Barrels & Bottles Wine Blog & Cooking Expert Food Blog

Barrels & Bottles were pipped in the Innovation category at the 2010 Off License of the Year Awards by Majestic. Our scrappage scheme saw us through to the final three alongside Tesco.

Having won the 2008 & 2009 awards we were disappointed not to make it three in a row but are more than please to be ranked up there with the giants.

Labels: awards

Today's random thought - is gruel legal?

Have fun and raise money for charity with our pancake race on Tuesday 16th February 2010.

In relay teams of 4 we are setting off from our cookery school at 12.00 noon on Bridge Way at Sheepbridge down to VW Gilders car showroom next to the A61 slip road and back again... about half a mile in distance with pan in hand. Fancy dress is optional if you fancy a bit more of a challenge.

The cost of team entry is just £15.00 and includes pancakes and refreshments with a pancake buffet available for team supporters.

The winning team wins £600.00 worth of cookery lessons at Coghlans and all money raised goes to Cavendish Cancer Care who provide free emotional support to those affected by cancer.

Labels: pancake race

The Cooking Expert website (www.cookingexpert.co.uk) has undergone a major face lift with a softer colour scheme, better images and most importantly lots of new and exciting cookery courses including:

• Level 2 General Cookery Course


• Chocolate Course


• Saucey Sauces


• Steak Night


• Easter Egg Workshop


• 6 week course for Children

... and new additional dates for all our existing cookery courses.

The sausage making course is proving popular with sausage expert Chris Wildman coming down from Malhamdale to provide hand-ons tuition on different meat cuts, special recipes and making the sausages.

Labels: cookery school

We are pleased to announce the presence of Geoff Schrappel - founder of Bethany Wines in Barossa Valley (Australia) - on the 10th February at Barrels & Bottles to host a tasting of their fantastic wines.

Some of you may recall the Bethany wines from about 13 years ago when we we based under the Wicker Arches in Sheffield. The memory lingered long - especially with the
and we re-listed the range towards the end of last year after too long a gap.

This is a great chance to revisit the memories or to discover these wines for the first time and add them to your must drink list.

Labels: australia, bethany, wine tasting

With mobile devices and laptops being ever more popular we have introduced WiFi internet access at Barrels & Bottles and Coghlans Cookery School.

2 connections are available - a conference connections and a BTOpenZone connection allowing quick and easy access to the internet and your email.

Labels: technology

It seems like an age ago since the last post on here! Everything gets pushed aside for the Christmas rush which starts mid November and lasts right up to Christmas Eve. This year was particularly busy with orders being left very late to grab the best deals possible.

This year we found ourselves drinking the Christkindl Mulled Wine. Gently heated the spices really shout Christmas from the glass and it was a great way to start the day. The white wine this year was the Mud House Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. The usual favourite of mine the Highfield Sauvignon was out of stock (I knew I should have hidden a few bottles earlier in the year) but the Mud House made for an impressive replacement - and was cheaper as well.

The red wine started with the Anakena Merlot from Chile. Selected for its soft, approachable nature this went really well with the superb Turkey crown we ordered. After the meal we moved onto Jip Jip Rocks Shiraz from Australia - with its heavier alcohol and spicy, fruity punch this made a great sipping wine to fall asleep to!

With the snow and chilly weather the Gluhwein has proven its worth over the past 2 weeks with a glass being served almost each night.

Labels: news

"I am writing in my capacity as secretary of the Friends of Woodland School to thank you for the most enjoyable evening which you hosted for us earlier this month.

"I am pleased to be able to tell you we raised a magnificent £372.00 thanks mainly to your generosity. I would like to report that following the wine tasting evening we have reached our fund raising target of £4,000 and can now give school our contribution towards the laptops. Thank you so much.

"I do hope you will be able to host another event for us in the New Year so that I can re-stock my wine supplies (ha,ha). I'm sure Kathryn will be in touch.

"Thanks again!!

Angela Thomas, Butterknowle

Labels: wine tasting

We are ever thankful again to Sir Terry in promoting our Sporting Chefs Calendars on his BBC Radio 2 show this morning. With all profits going to BBC Children in Need the event has so far raised £11,000 with monies still being collected from the the gala dinner and the calendars selling well. Please help support Children in Need and grab yourself a 2010 calendar now.

Listen again to the live broadcast in MP3 format (0.7Mb)

Labels: charity, children in need, sporting chefs