May 13th, 2011 by oscar

* Pan fried Chorizo in red wine & rosemary

* Spinach & Ricotta Frittata w’ cherry tomato

* Chicken a la plancha w’ piri piri

* Seasame Seed Falafels w’ hummus

* Lamb Tagine w’ toasted almonds

* Breaded Prawns w’ lime mayo

& Lots more

Also —Dark Choc Flourless Brownie

Snickers Cheesecake

Mint Crisp Cheesecake

Frangelico Dessert Martini

May 12th, 2011 by oscar

We have been neglecting ‘ Wine of the month ‘ for a while now & have been scolded by some customers !! so , with renewed energy we have decided to bring you a very special wine from our list , we absolutely LOVE this wine , even though truthfully from a wine list Italian wine would not be our first choice , probably more because Italians I think show great respect for Wine & drink it mostly when eating, whereas we like to pop a cork & enjoy at any time ; ), but we did do a very interesting taste test on an Italian Chianti one evening you should try it out if you find yourselves with an Italian wine that you don’t particularly like when you open first.

We got a customer to blind taste the Chainti without eating & she hated it, we then gave her a small cracker & cheese , got her to taste the very same wine & the result was astounding , she adored the wine!!! & would not believe it was the same one , so our rule of thumb since then when drinking Italian wines in particular it’s always best to eat too.

Try it & let us know if you agree

Anyway , back to’ Wine of the Month ‘

This is a very smooth Spicy wine with a very long finish , as it explains below It is a wine level between the Valpolicella & Amarone and considering that Amarone is not easy to get below €60.00 this is a fantastic wine for the price & that’s the reason we have decided to make it this months Wine . Try it out I promise you won’t be disappointed : )

‘Ripasso‘ literarily means ‘revision‘, is an old technique used byValpolicella winemakers to enrich the normal Valpolicella wine with the flavors of the Amarone. After harvest in September, the best grapes are dried for four months before they are processed to become Amarone, normal grapes are vinified soon after harvest to make the normal Valpolicella. At the beginning of February, the five months old Valpolicella wine is put on the grape skins left at the end of the Amarone making process so that they can get some of the flavor of the Amarone. The resulting ‘ripasso’ Valpolicella is a medium bodied wine which stands between the normal Valpolicella and the Amarone.

Following fermentation, the wine is aged for just over a year in a mixture of large oak and small, French oak barrels prior to bottling. Deep colour, restrained and concentrated nose with perfumes of fresh and dried cherries, a hint of spiced fruit compote and good depth of cherry and chocolate on the palate which comes from the dried grapes. A lovely balance between concentrated, juicy fruit and just the right amount of structure supporting it