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.

Wine Tasting at Majestic's Summer Spectacular

The other day, I finally got invited to one of the Majestic Wine tasting evenings. I'd been wanting to go after someone mentioned it on one of the wine forums I sometimes chat on. So was delighted when Liam, a Wine Guru from my local Salisbury Majestic invited me along to their Summer Spectacular. At last, I thought, I've made it in the guest list!

The store was set up with four different tasting stations, each manned (and womaned) by a Wine Guru or a Wine Guru in training. There were also various nibbles to try with some of the wines (although all the Manchego had already gone on our evening!). 

We started with a glass of Champagne which was very civilised. Then moved onto white, red, some higher price point wines and then finished off with some whiskey, gin and rum. In all, there were 16 wines, plus the spirits. Frankly, I was pretty sozzled by the end of it!

Some of the highlights from the tastings for me were (from what I can remember!):

• Ned Rose 2015 from Marlborough in New Zealand. I'm not a massive rose fan as it can often either be bland or sweet. However, this quite colourful drop of pink is a mix of Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir which means it has more flavour and creaminess without being super sweet.
• Incanta Pinot Noir 2015 from Romania. Yes, a red wine from Romania. Fairly light but with all the fruity flavours you would expect and pretty reasonably priced at £5.99 a bottle. I'd recommend it if you want to try something new and different.
• "Angels Share" Shiraz 2014 from Two Hands. I love all the wines Two Hands make. This Australian brand is not cheap, but all their wines whether from Barossa or McLaren Vale are all delicious. This Shiraz is very rich but, although it's pretty strong, its not overpowering but rather deliciously
  
  smooth.
• Au Bon Climat Chardonnay 2014 from Santa Barbara in California. Again, not cheap at just under £20 a bottle, but worth every penny. Rich, buttery and complex and worth the extra spend if you want something special.
• Penderyn Myth Single Malt Welsh Whisky. I've never tried a Welsh whisky before, but being half Taff, I was fascinated to try it. Apparently it won a gold award at the Whiskies of the World Masters 2015 and I can see why. It's matured in Bourbon casks and it does have a slight sweet taste to it. Not too fiery, but full of flavour and dangerously drinkable.

However, the actual highlight from the night, was someone coming up to me and asking if I was Pinotnoirgirl from Twitter. I'm actually famous, it's finally happened!

In all seriousness, the whole evening was really nice. Not overly busy and no pushing and shoving to get to the wines. We chatted to some really friendly people and learned lots more about Majestic. For example, a Wine Guru called Lauren told us that all of the staff at Majestic have to take their WSET Level 3. Which means, if they give you advice on wine, they know what they are talking about.

There was no hard sell either (although we did, of course, buy a whole load of wines!). It was just a really interesting and informative evening. And wines at lots of different price points from £5.99 a bottle up to just under £20.

I think you can sign up to be invited to these sort of events on the Majestic website. But don't you all sign up, I want to be invited next time!

I went to Majestic to buy a bottle of wine.... And bought 2!

Yes, that's right, I went to Majestic and didn't have to buy six bottles of wine. 

Majestic has recently merged with Naked Wines and new CEO, Gormley, is making a whole load of changes at the wine retailer. The first of which is to scrap the ridiculous rule where you have to buy six bottles of wine! 

Anyone who reads my blog will know that I am a big fan of Naked Wines. If you are interested in them, you can read all about them here. So, if I'm going to buy in bulk, then I generally buy them from Naked Wines.

But, I really like some of the wines in Majestic and I'd much rather buy from there than a supermarket. Which is why I am absolutely delighted that they've ditched their six bottle rule.

So, I went into the Salisbury branch of Majestic today. It's perfect for me because it's on my usual afternoon dog walk and they let me come in with the dog (and the baby!)

I think the store helpers all thought I was a bit mental because I must have said about five times how excited I was that I could now buy single wines. But, there are very few places to buy wine in Salisbury (outside of supermarkets) and I'm nearly always on foot with the dog and six bottles is too many to lug around. And, it was a silly rule anyway.

The great thing about Majestic is that they always have a selection of wines open to try. And, you can come in and help yourself. No pressure, no hard sell. The dog and the baby love it.

The tasting counter at Majestic Salisbury

You can look on the website for your local branch and it will tell you what wines they have on the tasting counter. This week, they had a selection of Malbecs (as well as some white wines, a whisky, a rum and a brandy) that I was really keen to try. 

When I walked in, the trainee manager, Luis, welcomed me. He was really friendly and explained to me about the new pricing structure. Basically, you can buy individual bottles, but you only get discounts if you buy six. They call it "mix six" and it basically means that you'll get at least 10% off if you buy six or more bottles.

The labels are a bit confusing because they display the individual price and the "mix six" price. So they explained it to me three times when I was in the store. But I guess it is new and people will get used to it. 

I really like Malbecs and they had four on tasting. The Definition Malbec 2014, the Marcelo Pelleriti Malbec 2014 Valle De Uco, Mendoza, the Argento Malbec 2014 Mendoza and the Villa Nueva Malbec 2014 Mendoza.

The Malbecs that I tasted today

My favourite was definitely the Definition Malbec. The Definition range is Majestic's new own label range which they launched in September. But, it's certainly not a cheap white label. To give you an idea of the price, it costs £11.99 a bottle of £7.99 a bottle if you buy six. 

The Definition Malbec is from Argentina and is rich, plummy and chocolatey and easily my favourite from the day. I also bought a bottle of the Villa Nueva Malbec which was also lovely, but perhaps less punchy. I intend to do a blind taste testing with my husband tonight to establish whether I really did make the right decision or if my eyes were swayed by price.

I'll let you know the results.