The drinks scene is definitely getting ‘harder’! No – this doesn’t mean a return to booze-ridden fights on the football terraces. The UK is beginning to embrace the latest trend that has swept the US by storm. Hard Seltzer is the new category that’s shaking up the drinks market, adding its very own sparkle!
Read the rest of this article »This blog is a collection of thoughts about food and drink. Do have a look as well at the reviews and reports on my main website - The Write Taste.
I hope the ideas you read about on these pages inspire you as much as they have inspired me.
Robin
Top class food & stunning New Zealand wine!
All photos by Robin Goldsmith, unless otherwise stated.
What an evening! Within the welcoming walls of Eurocave, the brand-leading wine storage and accessories company, Liam Steevenson MW of The Far-Flung Wine Co. led a food and wine matching session that delighted everyone who attended. Read the rest of this article »
The 19th Watford Beer Festival: real ale can still remain relevant in a world of craft beer.
Spurred on by the American craft beer revolution, the same drinks category in the UK is on the up. Brewdog’s Punk IPA, for example, is a drink of choice for many younger consumers sick of bland, big-name lagers. However, real ale is definitely not dead. If craft beer is seen as an end in itself, or as a stepping stone to appreciation of the "real stuff", there can be no doubt that well-made beer is in the ascendancy. Recognition of the value of traditional styles, albeit with a modern twist, is a natural consequence of this. Read the rest of this article »
The truth about food and wine matching: in defence of its supporters
There’s been a good deal of talk recently in social media and newspapers about whether wine critics’ advice is worth its salt and whether food and wine matching makes any sense, has genuine scientific worth or is just a load of pretentious nonsense?
First and foremost, wine should be enjoyed, so if you happen to like drinking Château Plonk with your vindaloo, that’s fine. Yet certain combinations do seem to taste better than others and some combinations are really quite unpleasant. Consider the following. When you bite into a piece of meat or fish and take a sip or swig of wine from your glass, the chances are that some of the meat juices or even bits of fish are still in your mouth. Treat wine in a similar way to a sauce or gravy and all the flavours mingle together. Now, if you are lucky enough to be eating grilled fillet of sea bass, would you want it smothered in gravy? No – because it would be horrible! It would simply not taste right, the gravy ruining the flavour of the fish. This can’t be just a subjective observation, as surely most people would arrive at the same conclusion, so perhaps there is, dare I say, a more scientific reason for this.