Wine Tasting - Festive Flavours December 2024

Bassenthwaite Lake Station, Cumbria. Thursday 05-December-2024.

For the second year running Bassenthwaite Lake Station did a food and wine matching event to celebrate the festive season. We learned our lesson from last year's Wine Pairing Tasting when we had our usual stomach-lining, early supper at The Pheasant Inn before the tasting but then ate what amounted to a full meal all over again with the nibbles and staggered out like a python who swallowed a goat.

This year we arrived early and had a late lunch before a short repose and then strolled down to the station to discover that yet again we were the last there despite having the shortest distance to travel!

All the wines were supplied by Lakeland Vintners apart from one that we had to guess. Many of the audience correctly guessed the Aldi Cremant, a bargain at £9.

Food. 

• Wine,  ABV, vintage - country.
• Mary’s notes and star rating.
• Matching notes.

Smoked almonds.

• Wine 1. Cremant de Loire, 12% - France. 
• Fragrant nose, not bone dry, honey, subtle soft fruit flavour / quince?; Good length. ✱✱½
• The cremant was excellent and went well with the nuts.

Smoked salmon and prawn blini.

• Wine 2. Anjou les Ardroisieres Chenin Sec, 13.5% 2019 - France.
• Distinct nose, grapefruit?; Grapefruit, good acidity / zesty, mineral, good body, long finish. ✱✱
• The Chenin was good and went well with the fishiness.

Chicken liver tartlet.

• Wine 3. Trentham Chardonnay, 13% 2021 - Australia
• Faintish nose, lime, kiwi; light oak, good acidity, nectarine. ✱✱½ 
• Wine 4.  Morgan 'La Creix Gaillard', 13% 2022 - France
• Floral, very slight vegetal; black / red current, good acidity, slight pepper / spice. ✱✱½
• Mary preferred the chardonnay as a match, I preferred the Morgan.

Turkey dinner yorkie pud.

• Wine 5. La Freneza Pinot Noir, 12.5% 2020 - Argentina
• Soft, fruity, raspberry?, Slight vegetal / sottobosco; soft, good acidity, good fruit, berries, decent length. ✱✱
• Wine 6. Chateau Moulin de Mallet, 12.5% 2020 - France
• More substantial, deeper/more complex nose, oak, blackcurrant; soft tannins, cedar, dark fruit; long. ✱✱✱
• Wine 7. Allos los Romeros Gran Reserva Cabernet Franc, 14% 2019 - Chile 
• Slightly more closed nose, sweet ripe blackberries; ripe blackberry fruit, soft tannins, metallic; good length. ✱✱.
• Mary preferred the Moulin de Mallet as a match, I preferred the Cabernet Franc.

Almond and Blackberry Festive Plant Pot.

• Wine 8 Mosel Riesling Spatlese, 8.5% 2022 - Moseland, Germany.
• Spicy, green fruits; slight oily/petrol, sweetish, appley?, light acidity, good balance and weight ✱
• We both thought it was not sweet enough for the desert.

Cheeseboard - Unpasteurised Brie, Mature Cheddar and Stilton with water biscuits.

• Wine 9. Warres Otima 10 Year Old Tawny Port, 20%- Portugal
• No notes. ✱✱✱
• Wine 10. Anjou Village Brissac Cabernet Franc, 13% 2014 - France.
• Bitter, metallic nose; blackcurrant/bitter cherry. (Note: Nothing wrong with the wine, just that Mary is not a fan of this style of CF.  ✱
• I had cows' cheeses which went well with the excellent tawny port. Mary had lactose-free vegan alternatives and the Cabernet Franc was good with the vegan "feta".

During the evening we voted on the wines by a show of hands which only went to prove that people's tastes differ.

At the end, as usual, the leftovers were put out for grabs on a first-come, first-served basis. Mary and I always just pour ourselves a glass each and return to our table. Some guests grabbed a whole bottle for their table which I think showed poor manners. What if some else wanted to try a repeat of that wine?

We stayed at the Pheasant for two nights as we planned to go to Bower Park parkrun on the Saturday which was only 22 minutes drive away. Before supper on the Friday night we went for a pre-dinner drink which was a freebie as a thanks for not having our room serviced mid-stay. There we found our Station hosts, Diana and Simon, in for a drink (it is their local after all) so we joined them for a very pleasant chat before we went our separate ways for supper. We dined in the pub and stayed up later than we should have as we had an early start for parkrun the next morning.

Brave Rival at Bannerman's

Edinburgh, Scotland. 01-December-2024.

We first saw Brave Rival back in February at the Blackpool blues and rock festival. They did two performances, one on the main stage and the following day a brilliant acoustic set. We were much impressed and when the tour was announced this was the date we plumped for. We combined it with a bit of a road trip around Scotland preceded by the Martin Harley gig in Newcastle.

Every time Mary plays one of their albums at home I ask, “Is this Heart? That gives you a flavour of their musical style and to be mistaken for a band who have sold 50 million albums is no bad thing! The band is composed of two lead singers, Lyndsey and Chloe, Ed on guitar, Billy on bass and Donna on drums.

We had been in the Bannerman’s before as a drinking establishment after an Elles Bailey concert last year, but this was the first time we had been into the music venue part. Another small venue packed into the sub-basement of Edinburgh’s underground streets. Apparently there were about 70 audience members. The maximum capacity of the venue is 175 but it would be like sardines at that number! 

As it was standing room only most of the audience were in the front half leaving us room to rattle around at the back. Although there was no seating Mary was able to perch her bum on a barrel that was positioned by the door. 

They played a fine selection of rock for two solid hours. Sadly Chloe, the dark haired one on the right, is leaving the band as she has a young daughter and life on the road isn’t really compatible. That is a pity as the combination of her and Lindsey’s voices are a key part of what makes the Brave Rival sound that we are used to. Although Brave Rival have only been going five years Chloe and Lindsey have been singing together for twelve. Still we shall continue to follow them and doubtless see them again.