Chris is currently on a whistlestop tour of Hungarian vineyards, when he gets a chance he will be sending mini-blogs through to illustrate the unromatanic truth about touring vineyards...
3.30 am and my much needed beauty sleep is shattered by an alarm which signals the start of 36 bonkers hours on a fact finding mission to eastern Hungary,seeking out new wines for our lovely customers (and a few who are less lovely).
7.00 am - arrive Stansted and am introduced to my fellow travellers, steely-eyed to a man (and woman) with a grim faced determination to track down the very best of offerings from the vineyards of Mad.
12.00 pile into the most underpowered bus in Hungary to drive 2.5 hours into the eastern reaches of this marvellous country, a journey markedly improved by our introduction to sparkling furmint - a slightly unusual but worthy addition to the ranks of bottle fermented fizz - things are looking up.
More to follow soon....
You really should have been there………………
There are tastings and then there are tastings and last month we served up the most phenomenal Italian Masterclass in the company of Michael Palij, Master of Wine, who steered us through some of his most recent discoveries (notably a Sardinian quartet which provided all the evidence you need of the revolution taking place in the island’s vineyards and cellars).