This was a specially organised series of winery visits with a group made up of members of Andover Wine Friends. We started in Carmignano, between Pisa and Florence, staying at the small but pleasant Hotel Villa S. Michele, to visit Capezzana and Torre a Cona, in the Colli Fiorentini (Florentine Hills)   before moving on … Continue reading Tuscany wine tour – September 2018

The good news: we arrived in Châteauneuf-du-Pape with half an hour to spare before the world cup semi-final between England and Croatia began. The bad news was that our chambre d’hôte at La Pergola was inaccessible  - totally barricaded within a building site in the centre of the busy little town. But as our hostess … Continue reading Châteauneuf-du-Pape : July 2018

Monday morning, after a stunning breakfast - the fig and orange jams replacing the jam trap as the wasps’ preferred destination - we had time to explore the steep slopes of the Côte Rôtie on the back roads between Condrieu and Ampuis followed by a stroll down to the river and the local landing stage … Continue reading The Northern Rhône: July 2018

We left Burgundy via the now very familiar and wonderful D974 - la route des grands crus - and onto the D981,  studiously avoiding all signs to the motorway and la route de soleil, remaining steadfastly on the right bank of first the Saône and ultimately the Rhône, as the valley widens and the Côte … Continue reading Via Beaujolais to Condrieu in Northern Rhône : July 2018

After the train trauma it took some effort to resist the attempt of the charming young woman in Dijon to hire us a higher spec car. We were rewarded by a free up-grade none the less, when she failed to locate the key for our little Fiat or Corsa. We drove south down the famous … Continue reading Beaune and beautiful Burgundy – July 2018

The journey from Andover to Paris via St Pancras on Eurostar went entirely as planned; on time and comfortable. However the next leg from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon was nightmarish despite my pre-emptive attempts.... The decision not to use the metro on a hot July day backfired - Le Cab was 35 … Continue reading To Burgundy by train : July 2018

David’s research had produced little up-to-date published material on Alsace, so no sooner back from Verona, than we were off again, this time via Basel airport. Colmar in Alsace - and a very smart hotel in the centre, backing onto ‘Little Venice’ We hired a slightly grander car than usual - whose SatNav proved very … Continue reading Alsace in spring – April 2018

This is Cangrande I - ‘big dog’ or rather the statue of him built for his tomb in the mid 1300s. The scourge of his enemies but a great friend to Dante, whose Commedia guaranteed his immortality. There is (alot) more to come... bear with me!

This time last year we were limping home from Gorizia, grateful to be alive and mobile after David’s gall bladder crisis, and not overly bothered to have missed the largest wine fair in the world - VinItaly. This year David  had been asked to serve as a  judge for the Cinque Stelle wine competition - … Continue reading Summa – and Verona’s churches – April 2018

Sunday 21st January 2018: rest day in STELLENBOSCH  A lazy start in the familiar hotel after a week of early rising,  and a morning enjoying the town’s distinctive architecture - and saddened by an alarming security feature of South African life David’s researches had produced a table at nearby and very busy Delaire Graf in … Continue reading January 2018 – so it must be South Africa – Part 3