Monday, May 13th: Arrived in London fresh from our tour of the Rhone. Deborah and I are staying at an old friend’s house in Kentish Town for a couple of nights.
Tuesday, May 14th: To Canada House in Trafalgar Square for the annual promotional tasting of Canadian wines from Ontario, BC and Nova Scotia. Twenty-one wineries were showing their wines to the English wine trade and restaurateurs. Delighted to catch up with my old friend Chris Coletta from Okanagan Crush Pad. Also got introduced to SpearHead Winery from BC, owned by Marina and Bill Knutson.
Tony Holler of Poplar Grove
Adam Lowy of Cloudsley
Drea Kaiser
Ilya and Nadia Senchuk of Leaning Post
Norm Hardie
Wanted to lunch at Lina Store’s restaurant in Greek Street, Soho, only to find it shut. We walked down Dean Street past my old favourite, Quo Vadis, where my father took me as a boy.
Quo Vadis
Then past Noble Rot on Greek Street, so we decided to eat there – and compare it to the original Noble Rot in Lamb’s Conduit Street, where we are booked for dinner tonight at 7 pm.
We dined with our hostess Carole, our nephew Jeffrey and Livia Prior, the widow of my closest friend Michael, in London. Started with the customary bottle of champagne (Mike and I would always drink champagne whenever we got together.)
We all ordered fish dishes for I chose a bottle of Champalou Vouvray 2022.
Noble Rot has a spectacular wine cellar, as well as a host of amusing items on its walls.
Wednesday May 15th: Our BA flight from Heathrow to Toronto was a pleasure! We were kicked up to Business Class which made the flight more tolerable. In the lounge we sampled these wines:
Lounge wines
On board, I availed myself of the sparkling, white and red wines (but not the port).
BA menu
About half an hour before landing, my phone slipped out of my hand and slid under the footrest (there was an inch gap where it met the floor). Tried as I might I could not retrieve it and we had to wait till all the passengers alighted and an obliging steward took a wire coat hanger and eventually fished it out.
Rosie gave us a royal welcome when we Ubered home from the airport.
Friday, May 24th: International Chardonnay Day.
Had lunch with Chuck Byers and winemaker Bruce Nicholson at Carpaccio in Niagara Falls. Ordered a bottle of Jackson-Triggs Chardonnay. In the evening, we were invited to Meg and Phils for a Chardonnay Day celebration with BBQ fare.
Also tasted this week: Tawse Cabernet Franc Grower’s Blend 2020, Sirmontagu Côtes du Rhône 2021, Malivoire Vivant Rosé 2022, Little Engine Pinot Noir 2020.
