National Space Centre

At the National Space Centre on a Probus trip that I organised

Vuelio Blog Awards 2017

To London on a bitterly cold evening and the Vuelio Blog Awards 2017, held this year in the Bloomsbury Big Top, a circus tent in Coram’s Field, Guilford Street near St Pancras railway station.

The tent was warm, well appointed and the function smoothly organised. Guests were greeted with ample Prosecco and we moved into dinner promptly at 19:45. 

 

Entering the dining area

Three people were missing from our table of ten – perhaps because of a security scare at Oxford Circus – but we still managed to empty the table’s two bottles of Chilean Merlot, so I managed to swap our untouched bottle of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc for another table’s Merlot.

Entertainment was great with fire eaters and acrobats suspended on ribbons high above us, a real ‘big-top’ show.

Vuelio CEO Joanna Arnold gave a witty amusing and topical speech before handing over to comedian Ellie Taylor to compère. I couldn’t make out most of what she said as she gabbled so fast.

 

Natalie Keeler

I was lucky to be sitting with Natalie Keeler and her partner Michael Bass. Natalie is a journalist who blogs about her life at Chatalie the Natabox, a clever pun that I didn’t get until much later.  Michael is a techie wiz who specialises in SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

I would have liked to have spoken longer with this interesting couple, but all too soon I had to leave to catch a standing room only train to arrive home at midnight.

Have a look at Natalie’s blog at www.chataliethenatabox.com

P May, Prosecco servers and Firedancer pictures courtesy of Vuelio
Natalie Keeler picture courtesy of Natalie Keeler 

IWSC 2017 - Sponsors Lunch

Bottom right to left Sir George & Lady Gail Fistonich, Peter & Joan May

To Mosimann’s dining club in Mayfair for the IWSC sponsors and judge lunch as representative of The Pinotage Association, sponsors of The Abraham Perold Pinotage Trophy.

The celebration began with a sparkling wine reception,with silver medal-winning Ferrari Perlé 2010, provided by former IWSC president Matteo Lunelli. For lunch, guests were treated to Anton Mosimann’s signature dish of roast guinea fowl, accompanied by two award-winning wines: Stellenrust Chenin Blanc 2016 and Takapoto Estate Central Orago Pinot Noir 2012, winners of the Chenin Blanc Trophy and New Zealand Wine Producer of the Year respectively, while outgoing president Chris Blandy provided the trophy-winning 1980 Blandy’s Vintage Madeira Terrantez for the dessert.

Richard Stoppard, IWSC chief operating officer, added, “It was a real pleasure to be able to celebrate another successful year with our IWSC sponsors at Mosimann’s. Without their help and support we could not have presented such a memorable banquet. We truly value their continued support.”

I was sitting next to Lady Gail and Sir George Fistonich, winemaker, founder and owner of Villa Maria, one of our favourite New Zealand wineries. Sir George will become IWSC President in 2019.

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Sanibel Island, Florida

After the AWS 50th National Conference we drove south to Harrisburg and flew Allegiant Air to Orlando Sanford International Airport, a pleasantly small airport (rather than the huge package tour destination that is Orlando International), spent the night at the Best Western Plus next to the airport and used their shuttle to return next morning to collect our  Hertz car.

The plane was delayed so we missed having our planned dinner in the steakhouse close to the hotel as it closed early and ended up with hamburgers at  nearby Denny's. Bad news is that it is unlicensed so the 200ml bottle of Trinity Oaks Merlot we'd bought on the flight was appreciated. Good news was that the burgers were the best we had in the time we were in the America's. Had the look and taste of home made, the fries were good and the coffee made freshly for us. Only one other table was occupied.

Our cottage by the beach on Sanibel Island

We spent seven nights on Sanibel Island on the Gulf Coast before heading north to Tampa to fly home. As the nearest restaurant was 3 miles from us we had all but one of our dinners at home which gave the chance to enjoy better wines than most places listed.

Dinner wines

Left to right

2015 Ghost Pines Zinfandel Winemaker's Blend
2015 Dry Creek Vineyard Zinfandel Heritage Vines
2014 Ridge Three Valleys
2015 Seghesio Family Vineyards Zinfandel Sonoma County
2012 Grgich Hills Zinfandel
2014 Bogle Vineyards Essential Red
Not pictured: Kobel Brut California sparkling wine

Sanibel beach where I spent most of the day  on a folding beach chair with

my feet in the water until sunset

Dense schoals of tiny 'bait fish' attracted a feeding fury of pelicans and other birds. The noise they made was intense.

Mangrove

About half of Sanibel Island is preserved by J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, where mangroves and huge tidal pools house fish, oysters, lobsters, and over 250 species of birds and alligators.

We wondered what the couple in front of were looking at and when we got close we saw this bright green 2 foot 6 inch-long lizard next to the narrow toll-road road that winds through the reserve.

Lizard in 'Ding' Darling Reserve

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We'd last been on Sanibel in the 1970s and a lot has changed. It was more built up with many luxury homes blocking sight and access to beaches. No parking is allowed on public roads so if you don't have private access to the beach, as we did, then you had to park in a $4 an hour car parks at a public beach.

But what hasn't changed is that the island is made of shells and white sand from ground-down shells, and people walk with the 'Sanibel stoop', looking at the billions of shells on beaches and tide line. Some 250 different types of shell are on the beaches and people use metal scoops to lift them from the surf and accommodations have mesh shell-washing tables with hoses for collectors to clean sand from their finds.

After the cold, ran and snow of northern America it was wonderful to go all day in shirt sleeves and flip-flops.
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AWS Poconos, PA, 2017 Banquet

AWS 2017 National Conference. Poconos, PA

My 6th successive AWS National Conference.

Biggest ever, with 750 attendees, presumably because of combination of  the Poconos Mountain, PA location's  proximity to membership core and the 50th anniversary.

Again, so many excellent sessions, so much excellent wine to taste and to drink, and so many sessions one wanted to go to but ran alongside the one attended.

Four standouts for me were

-Pessac-Leognan - red wines of this Bordeaux appellation presented by the superb Paul Wagner with wines courtesy Union des Grand Crus de Bordeaux

-A Sideways Trip through Santa Barbara - this was so much fun, and so well done, presented by three members of East Las Vegas Valley AWS Chapter, 8 wines tasted along with matching clips from the Sideways movie and videos of the winemakers.

-Lodi Native - presented by Stuart Spencer of Lodi Wine Commission and winemaker at St Amant Winery. Showing Zinfandels from six wineries made from old vineyards with natural fermentation and no additive including no new oak, acid or water designed to show expression of vineyards. Using uniform Lodi Native labels. Also some commercial versions made from same vineyards and wineries in comparison.

-Chateau Phelan Segur - presentation by the cellar master of this St Estephe estate on the effect of different age & type of barrels illustrated by barrel samples of the 2015 vintage followed by the released final 2015 blend.

Phelen Segure empties fill a bin afterthe tasting