Posted by james.reina on August 26th, 2010 | Be the first to comment »
Another quarter, another Big Wine Dinner. This time we invite you to attend our second one. After the great success of the first dinner where some fantastic foods were matched up with some interesting and very appetising wines, we will once again be venturing into the realms of great three course, Hotel du Vin kitchen-work and lovely vibrant wines.
This time round we will be reversing the task set out before us, starting out by suggesting the wines to be served on the night and asking the kitchen to come up with food matches with the esteemed assistance of the sommelier team (who shall once again be offering a representative for the evening to explain their choices).
pic: winedin.com
For those of you who attended the first one, I think you will agree it was a lovely evening of great food and company, washed down with some tasty Chenin Blanc, Syrah and Muscat. As the wines have not been selected yet I will ask for preferences to be tweeted for the starter and main wines. Would you prefer a white or red starter or main? Just drop us a line on @geekwinething. Dont worry if you arent bothered, its just interesting to see what people prefer. Also if you have an opinion let us know if you think it would be good to know the menu and the wines before the evening.
So, we look forward to seeing you all once again on Tuesday 21st Sept at between 7 and 7.30 in the Balfour Room for some meet and greet.
As always, any questions regarding allergies or anything else please either tweet us or email at james.reina@gmail.com.
GeekWineThing team
Posted by james.reina on August 4th, 2010 | Be the first to comment »
Ladies and Gentlemen, we cordially invite you to attend Hotel du Vin Brighton’s Balfour room on Tuesday 17th August at 8pm to help address the ongoing dilemma which exists in the consciousness of wine drinkers all around the world. The dilemma which can force wine consumers to shell out more than they need to, on occasions, and can also trick good folk like you and us into spending less but regretting it. ‘What is this dilemma?’ I hear you cry in sheer desperation. To champers or not to champers?
Wine with a bit of sparkle in has generally become more and more en vogue in recent years, due in some part to the improved affordability of this once super-premium style of drink. What used to be solely for the high society, politicians, royalty and anyone else living in a gated mansion with a groundskeeper and butler, has now become all things to all people. It has transcended the class barriers which once so perfectly encapsulated it and has come out the other end better for it, as producers compete for the all important mid price market share (£8-16).
So with this in mind Geek Wine Thing will present to your goodselves ‘Sparkling Wine Thing’. The aim will be for us to maybe help debunk some of the common myths associated with Champagne and Sparkling Wines and to put on show and taste a selection of fizz that will help us to discern the differences in style of a lot of these sparkling wines. Additionally, after much haranguing at Geek Wine Towers in the boardroom, we shall be tasting these wines blind in the first instance and discussing the merits of each before divulging the identity. I trust this will add a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ (quite literally) to the evening and make the experience all that more subjective for the attendees.
With all this in mind, it remains for us to say come along and join the fun as we get bubbly. Tickets are same price and available at the top of the page as per usual. Any questions fire them to me at james.reina@gmail.com
We look forward to seeing you there and bring along as many probing questions about the subject (or any other wine related matter) as you want, we are there to share our knowledge!
Geek Wine Team
Posted by james.reina on July 5th, 2010 | Be the first to comment »
Surely July is mid-summer? I dont know about you, but it certainly feels as though for once we have gotten away with a pretty good summer so far! (fingers crossed it continues). In which case, Geek Wine Thing will be trying to find some refreshing lighter styles of wine that would go down a treat at the beach/festival/garden party/barbecue etc…
So for our Summer Wine Thing we will be rolling out 8 wines that we feel either do a good job of refreshing those parts that are hard to reach, or offering a slightly different stance on the lighter end of the vinus spectrum.
In all honesty I’ve never been a big fan of lighter reds or rose wines but I have had my mind changed recently by a few which we will crack open , imbibe and discuss. As for the white wines, lets just say we have a couple of interesting summer numbers that will certainly appeal.
We do hope you can come along to our mid-summer tasting. As usual for our Balfour Rooms based meets, there will be 22 tickets available at 20 GBP each, and if you have any queries please drop me a line james.reina@gmail.com.
For your diaries the next events following this one will be 17th August and 21st Sept (next big wine thing dinner). See you there!
Photo: Amonja
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Posted by danny.hope on May 20th, 2010 | 1 Comment »
June will be all about the food and wine. We will be cordially inviting you to attend a wonderful evening of good food and fine wine. The theme of the evening will simply be food and wine matching. Three courses lovingly prepared by the Hotel du Vin Head Chef and his team will be complemented by some exquisite wines chosen to match the food by the Geek Wine Thing team. A food and wine face off, if you will, but with the ultimate aim of marriages made in culinary heaven.
pic: winedin.com
This special evening will be hosted by previous Geek Wine Thing hosts James, Fergus and Mona, with Phil (General Manager) and one or two others present to make your evening a one to remember.
The menu will be set and there will be a vegetarian one on offer as well. If anyone has any specific food allergies or any specifications that the kitchen need to know about please let me know at james.reina@gmail.com.
In the meantime if there are any other questions feel free to either tweet away or send me an email.
Posted by james.reina on April 26th, 2010 | Be the first to comment »
Another month, another Geek Wine Thing. I start this blog by introducing a new method of naming our illustrious monthly gatherings, from now on each ‘Geek’ Wine Thing will be known as (Adjective) Wine Thing to make life easier in referring to past ‘things’, future ‘things’ and proposed ‘things’. The event is still affectionately known as Geek Wine Thing but this will facilitate a rather spiffing reference method. So we shall commence with the month of May 2010 and what will be ‘Italian Wine Thing’ as opposed to “that Geek Wine Thing we did in May 2010 where we all tried lots of Italian wines”.
Vini Italiani. Perche I Vini Italiani? Roughly translated as Italian wines, why Italian wines? Wine in all its forms owes pretty much everything to the Romans who came, saw, conquered and got bloody pissed doing it. They were the forefathers for our modern day oenological consumption, so I guess it should be important to see what their great, great, great, great, great etc. grandchildren are up to in the vineyards and wineries of Italy.
Now I am as guilty as anyone else in having a rather blinkered opinion of Italian wines that was formed off the back of a Sicilian father who fed me rather boring one dimensional tannic monsters. You either got a Chianti, a Valpolicella or one of them weirder named ones that you didn’t fancy ‘cos you hadn’t heard of them before. As for whites well don’t get me started, well alright get me started and then finished after two short words..Pinot, and then Grigio.
In the last 2 years though I have started to realise that Italian wines are quite possibly the most exciting wines that we have yet to discover. There is something for everyone. With the realisation that they too can produce Cabernet based ‘super’ wines without appellation control and charge in excess of 50 GBP per bottle for it, the Italians have taken to widening their portfolio. They have been searching out ancient grape varietals that have for so long sat dormant or growing wild in some moustachioed, beret wearing pensioners garden/land in deepest darkest Umbria. These searches have dug up some truly delightful grape varieties that offer something different and prove that the Italians really do have winemaking in their genetic make-up.
So please do come with us on a little trip down adventure alley or learning lane if you will. In a similar format to our Spanish soiree, we shall be having 4 whites and 4 reds and some chit-chat and sampling hosted by myself and Fergus.
So don your smartest Gucci, wear your pongiest perfume, drape your jumper over your shoulders and rev up your Vespa (after consuming some Gnocchi and Pesto). Tickets now available places limited to 22. Any questions feel free to either tweet away or send me an email to james.reina@gmail.com.
‘A pronto’ as they say in Italian or see you soon!
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Posted by james.reina on March 30th, 2010 | Be the first to comment »
So here it is, at last a chance to indulge in Roman style oenological excess, obviously without the toga’s and the gratuitous carnal behaviour, ahem!
Geek Fine Wine Thing has arrived, Tuesday 20th April at 8pm in the Laroche Tasting Rooms at Hotel du Vin, 42 sterling pounds per head.
Be prepared to be taken on a worldwide journey of Fine Wine by our host Mona Khalife, Head Sommelier at Hotel du Vin. We have listened to attendees and we have answered with a chance to taste examples of Fine Wine from all four corners. White, Red and Dessert wines will be on show on the night. This will be a night NOT to be missed as Mona delves into the depths of her cellar to extract some corkers (pardon the pun). French classics, Californian stonkers, Italian Masterpieces, New World wonders, boy am I looking forward to this! as I hope you are too.
Places are limited to 12 as we will be staging this in the tasting room to get the full effect. Please book early to avoid disappointment!
These wines will be crackers and with the helpful guidance of an authentic French head sommelier to tell us a little about them and their style and why they are so bloody expensive, I am sure a great night will be had by all.
Posted by james.reina on January 30th, 2010 | 1 Comment »
For the second instalment in Geek Wine Thing’s world tour 2010, we shall be rocking out with some Spaniards.
Spain has long been a bastion of supremely classical red wine with its well established and classified region of Rioja. Over the last 30 years though, new generations of wine makers have sought to produce outside of the Rioja region and prove that Spain can also join the pack of bright new things.
Rioja Vineyard
Regions such as Bierzo, Ribera del Duero, Priorat, La Mancha, Ribeira and Valdepenas have all been producing quality fine wines for some years under the radar while Rioja hogs the limelight. In the February instalment of Geek Wine Thing it is our intention to pit the bright new things against the old classics. A selection of 2 classic red Rioja’s and 2 classic whites produced by Riojan’s against 2 reds and whites from the new regions will allow us to compare and contrast the styles and nuances of Spanish wine in the 21st Century. Be prepared for some fantastic wines.
Join us for what will prove to be a mouth watering spectacle, quite literally! Once again our venue will be the Hotel du Vin as we ensure the surroundings best match the task at hand.
Posted by james.reina on December 21st, 2009 | Be the first to comment »
The Geek Wine Thing returns, with a blockbuster Malbec tasting session to be held at Hotel Du Vin’s ‘Balfour Room’ amidst the opulence of a superb venue.
We will begin what will be an exciting year of tastings, with an evening of Argentine discovery. To be hosted by the manager of Majestic Wine Warehouses in Brighton, Fergus De Wit, whose dry and honest style of wine education will offer an open and sociable experience.
Why Malbec? Why not! Malbec has slowly become the grape of choice for consumers as its Argentine roots spread worldwide and offer complex and affordable fine wine experiences. With dark fruits and heady savoury experiences amidst tasting notes for Malbec, it can hold its own against such classics as Bordeauxs and Rhone Valleys whilst offering the new world consumer an upfront taste to satisfy the most demanding of palates. Argentine winemakers have been perfecting their styles across the Mendoza area and have slowly discovered the powerful impact that location and altitude can have on their beloved grape.
It provides us with an opportunity to taste and learn more about this exciting grape and discover those producers who are really making a name for themselves with award winning examples and award winning methods.
We hope you can join us on January 19th 2010 for an evening of tasting and education and general wine chat, and welcome back the Geek Wine Thing. Places are limited as the venue can only hold a few, so be quick to sign up.
Malbec elsewhere
