Barrels & Bottles Wine Blog
To contribute to this blog please send email to sales @ barrelsandbottles.co.uk
As wine suppliers to The Red Lion at Stone Edge, Chesterfield we were pleased to attend the Derbyshire Life luncheon hosted there in December 2007. Food and Wine editor Amber Locke wrote:
"Sustainable-farmed baked Welsh Turbot was served as the main course, topped with Menai Strait Oysters and served a foamy sabayon. The fish was cooked to perfection; juicy and meaty and with a refined flavour and the delicate, slightly salty oysters and elegant sabayon adding an even more luxurious touch to this stunning dish"
"To accompany this a tropical fruit-flavoured and minerally New Zealand Highfield Sauvignon Blanc was served. As this is one of my favourite wines this course was an all-round winner for me and one of the most enjoyable dishes and successful food and wine pairings I have experienced all year"
"Dessert was served as a trio of puddings: a coffee creme brulee, a cube of sticky toffee pudding and a slim wedge of lemon tart. All provided different degrees of sweetness and a contrast of smoothness and texture. The final Gartelmann wine of the day was a Late Harvest Ambrosia. Its sumptuous nutty and apricot flavours made it rich and luscious and at the same time fresh and clean tasting, providing a happy and complementary pairing of the puddings"
"The quality of food, cooking and the excellent standard of service at The Red Lion is certainly something to be admired and with a 25 bedroom luxury boutique hotel being built by the owner in the field next door... this is certainly a venue to watch!"
Derbyshire Life and Countryside
The Red Lion, Darley Road, Stone Edge, Chesterfield 01246 566142
"Sustainable-farmed baked Welsh Turbot was served as the main course, topped with Menai Strait Oysters and served a foamy sabayon. The fish was cooked to perfection; juicy and meaty and with a refined flavour and the delicate, slightly salty oysters and elegant sabayon adding an even more luxurious touch to this stunning dish"
"To accompany this a tropical fruit-flavoured and minerally New Zealand Highfield Sauvignon Blanc was served. As this is one of my favourite wines this course was an all-round winner for me and one of the most enjoyable dishes and successful food and wine pairings I have experienced all year"
"Dessert was served as a trio of puddings: a coffee creme brulee, a cube of sticky toffee pudding and a slim wedge of lemon tart. All provided different degrees of sweetness and a contrast of smoothness and texture. The final Gartelmann wine of the day was a Late Harvest Ambrosia. Its sumptuous nutty and apricot flavours made it rich and luscious and at the same time fresh and clean tasting, providing a happy and complementary pairing of the puddings"
"The quality of food, cooking and the excellent standard of service at The Red Lion is certainly something to be admired and with a 25 bedroom luxury boutique hotel being built by the owner in the field next door... this is certainly a venue to watch!"
Derbyshire Life and Countryside
The Red Lion, Darley Road, Stone Edge, Chesterfield 01246 566142
Garech Byrne is like no other in the wine industry. In a good way. No bow tie (not even a tie), no PowerPoint presentations and no statistics to prove the average wine drinker in the UK will consume 3000 bottles of his wines per week.
Even their website is unconventional www.stormhoek.com. A wine blog set up to create a wine influenced by consumers. No statistics on harvest percentages, acidity values. Just the simple approach of fans writing about their experiences of Stormhoek.
Amazingly, this is not all style and no substance. The Stormhoek Siren wines (featuring a Sauvignon Blanc and Pinotage) are stunning examples of their type. Their quality comes in part from the influences of Alain Mouiex (joint owner of the fabulously expensive Petrus) and flying winemaker Florent Dumeau using their own grapes.
Single varietals bottled in tall, chic clear bottles with simple, elegant labels all help towards the Stormhoek Siren philosophy "wine as an object of beauty". A raft of industry awards (IWSC Pinotage Trophy, Decanter Silver Medal amongst others) proves this unconventional approach to wine is working.
The back labels on the bottles feature a "Freshness Indicator". A fantastically simple idea that work. A simple time line showing when the wine will start to drink and when it will start to become tired. Taking the guesswork out of when to drink your wines.
Even their website is unconventional www.stormhoek.com. A wine blog set up to create a wine influenced by consumers. No statistics on harvest percentages, acidity values. Just the simple approach of fans writing about their experiences of Stormhoek.
Amazingly, this is not all style and no substance. The Stormhoek Siren wines (featuring a Sauvignon Blanc and Pinotage) are stunning examples of their type. Their quality comes in part from the influences of Alain Mouiex (joint owner of the fabulously expensive Petrus) and flying winemaker Florent Dumeau using their own grapes.
Single varietals bottled in tall, chic clear bottles with simple, elegant labels all help towards the Stormhoek Siren philosophy "wine as an object of beauty". A raft of industry awards (IWSC Pinotage Trophy, Decanter Silver Medal amongst others) proves this unconventional approach to wine is working.
The back labels on the bottles feature a "Freshness Indicator". A fantastically simple idea that work. A simple time line showing when the wine will start to drink and when it will start to become tired. Taking the guesswork out of when to drink your wines.
Labels: pinotage, sauvignon, south africa, wine
One of our customers was certainly very impressed with our Highfield Sauvignon Blanc 2006 (New Zealand).. so much so that he added an entry to his own blog and declared it the "greatest Sauvignon Blanc on the planet today".
Who are we to argue? I have been serving their Sauvignon Blanc for 3 consecutive years on Christmas Day!
Read how Tim discovered and fell in love with the Sauvignon Blanc.
Who are we to argue? I have been serving their Sauvignon Blanc for 3 consecutive years on Christmas Day!
Read how Tim discovered and fell in love with the Sauvignon Blanc.
Labels: highfield, new zealand, sauvignon
Some years ago we identified the need for new wines to come onto the uk scene, as people were tiring with the fruitiness of German Riesling ( unjustly so in my opinion) and so we began the search for new and exciting white wines with zip and acidity to contrast with our Chardonnay range from France and Australia particularly.
The answer lay in New Zealand, a cool climate New World country with a new and innovative wine industry based predominantly in the South Island, particularly around the town of Blenheim.
Cloudy Bay had long been sought after as a boutique label synonymous with great fruit and quality but had become extremely difficult to purchase.
In the Highfield Estate Barrels and Bottles found an exclusive partner with which to work in the UK, with a licence to sell their wines exclusively in the UK Ireland and Scandinavia.
The philosophy of Highfield is very simple. Grow the best grapes, employ the best winemaking staff and work with the best wine merchants around the world with small quantities of very good product. In the Highfield range are Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Riesling for whites, Pinot Noir for red and a cracking sparkling wine made with 50% pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay.
Working as an agent Barrels and Bottles can ensure that the wines are only sold in the right stores and restaurants to maximize the profile of the brand. All wine merchants that are appointed to handle their region make a commitment to the quality of their customer service and that the brand will not be price cut to devalue its position in the market.
After 4 years of success in the worldwide wine competitions, Highfield has established itself as a sought after brand with elegant wine making and contemporary packaging, a stream of Gold medals in Sydney, Hong Kong and Auckland along with a loyal following of fans.
As consumer tastes alter, we continue to search for new and exciting brands to work with, a search that can take us all over the world, but we hope to find just one more jewel to add to the range, which will sparkle as much as Highfield Estate, Marlborough New Zealand which has become our number one brand.
An article fo City Business Magazine, February 2007
The answer lay in New Zealand, a cool climate New World country with a new and innovative wine industry based predominantly in the South Island, particularly around the town of Blenheim.
Cloudy Bay had long been sought after as a boutique label synonymous with great fruit and quality but had become extremely difficult to purchase.
In the Highfield Estate Barrels and Bottles found an exclusive partner with which to work in the UK, with a licence to sell their wines exclusively in the UK Ireland and Scandinavia.
The philosophy of Highfield is very simple. Grow the best grapes, employ the best winemaking staff and work with the best wine merchants around the world with small quantities of very good product. In the Highfield range are Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Riesling for whites, Pinot Noir for red and a cracking sparkling wine made with 50% pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay.
Working as an agent Barrels and Bottles can ensure that the wines are only sold in the right stores and restaurants to maximize the profile of the brand. All wine merchants that are appointed to handle their region make a commitment to the quality of their customer service and that the brand will not be price cut to devalue its position in the market.
After 4 years of success in the worldwide wine competitions, Highfield has established itself as a sought after brand with elegant wine making and contemporary packaging, a stream of Gold medals in Sydney, Hong Kong and Auckland along with a loyal following of fans.
As consumer tastes alter, we continue to search for new and exciting brands to work with, a search that can take us all over the world, but we hope to find just one more jewel to add to the range, which will sparkle as much as Highfield Estate, Marlborough New Zealand which has become our number one brand.
An article fo City Business Magazine, February 2007
Labels: highfield, new zealand, sauvignon
John Higgins
Barrels and Bottles
Unit 5b Broom Business Park, Bridge Way, Sheepbridge
Chesterfield
,
Derbyshire
,
S41 9QG
England
01246 453399
Home Page
