borgia bull wine tasting night.

recently i was lucky enough to win a wine tasting evening with nottingham based borgia bull. imagine my excitement when i was told i'd won an evening packed with wine and food from around the world for myself and nine friends? hosted by nottingham rugby player and foodie rupert cooper, the evening was a taste of his new venture into hosting private catering and wine tasting in the comfort of your own home. 

all set for my very own (and very fuss free) get together with friends, all i had to do was arrange the table and chairs. next thing i know, rupert was stocking my fridge up with fine wines, arranging olives on the table and firing up the oven to finish off his freshly prepared food.

pens poised, we were taken through the basics of detecting a wine's alcohol percentage, what makes it dry or sweet, the different ways of fermentation and types of grapes. things got pretty competitive in the as we tried the first wine and tried to guess which one it was from the three possible descriptions. 

alongside this, we had to be on the ball with the general wine quiz that was going on. did you know that sparkling wine was first made in england? and that dom pérignon was a monk? or what language "sláinte" is the way to say cheers?

first up on the menu was roasted peppers, stuffed with balsamic goats cheese, pine nuts, parsley and basil, along with beetroot houmous and pitta breads. perfect sharing food which certainly got good reviews from the veggies! clear plates and on with the wine tasting!

we moved from light aperitif wines onto white wines, before the second platter of jerk pork fillet and coleslaw served on a giant flat bread. this was again a brilliant way to enjoy finger food as a group - tearing off a little bread and rolling up the pork with crunchy coleslaw.

next onto a bold fruity red with thai beef skewers and a cucumber pickle. the platter was another delicious pairing of fresh, tangy flavours.

in all, a fantastic night (although you can tell by my knowledge that i didn't win) full of great food, wine and company. i did learn a lot that i've applied to my wine choices since, but i was never going to win against my friend who took a trip to the vineyards of new zealand this year! however, i can vouch that the food gets a double thumbs up from me! 

thank you to rupert for being such a brilliant host - i definitely couldn't have handled serving tasty and thoughtful food, keeping our glasses topped up and being patient with a group of chattering ladies.

watch this space and find out more on the borgia bull twitter! :)