Our pick of the top wine-related things to see and do during the month of November
Eat Here: Tillingham Vineyard
Keeping with the natural wine theme, head over to Sussex where Tillingham Vineyard has launched a new lunch menu alongside its usual a la carte offering on Fridays.
Served from midday to 2pm and priced at £20 for two courses or £25 for three, the menu changes weekly depending on what produce is at it’s best and what takes chef Tom’s fancy. Expect dishes such as Duck leg, spelt, pickles and sesame (pictured) and Marrow, sheeps curd and herbs.
Book a table at Tillingham.com
Drink this: Terlingham Gin
Jackie Wilks who runs Terlingham Vineyard in Folkestone, Kent, with her sisters, spoke about this latest project for the natural wine advocates in a recent episode of The English Wine Diaries.
“We wanted to bring the joy and the beauty of the vineyard to people in a different way… so we’ve crafted a very special gin, using our award-winning Bacchus wine as the “magic ingredient,” she says.
Partnering with Rebel Distillers, the have launched a small batch, classic dry gin and features traditional juniper alongside local botanicals and their own bacchus, to add a delicate sweetness and notes of elderflower. Finally they add a touch of honey, which is also harvested on site at Terlingham.
Terlingham Bacchus Dry Gin, £36.50 from terlinghamvineyard.co.uk
Celebrate this: International Sherry Week
Sherry is a traditional Christmas day staple for many a British household but while the smell and taste of the sweet cream sherry you pick up in the supermarkets may well conjure festive feelings, we employ you to try something different this year.
International Sherry Week, from November 8 – 14 2021, is the ideal time to try out different types, with myriad tastings, talks, masterclasses, pairings and guided cooking experiences taking place. And if a straight sherry isn’t you’re thing, dry styles make a great base for cocktails.
Visit sherry.wine/sherryweek to find out more.
Read this: Oz Clark on Wine, Your Global Companion
Oz Clarke is back with with yet another fast-paced, informative and witty romp around the world of wine. Crammed with his encyclopaedic knowledge and personal tastes, it explores the grape varieties key to the world’s major wine styles, the vineyards and regions where a vast trove of wine treasure lies waiting for discovery and where wine is seeing its best success in our warming world – including, of course, England.
From Aconcagua to Okanagan, and from Patagonia to east Yorkshire, he unveils there to find the world’s best wines, as well as his favourite fizz favourite fizz: from the delights of Dom Pérignon to England’s new darlings from Dorset and the South Downs.
Oz Clarke on Wine, Your Golden Companion is out now, rrp £30.
Go here: The South of England Agricultural Society Winter Fair
Returning to the SEAS showground in Ardingly, West Sussex, on November 20 and 21, this annual winter fair is set to kick-start the festive season in style! Family activities include Santa’s grotto, a giant snow globe, music and a funfair, as well as workshops including wreath making, kids festive crafts and chocolate decoration sessions.
Food and drink connoisseurs can taste their way around the food halls and stands, and purchase locally-made Christmas puddings, artisan spirits, wines and liqueurs, chocolates, cheeses, homemade jams and chutneys. It’s the perfect place to get started on all that Christmas shopping.
Tickets cost £6.75 for adults, £5.85 for concessions and kids under 16 go free (suggested donation £1). Book at seas.co.uk.
