Wine Tasting - North vs South

Bassenthwaite Lake Station, Cumbria. 06-November-2025.

This tasting was a comparison between the northern and southern hemispheres. Each pair of wines were the same grape but from opposite sides of the equator. All wines from Majestic.

It was a slightly smaller crowd than normal, so the wine tasting was held in the lovely saloon car which worked very well there, perhaps due to the openness of the carriage.

Name, Vintage, ABV, Retail Price, Hemisphere, Country 

• Tasting notes 
• Mary’s notes and star rating out of three
• My preferred hemisphere 

For each pair of wines, a show of hands was taken to decide which hemisphere was the winner. Generally we were in agreement with the consensus. On our table my vote was: Northern hemisphere 3, Southern hemisphere 1.

1 Winzer Krems Gruner Veltliner 2024, 12.5% £11.50 Northern Austria 

• Crisp and refreshing, look for peach and citrus with notes of mineral and pepper on the finish 
• Pale lemon; zingy on nose, tart; citrus, good acidity, mineral, medium length ✱½.
  A low score because Mary is not a fan of this particular grape variety!

2 Saint Clair Pioneer Gruner Veltliner 2021, 13% £15 Southern New Zealand 

• Handpicked in a relatively warm vineyard that intensifies and ripens the characteristics. Look for stone fruits and white pepper on the nose and a fruity balanced structure with enough acidity to hold its own with curry or spices. 
• Warmer/soft nose, green apple, citrus; richer, more body, much softer/not so acidic/bit flabby? ✱
• Preferred

3 Naudin Pere et Fils Chardonnay 13.5% £11.50 Northern France 

• Made by one of the oldest mansions in Burgundy, this wine is remarkably aromatic with flavours of mango, peach and citrus. Fresher than its southern hemisphere counterpart it will pair well with white fish. 
• Light nose, not oaked / not much oak; green very slight butter; fresh, sharpish, green, pepper. More like Chablis ✱✱
• Preferred

4 Luis Felipe Edwards Gran Reserva Chardonnay 2024, 13.5% £11 Southern Chile 

• From one of the largest family-owned vineyards in Chile, the fine wines produced offer great value for money. This is a rich, creamy Chardonnay with notes of tropical pineapple, mango, butterscotch and vanilla and a gentle nuttiness. Great with creamy chicken.  
• More open, stronger nose, peachy, tropical, buttery; gentle, tasty, tropical, vanilla/butterscotch; decent length ✱✱
  Note: comparison of these last two was probably as much about the oak treatment as which hemisphere.

5 Le Grand Retour 2021, 12.5% £12 Northern France

• Wine production of the Malbec grape began in South-West France, specifically in Cahors where this wine comes from. This wine is exceptionally fruity with flavours of raspberry, blackcurrant and blackberries and gentle tannins. Great with roast pork! 
• Not typical Malbec/Cahors. Mahogany with brown at rim; soft, fruity, slightly sweet, lighter nose, lighter body; soft, fruity, nice flavours, berry fruit fruits, soft tannins ✱✱½
• Preferred

6 Intacto Gran Reserva Malbec 2022, 13.5% £12 Southern Chile 

• This Malbec has intense notes of black fruits, ripe cranberries and chocolate with some violet notes. A spell in French oak gives structure in the mouth. Great for pairing with slow-cooked meats or char-grilled barbecue foods. 
• More purple; strong nose, vegetal, softer, fruity ✱✱

7 Chateau Sainte Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon 2022, 14% £18 Northern USA 

• From the cooler Washington State, this wine is unlike anything we have tasted from the warmer producers of the USA. Sainte Michelle is Washington's most respected winery, named Winery of the Year no less than 22 times! Look for exceptional complexity and notes of blackcurrant and plums.
• Light nose, lovely nose, dark fruit, slight acetone?; yummy, dark fruit/plums, complex, some tannins but soft, good balance, great length ✱✱✱
• Preferred

8 Rustenberg Cabernet Sauvignon 2023, 14% £16 Southern South Africa 

• Twice winner of Young Winemaker of the Year, Murray Barlow is one of South Africa's most exciting young producers reflected in thiswell-crafted Cabernet. Expect dark berries, tobacco, oak ageing and ideal for ageing. May need decanting. Northern v South 6th November 2025 
• Softer, stronger nose; dark fruit, plums, tobacco, some tannins but more astringent, not as fruity, too young? ✱✱

They opened one last bottle for a supernumerary glass after which we staggered back to the Pheasant Inn for a completely unnecessary last pint of beer before bed.

Haim at the OVO Hydro

Glasgow, Scotland. Friday 31-December-2025.

We cannot remember how we were introduced to Haim but their third album, Women in Music Pt. III, has been a regular on our play list. They are three sisters who play melodic tunes and sing in harmony. My favourite track on that album is “Don’t Wanna”, closely followed by “I Know Alone”.

We bought these tickets way back in April as soon as we learnt about their tour. Glasgow was the obvious venue which is easy to get to for us and which happens to be the last night of their UK tour.

I’ve got so used to going to smaller more intimate venues that it was a bit of a shock to be re-introduced to a cavernous stadium.  The standing arena area is massive and was only partially filled when we arrived but soon was packed to capacity.

The support act was Nell Mescal who we had never heard of but must be an established artist as she is on her third EP and has a dozen singles to her name already. As we have found with previous support acts they are incredibly grateful to have been selected, in this case at very short notice, and the mutual admiration and support is heartwarming to see.

Haim then took to the stage preceded by a ticker tape of “I Quit…” messages; “I Quit” is their latest album which this tour is promoting. We had listened to “I Quit” in preparation for the concert but live it came across as much more rock. The bass was ramped up to 11; it set my rib cage rattling.

The three girls Alana (guitar, percussion), Danielle (lead guitar) and Este (bass guitar) - actually all play multiple instruments and took it in turns to take the spotlight. They are all supported in the background by a drummer and a keyboard / sax player. 

They played mostly songs from the new album plus a couple from Women in Music Pt. III. Full set list at setlist.fm. It was a much livelier and more rock-n-roll set than the more mellow studio album sound.

Being unsure of the best way to get home from the venue we snuck out before the encore and thus were able to snag a taxi before the mass exodus without queueing and were whisked back to our apartment.

The Dutty Moonshine Big Band at the Old Fire Station

Carlisle, UK. Thursday 24-October-2025.

We were pleased to see that Dutty Moonshine Big Band’s tour dates included this venue close to us and while we were in the UK. Tickets booked pronto! Our friends Wade and Tanya also booked tickets and Wade very kindly volunteered to be designated driver which meant I could have a beer (or three). Wade had listened to some of their music but this was the first time of seeing them live.

The support act were Cavegirl and the Neandergals, a female rock trio dressed in Flintstones inspired costumes. I thought they were OK but the others were not so sure.

Dutty and the band launched into their high energy electronic dance and got the audience moving. For most of the time there were 10 musicians on stage. They played some tracks from albums we already have ("City of Sin" and "Villain") plus tracks from their forthcoming EPs: Blood, Sweat and Tears. Dutty explained that each EP is a different style of music - ably demonstrated with a bluesy track from Tears with vocals by Maria and "Gorgeous George".

They had a couple of guest appearances. The first was rapper and MC, Abi Nyxx, the lady in the red hat.

The second guest artist was MC Pean, Drum and Bass MC in the brown jacket.

Mary showing her support in her Dutty Villain T-shirt.

Maria doing her high-speed rapping. She has a wonderful voice and an amazing machine gun delivery - not sure when she gets to take a breath!

Wade was at the front when Dutty picked up the set list and, as is apparently something of a custom, when Wade held his hand out, Dutty handed it to him as a souvenir.

Our friends were seriously impressed and agreed that it was a great night and a fantastic band. We knew that but it’s always satisfying when you introduce somebody to a band and they share your enthusiasm.

CSC Annual Technology and Business Solutions Conference - Baltimore

Baltimore 1993 (? Tbc).

Introduction: there was a time before social media! Can you believe it? I used to work for a large American corporation and managed to swing an invite to their annual technology conference in the states. 

Part of the deal was that I had to write a visit report for my UK colleagues. A written report is pretty dull so I thought I would do a photo journal. Bought myself a cheap disposable camera with 24 shots and documented my visit. 

How to share it with my colleagues? These were the early days of websites and I had created one handcrafted using notepad to write the raw HTML. So I scanned in the developed photos and did a kind of slideshow. It was very clunky. I was reminded of it recently going through some old photos and decided to re-create that journal using blogger. So here it is: version 2.0.

What is the ATBSC?

CSC as a learning organisation is the main theme.. Nearly 800 CSC'ers from around the globe attended the 8th Annual Technology and Business Solutions Conference (ATBSC). The main theme was CSC as a learning organisation. There were two days of parallel sessions on a number of themes such as:

• Organisational change
• Knowledge Asset Management
• Awards for Technological Excellence
• Case studies
• etc...

In addition there were presentations from various Strategic Alliance Partners, a key note speech and a final plenary session with prize draw.

Baltimore - location for the ATBSC.

Baltimore Inner Harbour. A sunny day at the Inner Harbour. Baltimore seem like a very pleasant town. Like any city near a body of water it seems to derive a certain bustle from its historic trade links.

Registration - People queuing to register

Queuing for a "goody bag". On arrival at the conference delegate register and receive a CSC shoulder bag. In it go a CD-ROM containing all the presentations, a delegate list, session descriptions, pen, lecturers wand, name tag and a small puzzle.

First coffee break.

First caffeine fix of the day. Coffee breaks are all too short as we rush from one session to another. The whole conference is very tightly time-tabled. It is an opportunity to talk to complete strangers and marvel at the breadth of CSC's collective experience.

Shopping Mall Atrium.

View from "the Gods". The hotel is a part of a combined building that includes a shopping mall. The general conference area outside the meeting rooms is, in fact, the top floor of the mall. At break times we could look down on the shoppers.

Booths.

Legacy Management Business Solution. Around the coffee area were a number of booths about various aspects of CSC sources and the Knowledge Management initiatives. They are focussed on Business Solutions:

• Enterprise, Program, and Project Management
• Systems Architecture
• Legacy Systems
• Large Complex Systems
• Package Based Development
• Transition Management
• Continuous Infrastructure Services
• Component Based (CSC Lynx) Solutions

This is Yvonne Decker manning the Legacy booth and on the right is Don Henn.

Networking.

Break times are any opportunity to talk to friends and colleagues. This is Pauline Gardner Martin talking to X and Y (who?).

Dr. Pascal Gambardella.

Pascal Gambardella heads up the team that is coordinating work on incorporating DSDM into Catalyst. He is flanked by Elizabeth Buie (left) and Sue Stuven (right).

Dinner table.

Here are Elizabeth Buie, Pauline Gardener Martin (Catalyst and Sources, UK), Terry Martin, Diane Kropiewnicki, Dennis O'Neal (Systems Consulting, UK), Eddie Coombes (Data Warehousing) and Allan Andrews.

Technical Excellence Award Winners.

The technical excellence award winners received a trophy plus a certificate for CSC Share options - worth real money. The award winners were:

• ISD: Automated Enterprise Management System
• CSC Benelux: Automatische Traject Controle Systeem (ATCS)
• SSD: Autonomous Satellite Navigation Using GPS Technology
• SED: Hydra Security Tool Set
• CSC Benelux: Implementation of a customer care & billing system for Belgacom
• CSC Consulting / CSC UK: MCI, Integrated Product & Supply Chain Introduction

To learn more see the Lotus Notes database: technlgy\Award for Technical Excellence.

Keynote Speaker: Peter Cochran.

Professer Cochhrane gave a very entertaining speech on some possible futures. To learn more about his views visit the BT Labs web site.

Knowledge Asset Management.

Carol Bothwell explains the CSC Corporate Knowledge Program. The lady in the front row (back of head) is Sara Vose, Communications Manager for the Knowledge Program.

Artie Kalemeris and Email room.

Artie is the organising genius behind the ATBSC and deserves the big round of applause he gets for the incredible smooth running of this event year after year.

Baltimore Aquarium.

Friday night was a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium to see the dolphin show. Followed by an opportunity to see round the aquarium itself. A very impressive aquarium well worth the visit (better than the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans).

Steel Band.

Before the show we dined to the music of a steel band. When I say "dined" it was really a buffet, overlooking the harbour.

Beer.

The essential social lubricant of a beer or two. Personally I avoided the boring Bud and Miller; instead I went for local breweries wherever possible. The US has an increasing number of micro-breweries (aka brew pubs) which produce tastier beers.

Food.

The food was interesting with the option to go round twice and a number of people did. I liked the corn bread.

Bob Carlsen.

Bob's taste in Hawaiian shirts rivals his choice of cartoon socks. He tells me this really is from Hawaii, bought there on his last vacation.

Elizabeth Buie.

Elizabeth is the chair of the SIG on HCI (Human Computer Interaction) and works for SSD.

Elizabeth and Antonio Vallone.

Elizabeth and Antonio very kindly acted as my host as the hotel was fully booked by the time I got confirmation of my attendance.

Packing up the booths.

Charlie Wainwright and Tanya Lazar pack up the booths at the end of the conference.

Taking the "Red Eye".

That overnight flight is a killer. My preferred option is to eat before the flight and then settle down for the night even before we take off. If you ever fly business class keep the eyeshades because they are better than the nasty plastic ones you get in coach class. Also I use an inflatable travel pillow. Not only are they good for the flight but I use them on the beach as well.

Home at last.

Good old National Express coaches go direct from LHR to Ringwood just 2.5 miles from home. Note hand luggage only for a week in the USA - it is the only way to fly.

The End.

Footnote: Original clunky version.

City Break - Munich

Munich, Germany. Wednesday/Monday 01/06-October-2025.

New readers start here: parkrun is on a Saturday however every country may choose to put on two extra parkruns on days that are not a Saturday. The first is always New Year’s Day, the second is country specific. In the case of the U.K. and Italy that is Christmas Day. In Germany it is German Unity Day. That opens up the possibility to do a city break and complete two parkruns in the same week. This year it was the turn of Munich which happily coincides with Oktoberfest. 

Mary looked at the cost of flights from Puglia to Munich and they were extortionate so we went for Plan B - a four-day interrail pass and made a “road” trip of it, stopping off at Bologna in both directions.

Tuesday 30-September.

Drove down to Fasano station and left the car in secure parking to pick up the direct train all the way to Bologna ; a journey of nearly eight hours (Fasano 09:17 - Bologna Centrale 17:00).

Our hotel was very close to the main station and after unpacking we strolled into the city centre for a look around ending up in Piazza Maggiore surrounded by magnificent arcaded buildings.

We had a lovely meal at 051 Osteria and back for a relatively early night.

Wednesday 01-October.

Just before leaving Bologna I discovered that my wallet had been stolen or lost, thanks to NatWest who flagged some dodgy transactions. Luckily there was no money in it but some important documents (driving license, identity card and debit card). Fortunately my passport, permesso di soggiorno (residence permit), house and car keys were safe!

Arrived in Munich late afternoon. (Bologna Centrale 09:52 to Munich Hbf 16:27). Our accommodation was arranged through HomeExchange.com and turned out to be an immaculate apartment very close to the U4 Metro station so really handy for getting into the centre of Munich.

The first evening we decided to eat local and found a friendly Croatian restaurant where we both had the cevapcici and rice.

Thursday 02-October.

We had no plans for the day, so we decided to have a wonder around our local area. We strolled down to the Angel of Peace statue down by the river.

We then crossed over the river up the other side where we saw a peleton of miniature racing cars. We saw themn again later - they are obviously a fun, tourist activity.

We then walked on to the beautiful Englischer Garten, criss-crossed by gentle streams.

After lunch, we booked ourselves a two hour guided walking to around the old town. Turned out that our guide was in fact Italian but she did give the tour in English. We came away having seen many beautiful buildings and learnt something of the history of the town, including the origins of Oktoberfest.

One of the stops on the tour was this fantastically elaborately decorated church including a brief history lesson on the Reformation.

We then went back to the main square for the 5 o'clock Rathaus Glockenspiel display where figures gyrate around the tower representing the wedding celebrations that lead to Oktoberfest.

We had to go to Oktoberfest even if just for a beer. What I was not expecting was to see a huge fun fair. 

The amount of lederhosen and dirndl on display was truly impressive. We speculated, and later had confirmed, that these outfits were used on many occasions rather like a Scotsman‘s kilt or an Englishman‘s DJ - worn to weddings and formal functions. Traditionally the lederhosen were often handed down from father to son.

The first beer tent we went in was standing room only so we went back out and found a spot of one of the outdoor tables. We each had a stein of the special Oktoberfest beer and some jovial conversation with the people on our shared table.

Some of our neighbours were in dancing mood.

Lederhosen and dirndl are such a part of Bavarian culture that they were used as icons for the loos in one bar we went into.

Friday 03-October.

Riemer 03/10/2025 29:32 [87/151]. 

Friday we are up and out early for the bonus parkrun to celebrate German Unity Day. It was a bit cool, there was still frost on the grass. The Run Director was English and was astonished at the size of the turnout and unsurprisingly the vast majority were tourists, mostly from England. They had a record attendance of 151 of whom three-quarters (112, 74%) were first time visitors.

The locals even wear dirndls and lederhosen at parkrun! The lady in the centre in the gold dress is from Bratislava and is working hard to get the first parkrun in Slovakia set up there, hopefully soon. Mary had already heard about the proposed new event and incorporated it into the plan for our 2026 train trip.

On Friday night the town centre was very busy with queues for most of the bars. We were lucky again to chance upon Tegernseer Tel and get the last two seats at the bar.

The staff in the bar were all in lederhosen as were most of the locals.

Most of the pedestrian crossing lights were normal green and red figures, but I was amused to see this variation of a couple with hearts standing and walking.

Saturday 04-October.

Westpark 04/10/2025 30:00 [106 / 175]. 

The second half of the German Unity Day double.

Another beautiful setting for a parkrun featuring two laps round a lake which attracted this heron.

On our way to and from the Metro, we passed this lovely old VW parked in our street - a Karmann Ghia classic sports car that was produced by Volkswagen between 1955 and 1974.

The hosts requested shoes off in the apartment so they left slippers for us - these Grinch slippers made me chuckle every day.

Saturday afternoon we visited the massive and impressive Nymphenburg Palace, one of the summer palaces of the Bavarian rulers. Only a small fraction of the rooms are on show to the public but what we could see exuded opulent wealth.

We booked tickets for a Saturday night concert in the palace, CelloNation (four cellos) playing what they advertised as "Classic Meets Pop Vol. 1". We had a beer and a meal at the nearby Metzgerwirt.

Then back to the palace for the concert. Disappointingly it was held in a very simple room so I didn’t take any pictures before and it felt discourteous to take pictures during the performance.

As the concert finished reasonably early we headed back to the apartment and had a last beery nightcap.

Sunday 05-October.

Sunday was a grey day and rain was forecast so we booked tickets for the big red bus tour and took two out of their three circuits. It was a good way to see more of the city but the narration was somewhat mundane. It mostly consisted of pointing out buildings for some prestigious institution or other but did not include much history or interesting trivia about the city.

That evening we went for a Greek meal at Meraki, recommended by our host. I had some very tasty souvlaki, some not so tasty Retsina (note to self, don’t order next time!) and an entirely unnecessary, complementary ouzo. 

Monday 06-October.

The return trip part one. (Munich Hbf 09:33 to Bologna Centrale16:08). As we were in first class and there was a restaurant car we had waitress service to our table for lunch. We had impressive views on the way back with snow covered mountains and above us some precipitous viaducts carrying roads along the vertiginous mountain sides.

On arrival back to Bologna, we had to go to the carabinieri to report my lost / stolen wallet. The loss report, the denuncia, is an essential document that has to be produced at the various offices in order to obtain replacements for my lost documents.

Then we went for a delicious meal at a nearby, highly rated fish restaurant: Il Pescatore where it turned out the owner was from Puglia!

Tuesday 07-October.

The final leg of the journey to get us back down south (Bologne Centrale 08:00 to Fasano 15:47). with no Restaurant car, we had to buy sandwiches for the trip at Bologna Station. It was an opportunity to finish off my e-book and catch up on some admin. 

Eventually we arrived at Fasano, picked up the car and drove home for a quick turn around and out meet up with some new friends who live right in the centre of the old town for aperitivo. This followed by a simple pasta supper and an early night to recover from the journey(s).