The view from the eleventh floor of one of Birmingham’s new and iconic high rises offered the perfect setting for a great evening of food wine and sleuthing. Two attractive flutes of palish golden fizz kicked off proceedings. Initially the colour differential was slightly encumbered due to heavy condensation. They were a little over-chilled reflected in the tight nature of … Read More
Champagne Palmer & Co. ‘One of Champagne’s Greatest Cooperatives’
‘One of Champagne’s greatest cooperatives’– Tom Stevenson Author of: The World Encyclopaedia of Champagne and Sparkling Wine, and The Annual Champagne and Sparkling Wine Guide The production and distribution of quality champagne can be a highly complicated process, particularly when it comes to the relationship between the wine growers and the large champagne houses or most recognised brands. To facilitate … Read More
Glenfarclas Family Cask #1448: The Spirit of Speyside
The Glenfarclas distillery has been dedicated to making whisky in the time-honoured Speyside style since its official foundation in 1836. The name Glenfarclas has since become synonymous with great whisky from Speyside, ensuring that they were named 2006 Distillery of the Year by Whisky Magazine, and that they are a permanent fixture in the publication’s Most Collectible Whisky category. The … Read More
‘Letting the soil speak’, Michel Chapoutier’s non-Rhône 2012 Sélections Parcellaires wines
‘Soils have, quite often, more to tell than we can hear’ Michel Chapoutier (May 2013) For more information on any of these wines or to express your interest contact josh@nickollsandperks.co.uk At first glance, it might seem quite strange to some that Michel Chapoutier, the indefatigable champion of the Rhône Valley, its wines, soils, micro-climates and its heritage, has a growing … Read More
Dom Perignon, the Spiritual Father of Champagne…
Moet & Chandon famously name their prestige Cuvée Champagne after Dom Pérignon, a 17th century monk inhabiting a Benedictine Abbey in Hautvillers. Although he is mythically thought to have invented sparkling wine, that honour belongs to Christopher Merret, an English Scientist born around the same time. � Pérignon was however a winemaking pioneer of the Champagne region which at the time was … Read More
It’ll be all white on the night – 31st May 2013
With the sun finally making an appearance this evening, James Baker invited us to dive headlong into 6 white wines. First on taste was the Boreham Wood Sauvignon Blanc 2011 from New Zealand. For £9.99 a ‘full on’ New World Sauvignon with lashings of Gooseberry and Blackcurrant, striking acidity and a great length. A perfect start for the evening and … Read More
Spanish Wine Tasting 10th May 2013
We opened this evening’s tasting with Drysack Fino sherry. Cool, clear, complex and very dry, with great length, this makes a splendid aperitif, pairing particularly well with savoury nibbles such as olives.Once again, a modestly priced (£11.70) gem, far removed from the unfairly stereo-typed sickly sweet half-empty bottle gethering dust, forgotten and lurking in the dark in a cupboard under the … Read More
‘Pure Rhône Classicism’: M. Chapoutier’s 2012 Rhône Valley Sélections Parcellaires
Update: Earlier this week we were fortunate enough to attend an elaborate tasting for all of Michel Chapoutier’s 2012 Sélections Parcellaires, held at London’s prestigious Institute of Directors (May 13th). We tasted through the full range of single vineyard wines from this vintage, from the Rhône and other regions (more details to follow in a separate post). This post however is dedicated … Read More
Penfolds: The Descendants of Grange Bin Series
We are immensely proud to announce that Nickolls and Perks are now stockists for Penfolds, Australia’s most prestigious wine producer since 1844. Penfolds has an illustrious wine-making heritage, and has won the hearts (or indeed, palates) of wine critics, consumers and enthusiasts the world over. Since its creation the flagship Grange has arguably become Australia’s most famous and sought after … Read More
Sparkling Wine Tasting – Blind and Bubbly – April 5th
With an extra hour of evening sunshine and finally some, albeit bashful, hints of spring sunshine, N&P’s early April wine tasting in the Stourbridge Cellars was aptly scrutinizing a flight of refreshing Sparkling Wines. Tasting the wines blind is always so much more fun I find and somehow concentrates your senses. When reputation and with it of course price is … Read More