As you may know, Bacchus was the god of wine and Comus was the god of revelry, but not of gluttony. We keep you informed about innocent revels (as Henry Purcell put it) which we come across or instigate ourselves.

Scroll down to see our latest news.

Neville and Sonia Blech,

Late-Summer(!) 2008.

Read about the Ultimate Garagiste

APOLOGIES

Sorry once again for a bit of a delay in updating the site. I have been head down working on a new Guide to the Wines of England and Wales together with David Moore and Philip Williamson (of Wine Behind The Label fame) and this has taken up rather a lot of my time. We are nearly finished now and hope to publish by the end of September. I also spent a month out having an operation on my knee and recuperation therefrom.

 

BLOGGING

I have decided to remove BLOGGUS from the site as it wasn’t really working. I have, however, started a personal blog which you can find at web.me.com/neville.blech/Site/Welcome.html.

You will need a user name (gastroblog) and password (grumpy) to enter.

 

EVENTS

Our next event at Pelham Street is hosted by David Harvey who will be presenting a range of “natural wines” to go with Sonia’s food on Saturday September 20th. For booking details, please go the Events page.

 

We are also planning our annual white truffle dinner for November 1st and a dinner with Dirk Niepoort of the famous Port house who will be presenting a selection of his Ports and his still wines on November 29th. Prices haven’t been finalised for these two events, but if anyone wants to secure a place with a returnable deposit (until the details come out) of £10 per person, this will at least secure places for them.

 

WINE FEATURES

We continue with a feature seeking out the best value wines you can buy for less than £10. This time we focus on California.

 

There is also a new feature called Wine List of the Month (which I hope to produce monthly!) with a deep analysis of a great wine list for quality and value. We start off Sharrow Bay Hotel, whose list I have long admired and is now better than ever.

 

Additionally, I have featured tasting notes on wines from a dozen Ligurian wine producers, whose wines are generally not know internationally, nor even in other parts of Italy, but who deserve to be better known.

 

To complement the next wine tasting and dinner, my tasting notes of David Harvey’s Natural Wines are detailed in full.

 

BORDEAUX TRADE OFFER

There are still some wines available here although a lot have gone.

 

MALESSERE

 

It's a while since we have had anything to report under this heading, but here I give you a rather unhappy experience with Monarch Airlines.

 

WINE BEHIND THE LABEL

There is a new website up and running now, winebehindthelabel.com with which we have some connection. Do check it out!

 

So, until the next time - happy eating, happy drinking and happy travelling!

 

Neville and Sonia