You want to get funky with wine tasting rap? ”Vintertainer” Alan Arnopole, not only pours wine, he yodels to it, raps about it and sings along with it. 

Live from the Peju Province Winery (and stick with this!), I give you DJ Arnoploe…

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I posted this a couple of months back but with all the current shenanigans in this desparate part of the world here’s a recap of a recent release from the AP -

SHILOH, West Bank — Israel’s West Bank settlers have been ratcheting up their violence, defying their own government and flouting international public opinion.

But on Monday a settler group tried another tack — wooing foreign journalists with a bus tour featuring a glass of merlot and a visit to a home overlooking the site where the biblical Israelites housed Moses’ stone tablets.

“Here you see the miracles and the prophecies actualized in front of you,” said settler Tamar Yonah Feld, portraying Jewish settlement in the West Bank as a fulfillment of God’s will.

The settlers said they wanted to show the world they are just trying to have peaceful lives. But the bulletproof windows on the bus, the ubiquitous barbed wire and the watch towers at settlements betrayed an existence that is anything but normal.

Despite the wine, a mouthwatering lunch and an earnest video on the land’s Jewish roots, the interaction with the visitors was often heated.

Journalists peppered the settlers with such questions as, “Don’t the Palestinians have a right to a state?” and “How can Israel hope to remain both Jewish and democratic if it continues to rule over another people who will soon outnumber Israelis?”

The answer to the first question was invariably, “No.” Arabs already have enough states, settlers said.

Responding to the second question, some settlers said Israel doesn’t need to be democratic. Others said they expected Jews from around the world to come to Israel to ensure a Jewish majority.

Eliana Passentin, a 35-year-old mother of six who was raised in San Francisco, invited reporters into her home in the settlement of Eli, offering cookies and blue pens marked “From Eli with friendship.”

To get to the house, the journalists passed a swimming pool, basketball and tennis courts, a Jewish seminary, kindergartens and a poster of Meir Kahane, the slain extremist leader who advocated the forcible expulsion of Arabs.

Passentin’s house, featuring modern furniture and fine tiles cemented into built-in benches, overlooks ancient Shiloh, for which a modern settlement nearby is named and where tradition holds that the ancient Israelites kept the tabernacle with Moses’ tablets.

“We love living here. We love this land,” Passentin said.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and other Arab territory in the 1967 Mideast war and, after initially holding off, eventually began moving its citizens into the territories. Today nearly 300,000 Jewish settlers live among 2.3 million Palestinians in the West Bank, in addition to about 180,000 Israelis living in east Jerusalem neighborhoods also captured in 1967.

Much of the world and a sizable portion of the Israeli public, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, now say many of the settlements will have to be dismantled to make room for a Palestinian state.

That is not going to happen, vowed Avi Roeh, head of the local settler government that conducted Monday’s tour.

“Governments come and governments go. What we’re doing here is something that’s permanent. We intend to stay.”

The settlements, interspersed among Palestinian communities across the West Bank, are easily recognizable with their red-tile roofs, manicured gardens and neat rows of cookie-cutter houses.

Their existence and the hardships they cause Palestinians — including extensive restrictions on freedom of movement — have drawn comparisons to the apartheid racial separation system when South Africa was ruled by whites.

My dog isn’t well. The wife and I took Samba for a second visit to the vet in three days and still no closer to a diagnosis. Blood tests have been taken and results are now in anticipation. We have one very sad little Ruby Cavalier King Charles Spaniel at our feet.

So, upon arriving home I was extremely cheered to find a Wine Society Box waiting outside the front door. Firstly, I was amazed that it hadn’t been pilfered by the local hoodies – maybe this could be an angle for the TWS Marketing team  “Rest assured, our Wines don’t appeal to thieving chavs”.  I guess that’s why TWS located their Warehouse in Stevenage. No worries.

And secondly, what great customer service from these guys.  The majority of the deliveries are made by their own Vans, so you just know that the wine will arrive on time and will be treated with the care it deserves. After Friday ‘s delivery notification email I knew it would be here today between 10.30am and 1pm – cos that’s what they told me.

It’s always a thrill opening a mixed case from a merchant, and The Wine Society adds a desired flourish with two sides of tasting notes to accompany the wines.

With this kind of service I wonder how many little boys and girls out there look like Wine Society drivers. Milkmen have nothing on these fellas.

I’m regulating the booze intake to 1 bottle a week at the moment (carrying a stone and half too much – no really) and will have some fun blogging my way through the following 12 peaches -

Whites -

D’Arenberg Footbolt Shiraz 2006

Christian Moueix Bordeaux 2005

The Society’s Chilean Chardonnay Casablanca

Gewurztraminer Tradition 2007 Cave de Turckheim

Levin Sauvignon Blanc Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France 2006

The Ned Waihopai River Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Reds

Winemakers Lot No 77T Rapel Merlot 2005

Zarcillo Pinot Noir 2007

Corbieres Domaine de la Marque 2006

Verdelho 2007 Esporao

Quinta do Crasto Douro 2007

Cotes du Rhone Cuvee Friande Domaine Jaume 2007

Although Marks and Spencer picked up the best supermarket award at both the International Wine Challenge and Decanter World Wine Awards this year, I rarely find myself buying their wines. Food, yes of course, but wine? Nope, can’t even remember if there’s been a first time let alone a last.

Last night (under instruction to buy a bunch of ingredients for my wife’s stunning interpretation of Gordon Ramsey’s Tomato Soup) I popped over to the M&S on Oxford Street, collected the food and opted for a bottle of Los Molles Carménère, 2007 (£7.99).

Los Molles is named for the evergreen trees that grow in the Lamari province of Northern Chile. Native Indians traditionally revered their fruits for medicinal purposes, as well as producing the ancient alcoholic drink known as muchi. The wine is matured in French oak for 12 months and has a distinct peppery undertone to the full fruit flavours of blackcurrant and plum. As my drinking partner said of the wine last night “It tastes of Christmas”.

The Carménère grape also has an interesting tale to tell. Originally indigenous to the Medoc in Bordeaux, cuttings of Carmenère were imported by Chilean growers during the 19th century but were regularly confused with Merlot. During most of the 20th century Carménère was inadvertently collected and processed together with Merlot grapes (probably reaching up to 50% of the total volume) giving Chilean Merlot a markedly different taste to that of Merlot produced elsewhere.

In 1994, Professor Jean-Michel Boursiquot of the Montpellier’s school of Oenology confirmed that the earlier-ripening vine was Bordeaux Carmenère and not Merlot. It took The Chilean Department of Agriculture another 4 years to officially recognized Carménère as a distinct variety and today Chile has seized the opportunity to claim Carménère as it’s own.

M&S are currently offering 25% off all wines when you but any 6.

I’ve just about recovered enough to pen some thoughts on an extraordinary Thursday evening of fine wine and dining. The venue was a converted farm in deepest Sussex and the occasion was an event hosted by Red Anywhere, a new catering concept by Masterchef Dan Clarke.  

It was an evening I’d been looking forward to for some time following an invitation from Adam Stafford, head honcho at Fresh Egg whose company I’ve been using for SEO work with Liberty. I’m increasingly amazed at just how many businesses and ventures this man has a hand in! (Adam had spent lunch that day being entertained by a dragon, but I’ll let him explain that one…).

So, 5pm from Waterloo down to Haslemere and, after a desperate search for a cash machine, a fair trek through Midhurst to Farbridge, Preston Farm.  A fantastic setting and a farm once owned by Edward James – I urge you to read about this guy. He made his money in timber and railways, married the ballet dancer Tilly Losch and ended up Las Posas in Xilitla where he created a surrealist fantasy in the Mexican jungle. Isn’t that really what we all want to end up doing?!

Just had time for a quick freshen up and then straight into the venue to make introductions and prepare for an evening of a feasting and a boozin’.

Red Anywhere are fronted by Dan Clarke who has worked for, among others, Gordon Ramsey and Rick Stein. A highlight of an evening like this, is that you get to talk directly with a clearly talented chef who is open t sharing stories of some of the colourful characters he has worked with. Before each of the courses, Dan introduced the dishes and conveyed the passion behind his craft. Utterly beguiling.

But what is great food without great wine?! The wines were supplied by Colin Bradshaw a fine seller of all things vinous. I first Colin met a few months ago when Adam took me to the wine shop in East Preston. Colin is a proper wine man selling proper wine. His shop displays a healthy lack of brands in favour of interesting finds from acrosss the globe. Every wine has a hand written note adorning the neck of the bottle – do you need me to say more? Well, watch out for some interesting web ventures that these guys are putting together, more to follow on that one…

During an evening of excellent conversation with the men behind myrepeats.com and the Bushwalla, a whole lot of amazing food and wine was consumed (as you can see below). Apologies for the lack of accuracy on some of the wine choices, my notes got progressively worse during the course of the evening but I’m sure Colin will fill in the gaps!

Amuse Bouche – leek and Potato Soup, Crispy Leeks, Chive Oil and Cheese on Toast

Starter – Ravioli of Goats Cheese and Parmesan, Caponata Vegetables, Fig Balsamic
Wine – Woolaston Sauvignon Blanc 2005, Nelson, New Zealand. A South Island wine that doesn’t have the often overwhelming acidity of much of NZ ouput. Much lighter and more Old World in style and all the better for it.

Fish – Seared Loch Fyne Scallops, Lentil & Coriander Broth
Wine – A White Burgundy from Montagny 2004, Colin, help me out on this one – I didn’t catch the more detail than that!!  

Main – Sussex Venison Loin, Spiced Poached Pear, Celeriac Puree, Smoked Bacon & Red Wine Sauce
Wine – Chateau Haut Brisson 2002, St Emilion. Predominantly Merlot with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. A cracking Claret  -  crimson, intense, magnificent nose (wood, small black fruits, liquorice, tobacco – or maybe that was the smokers next to me?) simply lovely. 

Pre Dessert – Chocolate Mousse 
Wine –  A Red Dessert Wine from Mouret, Roussillon. An original choice and one of those that provokes the surprise refrain of “red wine with pudding!? Shurely Shome Mishtake” The wine was made from Old Vine Grenache and although not my to my taste, I could nevertheless appreciate the quality

Dessert – Collection of Puds! Sticky Toffee Pudding, Salted Toffee Sauce, Apple and Cinnamon Crumble, Hot Apple Sauce, Vanilla Pod Ice Cream and Bread and Butter Pudding
For me the star of the evening was a wine style that I usually steer clear of. The Late Harvest Muscato from Rioja was a perfect match for such an eclectic medley of puddings and was just fine, fine, fine. It had the lightness that allowed all these extraordinary puddings to shine – I’ve never experienced a Sticky Toffee Pudding like it. My god.

Cheese – Cornish Yarg – Biscuits and Grapes
Wine –  Port of Course! From Gould Campbell, a Late Bottled Vintage from 2001. 

Coffee and Homemade Fudge

An indulgent post this one, but I can’t apologise for that. I’ve never had a better experience of food and wine matching and I can’t even begin to give the sticky toffee pudding the elevated pitch that it so deserves.