On a hot summer’s day, there are few things quite as refreshing as a cold glass of white wine. When we went to The Quality Chop House in Farringdon, it was roasting. The hottest day of the year, in fact, and as much as I would have liked to indulge in a ‘kick-you-in-the-teeth-red’, as my husband has decided to call our ‘style’ of red wines, it was just too darn hot.
During our recent – and utterly outstanding – meal at The Quality Chop House in Farringdon, we enjoyed two fabulous white wines which quenched our thirst and offered us something else to contemplate besides the fantastic food.
Yesterday I was lucky enough to be invited to a barrel tasting at Ridge Vineyards in Cupertino, California. Ridge is located near the top of Monte Bello Ridge up in the Santa Cruz Mountains – thus the current name of the winery, Ridge, and the name of their most special wine, Monte Bello. It was started in 1885 and made its first vintage in 1892 under the Monte Bello Winery label.
Vouvray is a region in the Loire Valley where the majority grape produced is Chenin Blanc which is used to make everything from sparkling wine to dessert wines, including the region’s namesake Vouvray. Vouvray is made with different levels of sweetness, usually indicated on the label: Sec, Demi-Sec, Moelleux and Doux – Sec being dry and Doux being the sweetest.