Stepping back in time at the new Caboose Parlour bar in Salisbury

I don't get to go out much these days. With a business to run, two small children and a very needy dog, I mainly leave the house to do the school run, take the kids to clubs or walk the dog.

So a rare night out with my husband feels like stepping back in time. And, how apt that, this weekend, we went to a new cocktail bar that has just opened up in Salisbury with a 1920s theme called the Caboose Parlour Bar.

What a jolly old treat it was as well. This bar is run by the same couple that own Tinga and the Deacons, and like their other establishments, this place is decorated exquisitely and with a serious eye for detail and style.

And the bar is like an experience. A mix of theatre and glamour with each of the Signature Cocktails made in a unique and distinctive way. The Dorothy Parker is served with a quill and ink, the Alma Vass is presented in a metal car, the Sweet Nothings looks more like a dessert that a cocktail with sweeties, cream and flowers. 

But the absolute star of the show is the Pink Lady. This comes in a small lantern box with a pink Barbie perched on top and is infused with smoke that is added via a burner and tube. Tastes pretty delicious too.

You have to reserve a table and there is no standing. Every table was booked and we had the bar stools which was perfect because we had front row seats to watch the drama of the cocktails being made. And, while we were there, lots of people came in and were turned away.

This place is well too cool for Salisbury! It's about time we had a really impressive cocktail bar and something genuinely different and a real talking point.

The Caboose Parlour Bar also has rooms upstairs which we didn't see. But, I'd guess they are really nice.

Can't wait to go back! 

Visiting the Bombay Sapphire Distillery at Laverstoke Mill

I've wanted to visit the Bombay Sapphire Distillery for ages. So for my husband's birthday, I bought him tickets for a tour of the gin distillery (these were absolutely not bought for me of course).

I was hoping to book the Gin Masterclass for us both, but sadly, this was not available on the day, so we opted for the "Discovery Experience" instead. This is a self-guided tour of the mill which includes a complimentary cocktail for £16. It was great because you could go round the mill at your own pace and listen to the various pieces of information about the distillery and the history of Gin and Bombay Sapphire as we went round.

Our favourite bit (other than actually drinking the gin!) was going to the Botanical Dry Room and creating our own aroma profile to see what styles of gin and gin cocktails we prefer. You basically go round the room and sniff a range of the botanicals that go into gin and Bombay Sapphire. You then stamp a piece of card and it lets you know whether you prefer Pine, Spicy, Earthy, Citrus or Floral gins.

You then hand your card to the staff in the bar and they are supposed to use your card to serve you the perfect cocktail based on your preferences. Although this didn't actually work in practice because the bartender just asked us to pick a cocktail that was closest to our stamps.

It didn't matter because we both ended up trying quite a few cocktails each. My favourite one was "Rosy Rain" which was described as "a long, creamy and sherberty cocktail incorporating Bombay Sapphire, Martini Rosato, Bottle Green Rhubarb and Schweppes Salty Lemon Tonic. my husband really enjoyed the "Queen of Hearts" cocktail which contained Bombay Sapphire, white chocolate liqueur, Bottle Green Raspberry Cordial bound together with egg whites. I also loved the Gin Basil Smash and Tonic - basically, we loved them all!

We were so lucky because, even though it was September when we visited, it was such a sunny day. The distillery looked glorious in the sunshine and we were able to sit outside for our lunch and also to enjoy our cocktails. We could have spent all day sitting in the sunshine, sipping on the fabulous gin.

The only slight downside to the day was the cafe. We went there early for lunch and, although the food was delicious, the cafe itself was a bit poky and you couldn't have a glass of wine or gin with your lunch as they only served soft drinks. They did offer to box up our lunch and we could take it to the bar area to eat it, but we didn't really want to eat out of a box. Presumably, there is some licensing issue, but given that the bar is next door to the cafe, it seemed a bit ridiculous.

We stayed the night at the Watership Down Inn which was 10 minutes walking distance from the distillery. The rooms were clean and comfortable and we had a really, really nice meal there in the evening.

My favourite wines from the Naked Wines Summer Tasting Tour 2019

With some of the lovely
Angels and Archangels
on the tour - love them!

The Naked Wines Tasting Events are an amazing opportunity to try over 100 wines. You get to try new wines and meet the wine makers who tell you all about them, all for around £20. An absolute bargain in my book.

These are my favourite NEW wines that I tried this year:

The fabulous Los
Despachos from
Edgard Carter

Edgard Carter
I'd never met Chilean winemaker Edgard Carter before this year's tour. He's a lovely, polite and unassuming sort of man but who makes the most delicious wines. So great, that two of his wines have made my list:
- Sureno 2016 (£11.99) - made from a blend of Cab Sav, Carmenere, Malbec and Syrah, this smooth, silky red is full of fresh fruit with a kick of blackberry.
- Los Despachos Petit Verdot 2015 (£19.99) - Definitely not a cheap drop, but worth every penny if you want to treat yourself to a glass of blueberry and blackberry wonderfulness! 

Mauricio Lorca's Angels Selection Pedro Gimenez 2018 (£7.99)
Argentinian Mauricio is always a big hit at the Naked Wines Events. And, as always he was friendly and affable this year. I absolutely loved his Pedro Gimenez which is a completely new type of grape for me and a complete steal at £7.99. This crisp and fresh lip-smacker is like a glass of apples and citrus and perfect for a BBQ in the sunshine.

Gerd's amazing new
Pinot Noir Rose

Gerd Stepp's Pinot Noir Rose 2018 (£9.99)
Gerd really is like the professor of wine making. His Pinot Noir *8* is one of my favourite wines on the Naked Wines website and is delicious both warm and cold. So, I was fascinated to try his new rose which is made from the juice extracted from the first crush of his Pinot Noir grapes. Although this is a bit punchier than some roses (and a bit more alcoholic!) it is still light, fresh and zingy and a new firm favourite. If you're unfamiliar with German wines, try any of Gerd's range and I promise you will be impressed.

Dominic Hentall's Terra Nera 2017 (£10.99)
I love Dominic Hentall - he is always the life and soul of the party on the Naked Tour. I love his Terra Calda and his Terra Forte so I was fascinated to try his Terra Nera. I love Italian wines, but I'm more familiar with those from Northern Italy from regions such as Tuscany and Piedmont. However, this one is from Sicily so from a much warmer, sunnier region. And so the wine is big, fruity, spicy and with some vanilla from the oak barrels. This wine is great now and will probably be even better in a few months.

Sam Plunkett's Victorian Zinfandel 2018 (£10.99)

Dominic's amazing
Terra Nera

In the programme, it describes Sam as one of the nicest guy's around. And they aren't wrong. Naked Wines Australia have done this amazing podcast with him which is really worth a listen to understand his amazing journey to master wine maker. I loved his new Zinfandel which is packed with jammy fruits as well as juicy strawberries. (I also loved his Halo Effect Viognier 2016 which is a new sweet wine for me, so I thought I would give it a mention).

Ray and Eamon's picks
Every year, Naked Wine's chief taster, Ray teams up with the boss, Eamon, to champion their top picks at the "Ramon Table". All of their wines are always amazing. They had four on their table this year, some of which have been (or will be) available through the Naked Wines Fine Wine Club. I especially enjoyed the following from their top picks:
- Anna Espelt Sol i Vent 2017 (£13.99)
- Repetto Piemonte Rosso 2017 (£9.99)

Me with the lovely Mike
Paterson

I can't leave a review of my favourite wines without mentioning Mike Paterson. He didn't have any new wines on his tasting table this year, but he is such an utter legend, I couldn't miss him out. Especially as his Lay of the Land Marlborough Pinot Noir is perhaps my favourite Pinot Noir on the Website. His 2017 vintage is his best in my opinion - it's really fresh fruit forward and packed with strawberries and vanilla.

These are just a few of the wines I enjoyed this year. And, as always we were spoilt for choice. Especially as Naked Wines seems to be bringing on new wines and winemakers everyday! If you follow Eamon on Instagram, you'll see his quest to sniff out new wines from all over the globe (and be really rather jealous!).

Going it alone at the Naked Wines Summer Tasting Tour 2019

I've been with Naked Wines now for 7 years and one of my favourite things is going to their tasting events.

The fabulous Lindley
Hall where the London
Tasting was held

I attended my first in 2016 and have been pretty much every year since. You get to meet all the wine makers, chat to other Naked Wines Angels (the members) and, frankly best of all, there are normally over 100 wines to try.

One of my fellow
Archangels who
looked after me

This year, I decided to go on my own. Normally I go with my husband and some of my friends have come with me in the past. But, this year, Naked Wines had organised a meeting for all the Archangels beforehand and that, together with babysitting issues, meant I decided to go it alone.

The Tasting Tour
Brochure

Pretty nervous doesn't even begin to describe how I felt beforehand. I don't really do anything on my own these days. I would never go to the pub on my own or to the cinema. And, thanks to my small children and running my own business, I rarely even leave the house these days.

However, I needn't have worried as I was utterly looked after by the other Naked Wines Angels and Archangels. Everyone is so friendly and chatty, it really doesn't matter if you're on your own. 

If you order wine
on the tour, you get
the cost of your
ticket back. Win win.

I drank some delicious wines (I've written about my favourites on another blog post if you are interested), met some really interesting people and learned more about Naked Wines and their wine makers. I even managed to make a few notes in my Tour Programme (which I'm sure has never happened before).

I genuinely had a great time and it was quite liberating. 

Naked Wines have already released the dates for their Winter Tasting tour here. The Winter Tour tends to be slightly smaller than the summer one, but they still have over 100 wines to try, lots of wine makers from all over the globe and it's a really great day out.

You can read about my favourite wines from the Summer Tasting Tour here.

What I drank on British Airways this month

I've noticed on the last few flights I've caught, that airlines seem to be upping their booze game. 

I loved the theatre of
mixing my own cocktail
at altitude 

I was especially impressed with the range of British and exclusive drinks ranges that were available on a recent British Airways flight. 

Did you know your taste-buds are impacted by flying? No, me neither. Air pressure, lack of humidity, and even the noise of the plane's engines can apparently impact how we taste things. So British Airways has introduced a selection of exclusive drinks that have been blended specifically to be enjoyed at 30,000 feet. And, the best thing? A whole load of them are British.

OK, so the plastic cup didn't
exactly dress the drink.
But the Gin Jam was lovely
and the drink was v special

On the flight to Spain, I very much enjoyed a glass (well a plastic) of Pickerings Small Batch Raspberry Gin. This was presented with a very funky "Pinkster Gin Jam". This mildly alcholic jam is made from the leftovers from the production of the Raspberry gin and is designed to be poured into the G&T to turn it into more of a cocktail. I absolutely loved it. There was also the option of a Pickerings Small Batch London Dry Gin which was apparently blended especially by "ginventors" who trialled different recipes at different altitudes and this blend is exclusive to BA. 

I think I would like a job as a ginventor.

Whilst I tried to stop my gin cocktail from being knocked over by my children, the husband chose a Scottish beer. He opted for the Brewdog Speedbird 100 IPA which had been "specifically brewed to work perfectly in the air and adapt to the reduction in taste and smell sensitivity at high altitudes." I'm not sure whether it tasted better at high altitude, but he definitely enjoyed it and we always love a Brewdog Beer. I practically lived off their Nanny State when I was pregnant.

Great to see an English
wine challenging
more standard in flight
wine brands

Then, on the way back to a very rainy Heathrow Airport after a three-hour delay at Barcelona, we treated ourselves to a glass of Chapel Down English Bacchus. 

OK, so this wine wasn't a BA exclusive blend and not specifically made for the mile high club, but I've never tried Chapel Down wines before and it's so nice to find an English wine being displayed on an international sphere like this. And, we both absolutely loved it and I'm considering booking a winery tour at Chapel Down so I can see what else they have on offer.

Overall, we were really impressed and it's great to see British alcohol being sold by a British Airline. Maybe it's the new collaboration with M&S or maybe it's BA being brand faithful and supporting British. Either way, I'm a big fan and long may it continue!

Review: Craft Gin Club

I've been looking at gin clubs for a while. I love the idea of getting a different gin through my door each month with a selection of goodies to accompany. 

There are lots to try - some are less money each month, some come with smaller-sized bottles, some with full 75cl bottle, some with more goodies etc etc. It was a minefield! 

Of course I shared my
gin box to Insta! 

So, I turned to my friend Sarah who is the Gin-Guru behind the blog Gin a Ding Ding for advice. She has a handy review on her website of Gin Subscription services and I subsequently decided on the Craft Gin Club.

I officially bought the subscription for Father's Day (but you know it's mine) and my first box had a £12 discount so cost £28 instead of £40. I liked the fact it came with a full-sized bottle and I could switch the subscription on and off when I liked.

"Our" first box arrived in July. It was really exciting because we got lots of emails telling us it was coming and we didn't know what the gin would be or the extras included within it. And then, it finally arrived and I obviously couldn't open it because it was technically the husband's. It was so exciting I even sent him a photo of the box.

And, we were really pleased with our first box. The full-sized gin was Theodore Pictish Gin from Scotland which we had never heard of but came in a fabulous bottle. The goodies were really interesting with everything from dried Grapefruit to Salted Caramel Marshmallows. There was also a magazine packed with information about the gin and different cocktails to make using the ingredients provided.

The recommendation was to drink the Pictish gin with Fentimans Pink Rhubarb tonic water and a slice of the dried grapefruit. It was so delicious! The gin is quite spicy and, for me, the strong flavours were of cardamom, ginger and pink pepper which coupled perfectly with the rhubarb and grapefruit.

I especially loved the 3/4oz Spritz Syrup. I love an Aperol Spritz so it's nice to try a non alcoholic alternative as well as the different suggestions for cocktails using the syrup. 

Overall, we were very impressed and felt the box was exiting, interesting and represented good value for money. Can't wait for the August box! 

Welcome back (to me)

Well, it's been almost exactly two years since I last posted a blog post. What have I been doing?

I guess over the last two years, time has run away from me a bit. Since I last posted, I've had another child, moved house, we've expanded our office at work, won a local award.

Since I last blogged, my family
has expanded

I just haven't had time. Or at least, I haven't found the time.

But I was recently talking to the lovely winemaker Nina Stocker at a Naked Wines tasting event in London. She asked me if I still did my blog (which I thought was super nice of her to remember given I think I'd only met her once before). And, it made me think how much I missed having something for me away from work and the kids and the piles and piles of washing (and the boxes of "stuff" I still haven't unpacked since moving).

Naked Wines Archangel

I still drink wine (and quite a bit of gin these days), I still travel (although now with two kids in tow), I'm still an Archangel at Naked Wines (but perhaps not the most prolific contributor to the Naked Wines forums) and I still love eating out whenever I can.

Winning an award with work

My other huge passion is green issues. I am a member of the Green Party and try wherever possible to be eco friendly.

So, I *think* I still have something to say and I'm going to give this blogging lark another go. Please bear with me as I may not be regular, I may be slightly less drunk and sociable than previously, but I shall try my best. And, if there is anything you'd like me to write about, please just drop me an email. You should be able to contact me through this blog.