Emma Bridgewater
Hearts picnic hamper
Just the thing for a romantic day at the races...
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White Wines from the Unusual Suspects
Think Spanish wine and you’ll probably think Rioja or red wine. Yet Spain is currently producing some of the most exciting and vibrant white wines on the face of the planet...
British Cassis
Jo Hilditch's British Cassis is becoming known for its full flavour, colour and taste...
Chocolate
Domino Set
If you find yourself in the pub after a great day's racing, why not take along a bit of edible entertainment too? PLUS 10% off for Eclipse readers
Personalised Cakes
Fancy making your picnic just that little bit more 'Winners' Circle"? Kiddy Cakes specialises in celebration cakes for both children and adults...
Mini Pork Pies
Rowan Cottage Kitchen's
miniature pork pies are ideal in their entirety or make funky canapes cut in half...
Recipe - Rowan Cottage Kitchen's Mini Pork Pies
If you want to try making them yourself...
White wines from the Unusual Suspects...
Some things become synonymous with each other to the exclusion of anything else - think port and Stilton; bangers and mash; Boris Johnson and buffoonery. However understandable these relationships, they do however tend to obscure the bigger picture and can occasionally preclude us from making a more informed choice (apart from in the case of dear Boris perhaps!).
Recommended:
Bordeaux is another region which, whilst its fame relies on red wines, produces some excellent unsung whites. Prestigious chateaux such as Lynch Bages, Talbot and Haut-Brion produce miniscule quantities of extremely expensive white; connoisseurs have known of these wines for centuries and they are highly prized for their great intensity of flavour and elegance.
Further down the scale - in terms of price at least – are the wines of AC Bordeaux. Wines from this catch-all AC have tended to be uninspiring in years gone by but quality is much improved and the more enlightened chateau now make fresh and invigorating wines which offer genuine value for money.
California is the home of full-bodied reds – Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon for example – and there are some fairly hefty Chardonnays too. However, as you would expect from our American cousins, experimentation with new varieties and blends is rife; scratch beneath the surface and you can find all manner of exotic wines, many of them unexpectedly good value.
Viognier - a delicate and tricky grape normally associated with wines of the Rhone valley such as Condrieu - is one of these surprisingly successful imports. Several winemakers from the sunshine state are currently producing fruit-driven wines with an enticing palate of peach and apricot. As with most decent wines from the US a good Viognier is not normally great value but occasionally the odd gem appears – snap them up when you can!
Recommended:
Winemakers in Chile – typically a bastion for red wines from Merlot, Carmenere and the ubiquitous Cabernet Sauvignon – have recently discovered a penchant for white wines of subtlety and finesse. They too have been charmed by the elegance that the Viognier grape can lend to a wine, whether as a single varietal or as a useful blending partner for Chardonnay.
The cooler climes of areas such as the Rapel valley provide a perfect environment for Viognier to flourish and in the last two or three years a steady trickle of top-notch wines has filtered onto the UK market.
If you are looking for something a little different – something refreshing for the summer perhaps – and a wine that has wonderful purity of flavour (think melon, tropical fruit and apricots) then these delicious wines will be a revelation! Cheers!
Recommended:
The Co-operative
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