Bassenthwaite Lake Station 3rd Birthday BBQ

Bassenthwaite Lake Station, Cumbria.Thursday 08-August-2024. 

A different kind of event at the café. We've been there for brunch, wine tastings and murder mystery evenings. This time it was a barbecue to celebrate their third birthday. As it was late afternoon we were able to get there and back mostly by bus rather than the expense of B&B at the Pheasant Inn.

We got the X4 over to Keswick but, despite what the downloaded timetable said, we had half an hour to kill to get the X5 to the bus stop across the road from the station. 

Our ticket to the barbecue included an initial glass of wine and we decided to treat it as a wine tasting, trying the wines in pairs. They had a decent selection of local beers as well as wine so I started off with a stout and Mary had the first two Sauvignon Blanc.

There was quite a queue for the food, so we sat down with our initial drinks and waited for the rush to die down. I went for a cheeseburger in a brioche bun and Mary went for the piri piri chicken with flat bread.

The proprietors of the station and our hosts for the event Simon (with the glasses on his head) and Diana in the red top.

Notes are from their handouts. ✱ are Mary's star ratings. For all except the last pairing I preferred the opposite to Mary’s choice which made it easy to decide who finished off each of the pair.

Sauvignon blanc

• Freedom Cross Sauvignon Blanc, 2021, 12.5% (South Africa). Alluring flavours and rumours of tropical fruit, with apricot and fig with notes of grassiness on the fresh, zesty palate. ✱✱
• Santa Luz Sauvignon Blanc Gran Reserva, 2021, 13% (Chile) Fresh aromas of lime and grapefruit with hints of green herbs with a wonderful crisp acidity and a delicate mineral character that lingers through to the finish. Classy. ✱✱✱

Garnacha Rosé

• Campo Nuevo Garnacha Rosé, 2021, 12% (Spain) Aromas of strawberry, raspberry and redcurrant and a subtle, dry creamy edge on the palate. ✱✱
• Principe de Viana Pleno Garnacha Rosé, 2021, 12% (Spain) Made from Garnacha this is a fruit driven, easy drinking rose with aromas of strawberry, raspberry and redcurrant. ✱

Malbec

• Hornhead Malbec, 2023, 13% (France) Deep dark red. Beautiful flavours of dark fruits, amplified with hints of coffee, cocoa and subtle rosemary. ✱✱
• Las Pampas Malbec, 2023, 13.5 (Argentina) Laden with lush creamy cherry, strawberry and raspberry fruit, with a faint hint of spice and smoke. ✱✱✱

Carignan / Marselan

• Coquille de Terre, Old Vines Carignan, 2023, 13% (France) Purple red with lovely aromas of blackberry and vanilla. Dense and velvety, Intense red berries and a lingering finish. ✱✱✱
• Le Professeur Marselan, 2023, 13.5% (France) Dark and intense with hints of black pepper and violet with aromas of blackberry and cassis. This wine offers a rich and dense mouth feel. ✱✱

There was lots of seating in a marquee, on picnic tables on the platform and in the carriages. When a table came free in one of the carriages we were able to enjoy our meal in greater comfort. We were also entertained by a couple of guitarists each of whom did a half hour set.

Because we were not sure as to whether or not the X4 and X5 connected at Keswick we decided to book a taxi back to Keswick bus station and then got the bus from there all the way home, literally to the top of our street.

The wine measures were generous so we slept well. 

It was a fun event and we look forward to Bassenthwaite Lake Station having many more birthdays.