Summer Tasting in St Ives

A splendid tasting on a beautiful evening (remember them?) at Brush End in Lelant last week for the newly formed St Ives Bay Rotary Club. The theme was (a tad optimistically perhaps) “Summer Wines” for which we showed a flight of one Prosecco, four white, one rosé and three red.

The whites kicked off with the mellow but dry Alsace Pinot Blanc from Wunsch et Mann, then the flinty, lime tinged Simmonet Febvre Chablis, the uber-assertive Chamelin Verdejo and finishing with the predictably popular, exotically enticing St Helena Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough.

        

Of the reds The Pirie South Pinot Noir from Tasmania was a bit closed and disappointed, the fulsome La Forge Carignan was on good form with juicy elderberry fruit and character however the real star of the show was the hauntingly spicy, leather bound, blood-rich Mencia from Casar de Burbia in Northern Spain  - fabulous!

Oh yes, and the rosé - once again Domaine Pique Roque from Provence, heather dry and refreshing.

Nigel  

Feeling Pink.

Looking forward to the Cloudy Bay dinner at Alba, St Ives this weekend, it should be a landmark occasion.

With so many Bank Holidays coming up and spectacular spring weather thoughts inevitably turn to pink wines - so what’s showing well in this department I hear you ask? Well, rosé lovers seem to fall pretty neatly into three categories:

a. medium sweet/blush

b. full bodied off dry/ deep pink and

c. dry/salmon pink

So it will depend which category you feel fits best for you but here goes anyway. For category a. which we despairingly call “Girlie Wines” (no angry letters please ladies) the prettily packaged Sentina Pinot Grigio Blush (£4.99) is fun while the R. H. Phillips Night Harvest White Zinfandel (£8.50) is smart and very succulent. For the deeper coloured medium dry bunch  Spain is a happy hunting ground and the amazingly consistent, juicy Quinta Hinojal Tempranillo Rosado (£5.29) always shows well while new this year is a blistering pink Malbec from Toso (£8.50) in Argentina, very weighty and packed with big red fruit flavours. In the dry section the ever popular Domaine Piqueroque from Provence (£7.30) is a sure fire winner – mineral dry and vibrant while the St Felix Rosé (£5.48) from the Languedoc is in a similar style if just a touch fruitier and less fine.

Prices are valid until the end of April after which our annual price review will be implemented which will include the Chancellor’s extra duty hit as announced in the Budget.

Green shoots in the wild west

It looks like the start of the season is creeping in down west, Blas Burger re-open for the 2011 season on the 16^th of Feb, and will be sporting a few new wines from Wine in Cornwall. The two new burgertastic reds are both old world, “lower miles” wines, a rustic Italian Montepulciano, with enough grip to tackle their homemade, to die for, chili relish and a huge Spanish smoothy, packed with ripe fruit and a touch of vanilla oak……a personal favourite of mine. Our famous St. Felix Sauvignon Vermentino is also available by the refreshing glass.

Their hot fiery chili relish, is that good that they have now bottled the stuff and made it available to buy and have at home, just in case you're not able to pop to the restaurant & get your fix. They have also been listed in the Olive Magazine's Cool List 2011 who have rated their Halloumi Stack the 'Best Veggie Burger' , yum!

Join me and my partner Jenny on the doorstep on the 16^th, ready to get our new season burger fix! Jenny and I became addicted during her recent pregnancy and are eager to get boozy with the burgers now little Eva is out!

Fizz at the Halsetown

After  being closed for a month the Halsetown Inn reopened its doors last Saturday evening and within 5 minutes of being open it was full to the brim.

Word had spread about the refurbishment or maybe it was the lure of the free Pieminster pie-tasting. The Pies have recently featured in Hello magazine and the new Kate & Wills celebration pie will be arriving soon! The Heidi Pie was my favourite with the boys opting for the Moo Pie.

Once we arrived we were given a lovely glass of fizz and warm hello from the landlord & landlady, we managed to find ourselves a table in the snug by the fire and got to nose at the new surroundings.

The whole pub has been given a facelift with warm colours to accent walls and give the pub a more cosier feeling. The pub itself is split into 4 rooms all coming off the main bar, offering plenty of choice for seating and each room having its own individual character & charm.

It's ideal by the woodburner for a warming glass of house Tempranillo on chilly evenings or defrost in the cosy snug after a windy walk. Flying Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc is a firm favourite with the after work ladies, perfectly accompanied with a bowl of Olives.

 The pub is open Tuesday to Sunday evenings and 12-3 at weekends. Will be open all day, every day from Spring.

Throughout February the Pies are on offer 2 for £10. Delicious.

For bookings call 01736 795583

Halsetown Inn - Reopening Party!

We’re all very excited in the office as this weekend shall be the grand reopening of the Halsetown Inn, in the hamlet of Halsetown just outside St Ives. Jb & Jenny took on the pub at the end of last summer after it had been closed for almost a year. It was a busy old time for them, upping sticks, relocating and undergoing phase 1 of the refurb. So when we were last down there we saw the pub looking something like this.

Phase 2 sees a brand new roof, repainted exterior and lots more redecoration on the interior. So excited and cannot wait to see what it looks like. Even more importantly we’re hoping to get a glimpse of the lovely baby Eva who will be almost a month old!! Jb & Jenny have been very busy....

The lovely Landlord & Landlady

Come join the Party...
Come & check out the new look pub, warm yourselves around the new woodburner, sample the infamous Pieminster Pies and have a good ol'knees up. There will be live music and a charity raffle in aid of the Cornwall Hospice Care, party starts from 7pm with fizz on arrival.

Hopefully see you there.