A Standard wine bottle holds 0.75 litre (750ml) = the equivalent of 1 standard wine bottle
A Magnum wine bottle holds 1.5 litres (1500ml) = the equivalent of 2 standard wine bottles
A Jeroboam wine bottle holds 3 litres (3000ml) = the equivalent of 4 standard wine bottles
A Rehoboam wine bottle holds 4.5 litres (4500ml) = the equivalent of 6 standard wine bottles
A Methuselah wine bottle holds 6 litres (6000ml) = the equivalent of 8 standard wine bottles
A Salmanazar wine bottle holds 9 litres (9000ml) = the equivalent of 12 standard wine bottles
A Balthazar wine bottle holds 12 litres (12000ml) = the equivalent of 16 standard wine bottles
A Nebuchadnezzar wine bottle holds 15 litres (15000ml) = the equivalent of 20 standard wine bottles

We’ve all heard stories of people getting a black eye from an unruly flying champagne cork, but definitely do be careful! The record for longest cork flight was set in New York and shot up an impressive 177ft 9 inches, which shows an impressive force behind the cork of roughly 8 times the pressure of earth’s atmosphere at sea level

If a wine you thought you really would like doesn’t taste as good as you wanted, have a think about how hydrated you are, if you are dehydrated you lose the ability to taste as well as if you rehydrate yourself well beforehand.

To “Toast” actually refers to a tradition of ancient Rome, by dropping a piece of toast in a glass of wine was believed to rid it of any impurities, to do this while pouring somebody else’s wine showed them great respect.

There are roughly 250 Calories in a glass of wine, This is just on average! Reds are slightly more calorific than the whites but not by far. The sweeter or more alcoholic the wine the more the calories.

If you’re interested in the health benefits of red wines – the particular reds to be drinking are Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Syrah. For those who prefer a white wine – studies show that the Muscat grape has a similar level of resveratol to Pinot Noir giving it similar cholesterol reducing characteristics.

I am often asked by friends, family, colleagues and customers “what the MOST important thing to remember is when looking for wine – is it the vintage? Grape? Producer? Alcohol or closure?” Answer: None, the most important thing when looking for any wine is simple – that you like it.

a balmy evening….8 gins ….excellent host = a potent cocktail!

The colourful display of Harveys extensive and eclectic range of spirits by the Brewery Shop counter always delights the eye. Harveys purposely don’t stock the most popular brands as they are readily available in the supermarkets so we aim to offer those customers who are searching for something a little special.
These exotic bottles shout out to be sampled— so we thought we’d ask spirits expert extraordinaire and Lewes resident, Mark Ridgewell, to host an evening devoted to the delights to be found in a bottle of GIN.

He kindly allowed us to hold it in his splendid modern house which lends itself perfectly to small gatherings.
It was a terrific evening—Mark tells a good story and we learnt about the origins of ‘on the wagon’ ‘dutch courage’ and how gin went from the gutters in the 18th century to become the essential ingredient in the world’s most famous and glamorous cocktails.

History lesson over, our attention turned to the eight glasses in front of us. Using Gordons as a familiar benchmark Mark took us through a selection he’d chosen from Harveys to demonstrate the variety to be found in the gins using different botanicals and ingredients. These gins were: Zuidam £25, Tanqueray £19.24, Plymouth £26.83, Hendricks £30.86, Blackwoods £19.74, The Botanist £27.71, Chase Williams £35.17.

For anyone who’d like further information on gins you can download a leaflet on this and other spirits via his website: www.tasteandflavour.co.uk.
Mark’s wife Jenny also runs Villa Events—a sort of modern day salon! www.villaevents.wordpress.com

We hope to hold another tasting later in the year.

The Clos Mont Blanc Syrah, Pinot Noir and the Vallemayor Rioja

Reserva were particular  favourites.

These events are always great fun and after a tapas supper we ended the evening with the traditional quiz.   The winners, Nicki Smith, Chris Dixon, Adrian and Gill Heft were very impressive with their knowledge of Spain and their  excellent score of 18 out of 20 meant they each carried home a bottle of very superior wine!

In an immaculately clean, scratch, dust  microbe free glass – fizzy wine won’t bubble! Sparkling wine needs these impurities to release its fizz. We would feel it in our mouths but not see it in the glass.

Never let someone else’s expertise of one particular area bother you, in wine it will never be possible to know everything as it is always changing – for example Italy alone has around 1700 different registered and non registered native grape varieties!  It would be a challenge to master a fraction of those, so find an area you are particularly interested in and enjoy finding out more about it, then at the next party or tasting you can freely show off your passion and love for that region.

Fridges are too cold for white wine!  Even on the warmest setting most fridges cool whites to the level of masking the delicate aromas and flavours.  Instead of drinking straight from the fridge try taking it out for half an hour or so. The trick to keeping it cool in the glass is to only pour a small amount, and top up as the wine goes down with the cooler liquid from the bottle

Decanting can be a challenge to time right, if you want an excellent red to open up properly or you don’t have time to give it at least 24 hours try this little trick, plain and simple – decant the wine more than once! you won’t damage it, you can’t ruin it – but by increasing the amount of air circulation by pouring the wine more than once you allow it to develop a little quicker

More next month!

Our wine course covered the world’s main wine regions and grape varieties  – from a sweet and delicious Late Harvest Moscatel from Chile via Australia, S. Africa , Italy,Spain and of course France including a top Nuits St Georges.  Andy’s chosen wines demonstrated the differences between old and new world styles and reminded us how tastes are completely personal; one classic French wine tasted was very old  – some people found it over the top while others loved it (so much so that one student bought the rest of our supplies!). We tried a young expensive wine which demonstrated the need for some further bottle ageing to show it at its best.

The atmosphere was always lively and got quite noisy at times when discussing the merits of a wine.

The new education room at Harveys Depot worked well -despite the bright lights (all the better to see the colour of the wine!).

“A great 8 weeks—thanks—really good”

“Really enjoyable and informal—have learnt a lot”

“will definitely recommend it to my friends!”

Our next wine course will begin on Monday, 19th September for eight weeks.  Price £110 pp wine club members; £120pp non members.  NB this includes 4 months free wine club membership.  Contact Alison to reserve your place!  alisonfield@harveys.org.uk

He told us all about the wines and the techniques involved in extracting maximum flavour for his fabulous intense reds— the Valpolicella Ripasso( £11.81),the semi sweet Recioto (£18.99) and not forgetting his two stunning Amarone wines – the Storica (£24.99) and the Fondatori(£35.49)—pricey but definitely something to buy for a special occasion!

and an Italian tasting has to include CHIANTI !!

We really couldn’t leave out Italy’s most famous wine –  so we were pleased to show three new wines that have just arrived from Villa Trasqua –  priced from £8 to £25.  Andy has been looking for a new range of Chianti for some time and he has succeeded well with these wines  - all were very well received  (and not a straw covered bottle in sight!).If you didn’t manage to come along to the evening,  do head for the Italian section in the shop and try some of these wines as we are sure you’ll enjoy them as much as those present at the tasting!