Thursday 28 January 2010

@DunellsWines win a best tweet award!


During the Bibendum Tasting held at The Saatchi Gallery on 20th January 2010, a competition was held asking visitors to tweet their tasting notes to @bibendumtimes using the hash tag #btimes.  The top 6 tweets would then receive a bottle of the lovely Bisol Prosecco.  We are pleased to report that we were one of the 6 winners.  Yes, I know we already sell it (click here) but it's always nice to win something isn't it! It's great stuff and we look forward to receiving our prize shortly! 

Thank you Bibendum, it was a great tasting with a great vibe...great videos too!  To read their blog, the winning tweet from us and the other winners, click on the link below:


Jane

Wednesday 27 January 2010

Dishwasher-proof drink is a winner! This sounds great!



I saw this is in the JEP last week and thought it was a wonderful idea.  It sounds great.  I am going to make some and report back! Now what vodka shall I choose??

Jane

Tuesday 26 January 2010

Our Christmas business card winner for a 5 Litre Bottle of Niepoort Drink Me Douro Red is....

We are pleased to announce (apologies for the lateness) that the business card winner of a 5 Litre bottle of Niepoort 'Drink Me' Douro 2006 is Kevin Gilley & Lynn Minchinton-Gilley.  Congratulations and we hope you enjoy this lovely wine!

Jane

Trying out Shaun Rankin's Saturday Kitchen Recipe...




Being an avid Saturday Kitchen fan, we had to tune in to watch Shaun Rankin (Head Chef of Michelin Starred Jersey Restaurant 'Bohemia') feature one of his recipes on last Saturday morning's show - Potato Soup with Scallops, Chorizo and Spinach.  This was Shaun's first appearance on Saturday Kitchen and I have to say that he really did Jersey proud!  Click here to watch the show!

Susie Barrie (Winchester Wine School) was given the task of matching a wine with the dish and she chose the Marquesa de la Cruz Old Vines Tempranillo (Waitrose) with its ripe black cherries and lifted, refreshing palate.  She mentioned that because of it's freshness and not being over oaked it wouldn't overpower the delicate scallops but the bags of fruit would hold up to the chorizo, starchy potato and chicken skin.  However, when the panel tasted the wine with the food, Patrick Williams, Head Chef of Terrace of the Fields, London, thought that it 'killed' the scallops.  This got me thinking and I immediately wondered why she had chosen a red wine with the dish, thinking that maybe a Gruner Veltliner or similar would work better with the scallops.  The only way to find out why she had chosen it was to get hold of the recipe and try it out ourselves and see if we can match the dish with one of our wines.  I love a challenge.  After the recipe went round on Twitter yesterday (here's the link), I went and bought the ingredients and asked Neil to bring home the wines he thought would work (we had discussed the choices beforehand).

Firstly, I will have to apologise and say that I didn't buy the always stunning Jersey scallops from The Fresh Fish Company since we only decided to cook the recipe at 5pm last night but I was able to get hold of some wild scallops from M&S along with the Marfona potatoes that Shaun says are a must for the dish.  We cooked the recipe to the letter and have concluded that the recipe asks for too much liquid (potato water, chicken stock and milk) and we will cook it again next time with 1/2 the amount of water to give a thicker creamier finish.  The soup was a bit watery and the scallops didn't float the way it was supposed to.  However, the flavours were great and we really enjoyed the dish. 

Wine wise, we now realise why Susie had chosen a Spanish Tempranillo to showcase as this grape variety really did do the dish some justice.  We found 2 reds and 2 whites that worked well (including a Gruner) but Neil and I were very split on our actual favourite.  However, if we really had to pin it down, the 'La Montesa' Rioja Crianza was the best match with its juicy cherry fruit and medium body.  We now realise that this dish is actually quite tricky to match due to the complexities of the different flavours.  Scallops have such a delicate flavour and are easily overpowered by spicy chorizo and crispy chicken skin.  We really recommend that you give the recipe a try and maybe try it with one of our recommendations or let us know if you find another great match!


We chose 6 wines to try with it and these are the results:

Wines that worked well the dish (click on the links to read more information and to purchase):

WEINGUT HIEDLER Gruner Veltliner Speigal Langenlois/Kamptal 2007 @ £9.95 per bottle - A good match, fresh and zingy with great acidity that cut through the starchy potatoes and oily Chorizo. (Currently only available in-store)

HERENCIA REMONDO Rioja Crianza 'La Montesa' 2005/06 @ £12.95 per bottle - A elegant Crianza, offering sweet, herb-tinged, smoky black cherry and currant fruit, lovely freshness, medium body, silky tannin, and a long, persistent finish. Was Neil's favourite with the dish.

TRENTHAM ESTATE Albarino 2008 @ £8.95 per bottle - fresh, attractive fruit driven wine displaying subtle peach and pear aromas. The palate is soft and long consisting of stone fruit characters balanced with subtle citrus flavours. Neil's white favourite.

ALCORTA Rioja Crianza 2006 @ £6.95 per bottle - A perfumed bouquet of red berry fruits, with hints of toasted wood & spices, smooth & full bodied with a long finish. Excellent with the Chorizo. Jane's red favourite.

Wines that did not work:

MT. DIFFICULTY Pinot Gris 'Roaring Meg' 2008 @ £9.95 per bottle - beautiful Pinot Grigio but seemed a little sweet with the dish and didn't enhance any flavours.

BRUNO SORG Gewurztraminer 2007 @ £12.95 - Off-dry to medium on the palate, it seemed too sweet for the dish.

Jane

A very successful trip to London...

Four members of the team (Neil, Jane, Liz and Kasia) travelled to London last week to attend tastings with H&H Bancroft, Thorman Hunt, Liberty Wines, Bibendum and Alliance Wines.  The aim of the trip was not only to taste new vintages but to also find new and exciting wines to add to our ever evolving and expanding portfolio.  With Gavilast at the ready we sampled through over 400 wines (there were hundreds more but it is just impossible to taste them all) in search of the best in all price ranges and boy did we find some stunners.  Once we have managed to add these new wines to our system, they will be ordered and will arrive soon after. We are all very excited.

However, short of actually building another floor, we have to make room for these new wines, so Neil has put together an amazing Winter Sale list which is regularly updated.  Please click here to download the list and see what delicious bargains we have available.


Whilst we were away we also had the opportunity to go to some great restaurants including Gaucho, a fantastic Argentinian restaurant where Malbec and Steak combine to create a match made in heaven.  We went for lunch on our first day with Neil McAndrew from H & H Bancroft after the amazing tasting he had laid on for us. This included the chance to taste the incredible Hartenberg Gravel Hill Shiraz 2005 which was just as good as we hoped it would be.  We can't wait to receive this!  We were also very impressed with the Shield Estate Wines, the Chateauneuf-du-Pape from Domaine Cristia, the Luigi Bosca Malbec, the new vintage of the Arrocal (Ribera del Duero) and the Domaine Caillou Cotes du Rhone.  I digress.....the steaks were incredible and highly recommended washed down with Luigi Bosca's Gala 1 (Malbec, Petit Verdot and Tannat) and Gala 2 (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot).

After lunch it was on to our next tasting with our good friend Simon Hore from Thorman Hunt.  He had also laid on a fully comprehensive tasting of over 50 wines, mainly from Burgundy. It was great to see that the Vincent Girardin white wines were consistently good, as was the Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos from Christian Moreau.  We also loved the Domaine de Montcalmes Rouge 05. Thank you Simon for a great tasting once again and for a very enjoyable meal at Bocca di Lupo, a buzzing modern Italian restaurant in Soho!


Day 2 - Liberty Tasting.  Held at the wonderful Oval Cricket Ground there were over 400 wines available to try from all over the world.  We got their early to make a head start as we knew from previous experience that this is always a busy tasting.  We also split into three teams to cover more ground!  Highlights included the wines from Dressigacker (Germany), Schloss Vollrads (Germany), Jean-Claude Boisset (Burgundy), Seghesio (USA), Innocent Bystander (Australia), and Greenstone Vineyard (Australia).  Some excellent wines and also a great Olive Oil tasting that actually helped with the palate fatigue.  A real blessing! A great day's tasting and black teeth all round.

That evening we had booked to go to a French restaurant called Whits.  Now, as a research fanatic, I had read just about every review of every restaurant in London.  I know many people are not fans of Trip Advisor due to the fact that some reviews are reportedly fake (however, it's not difficult to work out the truthful ones) but this restaurant is currently number 4 out of over 7500 restaurants listed on the site.  Having read between the lines, read other reviews on other sites and looked at their website I decided to book.  I was slightly nervous about it as some reviews mention that they allow dogs into the restaurant.  Not only do I not like this (for hygiene reasons) but Neil is highly allergic to dogs.  The menu however sounded perfect and it wasn't overly expensive in comparison to many restaurants in London so that was the reason
for booking and Neil said he was happy to go, antihistamines in his pocket.  Well, I am now very glad to report that Whits is a 'must go'! It is a real locals restaurant (no one we spoke to had ever heard of it) but the food was absolutely incredible.  Run by a husband (chef) and wife (front of house) team, we almost forgot that we were in London because the service was so personal.  Ava was exceptionally charming and really played down the reviews the restaurant had been given.  She really shouldn't.  They are very much deserved.  Every single dish we had chosen was perfect in flavour, quality and presentation.  Ava admits that she has a limited wine list and so runs a BYO policy with corkage (perfect for any suppliers out there that want to take out customers and show off their wines) and she even said that some customers take their own glasses.  She loves to make people happy!  Please take our word for it that this is a superb hidden treasure!  There were no dogs there either. Phew! Here is a link to their website Whits, Restaurant, Abington Road, Kensington, London and next time you are in London, please go, you won't be disappointed.

Day 3 - Bibendum tasting at The Saatchi Gallery - 11 rooms of wines from all over the world.  This a always a massive tasting with hundreds of people in the trade attending.  The gallery was completely transformed into themed rooms and seperate countries with almost 200 producers attending to showcase their wines.  Our highlights included Laurenz V (Austria), Alois Lageder (Italy), Spy Valley (New Zealand), Journey's End (South Africa), Fortaleza do Seival (Brazil) and Agustinos (Chile).  We also tasted some great wine from Crete but somehow don't think there will be enough of a market to bring it Jersey??? Anyone fancy it?  A very well executed tasting and huge thanks to Patrick Mallinson who looked after us.

A visit to Planet of the Grapes Wine Bar in the evening ended our day. What a great place that is.  Take a look at their website to read about it.  Ended up drinking far too much wine but it was damn good.  A bottle of Two Hands Sophie's Garden Shiraz 2003 and Wild Duck Creek Estate Cabernet (forgotton the vintage).  Yum!

Day 4 - Tasting at Alliance Wines - Garrick and Fergus laid on over 50 wines for us and although palate fatigue was setting in and our teeth were aching their were some great finds here.  Highlights included Steela Bella (Australia), Campo Azafran (Spain), Lagar de Bouza (Spain) and Luis Canas (Spain).  Huge thanks to Alliance! This concluded our tastings and after a couple of hours free time to shop, we made our journey back to Jersey. 

Now the work begins!

Jane




Sunday 17 January 2010

This wine is waking up..make sure you grab some!


Chateau Jean de Gue Lalande-de-Pomerol 2005 @ £17.95 per bottle £35.95 per magnum - LIMITED AVAILABILTY & ONLY AVAILABLE IN-STORE

This is well worth buying.  A superb wine that it deep in colour with a ton of black cherry. It impressed us all directly on opening and is full of  black currant flavours and chocolate before becoming intensively fresh. Grace and elegance to the fore and has superb potential for ageing.

UPDATE: NEIL PINEL (16/01/10) 'Excellent ripe blackcurrant fruit and definitely worth buying 4 years ago 'En Primeur' Robert Parker say's it all 'a sleeper', well it's waking up!' 8½ points!

NEIL PINEL (2006) 7-7½ points 'Wonderful black wine gummy fruit on the nose flowing nicely onto the palate which is backed up with soft toasty, vanilla oak. Surprisingly Good !

ROBERT PARKER The Wine Advocate 88-91 points 'A Sleeper!'

Please call us on 736418 if you would like to purchase some or pop down to the shop but be quick as this will fly!

Jane

Monday 11 January 2010

Is that the date already??

Hello everyone and a Happy New Year to you all.  We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends and had the chance to crack open something special over the festive period.

Although we have been keeping our twitter followers and our facebook fans up to date on a daily basis, actually having the time to write something over 140 characters long has been more of a challenge!  We had an amazing sales period leading up to Christmas (thank you everyone) which meant we didn't have any time to sit and think and Neil and I have been taking a short break from work after Christmas Eve to relax and have fun with our kids.

Then came the snow and what fun that was.  Such a rarity here, it brought transport to a virtual standstill!  However, this meant it wasn't such fun for our staff members who braved the elements to make it to work every day.  Danielle even walked to work one day from St Johns.....now that has to be applauded! As the weather worsened, Neil took to our very trusty 4x4 (Mitsubishi Shogun 1991) to transport the staff all over the island, to and from work, the old cars are the best!  The snow did have an upside however, lots of stocktaking was completed!

Now that the snow has disappeared, not to mention 'Percy The Snowman' (mark 1, 2 and 3), it's now time to get back into the routine and start planning for what hopes to be a very exciting year. 

This Wednesday (13th) we start our weekly staff education tastings.  Simon Hore, our great friend from Thorman Hunt is first up to introduce new wines he feels will fit into our portfolio this year as well as educating our staff on wines he already sells to us.  We strongly believe that getting everyone involved from our drivers all the way up through to management, not only enhances team morale but also, getting them involved in the buying process gives them a great sense of pride when the new wines arrive in-store.  We will be holding these tastings throughout January, February and March and are very excited to find new wines.  Updates will be posted on our website http://www.dunells.com/custom/tastingnotes.aspx on a regular basis over the coming weeks.  Please check up to see our tasting notes.  It is also worth mentioning that whilst we are holding our staff tastings, the shop will be closing at 4pm with the exception of next Wednesday (20th) when Neil, Jane, Liz and Kasia will be in London for four days to attend numerous tasting events.

Also, this month (Thursday 28th) we will be hosting a Steak and Wine evening at Wildfire Bar and Restaurant. All that lovely steak and juicy Malbec! We'll update you again shortly when we confirm the final details. See our events page for details of other forthcoming events.

That's all for now, must get back to sorting out the website with new online exclusive promotions etc.  Here's hoping it doesn't snow tomorrow, the forecast is interesting.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/jersey/8451535.stm 


Jane