ROME: “Al Bric” – A bric-à-brac of random food.

Cheesy Wonderfulness!

Al Bric just off of Campo dei Fiori in Rome is an enoteca I have walked past for four years of my life longing to go in, lured perhaps by the fantabulous selection of ultra-mature oozy French cheeses, crumbly Italian “stagionati”, the dusty collection of prize vintage wines vying for position in the window from Pétrus and  Mouton Rothschild to some Amarone that would knock your socks and feet off… I had never actually set foot in the place though until this week when I finally convinced Francesco that spending €15 for a glass of wine was just plain intelligent.

Domaine les Aphillanthes at La Trouvaille, Soho

I took a few folk from the Rendez-Vous Francais de Londres to a wine-tasting at my favourite Frenchy hangout in central London, La Trouvaille… This particular wine-club evening was themed on biodynamic wines from the Côtes du Rhône, showcasing specifically a selection from a small domaine by the name of Les Aphillanthes, run by husband and wife duo Daniel and Helène Boulle who got into biodynamic viticulture after discovering that their son suffered strong allergies which this kind of vine growing could prevent.

Wining in London – the new Social Network

I moved to London 6 months ago after a 5 year absence swanning around Italy (swanning purposefully I might add) and then basking in the Surrey countryside. London is a scary city if you don’t know many people. For all its 8 million or so inhabitants and frenetic life pace, its damned hard to actually meet people. Facebook, twitter, etc. are all brilliant for following what your ex roommate in New Jersey is doing on her holidays, or knowing what so-and-so you were in Math class with is eating for lunch, but really, how social is it? Not a great deal. I didn’t see my nightlife getting any more glamorous thanks to a status update.

Divine Wine Hotel – The Yeatman, Portugal

As if I didn’t enjoy drinking the stuff enough, stunning new hotel The Yeatman has now opened on the banks of the undulating Douro river at the heart of the vibrant city of Porto which not only offers to educate you in wine, open your senses to wine, explore the tastes of wine but also bathe in wine (Caudalie Vinotherapie Spa - opening soon!), sleep in vats of the stuff (empty, of course), walk through the vineyards from whence the wine comes and generally enjoy a completely delectable wine experience at the heart of one of the most exciting emerging wine destinations: sunny northern Portugal.

Jedi Nights at Gordon’s Wine Bar

Continuing my foray into the world of internet dating… its amazing how fast two humans can arrange a second “date” once they’ve discovered a mutual affection for lightsabers (note: this is not an innuendo – I really am talking about Jedi techy stuff here).

So, not quite the Mos Eisley cantina, but dark, stuffy and sufficiently cavernous to pass for a distant Tatooine cousin, the Gordon’s Wine Bar near Embankment station was the setting for an evening of too much (good) wine, too much (good, smelly) cheese but just the right amount of good conversation.

La P’tite Folie – Edinburgh à la française

I may be a distant descendant of the Pictish warriors that made up Clan Gunn, and my mother might hail from the more insalubrious districts of Glasgow, but this couldn’t stop the Jamieson family venturing as far as Scotland’s capital only to wind up lunching in a Breton restaurant, La P’tite Folie. There we were, falling over ourselves to impress the waiter with our gutteral “r” rolling, making those knowledgable grunts of satisfaction only fine connoisseurs can muster as we perused the wine list and freezing our backsides off as we’d been placed by the front door.

La Trouvaille – A real find in Soho

A friend of mine introduced me to La Trouvaille in trendy Newburgh Quarter a few months ago and since then, I seem to have wound up here once every two weekends, as if a large magnet lay at the heart of Carnaby Street and I was dressed in metal.

A slice of France in the heart of London there is nothing phoney or twee about this cosy retreat. The staff are all French, the wine list is serious, the food is simple and good with proper French dishes and they do a lot to promote organic wines from the South West regions of France through organised wine tasting evenings which are always very well attended.

Polpo – A Slice of Venice in London

Polpo touts itself as a Venetian bacaro in London. I’ve never been to Venice, so far be it for me to say how authentic it may or may not be, but frankly it looks just like an enoteca to me… It serves the Italian equivalent of tapas, “cicheti” the kind of small, taster dishes you’d find in any good wine bar in the major Italian cities.

The place is always buzzing and you can’t book, just bowl up and don’t expect to find a quiet table. The one really authentic Italian element to this place is the noise level, and that’s without the massive family christening parties with screaming babies.

Gusto Restaurant and Wine Bar – ROME

Residing in a fascist-era former government building behind the sleek, minimalist Ara Pacis exhibition space Gusto occupies several buildings on various floors, more of a brand concept than just a restaurant, combining chic Italian style with a laid-back dining atmosphere, intimacy and good modern Italian cuisine. What’s the catch? The expensive prices. The food is good, but not deserving of a price-list more akin to a high-end eatery or set-lunch michelin star menu. Plus the wines by the glass in the restaurant start at 8 euros, despite the fact that many bottles on the menu are affordable and you can get a very good glass of wine almost anywhere in Italy for half of that.

Bartaruga Wine Bar – ROME

This is the kind of hip and quirky little bar you’d find anywhere from London, via Berlin to Reykjavik. It’s not quite pub, but not yet poncey wine bar, and has enough style behind it to merit an insert in a cool travel magazine. The only difference being that here, in the heart of one the world’s greatest wine producing countries, in a city that by rights should have quirky cool bars coming out of its ears, this one feels itself to be so unique and special it can serve you a mediocre quality, piddly sized glass of Montepulciano for 12 euros and keep a straight face. Oh and you have to ask to get a small bowl of soggy peanuts to go with it.