Hello Again!

I hope you all had a wonderfully romantic evening on Valentines Day and enjoyed your glass of rose with your partner. The next calendar event we are all looking forward to is May Bank holiday. I am hoping this might be warm enough to get the BBQ out for the first time this year. I do love to cook the Sunday joint of lamb with a bit of rosemary and some soy sauce, on the BBQ and of course have a good red wine to complement the meal.

You may have noticed that below the article in the last issue of All Things Local there was an advert for The Little Wine Club. As he is only in Darley Abbey, I thought I would give him a call to see what wines he was selling. We went to meet Andy and spent a very pleasant hour chatting and tasting different wines. As the May Bank holiday is coming up and a potential BBQ, we decided to treat ourselves to something a little bit more special. We came away with a very nice bottle of Rioja.

The wine I have chosen for you this month is Rioja Alavesa from Spain. This wine is from a single vineyard and is organically grown and matured in French oak barrels. The wines from this vineyard have been highly acclaimed by many wine critics.

Brand: Bodegas Artadi
Type: 2003
Region: Rioja Alavesa, Spain
Grape: Tempranillo
Alcohol Strength: 13.5 %

The colour – Bright ruby red
The bouquet – Aromas of liquorice, currant and pepper
Flavour - Black cherries and liquorice with a long smooth finish
Price: £12 available from www.littlewineclub.co.uk

This wine is ready to enjoy over the next 5-7 years and will go well with red meats, particularly lamb. I have found a link to the BBC Good Food web site, which gives you some perfect lamb recipes for Rioja. You too might find it interesting www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mostof_winterwineandfood.shtml

Anne Kennedy.