St George’s Day celebrations are running throughout the land this week in celebration of our Patron Saint. Leaden Hall Market in the centre of the square mile in The City of London, as organised by Nick Johnstone, be-decked in Union Jacks was the central point for sampling English wines.

A magnificent setting in the heart of London, set just behind the famous “gherkin” building and full of city high flyers and wannabees! As usual I managed to arrive early and enjoyed watching the hustle and bustle of this busy iconic London market, setting up, taking in deliveries, the local characters going about their business.

Present and sampling were Carr Taylor Vineyards from Westfield in East Sussex, Sedlescombe Organic Vineyards from East Sussex, Bedales Wine Stores pouring Biddenden wines from Kent and David of Meopham Valley Vineyard in Kent. All of these wines are great, clean, fresh, good fruit notes and well balanced. They are all a major credit to the English Wine Industry and many thanks to David of Meopham, Sue of Carr Taylor and Martin of Sedlescombe for making the journey into London to promote our fine English wines.

Taylor & Shroff, English wines for curry (produced by Carr Taylor) was sampled and enjoyed by quite a few passers by at lunch times. On sampling were the Cherry, Ginger & Apricot Taylor & Shroff wines and all went down well. We shall be visiting Leaden Hall on a monthly basis to continue sampling, hopefully from the end of June – Friday’s! Hopefully UK stocks will be available from early June and will start to find their way into the nation’s culinary hearts and minds. Mine’s a Ginger Taylor & Shroff served in a tall glass with ice, with a popadum and some lime pickle please.

A special thanks to Georgie Furst from English Vine Tours for letting me out for the day! Leaden Hall was a great opportunity to talk to people about corporate Vineyard Tours that are on offer. If anyone wishes to know more about these unique bespoke tours, perfect for a corporate day out – www.englishvinetours.co.uk or call Georgie on 01323 732 001.

Easter Multi-Experience Vine Tour

A superb Easter Weekend Vineyard Experience. Working in-conjunction with Pelham House, Lewes we had on offer a fabulous weekend experience. With a half-day vineyard tour, tasting at Carr Taylor, over night stay in a 4 star country hotel followed by a day at the races, Plumpton Race Course.

The group had mainly come down from London for the weekend, the weather was good and vines beckoned. At Carr Taylor we could see already that buds left from pruning had started to open to create the new fruiting canes for this year. Also at Carr Taylor we saw one smaller vineyard had been completely grubbed up, making way for new trellising, wires, and young vines. Chardonnay is going to be experimented with and possibly a growth in Pinot Noir too. Seeking greater growth capacity for their sparkling wines, possibly even a straight English Pinot Noir too in a few years.

The group having wandered the vineyard and the winery were now keen to sample and what a sampling it was. We tasted their Sparkling Brut, Sparkling Pinot Noir, 1066 Dry White, Dry Rose as well as a range of great fruit wines too. Upon completion of the tasting most of the group ran downstairs to bag a magnum of the Brut whilst on offer!

Pelham House was our next stop where the overnighters were staying, a 3 course meal for supper followed by a classic English breakfast was on the menu. We set off again on the Sunday around mid-day headed for the Easter Meet at Plumpton Races. Plumpton is one of the finest of smaller National Hunt courses in the UK and it proved to be a great day. Throngs were gathered for their day already despite us having arrived early, bets were placed and ......they were off.............

It would be a lie to say that we all won money, that's not really how gambling works unfortunately. However it was an excellent day out and the London crew had a superb time. All in all it was a fantastic Easter break experience and we need to thank a few folk.....Lizzie of Pelham House for efficiency and friendliness, Moppy at Plumpton Races for her efficiency and friendliness too as well as all involved in English Vine Tours for offering the experience in the first place.

Keep an eye out for a multi-day experience towards the end of May and Father's Day in June, for further details; www.englishvinetours.co.uk

English Wine Week Tours Available to Book

English Vine Tours are delighted to offer three unique wine tour experiences for English Wine Week. English Wine Week runs from 23rd May to 31st May 2009, a great week of events spread throughout England to promote the variety and uniqueness of English wines and vineyards

English Wine Week wine tours are now available to book. Visit our website for more information...

English Vine Tours does BPS Supper

The 2009 annual British Psychologists Society supper, being held this year at the Holiday Inn, Brighton was organised by Ruth Raven with guest speaker, Miles Thomas.

English Vine Tours and Ben Furst, were invited to present a range of Italian wines, featuring indigenous grapes to a crowd of over 200 guests.

Prior to the wine tasting there was a wine talk on the psychology of wine, enjoyment and purchase by Miles Thomas. A great guy who spoke with passion and knowledge.

Miles covered the many concepts of the psychology of buying wine. He discussed the use of music by wine merchants experimenting how it affects purchasing behaviour of customers in shops. For example those retailers who played classical music found their customers bought fewer bottles of wine but higher value wines.

According to Miles findings, consumers experience of wine is related to the amount they spend as their expectations are higher, ie the more people spend on wine the more they savour and enjoy it.

The wine tasting presented by Ben Furst, consisted of 4 great Italian classics, Fiano, Soave Classico, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and Chianti. Ben disucssed the importance of indigenous grapes and terroir, placing an emphasis on wines that have been forged through history and time: not a concoction of kiss me quick international grape varieties with high alcohol and a big bouquet. As such the wine went down well, all bottles were milked dry and as hunger set in Ben bowed away with thanks to Ruth and Miles.

English Vine Tours & Ben Furst are next presenting on 22nd April, for St George's Day - event to be announced. A final word: remember when buying wines, buy carefully with thought to price and provenance. Better to buy local or spend a bit more if buying wines from the new world. That way you won't be disappointed. Drink with a meal and friends and you will get more from your grapes!

White Clover English Vineyard Experience

March 28th, a lovely day out in the heart of Sussex and Kent. A nice group had gathered for this superb tour, at Pelham House in Lewes for their pre-vineyard experience croissant and coffee. Amongst the group was Simon Majumdar of Dos Hermanos, the world's biggest food blog, we were honored.

Carr Taylor Vineyards are set in rural East Sussex just past the historic town of Battle, 1066 and all that. Established by David and Linda Carr Taylor in the late 60's they were the first to win Gold in France, beating the French at their own game. Since then they have gone from strength to strength and continue to produce great Sparkling wine, still white wine and a range of superb fruit wines.

Despite the threat of rain and occassional drop we ventured into the vineyard to get a close look at the vines. Although not much to see as yet, some early buds are showing after the winter prune, it is these small harmless looking buds that lay the foundations of this year's crop of grapes and resultant wines. After the vineyard and winery tour we ventured upstairs into the tasting room where we sampled no less than 6 wines including some great fruit wines. The tasting was fun, informative and tasty!

From East Sussex we ventured into Kent, just past the lovely town of Tenderden onto Biddenden Vineyards. Again another family set up established in the late 60's who actually lay claim to producing some the best ciders in the UK. We were only just into the vineyards when the heavens opened and like frightened rabbits we scampered back to the shelter and sanctuary of the tasting rooms. The wines are quaffable and of a good standard although it has to be said that where Biddenden do excell is with their ciders, which were sampled in full!

We ventured home, back to Lewes in the afternoon, many fell asleep in a pleasant wine filled slumber. Decanted and laiden with their complimentary bottle of wine as well as vineyard purchases all went on their merry way home.

Vineyard Escapades Forth Coming - Easter Weekend, two half day experiences which include an afternoon at Carr Taylor, Saturday 11th April and Easter Sunday at Plumpton Race Course for a superb trip to the gee-gees. In May we are promoting 3 unique experiences in promotion of English Wine Week and these can be viewed online at www.englishvinetours.co.uk

Art & Wine Tasting Workshops Available to Book

English Vine Tours are pleased to announce a unique opportunity for artists and wine enthusiasts to join us in an English vineyard for a day of inspiration and wine tasting.

Using the inspiration and insight gained from the morning wine tour and tasting, the afternoon will be spent in the vineyard or winery exploring the landscape and environment in a variety of media. These art and wine workshops are available to beginners and more experienced artists alike. They are intended to promote experimentation and personal exploration, to gain valuable experience in 'Plein Air' painting and wine knowledge.

Various dates are available during the summer months at vineyards across Sussex and Kent, beginning on April 15th at Chapel Down in Kent. Lunch with a glass of wine is included and prices start at £79 per person

Call Georgie or Ben today 01323 732 001 or visit the English Vine Tours website for more information on the English Vine Tours Art & Wine Workshops

Taylor & Shroff English Wine & Curry

Another great wine tasting event, presented by English Vine Tours to Healy's solicitors in Brighton. Many many thanks once again to Miss Victoria Reagan for organising the event, also present was the great John Healy himself and Spofforths Accountants.

The first part of the event was a fun blind wine tasting where certain similar wines were covered and all participants had to guess what was what. Most did well but once again the surprising outcome of this tasting was the overwhelming enjoyment of English Wines. We sneaked in a quality English Sparkling wine as well as a dry table wine and tasted them next to an own brand Cava as well as a New World Sauvignon Blanc.

The 2nd part of the evening was matching curry and spicy foods with wines. Whilst most wines tend not to match the great British curry, there is a new wine soon to be launched in the UK to change all this. Taylor & Shroff wines, produced by Carr Taylor in East Sussex, are currently only being offered into India. However they shall soon be available within the UK. Being stripped of tannins and high acidity the wines are part fortified giving them a higher alcohol level and residual sugars. Additionally blending into the base wines some fruit. Taylor & Shroff Ginger Wines, Apricot Wine, Red are three within the range that matched the hot and spicy foods amazingly well. Even the heat from the lime pickle disapated and the flavours opened up magnificently.

The initial hesitation was son left asunder as the wines were guzzled along with the Bombay Potato, Spiced Lentil, Naan Breads and chillies. An amazing success all round.

John & Vicky Enjoying Taylor & Shroff (wines for curry)

Whilst production of these superb and unique wines for the UK market place is not as yet in place, there is some stock for private consumption available from English Vine Tours at £11.95 a bottle. However we hope that we can start to get them placed in all our favourite Indian restaurants towards the end of April-ish! Once again many thanks to all at Healy’s, especially Anita who was a start throughout!