It's wine Jim but not as we know it...

Victoria Moore starts the New Year with a cracking article in The Guardian entitled “Wine: Five Golden Rules for the Supermarket”.

Here’s Victoria’s five with an extra one from WOTW for good measure:

) Never risk a bottle with a bird, insect or animal on the label. This will keep you mercifully clear of Yellow Tail cabernet sauvignon, Little Penguin wines and many others.

2) Be wary of bottles bearing the tiny words “Imported by Constellation Europe Ltd” on the back label. Their wines include the execrable Banrock Station, Stowells and the almost always deadly dull and overpriced Hardys.

3) Avoid bottles sold at “half-price” – the lure of such wines is only ever supposed to be their promotion excitement. It’s never good when taste is secondary, or even tertiary.

4) Avoid rioja, chablis and sancerre. A simple tempranillo, white vin de pays or sauvignon de Touraine is likely to prove better value.

5) Avoid ginormous bottles – desperation to impress is best expressed through the wine, not the size of the glass.

and from me:

6) If you can possibly help it, simply don’t buy wine from Supermarkets at all. Support your independent store where you can and if you don’t have a decent one then always choose the Co-Op or Waitrose over Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s.

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.

Tuesday’s Social Media summit at the Magic Circle ended at at the Ice Bar in London’s Heddon Street. 

Usually these kind of events fill me with a general feeling of unease – Will the speakers be any good? Will the sponsors use the occasion to deliver a brazen sales pitch? Will I be consumed by guilt at spending a day listening to stuff I could just read on eConsultancy when I should actually be doing things? 

But, relief, this was a good one. Firstly, a great setting. The Magic Circle is tucked away on Stephenson Way, a couple of streets away from Euston station.  I think  that most of us grew up knowing something of the secret nature of the society where that all members promise not to reveal secrets other than to magicians or bona fide students of magic. The Latin motto of The Magic Circle is ‘Indocilis Privata Loqui’ which roughly translates as ‘Not apt to disclose secrets’.  The posters adorning the walls recalled the recent novels Carter Beats the Devil and The Prestige – an age when magicians held the public attention in a way that modern rock starts do today. Fantastic.

The Event was hosted by Bazaarvoice (with associated partners) and began with CEO Brett Hurt being gently sent up by an end-of-the-pier magician who appealed to me in the same way as Les Dawson use to, mugging to camera behind an old Joanna. “Take my wife, no take my wife”. I think Brett won the day.

A couple of things struck me about the first presentation from Emma Jenkins. Firstly, pure envy that she’s lucky enough to work in a business that can fund a team to “find and qualify new advertising models in the digital space”! And secondly, although we all recognised the paradigm shift that she presented, I couldn’t help think that the new world is more worrying for Proctor & Gamble than for many others in the room.

P&G wrote the book on marketing and innovation but what impact will the “new consumer” have on their product development process? By extension of her argument, the modern consumer (savvy, wise, cynical, in control) just isn’t going to fall for another blade on a Gillette razor, no matter how well promoted in a deal with EA Sports. That same consumer is also not going to buy into Ariel being repackaged from a tablet, into a powder, into a liquid capsule returning to a powder, via a tablet. “It’s the same product” they will surely (and hopefully cry), “You can’t take us for fools anymore!”.

Surely we’re not just witnessing the end of old forms of media, but we’re also witnessing the end of traditional product development. The modern consumer? These cats got wise.

The second presentation from Ian Jindal, carried the characteristic flair of a man who seems to “get it” as part of a natural born belligerence. For me this was the presentation that we’ll all look back on in a few years time and proclaim “I met the Messiah, and he said unto me…”. The problem is, that for most of us, there’s no practical roadmap to implement this type of prophecy. Ian, meet my IT director. 

Ian’s most amusing contribution was also the one that rung true with me. Let’s consider the Trip Advisor scenario. This year, I got married, and my single input to the planning process was to book the honeymoon. I used TripAdvisor to research hotels for various locations and really felt the pressure of booking the best hotels. I was dependent on reviews.  I would read 99 great reviews for a hotel but the one negative review had me scurrying for cover and breaking out in a cold sweat – this is my honeymoon for Christ’s sake!! And then I looked deeper and a trend appeared.

The bad reviews were from a certain type of American. And the complaints were all of the same kind – room too small, bed too small, breakfasts unsatisfying. So, I got to thinking. Why can’t I set my review settings to exclude people that I have no cultural connection with? In music, I’m not going to value a review of Tom Waits from someone who expresses a preference for Girls Aloud so don’t offer me up reviews for hotels from people who can’t fit through the doors! If this is the revelation of Metadata then I’m all for it.

Alas that was it for me. I grabbed a cab back to Regent St. for a couple of meetings to generate some content for the Video production company I’m fronting and thankfully both proved fruitful. Brands that understand personalisation rather than corporate claptrap. This could be a winner and a profitable add-on to SocialNetIt.

So a really good day for your blogger, ending with a return to the Summit party at the Ice Bar in London. My companion for the night was Lucy Adams, an inspiring girl who has just set up her own business armed simply with a blog and a will to acheive. Check out Lucyadams.co.uk for an example of how social media can turn ideas matched with talent into a profitable reality. 

And what about the wine? Well the Ice Bar was fun but gimmicky cocktails don’t do it for me. I only had eyes for the red on offer and this was a 2005 Rioja Gentes de Forestia.

I’ve not come across this wine before but liked the label and enjoyed the taste. A little bit of research shows that this is one of those wines that appears on a whole bunch of restaurant wine lists but rarely at a retail point. A typical “distributors wine” then, but one made to the quality standards of the Rioja appellation. Oddly enough, this is how I like my Rioja, it’s not overoaked and has young upfront fruit. More in style with Navarra than the traditional style we associate with Rioja. I guess this would typically retail at around £6 if it was available on the high street.

“An entrepreneur claims to have invented a machine that turns a cheap bottle of plonk into a vintage-tasting wine in a matter of minutes.
 
Inventor Casey Jones says the £350 gadget uses ultrasound technology to recreate the effects

Even a bottle of paintstripper whisky can taste like an 8-year-aged single malt

 of decades of ageing by colliding alcohol molecules inside the bottle. The Ultrasonic Wine Ager, which looks like an ordinary ice bucket, takes 30 minutes to work and has already been given the thumbs up by an English winemaker. 

Mr Jones, 53, said: “This machine can take your run-of-the-mill £3.99 bottle of plonk and turn it into a finest bottle of vintage tasting like it costs hundreds.”It works on any alcohol that tastes better aged, even a bottle of paintstripper whisky can taste like an 8-year-aged single malt.

“The look and bouquet of the drink is improved and because of the chemical changes, the alcohol is easier to absorb by the kidneys and therefore, hangovers are virtually eliminated.

“I have even tried it with orange juice after I saw a similar device being used in the US. It didn’t just make the juice taste fresher, it made it look brighter too.”

He added: “I see thousands of inventions every year and there are a lot of crazy ones, but in every ton of coal there is a diamond.

“Of all the inventions I deal with, this one has amazed me the most in the effects it has on alcohol.”

Andre Jones, no relation, a winemaker who produces 40,000 bottles-a-year at his family-owned Buzzard Valley Vineyard, near Tamworth, Staffs, said he was impressed by the gadget. He said: “Casey took one of our bottles and brought it back for us to try after it had been in the machine. I was amazed, it had definitely aged.

“Obviously it can’t change the grape variety used, but it does mean a relatively poor variety can be made to taste a lot higher market. I would like to see it used on some of the Mediterranean varieties like a Rioja or a Shiraz. This could definitely have some applications for those restaurants who are buying wine for £10,000 a case.

“Technically I suppose you could buy a good wine at two or three years old and age it so it tastes like a 20-year-old vintage. Wine is at it’s best five or so years after it’s made, so this could help homebrewers taste aged wine more easily.”

However, he warned restaurants and bars against trying to pass off a cheaper bottle of wine as a more expensive one just because it had been through the machine.

“You would have to tell customers it wasn’t quite the real thing,” he said.”