I have just returned from my reconnaissance trip to North East Italy feeling utterly stunned by the beauty of the scenery, the quality of the wines, the exquisite food and the customary, legendary warmth of the Italians. We will be staying in the quite spectacular and historic town of Bassano del Grappa. Based in a…(Read More)
I have just got back from my reconnaissance trip to Galicia and have been absolutely wowed by this part of Spain. The Atlantic coastline is rugged and diverse and as you head inland, you discover verdant scenery, forests, amazing river valleys and a host of fabulous wines that are waiting to be discovered. Our tours…(Read More)
Click here to read what my clients said about this tour Over three tours during Spring 2017 and two in Spring 2018 we enjoyed wonderful hospitality, a lot of laughter, the abundance and flavour of Sicilian food, and best of all discovered the range and quality of Sicilian wine. The tours commenced on Wednesday afternoon…(Read More)
Click here to read what my clients said about this tour Our two Provence tours in 2018 took place under largely blue skies, with the exception of a couple of days in June of unseasonable rain. On both tours we gained agreat insight into the wines and cuisine of this beautiful area, the quality of…(Read More)
Cigales
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More glorious sunshine greeted us for our final full day of tastings, lunches and dinners. A packed day was in store but with a relatively small amount of travelling. Our destination was the lesser known DO Cigales – a town just a quick 20 minutes north of Valladolid. Historically, this area used to be a…(Read More)
In the Pink
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Fliss, Tim’s wife is writing today’s blog. Every local we meet says “this weather is very unusual”, and as an absence of photos with blue skies and people wearing sunglasses attests, we are braving some decidedly English weather at the moment. Luckily the forecast for Friday and Saturday looks much better. At Mirabeau…(Read More)
A second intrepid group have headed out to Aix, to explore this fabulous region. Despite some showers, we headed out to l’Opéra restaurant again, for another night of innovative Provençal cuisine, and delicious wine. A similar menu to our meal back in April, but a new dish added some extra excitement.  …(Read More)
Usually Tim’s tours end with a final night dinner, at which we reflect on our experiences over a lovely meal and some final samples of the region’s wine. On this tour, because of the lateness of the return flights, we had a bonus trip on Sunday. On the roof terrace of stylish Gostilna…(Read More)
On Saturday we visited the Vipava Valley, in glorious sunshine and increasing heat. Like Goriska Brda, Vipava is in the Primorska region and is probably the hottest and sunniest wine growing area in Slovenia, as the Bora wind which can whip down the valley at 200+km/hour will clear clouds away. My group visited…(Read More)
Brda is Slovenian for hill, and on Friday we headed west to the Goriska Brda region, which borders the Collio and Colli Orientale regions of Italy. The history of this region is of conquest and shifting borders, though I imagine for the majority of the local peasantry whether their feudal overlords were (among others) the…(Read More)