Why Should You Buy Chateau La Conseillante Wine?

Are you starting a wine collection? Consider adding bottles from the Bordeaux-based Chateau La Conseillante winery, which over its long, distinguished history, has developed a reputation for excellence. Ideal Wine Company asks: why should you buy Chateau La Conseillante wine?

Legendary wine region

Bordeaux is one of France’s most celebrated wine-making regions. Located in the South-West of the country, people have been making wine in Bordeaux since the Roman Period. It has now become the largest wine-making region in France, producing around 700m bottles of wine every single day.

Read the article in full with Ideal Wine Company.

Burgundy Prepares For Smaller 2016 Harvest

New reports confirm that wine-makers in Burgundy are currently bracing themselves for a smaller grape harvest this year, following adverse weather conditions. Ideal Wine Company investigates what may become short in supply.

Legendary wine

Burgundy, based in Eastern France, is one of the world’s most celebrated wine-making regions. Evidence suggests that people have been producing wine there since Roman times. Burgundy’s wine-making tradition was famously shaped by Roman Catholic monasteries, who made it for religious reasons in the medieval period and over time, the region’s products became popular across the world.

Wineries in Burgundy are especially known for making dry red wines from Pinot Noir grapes. Some of the top producers of dry red wine in this region, such as Clos Saint Denis, Chambertin and Echezeaux, make bottles which you can find on Ideal Wine Company’s Burgundy wine list. But if recent reports are to be believed, it may be hard to find 2016 Burgundy vintages anywhere, due to limited supply.

Read the article in full with Ideal Wine Company.

When Are Wine Grapes Harvested?

You might want to schedule your holidays to coincide with wine grape harvesting time. During this period, you get to learn more about the wine-production process, deepening your knowledge of fine wines. To help you plan your next holiday, Ideal Wine Company asks: when are wine grapes harvested?

Rich wine cultures

Wine has been made for thousands of years. Over time, a variety of distinct wine-making cultures developed across the planet, providing you with plenty of options for wine holidays. With so many destinations to choose from, which wine region should you visit on your next getaway?

Read the full article with Ideal Wine Company.

What’s The Difference Between Sparkling Wine And Champagne?

Is Champagne a sparkling wine? What’s the difference between the two? Ideal Wine Company investigates.

Types of sparkling wine

The term ‘sparkling wine’ refers to all products which are made via secondary fermentation – the process by which wines are carbonised. But wine-makers worldwide have developed various methods for producing sparkling wine, with some regions becoming famous for these signature products.

Gradually, bodies in various sparkling wine regions established rules to govern how their signature products can be made. Therefore, Champagne is a type of sparkling wine, which is made via specific rules. Other popular types of sparkling wine include Prosecco, Cava and Cremant. Below we explain the key characteristics which define these types of sparkling wine.

Champagne

Produced in the French region of the same name, Champagne is perhaps the most famous of all sparkling wines. Champagnes can only be made from three different types of grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir. Furthermore, these sparkling wines get their bubbles via the traditional secondary fermentation process, where the carbonisation takes place inside the bottle.

You can read this article in full with Ideal Wine Company.

UK Wine Sales Reach New Heights in August

August was a ridiculously hot month, with the UK experiencing several heatwaves. Combined with the Rio 2016 Olympics between 5th to 21st August, these blistering temperatures sparked a serious rise in British wine sales, according to new figures.

Celebrating victories

Industry publication Decanter writes that this data was released by Nielsen, an information measurement firm, along with several wine retailers. Apparently, people around the country decided to break out sparkling wine to celebrate Team GB’s record success in Rio, imbibing luxurious products such as Champagne while enjoying the fabulous summer sun, which is rare for the UK.

Embracing sparkling wines

Increasingly, UK wine lovers are coming to embrace sparkling wines such as Champagne, Prosecco, Cava and Cremant. A report compiled by UHY Hacker Young, an accountancy group shows that throughout the past five years, British consumption of sparkling wine increased by a staggering 80%.

You can read the article in full with Ideal Wine Company.

How to make a Coq Au Vin

You can create a tonne of amazing dishes with wine. If you want to impress guests at your next dinner party, try whipping up Coq Au Vin. This famous French chicken-based dish is absolutely delightful when done right. Ideal Wine Company explains how.

Get experimental

If you’re not the best of cooks, stick to this recipe so you can create a good Coq Au Vin. But if you’re a natural in the kitchen, you could always try getting experimental. Although Coq Au Vin is traditionally made with Burgundy red wine, it can also be made with other French reds, or even Champagne. Ideal Wine Company sells a range of Champagnes that you could use to take this classic chicken-based dish to new levels!

Find out the ingredients you'll need on the Ideal Wine Company blog site!

Is Wine the Key to a Happy Marriage?

Over the years, various studies have indicated that wine holds a range of health benefits. New research has suggested that it could also hold the key to a happy marriage. Surely this is too good to be true? The Ideal Wine Company investigates.

Study methodology

The long-term health survey, which was recently published in the Journals of Gerontology, examined drinking patterns among older, married, American heterosexual couples. With 2,767 couples taking part, those included in the study had already been married, on average, for 33 years. Meanwhile, two thirds of those included in the research were in their first marriage.

Read this article in full at the Ideal Wine Company WordPress site. 

What is Oenology?

Oenology is the scientific study of wine production. It covers the complete wine-making process from growing grapes to promoting wine to consumers. In order to shed more light on this subject, Ideal Wine Company explains the role of an oenologist.

Working with grapes

The goal of an oenologist is to develop outstanding wines. This starts at the beginning of the wine-making process, as they are often tasked with selecting the best land for grape vineyards. Oenologists receive training on issues such as climate, soil chemistry and the fermentation process, allowing them to select the best land for grape-growing.

Information portal Wise Geek notes that oenologists are also responsible for ensuring that grape harvesting goes off without a hitch. Professionals in this field can differentiate grapes by colour and taste. This allows oenologists to ensure that grapes are picked from the vine only when they reach peak condition, so they possess the beautiful flavour needed to make great wine.

Read in full at the Ideal Wine Company WordPress site.

Hailstorms Damage Cognac Vineyards

New reports suggest that the severe weather, especially hailstorms, that recently hit France have damage vineyard production in some of the country’s grape growing regions, most notably Cognac.

Weather and wine

A region’s ‘terroir’ is vital to its ability to produce good wine. Explaining this somewhat nebulous concept, a wine importer called Valerie was quoted by Scientific American saying: “Terroir is a specific set of natural elements that all come together in harmony to produce a very specific outcome. The soil, the exposure to the sun, the drainage, the proximity to water, the fog, all of these things, they all come together in an expression that we find beautifully in the grape.”

In other words, the weather a region experiences can dramatically impact its ability to produce wine. We saw in France recently, for instance, how frost can damage winemaking grapes. The French region of Burgundy was subjected to heavy frosts this spring and this damaged the opening buds and young shoots on many of its vines, ruining the quality of some of its grapes. Estimates suggest that 46% of Burgundy’s vineyards have been damaged by more than 30%.

Hailstorms hit Cognac

Reuters reports that France experienced another bout of extreme weather, including hailstorms, at the end of May, impacting grape harvests in Chablis, Beaujolais and most notably Cognac. Based in South-West France, Cognac is known for producing Cognac Brandy. Like Champagne, Cognac must be produced according to specific rules; for instance, all Cognacs must be made from high-acidity grapes like Ugni Blanc.

A spokeswoman for the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC), the Cognac industry trade body, commented. She noted that an astonishing 27.5 millimetres of rain and almost 15 centimetres (cm) of hail dropped down on affected areas in just 15 minutes. Some wine producers, she continued, said that they saw hailstones that were 1.5cm long; roughly the size of a quail egg.

This had a devastating effect for Cognac producers. They have reported that 5,000 to 6,000 hectares, equating to 6% to 8% of their vineyards, were damaged badly by the showers and heavy hailstorms. Continuing, the spokeswoman said: “There are places where they have been 100% destroyed.”

It may be hard for grape growers in Cognac, Chablis and Beaujolais to recover. France’s biggest farming union, the Fédération Nationale des Syndicats d'Expoitants d'Agricoles, said in a statement that not only could this event restrict 2016 harvests, it could also impact future harvests. Explaining they noted: “These hail bursts ravaged many vineyards, making future harvests uncertain or impossible.”

Try our Cognac

We do not know for certain what kind of impact these hailstorms could have on Cognac production right now. Potentially however, they could damage the Cognac-making trade for years to come and that would be a huge loss, as Cognac is a brandy of the finest quality. If you want to see why so many people around the world have a passion for Cognac, purchase the Remy Martin XO Champagne Cognac from Ideal Company today, so you can sample this truly superior product! 

Veuve Release Fabulous New ‘Cocktail’ Champagne

If you’re a fan of Veuve Clicquot sparkling wine, you may be excited to learn that the firm has recently released a new Champagne which is designed to serve as a killer summer cocktail mixer!

Veuve Clicquot

Over the years, Veuve Clicquot Champagne have developed a reputation for excellence. This is because throughout its history, Veuve Clicquot has been an extremely innovative Champagne house, with its founder Madame Barb Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, setting the bar extremely high. Madame Clicquot is famous for creating the riddling table, an invention which revolutionised the Champagne industry.

Never one to live in the past, Veuve Clicquot is currently focusing on finding innovative ways to move into the 21^st Century. The business recently, for instance, launched a clever new marketing campaign to target younger drinkers, who are fast becoming one of Champagne house’s most important demographics. Drawing on Madame Clicquot for inspiration, the campaign features online videos which show why Veuve Cliquot is such a standout product.

Rich Rose Champagne

The experts at Veuve Clicquot also realise that increasingly, people aren’t just drinking Champagne straight anymore. If you find the right ingredients, this signature French sparkling wine can make a fabulous yet versatile cocktail mixer. Industry portal The Drinks Business reports that Veuve Clicquot have capitalised on this trend by releasing a new product which is designed to be a cocktail mixer.

The product is the second ‘Rich Rose’ Champagne to be launched by Veuve Clicquot and is currently on sale at Selfridges for £64.99. This is a blended rose which has been aged for at least three years before release. Veuve Clicquot has been blending roses ever since the days of Madame Clicquot herself, so the company definitely has the experience required to create a fabulous blended drink.

Champagne cocktail mixer

This current rose features 12% red wine and as far as grape content goes, it contains the same mix as the previous Rich Rose; 45% Pinot Noir, 40% Meunier and 15% Chardonnay. We should note that in both this year’s and last year’s Rich Rose, there has been more Pinot Noir to raise the product’s sugar content to 60 grams per litre. This is to increase its suitability as a mixer. Meanwhile, Veuve Clicquot’s Rich Roses include Meunier grapes to ensure the products boast “fresh, fruity and gourmand” notes.

Veuve Clicquot advises that that Rich Roses are served over ice in a wide-brimmed glass, accompanied with fruit, to ensure they provide a stunning drinking experience. Suggested ingredients for the drink include pineapple, lime, ginger and even Earl Grey Tea, to give it a unique twist! Ideal Wine Company are impressed at how Veuve Clicquot has capitalised on its penchant for innovation to create a product which is sure to help you concoct delicious summer cocktails! 

How to pair seafood and wine - Ideal Wine Company

With summer coming up, you may want to break out your seafood cook book. These lighter dishes can be perfect for the hotter summer months, especially when you team them with a really good wine. But which wines should you pair with seafood? 

Luckily for you, wine information portal Vinepair has just released an infographic which lists the 14 essential wine and seafood pairings.

The pairing depends on the flavour profile of both the wine and seafood dish in question. For instance Pinot Noir works well with Salmon because the wine stands up to the richness of the dish but Champagne goes better with dishes such as fish and chips, because the fizzy wine cuts through the oil perfectly. This signature French sparkling wine also matches with the decadence of Oysters. 

If you are partial to some fish and chips and want to try this paring for yourself, why not take a look at Ideal Wine Company’s fantastic selection of Champagnes. We supply the first rate Champagnes you need to perfectly complement your seafood this summer! 

Bordeaux’s Unique New Wine Museum Officially Opens

Ideal Wine Company previously reported that a new wine museum will be opened in Bordeaux this year. We can now reveal that this attraction, which has been dubbed the ‘Guggenheim of wine,’ has officially been opened.

Cité du Vin 

Photo: wine-searcher.com

The museum, called the Cité du Vin wine centre, opened on the 1st June 2016 after three years of construction. Set to receive more than 45,000 visitors every year, the space provides guests with an “immersive, interactive, multi-sensory experience” which explores wine cultures across the planet.

Cité du Vin was designed by French architects Nicolas Desmazières and Anouk Legendre. They gave the 13,350 m² building a curved structure which is meant to resemble the swirl of wine as it flows into a decanter. The Cité du Vin bears a strong resemblance to the iconic Guggenheim museum in Bilbao Spain, which is why it has been nicknamed the ‘Guggenheim of wine.’ New reports suggest that it looks set to be just as popular with tourists all over the world!

Star attractions

Metro has labelled the Cité du Vin a “wine theme park” and they make a good point. The Bordeaux-based space may not feature rollercoasters or merry-go rounds, but it does have a wine boat ride attraction. Basically the museum includes a 90 metre pontoon tied to the bank of the nearby Garonne River. You can take a water shuttle and travel from the museum to various Bordeaux vineyards.

But the Cité du Vin’s star attraction has to be its worldwide vineyard tour feature. The museum has 23 rooms which you can visit to “take a tour of the world’s vineyards,” offering you the chance to find out about different wine making traditions from various regions. By visiting this attraction, for instance, you can find out about why wines from Bordeaux have an excellent reputation.

Visit the museum

Tickets for the Cité du Vin provide great value. Tickets cost €20 for adults, €10 for young people and €8 for children, with kids under six entering for free. With your ticket, you can also gain access to a number of other fantastic attractions. These include a 600m² wine cellar boasting over 10,000 bottles and the panoramic Le 7 Restaurant on the site’s seventh floor.

The Cité du Vin wine centre is set to be one of Bordeaux’s most popular attractions. Known for its robust wine making tradition, Bordeaux already attracts a lot of wine enthusiasts every year. The Cité du Vin is a wine lover’s dream, boasting a range of fun, interactive attractions which are incredibly unique. No matter which kind of wine you love, you may want to check out this ‘Guggenheim of wine’ because it’s so comprehensive that it’s sure to have something that you’re destined to enjoy! 

Which country drinks the most wine?

Have you ever wondered, which countries are the biggest wine drinkers in the world? Who drinks more, wine producers like France, Italy and Spain or New World countries like the US and Argentina? 

Who drinks the most wine?

Forbes and Statists have just unlocked the answer for you with this nifty infographic showing the biggest wine drinkers in the world!

 

At 54.26 litres per capita, no one in the world drinks more wine than those living in Vatican City. The planet’s smallest country was followed in the rankings by Andorra and Croatia, at 46.26 and 44.20 litres per capita respectively. 

Of the major wine producing nations France led the rankings, with its citizens consuming 42.51 litres of wine per capita annually.

Try French wine

It’s no surprise that the French drink so much wine. The country boasts great wine producing regions, such as Bordeaux and Burgundy, so French consumers have some fantastic products to choose from on their doorstep! If you want to see why Bordeaux has such a reputation for excellence, purchase the Chateau Margaux 1986 from Ideal Wine Company. This rich, full-bodied Bordeaux red will blow you away! 

How does music improve your wine?

There’s nothing better than pouring yourself a nice glass of red in the evening and relaxing after a hard day in the office. If you really want to make the most of this post-work treat, Ideal Wine Company advises you to put on some music so you can enhance your wine drinking experience.

Enhancing the experience

Wine is a wonderfully complex drink. Different vintages possess a variety of flavour combinations, allowing you to embark on a unique journey every time you drink a new wine! You can enhance your wine drinking experience by engaging with your other senses as you consume, in order to really highlight the unique traits of your tipple. Increasingly, wine aficionados are pairing wine with music!

A number of writers, bloggers, merchants and experts are now teaming standout wines with classic tracks. Blogger Daniel Levin recently wrote a piece where he suggests bottles to drink with Prince’s greatest hits! He argued that Achaval-Ferrer's 2013 Malbec Mendoza goes well with Prince’s iconic ‘Purple Rain,’ due to the vintage’s silky smooth texture and hints of dark fruits and purple flowers.

Explaining the trend 

A recent Guardian article explains that there is a certain method to the madness of teaming wine with music. The piece states that music can serve as a “vivid and apt” way of “communicating a wine’s character and appeal,” adding that “much depends on your frame of reference.” The Guardian gives two examples of how various styles of music can express the character of different wine varietals.

The articles notes that this could apply to the overall structure of a wine. Say a vintage contains high acidity levels; the writer suggests that as the wine could be described as sharp, it could go well with high pitched music. The articles goes on to say that this could also apply to the overall feel of a wine. The writer argues that “a light, elegant, high acid wine such as Mosel Riesling really does seem to have, to me at least, spiritual kinship with a Mozart string quartet.”

Scientific evidence

There is evidence to suggest that wine really does taste better when you drink it to music. A study from experimental psychologist Professor Charles Spence, who is the Head of Crossmodal Research at Oxford University, indicates that that the link between taste and sound may be more ingrained within the human psyche than experts previously believed. 

The research found that human beings really do see sweet and sour flavours as high pitched and bitter tastes as low pitched. Spence and his partner Qian Wang found that playing low pitched music while supping on “high pitched wines,” or the other way around, can really impact how we interact with the vintage. Spence and Wang added that this research is rudimentary and doesn’t yet have the ability to shed light on key structural wine components such as alcohol level, oak, viscosity and tannins.

Try it yourself

In other words, if you consume a great vintage with the perfect song, it may be able to enhance your wine drinking experience! But how do you find the right combination? How about you do a little experimenting? If you buy the Chateau Pavie 1998, a full-bodied, powerful Bordeaux red, from Ideal Wine Company, research the vintage and see which song you think goes with this wine’s unique character! 

Buying Wines Online with Ideal Wine Company

The emergence of digital technologies have changed the way we shop. Data from Rabobank suggests that increasingly, we Brits are buying wines online. If you’re looking for a cost-effect wine e-retailer, think about coming to the Ideal Wine Company.

Selecting your vintage

Ideal Wine Company’s online service is incredibly easy to use. All you have to do is head to our website, where you can search for your chosen vintage by region. We feature bottles from some of the most celebrated wine making regions on earth, from old world places like Bordeaux and Italy to new world areas such as California and Australia. You can also find great Champagnes, Cognacs and Ports.

All of the regions featured by Ideal Wine Company are listed on the left-hand side of our website. Click on your desired region and you will be presented with the bottles produced in this area which you can buy from us. Then all you have to do is click your chosen bottle and you will be brought to a page which lists its price and features a picture of the vintage. By hovering your cursor over the picture, you can see an enlarged version of the image, which will allow you to read the bottle’s label.

Buy your wine

Once you’ve selected your vintage, you can buy it quite easily. Let’s say you wanted to purchase the Chateau Petrus 2001, a rich red Bordeaux boasting hints of vanilla, blackcurrants and truffles. Head to this wine’s page, click the ‘buy button’ and this fine vintage will be added to your shopping basket.

After you’ve filled your shopping basket, you can head to Ideal Wine Company’s ‘checkout;’ this button is listed on the left-hand side of our website. Here, you can submit your payment in order to complete your purchase. Note that when you reach the checkout you will also need to utilise our first-rate delivery service, which will ensure your chosen bottles are brought straight to your door!

You will need to know how to pay for your Ideal Wine Company purchase to complete this process. We accept three forms of payment; credit/debit card, bank transfer and cheques. Note that we accept all major credit and debit cards however, any product paid for via card must be delivered to the billing address. There is a 2.5% surcharge for credit card payments and a 3.5% charge for Amex cards, but there is no charge if you pay via debit card.

Enjoy your wine!

It really is that simple! After you have completed the process of buying wines online with Ideal Wine Company, you can sit back and relax. Once your chosen vintages have been delivered, you can crack open a bottle, pour yourself a nice glass and indulge in a fine wine your taste buds are sure to love! 

Which wines are good for Easter?

Easter’s fast approaching. Now would be a good time to think about which wines you want for the occasion. Whether having a meal with loved ones or simply enjoying an Easter egg to yourself, Ideal Wine discuss the perfect wine accompaniment.  

Pair with chocolate

You’re never too old for an Easter egg, so if you’re looking for wines to drink this Easter you might want to opt for vintages that taste amazing with chocolate. We’d suggest that you learn the key rules of pairing wine with chocolate, so you select a vintage that’ll really complement your Easter eggs.

For example the darker the chocolate, the darker your wine should be. Therefore if your Easter egg has a high cocoa content, you might want to team it with the Chateau Lafleur 1990, which you can purchase from the Ideal Wine Company. The subtle complexities of this robust Bordeaux red will highlight the rich flavours of the chocolate, providing you with a great Easter treat!

Cater to your meal

If you’re holding a family gathering this Easter, you might want to pick a wine that’ll complement your Easter Sunday meal. Some people opt for ham on this family occasion and if you’re planning to do the same, you may want to go for a Riesling-style dry white. These vintages boast enough acidity to bring out the best qualities of ham, without compromising its flavour.

But spring is the time of re-birth, so many people choose to serve lamb on Easter Sunday. If you’re planning on lamb, you may want to pair this succulent meat with wines that boast the fruity hints and acid levels required to highlight its mouth-watering flavours. Reds – especially from Burgundy or the Rhone Valley – tend to go well with lamb. We’d suggest you buy the Le Corton 2002, a rich Burgundy red, if you’re thinking of serving lamb this Easter.

Push the boat out

But this holiday only comes around once a year, so which wines should you select if you really want to push the boat out this Easter? We’d advise you to go for Champagne – this French tipple just screams luxury, making it the perfect choice if you want to celebrate this holiday with style!

If you want to find a Champagne that’ll work well for Easter, but won’t break the bank, visit the Ideal Wine Company website’s Occasion Wines Page. Here, we list the outstanding vintages you can use to ring in the special events of your life. For example, here you can find the Dom Perignon Rose 1996; this gorgeous pink sparkling wine contains a heady array of rich fruity flavours. It’s go down a treat with your family when you serve it to them this Easter! 

How Much Wine Should You Pour in a Glass?

Do you want to get the most out of all your favourite wines? If so stick around, as the Ideal Wine Company asks: how much wine should you pour in a glass?

Complex tipple

Wine boasts so much variety; it’s produced from a wide range of grapes and each type of wine contains a unique balance of wonderful flavours. For instance, if you opt for hearty Pinot Noir you might expect to pick out hints of mushroom, tobacco or caramel as your sip.

Knowledge is power; if you know about wine, you can determine how to draw out its heady mix of flavours as you drink. It’s in your best interest, for example, to pour your favourite tipple into the right glass, because this really matters. A study carried out by Tokyo Medical and Dental University scientists found that the right wine glass filters ethanol out of the product, so you can really appreciate a wine’s amazing aromas and flavours as you consume.

Pouring advice

Also, we’d advise you to ask yourself; how much wine should you pour in a glass? It may seem pointless, but this is really important. Pour too much and you won’t be able to swirl the drink, a great way of unlocking its vibrant flavours and aromas, without spilling it.

Bustle writes that most experts believe that the ideal wine serving is roughly five to six ounces. This sounds good in theory, but those five to six ounces can look very different, depending on the size and shape of glass you’re using. If you’re using smaller wine glasses you may end up pouring way too much!

As a rule of thumb, an expert at Wine Spectator suggests that a wine glass “should be no more than a third full.” This gives you plenty of room to swirl the tipple in the glass without spilling it all over your carpets! It also allows you to dip your nose into the glass and a take a good sniff, so you can enjoy your tipple’s wonderful aromas before you drink!

Test your knowledge

Now you know how much wine you should pour into your new glass, you might want to try out your knowledge by serving yourself a nice glass of red! We’d suggest you buy the Chateau Cheval Blanc 1981 from the Ideal Wine Company for your experiment. This rich, complex Bordeaux red will delight your taste buds with every sip! 

Five Tips for Choosing Wine for Your Wedding

A new study from events company Chillisauce shows that Valentine’s Day is the second most popular time of the year to propose marriage, after Christmas Eve. If you popped the question to your loved one this Valentine’s, you might want to start thinking which wines you’ll have on your big day. Here comes the Ideal Wine Company to the rescue, with five tips for choosing wine for your wedding.

Buy enough

First, you need to make sure you have enough wine for all your guests. Wine buffs estimate that you can pour six glasses of wine and eight flutes of Champagne per bottle. Multiply these by the number of guests you’re inviting and you’ll know how much wine you need for your wedding!

Check with your venue

Wedding venues can set you back a pretty penny, so you might as well get the most out of your investment. See whether they offer wine or Champagne and if they’ll include them in the price of the venue, so you can make some savings on your wedding day. If you decide on wine from your venue, make sure you taste a selection of drinks from the venue’s wine list so you can see which vintages will work best for your special day!

Think of the season

When are you holding your special day? If you’re hosting it in the colder season you might want to go for a hearty red, as they taste fabulous on a chilly winter’s night. In this instance you might want to buy the Antinori Tignanello Toscana IGT 1990 from us. Lighter, more refreshing wines are more suited to the summer, so you might want to opt for a white or a rose in this case.

Focus on the toast

When choosing wine for your wedding, make sure you include something that’s appropriate for a toast. If you learn how to give a toast and do so with an excellent Champagne, you can really set your day off right. Here, you might want to purchase the Dom Perignon 2000, which you can secure from the Ideal Wine Company for just £140 per bottle!

Pair with food

Choose the right wine when pairing it with a meal and it can highlight the cuisine. Therefore, you should use your wedding menu to guide which wines you should serve on your special day. For example if you’re wanting to pair wine and cheese and you’ve opted for a strong Camembert, put it with Champagne. The bubbles in the drink act as the perfect foil to the richness of Camembert, wiping your tongue clean so you crave another bite.

Go for the best

Your wedding is one of the most important days of your life, so you need to go for the best vintages. We’d advise you to choose wine’s from the Ideal Wine Company website’s Occasions page. With a fabulous array of luxury tipples, this page includes a number of bottles that’ll help you celebrate the special days of your life in style! 

How to Make a ‘Pomme Rose’ Cocktail

Are you looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day drink? If so you might want to try whipping up a Pomme Rose, a new take on the classic French 75 cocktail. Below, the Ideal Wine Company explains how to make this fabulously romantic drink.

Mood for love

Christmas has gone and now we’re slowly inching our way through January. But thankfully, this means we’re not that far away from Valentine’s Day – the one day of the year society sets aside to celebrate the romantic love between two partners.

Are you planning to cook a nice meal for your partner this Valentine’s Day? No romantic dish is complete without a fabulous drink to complement the subtle complexities of your cuisine. But what drink should you choose; how about you really get into the spirit of the season, break out the sparkling rose and serve your partner a Pomme Rose this Valentines?

French 75

To learn how to make a Pomme Rose, first you have to understand how to create a French 75. This famous drink was invented by barman Harry MacElhone at the New York Bar in Paris (now Harry’s New York Bar) in 1915. Legend has it that MacElhone christened his new cocktail the ‘French 75’ because it packed such a punch, that drinking one felt like being shelled by the powerful French 75 millimetre field gun.

According to Esquire, a men’s fashion and culture magazine, the French 75 is a gin-based drink. Therefore to make one you’ll need two ounces of gin.  You’ll also need one teaspoon of superfine sugar, half an ounce of lemon juice and five ounces of Brut Champagne. The Dom Perignon Brut 1993, which you can buy from the Ideal Wine Company, would work fantastically here.

Add sparkling rose

The French 75 is really easy to make. Pour all the ingredients except the Champagne into a cocktail shaker filled with cracked ice and shake vigorously. Then strain into a ‘Collins glass’ which is half-full with cracked ice and then top off the mixture with Champagne. You’ll only need to do one thing to turn a French 75 into a Pomme Rose.

Just substitute the gin and Champagne for around seven ounces of sparkling rose wine. You might want to purchase the Dom Perignon Rose 1996, a mind-blowing vintage, from the Ideal Wine Company for the occasion! Follow the same method you would use to create a French 75 (but obviously don’t top it off with Champagne) and you’ll end up with a rich, woodsy, slightly sweet cocktail that your partner will love when you serve it to them this Valentine’s Day! 

How to Make a Bellini Cocktail

If you’re looking for the perfect drink to enjoy throughout 2016, keep reading. The Ideal Wine Company reveals how to make a Bellini Cocktail.

Really refreshing

If you celebrate New Year’s Eve like a lot of us here at the Ideal Wine Company do, we bet you have a lot of Champagne stored at home right now. This is the perfect drink for ringing in the New Year, but if you don’t consume every last drop, what should you do with your extra Champagne?

You might want to use it to craft a few sumptuous Champagne cocktails! We’d suggest you try making a Bellini Cocktail – a delicious fruity drink that packs a big punch. The Bellini was invented at the famous Harry’s Bar in Venice during the 1930s or 1940s, according to About.com, and has gone on to become popular with wine enthusiasts across the world.

How to make

The great thing about the Bellini Cocktail is that it’s really easy to make. You won’t need much either – just Champagne, a peach, a blender and a Champagne flute. Then you should follow the five steps listed below:

·        Prepare the peach: The first thing you need to do is remove the stone from your peach, and cut it into small pieces.
·        Puree: This is the really important bit. Take the small chunks of peach, put them in the blender and blend at a high speed until pureed.
 
·        Spoon in: After this you need to place about four teaspoons of the peach puree into the Champagne flute.
 
·        Combine: Here’s where the Champagne comes in. Slowly top up the glass with Champagne until it’s about three-quarters full. You should wait for the bubbles to settle and stir vigorously with a bar spoon, after which you need to pour more Champagne into the glass until it’s full.
 
·        Garnish: If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you could add a garnish – although it’s not traditional to do so. You might want to opt for orange, lemon, or even lime to give your finished cocktail an extra kick.

Which Champagne?

It’s really easy to whip up a Bellini Cocktail, but you need to pick the right Champagne to make sure it turns out to be a success. You should buy the Krug 1988 form the Ideal Wine Company today if you want to ensure you have the perfect Champagne on hand to craft killer Bellini Cocktails!