained that the first wine we tried came from the region in northern Spain also famous for the human towers. The second wine I tried was another Spanish sparkling wine, a Cava, very good.

The company was very convivial. I met another author, someone in the music industry, someone who worked in a bank, a solicitor, others who had taken wine courses as high as Diploma level, and two members of a ladies' softball team.

The wine bar had been cleared of the furniture for the busy opening night. Apparently you will be able to sit on chairs or loll on a sofa.

At the back of the room is a mural of a camper van belonging to Jimmy and Beth, and a montage of photos of them and others. You'll also find all sorts of amusing items: maps on the wall. Books on wine. A wine game.

The toilet is modern, new, and has a wavy mirror and nice hand wash gel. See the previous posts: about Kennedy's fish and chip shop; and human towers.

Streatham Wine House
53A Streatham Hill
Streatham
London
SW2 4TS
Tel:0208 67 88 997
info@streathamwinehouse.com
www.streathamwinehouse.co.uk

Photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 2016.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please see my other blog posts here and on:
http://www.luxurytravelforless.co.uk

Champagne, Prosecco or Kir for Valentine's Day?

The second sitting menu for Valentine's Day at Fellini includes a glass of Champagne. What if you are looking for a pink sparkling drink or want to order something else? I go for a kir, a mixture of white wine, originally Aligote a dry white wine from Lyon where Canon Kir presided, and liked to mix the white wine with the local cassis, blackcurrant syrup. Here I was offered a complimentary glass of wine, white or red, but asked if I could have a kir. I was treated to the sparkling kir royal, a mixture of a sparkling wine and blackcurrant. 

Bluebell railway steam train to ride and Bluebell wines to taste and buy

The bluebell wine company is near the bluebell railway. A great afternoon out for any group, such as a women's institute. Visit the winery. Have a vineyard tour and tasting. Maybe buy a souvenir bottle -or case. Then take the bluebell railway.

Watch out for expansion of the opportunities at the Bluebell Vineyard. I met Lucy. She says they are planning to expand the facilities, building a cafe. Maybe a few souvenirs such as aprons. Yes, she has been to the biggest winery tourist attraction I've seen in Britain, Denbies, and the company she works for plans to follow the great example set by Denbies.

The great place to visit down the road from the Bluebell winery is a cafe in an antique furniture emporium with an elephant outside.

This is Lucy from the winery. You can see the big B for Bluebell on the wine bottle label. On their stand at a wine fair, she and another member of staff showed me and allowed me to taste three types of sparkling wine which they make. Apparently most people like the classic sparkling wine which is a blend of chardonnay and pinot noir. 

To my surprise I liked both versions of the one grape variety. I liked the 'biscuity' sparkling wine made from white Chardonnay grapes. But I also liked the other version. I like wines with a distinctive aroma and flavour.

If you want to book a vineyard tour or tasting for a group, here are their details:

Address Bluebell Vineyard Estates Glenmore Farm Sliders Lane Furners Green East Sussex TN22 3RU England Email: wineinfo@bluebellvineyard.co.uk http://www.bluebellvineyard.co.uk/ The Bluebell Railway is a steam train service. They run Santa specials. www.bluebell-railway.co.uk More on the railway in a later post.

Telephone 01825 791 561 Mobile 07785 333 417