Hitchin Wine & Food Festival 28th & 29th Nov 2009

I will be at the Hitchin Wine & Food Festival this weekend 28th & 29th November 2009.

The event is being organised by the Rotary Club.

Hitchin Town Hall

Brand Street

Hitchin

Hertfordshire

SG5 1HX

The festival will be well supported by members of the ASDW including Hyde Park Wines showing Wine for Spice and Sticky Wines

Saturday 11 > 18

Sunday 11 > 16

.......... Warren EDWARDES ............

Hyde Park Wines - Sticky Wines and Wine for Spice and GrapesTALK

wine tasting demystified

Wine tasting Demystified by Sadat X and Jean Grae - True Wine Connoisseur

.......... Warren EDWARDES ............

Hyde Park Wines - Sticky Wines and Wine for Spice and GrapesTALK

Wines for a teetotal Prime Minister

President Obama toasted India at the first state dinner of his administration on Tuesday as reported by The Deccan Herald

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The menu

Potato and eggplant salad

White House rocket with onion seed vinaigrette

2008 Sauvignon blanc, Modus Oprendi, Napa Valley, California

Red lentil soup with fresh cheese

2008 Riesling, Brooks “Ara” Wilamette Valley, Oregon

Roasted potato dumplings with tomato dumplings, chick peas and okra

or

Green curry prawns, caramelised salsify with smoked collard greens and coconut aged basmati

2007 Grenache, Beckman Vineyard, Santa Ynez, California

Pumpkin pie tart

Pear tatin, whipped cream and caramel sauce

Sparkling Chardonnay, Thibaut Janisson Brut, Monticello, Virginia

Petits fours and coffee

Cashew brittle

Pecan pralines

Passion fruit and vanilla gelées

Chocolate dipped fruit

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I am not sure what coconut aged Basmati is. Could be Basmati marinated in coconut milk and then cooked with added water and I have done that.

The chef was Marcus Samuelson chef / co-owner of Aquavit in New York. Ethiopian born Samuelsson reportedly sought to combine, in a largely vegetarian menu, sustainable and regional foods which reflect the best in American cuisine yet evoke the flavors of India.

But what no lassi? No dealcoholised wine? Was the wine vegetarian?

I thought Manmohan Singh was a teetotal - except for the stash of Johnny Walker (for VIP guests one understands.)

.......... Warren EDWARDES ............

Hyde Park Wines - Sticky Wines and Wine for Spice and GrapesTALK

Channel 4 on #ProstateCancer

Yesterday's programme on prostate cancer..

The short video on prostate problems including cancer. It covers the symptoms but sadly as usual no mention of the PSA test.

alcohol prevents heart disease

A scientific study by Dr Larraitz Arriola, Public Health Department of Gipuzkoa, Spain published in the medical journal Heart.

This contradicts the advice given by the British Government which does not appear to be backed by any scientific evidence as far as I am aware.

Alcohol intake and the Risk of coronary heart disease in the Spanish EPIC cohort study

The association between alcohol consumption and Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) has been broadly studied. Most studies conclude that moderate alcohol intake reduces the risk of CHD. There are many discussions on whether the association is causal or biased. The objective is to analyse the association between alcohol intake and risk of CHD in the Spanish cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC).

Conclusions

In men aged 29-69 years, alcohol intake was associated with a more than 30% lower CHD incidence. Our study is based on a large prospective cohort study and is free of the abstainer error.

Full Article

.......... Warren EDWARDES ............

Hyde Park Wines - Sticky Wines and Wine for Spice and GrapesTALK

Leicester’s Food Festival - Sunday 22 Nov 2009

Tomorrow, Saturday 21st November 2009, I'll be at The National Trust's Canons Ashby House in Northamptonshire for the GrapesTALK Live wine tasting - an ASDW event.

And on Sunday 22nd November 2009 I will be showing my Wine for Spice and Sticky Wine ranges at Leicester’s Food Festival.

As preparations continue apace for Leicester’s first ever Food Festival, being held at the Market on Sunday November 22nd, there have been a number of new additions to the day’s entertainment line-up, including TV Chef Rachel Green, the Emmanuel Apostolic Choir and extra activities for the kids.

Activities start at 12 noon and finish at 6pm.

Celebrity Chef Rachel Green, will be doing live cookery demonstrations on the day and believes the variety of produce Leicestershire will help make the festival a great success.

“I think that the diversity of food in Leicestershire is amazing and the natural produce on offer is mind-blowing. There are great vineyards, cheese makers, spice producers, bison breeders and of course the famous Melton Mowbray pork pies!

“Leicester really is at the centre of the country in terms of natural produce. As a chef and a farmer, I definitely believe in using fresh local produce.”

The hugely talented and inspirational Emmanuel Apostolic Choir have recently confirmed they will be singing at the Food Festival. Part of the Emmanuel Apostolic Gospel Academy, the choir is famed for its passionate and uplifting performances and their presence will add to the festive feel at the Market.

Exciting, live cook offs will take place in Market Square involving local restaurant chefs and all the ingredients will be sourced from the wide range of food at the Market.

Visitors will be able to see food presentations by experts, take part in some great family based activities, including cookie decorating and face painting and watch local entertainers and performers.

All in all the Food Festival promises to be a great day of live entertainment, fresh food tasting and of course, plenty of shopping!

.......... Warren EDWARDES ............

Hyde Park Wines - Sticky Wines and Wine for Spice and GrapesTALK

residual sugar in wine

Jane MacQuitty, The Times Wine Correspondent, in a recent article Wine tastings 'should be taken with a pinch of salt’ referred to a Champagne:

My opinion of the top budget buy, the thin, acidic and cheesey-scented Sainsbury’s Blanc de Noirs Brut, a two-thirds blend of the lesser pinot meunier grape, with a hefty 10-12 grams per litre of residual sugar, does not match its assessment.

She has got it wrong you might point out. Doesn't she know the difference between residual sugar and dosage?

Well "Residual sugar" an be defined as the measure of the amount of sugars that remain unfermented in the finished wine.

In a Champagne or Sparkling wine, after the second fermentation the result is usually bone dry and a dosage is added to sweeten to taste. This liqueur d'expédition consists of a mixture of base wine and sucrose.

But I have usually heard dosage and residual sugar used interchangeably.

Nobody refers to "added sugar". Dosage sounds much more elegant. It is French isn't it?

And one can argue that the sugar is residual after dosage and all other vinification rather than just vinification.

Though as of 14th July 2009 the term "residual sugar" is no longer legally defined. The correct term is now "sugar content".

According to COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2333/92 of 13 July 1992

'brut': if the residual sugar content is less than 15 grams per litre,

According to COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 607/2009 of 14 July 2009

'brut': If its sugar content is less than 12 grams per litre.

See my blog post "Not such a Brut" for more on the Sweetness of Wines.

.......... Warren EDWARDES ............

Hyde Park Wines - Sticky Wines and Wine for Spice and GrapesTALK