A Heart Full of Wine- London

So my devoted readers, all twelve of you- as you know I just recently got back from Europe where I was able to indulge in the sport of wine drinking. Needless to say, I think I placed top three for sure. There is just such an abundance of wine everywhere that I forgot to take notes and pictures half the time! I'm such a sorry blogger.

But luckily I did capture a lot of the highlights and I'm going to share them with you. At first I was going to do all of them in one blog but I've started to write about London and realize that each country deserves a blog entry all its own. So I start with the first stop (and the starting city of our tour) London, England.

 A friend of mine recommended I visit Gordon's Wine Bar on Villier's Street. It is the oldest wine bar in London, having been established in 1890. Man this place was cool. Karyn and I had left this to our last day on the trip and it was a great way to celebrate our amazing week in London. The place is beyond description. When you walk into the place, you immediately head down into the basement (and question yourself the whole way down this narrow staircase). But upon arriving at the bottom, the most amazing surprise awaits you! It is a full service restaurant set in the old cellars of a very old city. It's breathtaking.

The tables are mismatched, wine bottles act as candle holders, drops of water fall on your head from the cellar ceiling, light is kept so low you can barely see in front of you, it's crowded and it's perfect. A buffet is offered to those who wish to match food with their wine. We chose to simply drink the wine. Karyn loves rose so I chose (and went on the establishment recommendation) of the Clos Clementine. Delicious.

 Maybe it's the setting (and if you are a true romantic at heart, this is your place) but the cool crisp taste of this wine was just perfect on our lips.

 The highlight of my trip was seeing Les Miserables on the London stage but I can honestly say that this came in very very close. You can't get much better than second! I can't wait to go back and spend an evening at Gordon's Wine Bar once again. A truly remarkable and memorable experience.

#26- Chenin Blanc

And so began the weekend of five! I was very much looking forward to this weekend, not only because we get to drink a crap load of wine (all for research purposes of course) but that I was again going on some amazing hikes in the Rocky Mountains. We are so lucky that we have such a wonder like the Rockies in our backyard, just an few hours drive away from the chaos and into some peaceful awe and wonder. And with glasses of wine to boot!

Now, Craig wasn't feeling well at all for this trip but total trooper that he is, he joined me on the camping weekend anyway (turns out he has bronchitis and should not have been doing what he was doing all weekend)- but turns out all of us Stevenson's have a stubborn streak (pneumonia ring a bell for anyone? oh what? right-- that was me...)

So Friday night we kicked off our weekend with a more common wine available here in Canada- the grape being a Chenin Blanc. The winery is from South Africa called the Winery of Good Hope and the wine itself has some interesting information on it. The wine was purchases at the Cellar (amazing store by the way) in Calgary Alberta for $21.95.

Craig was really sick that evening and wasn't able to try it that evening but took a nice swig of it after our crazy weekend. Instead, my mother joined me in drinking this wine and let's just put it this way-- before I knew it, my mother was refilling our wine glasses! A fan of white wine, it would be safe to say that it's mom approved! I too really enjoyed this wine and it actually didn't go too badly with our steak and pan fries. This would be a great wine to pair with a tastier dish such as Thai food or anything Asian or Mexican or Spanish.
With a slice of tomato from the back garden (before the blight arrives!), I was ready to enjoy a nice glass of white to put me to sleep. I had two glasses and could have had more but we did have to keep some for Craig to try a little later.

This wine was so light and crisp, easily a wine to drink on its own. You could definitely taste the citrus flavours and when told, the cinnamon could be tasted on the back of your taste buds. It left no aftertaste whatsoever. This wine would also be a good starter wine for someone looking to try wine further. It's quite acidic and on the sweet side (but not too sweet, again a great wine to drink all on its own).

The label itself is awesome- too bad I can't keep it. It's right on the bottle itself so the bottle may now become a funky new vase of sorts.

Craig and I packed two reds and two whites for the two full days of camping we had ahead of us. What a weekend to look forward to. (I also don't have pictures of Craig and I drinking the Chenin Blanc so I'll have to come back and replace the filler pics).