I get loads of messages every week asking for wine recommendations for various things – a birthday present, a special dinner, something for the fridge door – but at the moment all anyone wants to talk about is what to buy for Christmas. So this week’s wine recommendations are both around £10 and I’d happily …
First things first: sending love to you and yours. Uncertain times but one thing I can do here is provide free wine advice on tap. Not as good as providing actual free wine on tap. Still, I’ve doubled up on the wine recommendations this week. All are available for home delivery and one’s from one …
Forget racing down the wine aisle of your local supermarket throwing a few bottles in the trolley along with the cereal (how? HOW do they get through so much cereal?). Nope. I’m talking about a proper grown up trip to South Australia for two to visit some of the best wineries in the Barossa Valley, …
It’s been a week of highs and lows. Highs include making cocktails on live radio and watching a football game at Anfield – the atmosphere! – whilst enjoying a glass of red, obviously. And I love that it’s now cold enough for proper jumpers. Preferably roll necks, not least because they hide a multitude of …
I did it! And I loved every single minute of my first Saturday Kitchen Live experience. OK so I wasn’t mad about the coral lipstick and the camera definitely adds at least 10lbs but I got to eat unbelievably good food and drink wine at 10am on a Saturday morning. With Jason Donovan! Makes a …
We’re nearly there. Last full week of the Easter Holidays (fist bump) culminating in a long chocolate-fuelled weekend (thumbs up). Now when it comes to finding the right wine to go with chocolate, sweet wines tend to work better than most. We’re talking tawny ports, Banyuls or Maury from France, or anything made from Muscat. …
Ah, Christmas. So much stuff to organise – food, presents, plans – and so little time to do it. Now, I can’t help you with the last minute mince pie requests or the sudden call for a star costume (for real, made one out of a wine box earlier this week in ten minutes flat) …
Just as I was settling in to my new Autumn evening routine (sofa, Killing Eve, glass of red) an email arrived from a friend. Would I like to go with her to the premiere of A Star In Born? Cut to last Thursday and there we were, on the red carpet, with Bradley Cooper just …
Just as the change of season requires a change of clothing strategy (so long kaftans, hello jumpers AT LAST) so does the wine rack. I mean, it’s not like I won’t drink rosé in colder months but it just doesn’t taste as good without sun on skin. Anyway, a box of wine appeared on my …
I love a fancy dress party. So I went all out on Saturday at an 80’s themed party (the decade, not the age). I’m talking zebra print dress, black leggings, gold boots, candy pink leg warmers, arms covered in plastic bangles, lots of pink and blue eyeshadow and half a can of backcomb spray in …
Honestly, I never used to get the whole self-care thing. In my twenties, I was too busy. In my thirties, too tired. But now, in my forties, I’m getting the hang of it. One morning a week I go for a swim followed by a Pilates class. Two hours feels like four and I always …
So, I went to a Burns Night supper on Thursday night and left thinking I really must drink more whisky. Not that night (I’d already had a couple of drams). Just generally, because it’s the most glorious drink and I really don’t drink it very often. Dried fruits, nuts, vanilla and spice – the flavour …
Happy New Year! Yes, I know I’m a little late but we came crashing into 2018 with lost luggage, sick bugs and sizeable hangovers. Anyway, I’ve included a 0% wine and beer in the reviews below this week just in case you need a change from drinking tonic with a dash of bitters (and assuming …
I remember a time when Halloween wasn’t really a thing. Not any more. And, I’ve realised, resistance is futile. When I suggested that perhaps we, y’know, scale back this year’s Halloween extravaganza – ridiculous spooky tea at ours before visiting neighbours to claim the kids’ bodyweight in Haribo – it was met with (funnily enough) …
They say the best things in life are free. Not altogether true (wine! luxury skincare!) but you get the gist. Anyway, last week I posted a picture on Instagram of these brightly coloured gin-filled baubles. Designed to hang on your Christmas tree and filled with Pickering’s Gin, they are, quite simply, gin-ius. Sadly, they’re not free (a …
Good TV is like buses. Nothing, then two arrive at once. I’m talking about Wimbledon and Love Island, obviously. I love both, equally. I mean I know Love Island is ridiculous but I just can’t. Stop. Watching. As for Wimbledon, I love that it gives us an excuse to watch telly in the afternoon, even when …
So here we are, the kids still on holiday (mine go back next Tuesday. NEXT TUESDAY) and I’m still on crutches. It’s been a mad week work-wise too (although I do realise that tasting and writing about booze for a living means that I can’t really complain about anything, ever). Anyway, I think it’s best …
There’s one thing better than a perfect glass of wine – and that’s a perfect glass of wine with exactly the right kind of food. Seriously, when you get the flavour combination right, everything tastes better. A simple omelette is anything but when put with a glass of chilled Chablis. Fish and chips and a …
Last night, having just finished setting up for a KMWC wine tasting, a robin appeared and perched on the edge of the ice bucket. Look at the picture above! Could not have been more Christmassy. Anyway, having spent much of last week talking about not drinking on various radio shows to coincide with the launch of …
So this is me, holding a copy of my new book – Teetotal Tipples – in my hand. Obviously, I have a glass of wine in the other. It’s now exactly a month until the book is out but you can pre-order it here! I wrote it because, having done a dry January earlier this year, I realised …
Last Saturday night, we had our biennial School Ball. It might be a tiny village school but when it comes to parties, it goes large. We’re talking black tie, dinner, dancing. For the last ten years I’ve had a go-to dress for such occasions: jade green, very Studio 54 (in my head). Minus the horse, obviously. Problem …
First of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who’s ordered a case (or more) of our first ever KMWC exclusive wine case. It’s absolutely flying! Lots of you have already tucked in (I expect nothing less) and I’m loving hearing what you think of the wines. If you can, take a picture with bottle in hand …
I have Camp Bestival news: I’m doing a wine tasting on the Saturday night with the wee-inducinginly funny, gold catsuit-rocking comedy duo The Scummy Mummies. And our host for the evening is DJ Sara Cox. I know! And, if you fancy doing another (smaller) pop-up tasting on the Friday, with just me and a load of lovely …
We went away last week for a few days during half term, to Scotland, with friends. Three days of glorious weather and picnics. Also: a run of late nights meaning I had to come back and lie in a darkened room. Which I did for, ooh, all of five minutes before somebody was asking me …
Last weekend went by in a haze of lamb, rioja and gold Lindt bunnies. Now we’re well into the school holidays and I’m mostly running on leftover eggs (chocolate, not chicken). That and wine, obviously. Talking of which, I’ve gone for more wine recommendations than usual this week given the circumstances. You know, just in case the chocolate runs out.
Last week, I sent an email to everyone who subscribes to this blog asking what else you might like to see on here. I’m properly overwhelmed by the response so thank you – THANK YOU – for being so amazing. I love how many of you want, among other things, more on food and wine, on best deals …
January is over. I repeat: o-vah. And man, am I glad to see the back of it. Not just because I was wasn’t drinking. Really. But I’m happy to report I’ve had my first glass of wine of the year. It was chilled, sparkling and perfect. We had it with fish & chips, with my in-laws (on the …
We’re nearly at the end of January *fist pump* which means I can have a glass of wine soon. So, seeing as we’re celebrating (nearly) the end of the toughest month of the year, I thought it was time for a little pick me up. I live down the road from the most lovely hotel, …
Yesterday was One Of Those Days. Came back from the school run to find the puppies had escaped from the kitchen, tearing through the bins on their way out before moving on to Youngest Girl’s cuddly toy stash. Opened the front door to utter carnage, like a horror version of The Teddy Bears’ Picnic. Stuffing everywhere. …
Went to watch Middle Boy and Youngest Girl in their Harvest Festival show earlier today. And it really was a show, including a song called ‘Rock & Roll Harvest’. My favourite Neil Young song is Harvest Moon, but this came pretty close as harvest-themed songs go. Funnily enough, one of the first posts I ever …
You’ve got to love a chorus that goes Ba De Ya. Earth Wind & Fire sang about dancing in September when, according to them, there never was a cloudy day. A little wide of the mark given the past week but a great song nonetheless. Anyway, September in this house is all about early mornings …
Me & my sister at Camp Bestival. It might be pissing down with rain now but here’s proof that we did have blue skies this summer. Gone in a flash, though. Well, it might have seemed ENDLESS sometime in the middle but we’re now less than a week away before they go back to school. …
If I ever get my arse into gear and write the fiction book that floats around in my head from time to time, this would be the title. But for now, with the nightmare juggle that is school holidays, work and trying to not let the house go to ruin, this just relates to my …
Eileen Hardy (by Lord Snowdon) Earlier this week, I went for dinner in the Long Room at Lord’s Cricket Ground. Now, I’m not a huge cricket fan (remember my Andrew Strauss story?) but you don’t say no to dinner at Lord’s along with a bunch of cricketing legends during The Ashes. I was there as …
‘Where’s your wee wine gone?’ asked Eldest Boy earlier today. He was referring to the wine I’ve just made. As a wine buyer I spent much of my time in cold cellars tasting wine samples from tanks but until now, I’d never made my own wine from start to finish. Granted, the grapes came in …
Photo: Annie Spratt My friend Annie took this beautiful photo when she visited the project Mothers2Mothers in Kenya just a few weeks ago as part of Team Honk’s work to highlight projects being supported by Comic Relief. In Kenya, more than a million children have been orphaned after losing one or both parents to HIV. Mothers2Mothers …
I know that tasting and writing about wine for a living is a ridiculously lovely job. But given that wine is usually enjoyed in the company of friends and with food on the table, attending a wine trade tasting is somewhat different. Take a room and fill it with wines, winemakers, press and buyers. Add …
You can’t buy happiness but you can buy wine and that’s kind of the same thing, or so the saying goes. But I’m not drinking wine this week: combination of a late night on Saturday (old friend’s wedding, too many cocktails) and the fact that I’ve now got a cold. Normally, I’d go with the …
Sequins, check. I’m off to Vegas. For work. For four days. I know, I’m extremely lucky. I’ll have time to sit by a pool, do a spot of shopping, have grown up dinners and see a show (not Britney though, I checked). But the thing I am most looking forward to? A lie-in. After last week’s …
If ever there was a good way to start the week, it’s with a wine tasting. On Monday night, I was asked to do one for a lovely group of people at Soho House’s West London outpost, High Road House. I picked a line up of current favourite wines from local shops and supermarkets, all …
At last night’s school concert, in which Eldest Boy was playing the guitar, I was on the mulled wine. As in my job was handing it out to people as they came into the school hall. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice that the urn containing the mulled wine was on its hotter-than-the-sun setting. Which caused it …
Nothing to do with time at the bar (if you want to know just how bad I am at bar work, read this). Rather, at Book Club earlier this week the proposed next book was being passed round the table. And when I start a new book, I check two things. 1) The number of …
Last week saw my first appearance as the new wine expert on The Alan Titchmarsh Show. And honestly? I loved it. It was possibly one of the most surreal days of my life, and I must learn to not always say what I’m thinking out loud. Telling Kerry Katona that my friends and I used to …
This time next week I’ll have finished recording my first ever bit of telly for The Alan Titchmarsh Show. I’m so excited. And just a little bit nervous. But with any luck, I’ll be as happy in front of the camera as my mother apparently is, announcing the winner of the Corkcicle competition: Current white …
My, how time flies. It’s School Fete time again and the ‘call to arms’ letter glares at me from beneath the fridge magnet, asking for cake & biscuit donations, scones for cream teas, unwanted toys for the toy stall, decorated jam jars filled with sweets and prizes for the tombola. Now, as some of you know, I have …
It started with a tweet. Comic Relief were in the planning stages of how to mark this year’s 25th anniversary of Red Nose Day. A blogger I know tweeted back and said: ‘how can we help?’. Fast forward to Sunday and T, Penny and Annie found themselves on a plane to Accra, Ghana on a trip …
Someone asked me today why I thought the wine industry was such a male-dominated one. When I went for my first ever job interview with a wine company almost 20 years ago, I was asked if I could type before they looked at my qualifications (I couldn’t). Actually, there are lots of brilliant women in …
I made jam last night for Youngest Girl’s nursery cake & chutney sale on Saturday. Actually, I didn’t make jam. A group of us got together and I chopped a few peppers and chillies, whilst mostly chatting over a glass of wine and a bowl of crisps. Here’s what Jules did with the results: Wine-free …
Some of you might remember the last time we went to a ‘do’, with an auction, we returned home with a painting. Two years on and it is still sitting in our garage. And so it was that on Saturday night we headed off to our boys’ school bi-annual fundraising Ball, with no intention of …
Turning 40, that is. Yes, in a couple of weeks I will be passing that particular milestone with the music up and the windows down. I’m either absolutely fine about it or in complete denial. Not sure which. Whatever, here’s what I’ve learnt so far: 1. Face creams don’t make you look younger. They can …
Last Saturday, I went to New York for work for a few days. I ate banana pancakes, sushi and steak. I drank a ginger mojito and glasses of German Riesling, Ribera del Duero and Albarino. I walked the Highline and shopped in the West Village. And for that time, it was bliss. But the best …
“Please can you tell me if there are any good lower alcohol wines I should try?” so asked the lovely Reluctant Launderer (she’s up the duff, and slightly in shock). Until recently I’ve found most lower-alcohol-than-normal wines (I’m talking less than 9% alcohol by volume, the legal limit for most wine to be called wine) about …
“We’re looking for a female drinks expert for our new TV show…” said the email. Would I be interested? First reaction was YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING. Closely followed by well, you know, I suppose I could. Nothing to lose. How hard can it be? Turns out, really f*cking hard. All I had to …
Last night, as I shoved unsolicited advice about sparkling wines down your throats, Tara tweeted asking for some still wine recommendations, especially reds, for Christmas. So, since she asked, here’s what I’ve got in for next week: Whites in the fridge: Tesco Finest Argentinian Chardonnay 2010, £5 on offer, Tesco I shipped in some NZ …
We moved into a new house earlier this year. It is a 1970s-built bungalow in the woods. It has a whiff of The Ice Storm about it, but without the swinging. A few of the houses do have pampas grass outside but as yet, no evidence of keys in glass bowls. So it was with …
Watching the news this week has been shocking, depressing, awful. People’s lives and livelihoods have been wrecked. It felt just a little bit wrong but I was glued to the TV, distracted only by twitter. Last night found me bingeing on opinion pieces, with a Newsnight chaser. Tonight there is a Question Time Special. Cue …
So I think we’ve established that this blog is about wine and me. Mostly me. As if I needed any encouragement, I was asked to attend a BMB blogging event last week in London where a select handful motley crue of blogging mothers were given cameras and a lesson in how to vlog (that’s video blogging: I know, who …
This week, I have mostly failed. Namely: 1) failed to finish my book before Book Club night 2) failed to make any inroads on mountain of washing 3) failed to meet one or two (OK, three) work deadlines 4) failed to post a thank you letter that’s been in my bag for a week 5) …
Heroines, I’ve had a few: Nightingale (Florence & Annie), Nigella and any number of Jilly Cooper characters included (the ones who weren’t obviously pretty but then became ravishing once drenched in Diorissimo and tight on thunderous G&Ts). Another heroine is Jancis Robinson MW (Master of Wine), a walking wine authority. Jancis started Wine Relief in 1999 and has helped raise nearly …
I’ve had a complaint from a reader – a reader!* – who’s asked me not to bang on about how bleak January is, about dieting or not drinking (as if). She wants wine recommendations and a laugh. That’s me told. So, I’m not a big spirits drinker: vodka makes me feisty, gin makes me cry, whisky makes me think …
I was talking to a friend last week about how the loss of someone you love puts everything in perspective. We were driving along a forest road, the snow blanket still tucked neatly over the landscape. The silence that followed our pondering was loaded. Up until the point when she said: “a bit like that guy in Spinal Tap.” Me: huh? …
I’ve been watching Nigellaah cook on telly this evening. I love her. And, I. Want. Her. Kitchen. I have kitchen envy! How did it come to this? Surely I want the never-ending supply of jewel-coloured cashmere short-sleeved jumpers? Or, at least, the multi-millionaire husband and his art collection. Actually, no. I just want that kitchen. Although, must be said, the faux dinner …
I had to work last Saturday at a wine fair, leaving bearded husband with the three children from 8 in the morning until 8 at night. When I got home, the children were all in bed, the (ready made) fish pie was in the oven and the house surprisingly tidy. There was even a glass of wine with my name on it. I …
I used to travel abroad alot in my old, full-time, pre-children job. In fact, so often I had a bag that remained permanently half-packed, ready to be topped up last minute. Nowadays, I don’t get out much and honestly don’t miss it. (Currently non-bearded) husband rarely has to go away for work but tonight he left for somewhere 12 hours away by plane with …
Last week, I was averaging 150 wines a day. In a professional capacity of course: I am one of the judges at this year’s International Wine Challenge held in London. Winning wines will boast a gold, silver or bronze medal – results released in May – hopefully making the (often hideously confusing) task of choosing …
The five year old has a pair of enormous green Incredible Hulk hands. A Christmas present, rather than his actual hands, obviously. Anyway, you wear the Hulk hands over your real hands and then bash things, whereupon a voice from the glove shouts: “Don’t make me angry, you won’t like me when I’m angry!” The two year old has taken …
I was locked in a padded cell in a karaoke bar in Soho for two hours on Saturday night and learnt the following: 1. Girls Aloud is not as good karaoke material as you might think. 2. I Know Him So Well – with one playing Babs and the other Elaine – however, is very good indeed. 3. The end …
One of the tips for new year, new you is to clear out your wardrobe, throwing away anything unworn over the past year. Whoever wrote that clearly doesn’t realise that there are clothes that I haven’t worn for five years BUT I AM DEFINITELY GOING TO WEAR THEM AGAIN. I just need to lose a couple of, er, pounds. …
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