What we'll be drinking at my son's baptism

So, perhaps it's not the first thing on all parent's minds for their child's baptism. But, it will be a huge celebration of our son's life and so, for us, what we drink with our friends will be a huge part of it.

We decided to go to our local Majestic in order to try a couple of options. And, to be honest, they couldn't have been more helpful. I think people know that Majestic provides this sort of service for weddings, but perhaps people don't know how helpful they are for other events, such as Christenings.

I'd emailed them beforehand to let them know that I wanted sparkling wine and what my price point was. I also said what style of sparkling wine I prefer, so something clean, crisp and without too much biscuit/toasty notes. And, Chris came back with some options which he said he'd put on ice and we booked in an evening to pop down to have a taste!

Eventually, we chose the following:

• Le Berceau Piquepoul-Chardonnay Brut Frisante. This was the one that Chris actually recommended and I was intrigued as I love a Picpoul (it was the first wine I ever got drunk on). It was very clean and crisp with super fine bubbles.
• La Marca Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore. We've had this one before at other parties and know it to be a crowd-pleasing all-rounder. Plus, we got married in Italy so a prosecco seemed appropriate.
• Southcott Pewsey Hill Classic Cuvee Brut 2011. We didn't actually get to try this one, but we wanted a couple of English sparkling wines for the "important people". My first ever job was in Pewsey and this is where this vineyard is located (sorry, I couldn't find this wine on the Majestic website). 

I really hope all our guests are pleased with our selections. We've probably bought far too many bottles, but thankfully, Majestic has a use and return policy, which means we can take back any unused bottles.

Added to the sparkling wines, we are planning to have a keg of beer from our local Hopback Brewery. Perhaps some of their delicious Summer Lightening. However, this was my husband's ONLY job for the baptism and he has utterly failed to sort it. However, two weeks to go, so fingers crossed!

I'll report back on how the event goes and what all of our guests thought! Thanks again to Chris and the team at Majestic Salisbury.

What I drank this Christmas

I'm currently having a dry January, so I thought I would reminisce about some of the fabulous wine I drank this Christmas. 

I always find that everyone tends to splash out a bit more over the Festive Period (including me!) and this one was no exception. So I thought I'd make a little note of all the ones I enjoyed the most.

At the beginning of December, I wrote about how I'd ordered the Christmas mixed case from Naked Wines. Without a doubt, my standout bottle from the hamper was the Hacienda Don Hernan Rioja Crianza 2012. Smooth, fruity and full of vanilla. We all absolutely loved it and I loved having something so rich and dark coloured in my glass. And, not too expensive at £13.99 a bottle.

Many of you may have read that I got married in Italy. My brother, who has fabulous taste in wine, bought all of the wine for after the meal. And, as usual it was all delicious. He'd originally been to Greve in the Chianti region to buy the wine, but on New Year's eve he produced two bottles of the red as a surprise for my husband and I. What a treat. The Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Riserva was as yummy as I remembered, all fruity and rich and brought back wonderful memories of our wedding day. Available from Berry Bros for £24.99. 

It wasn't just red wine that I particularly enjoyed. I had quite a few delicious bottles of white wine too. My favourite was almost certainly this bottle of Saint Clair Pioneer Block Sauvignon Blanc 2014 Marlborough which is £19.99 from Majestic. It just tastes expensive and I can assure you it is worth the extra pennies (and you get it a bit cheaper if you buy six bottles or "mix six" as they like to call it). Dry, elegant and packed with gooseberry fruits. Seriously slurpable. 

I can't talk about Christmas wines without mentioning a fizz. I drank a lot of very poor sparkling wine over Christmas, I really don't know why people buy cheap Champagne, because IMHO, it is nearly always rubbish. You're much better off buying a Prosecco or English Sparkling wine. As an example, I was sent a bottle of Valdobbiadene Prosecco Spumante DOCG as part of my membership of the Aldi Wine Club. At £7.49 a bottle, it is an absolute steal. Light, fresh and creamy - you honestly wouldn't guess this was so reasonably priced nor from a no frills supermarket. I also really enjoyed the Sacchetto Prosecco Col de L’Utia Brut 2015 from Naked wines at £14.49 a bottle.

Finally, a sticky! On New Year's Eve, we enjoyed the William Pickering, 20-Year-Old, Tawny Port from Berry Bros (£26.95). A fairly sweet and nutty port, with notes of caramel. Dangerously drinkable. We had a lot of fun drinking it with our Port Sippers from Hintons Home. I'll review these in a later post, but they are fab! 

Anyway, these were just a snapshot of the wines I drank over Christmas. And, as my birthday was just before, I can assure you, there were many, many more! My liver hurts! Hence why I am now having a dry January! Did you have any wines over Christmas you'd like to share? Just let me know.

How do you review wine in 140 characters?

I was recently lucky enough to be asked to join the Aldi Wine Club. I say ask. I begged and they accepted. 

If you haven't heard of the Aldi Wine Club, it's basically a club for amateur tasters to review some of the wines the supermarket has on their shelves. The deal is, they send me wine every month and I have to write a review on Twitter.

Which means writing a review on a bottle of wine in 140 characters. And, using the #AldiWineClub hashtag.

So, I was delighted when my first batch of wines turned up this week. A bottle of Prosecco and a Chardonnay. 

At first, I was quite excited because I'd received two wines I wouldn't generally buy. 

I like white wine, but I'd usually buy a Sauvignon Blanc rather than a Chardonnay. So the Chardonnay Pays D'oc wouldn't be something I would generally buy. And, I love Prosecco, but it's the sort of thing I would choose for a special occasion and would probably splash out. So the Valdobbiadene Prosecco Spumante DOCG retailing at £7.49 wouldn't be something that would end up in my basket.

But I love to try new wines, and I was super excited to receive something different to the usual. Plus, I could tell friends and family I was a wine taster for Aldi. Recognise.

However, my initial excitement quickly turned to panic. How do I review a bottle of wine in 140 characters? 140 characters is nothing! And, I'm opening the first bottle this weekend, so any advice would be gratefully received!