Header: Robin's Food & Drink Blog. Blogging for the serious foodie.

I spent yesterday at the London International Wine Fair (LIWF) 2012, one of the biggest trade events in the wine calendar. Here are just a few highlights.

Firstly, guess what – you can’t say that I’m not ahead of the times !!! Nyetimber’s Blanc de Blancs 2003, featured in the "Tipple of the Month" has just been awarded a Gold Medal at the prestigious International Wine Challenge 2012 (http://www.internationalwinechallenge.com). This was one of my favourite wines at the recent English Wine Producers Tasting and the award is well deserved recognition for the quality of Nyetimber’s wines.

I enjoyed visiting smaller producers or less well-known ones looking to make inroads into the UK market. One of my favourite wines from the show was Qaramy Alto 2005 from Viña Qaramy (http://www.qaramy.com), an Argentinian producer whose vineyards are nestled at the foot of the Andes mountains. A dramatic and powerful landscape for a wine that packs a powerful punch, but with elegance and beautiful structure. Made from a blend of malbec, cabernet sauvignon and syrah, this is a complex wine with bramble fruits, cedarwood and tobacco spice on the nose, matched elegantly on the palate with a long-lasting finish. Another wine that particularly interested me was the LaCruz Vega Chardonnay from Bodegas Bogarve 1915 (http://www.bogarve1915.com), a winery in La Mancha, an area of Spain which has improved the quality of its wines dramatically over the last 10-20 years. Delicately oaked, this wine has tropical fruit characteristics on the nose and citrus and stone fruit on the palate.

The LIWF offers opportunities to try wines from diverse places, such as Brazil and Turkey and to sample lesser-known grape varieties, such as the fresh and fruity sauvignon gris from Uruguay. I also gained some tips on blogging and social networking, so will keep you updated with developments. How about some wine recommendations from you ? Let me know your favourite tipple.