As the blood levels picked up in my alcohol stream and I gradually sobered up from the Christmas-themed liver-buster one question came to me (about five minutes after opening up my credit card statement) why is Champagne so expensive?
I don’t want to get involved with differing perceptions of what is or isn’t expensive, but I’ll bet that when most people shell out £15 or more on a bottle of wine that they’re buying a bottle of bubbly. So why is it that a cheap bottle of claret will cost you £3.50; a cheap bottle of burgundy £6.00 and a cheap bottle of champagne will set you back £12.00 or more?
Host to some of the most popular wine events in and around London at exciting locations, leading wine expert Ewan Lacey unscrews the mystery behind wine in an informal yet informative evening or day time event for a highly respected portfolio of clients including Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and regular slots at Morton’s for their members to name but a few.
Join Ewan and learn everything you'll ever need to know about wine; taste 20 wines either side of a delicious Champagne lunch at the Thomas Cubitt, Belgravia
Saturday 27th January 11am – 4pm
£149 per person
Take advantage of the Secret Sommelier discount, quote ref SS1042 to qualify for 20% off the full retail price. Places are going fast and are strictly limited, so please contact Kerry on
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to register.
There are various wines and wine regions that are popular with people in the wine trade, but unpopular with the wine buying public. The cognoscenti love Alsace and Austria and proclaim Gewurztraminer and Riesling – yet the wines sit and gather dust. Apart from the stuff which flies off the shelf at Christmas time, sherry fits into this category.
But, sherry is an explosive wine. It can literally blow you away and once you have a taste for sherry, it will linger with you and bewitch. It is immediate and beguiling, it is both fiery and smooth – so why isn’t it more popular?
I vaguely remember reading an article in GQ during the early nineties and they’d themed a fashion shoot around Global Warming – ‘How Your Wardrobe Will Have to Change,’ or something like that. I thought that was frivolous. Now I’m writing about Lebanese wines at a time when the Middle East is in turmoil. I’m unable and unqualified to comment on the troubles there; but I can write about the wines which I tasted recently.
When asked what my favourite wine is, my standard answer is "it depends" but when I’m pushed to say something, I answer "Chateau Musar". I like it because in an age of homogeneity and uniformity; Musar stands out. There’s often a marked variation from one bottle to the next – even within the same vintage – on the nose the wine can be quite volatile; although that blows off after a while, in short it’s not like any other wine. I don’t just like it because it’s different, though. I like it because it’s good.
It’s very good. I was first introduced to the wine by a friend, Gabriel Yareed. He’s a composer and amongst other things, he wrote the music for the film ‘Betty Blue’ and won an Oscar for his work on Anthony Mingella’s ‘The English Patient.’ He’s a friend of the Hochar family who make the wine in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. We used to drink bottles of the stuff on sunlit winter afternoons in Notting Hill, discussing life’s finer points in the midst of very glamorous people chattering and drinking cocktails.
It’s very easy to make a forgettable mulled wine and just as easy to make something remarkable and delicious. There’s one secret ingredient; but apart from that the success of the drink depends on the order you do everything. Don’t worry, this isn’t one of those nerdish recipes that depends on things being infused for a week in the airing cupboard; nor is it inflexible. I’ve suggested cloves and cinnamon to spice it up; additionally or instead you could use cardamom; star anise; nutmeg.
Finally, make sure you chose a full bodied red wine. Something from somewhere that’s sunny as hell where they make wine full of life – Primitivo from Puglia; Shiraz from Australia or Pinotage from South Africa will all do perfectly. Don’t spend too much – more than £3 but less than a fiver should do the trick.
2 bottles red wine
350ml water 100g brown sugar 4 sticks cinnamon 5 whole cloves 1 orange 1 lemon
Before you start to make the mulled wine, zest the lemon and orange, then slice them into discs.
As the blood levels picked up in my alcohol stream and I gradually sobered up from the Christmas-themed liver-buster one question came to me (about five minutes after opening up my credit card statement) why is Champagne so expensive?
Host to some of the most popular wine events in and around London at exciting locations, leading wine expert Ewan Lacey unscrews the mystery behind wine in an informal yet informative evening or day time event for a highly respected portfolio of clients including Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and regular slots at Morton’s for their members to name but a few.
There are various wines and wine regions that are popular with people in the wine trade, but unpopular with the wine buying public. The cognoscenti love Alsace and Austria and proclaim Gewurztraminer and Riesling – yet the wines sit and gather dust. Apart from the stuff which flies off the shelf at Christmas time, sherry fits into this category.
