Your Perfect Pairs

Your tastings will go in order of left to right. We have tailored this to hit your taste buds at the perfect times so try your best to stick to the order below. Enjoy!

GERMAN OR FRENCH RIESLING?

Your first drink of your tasting is a Riesling. This fruity wine (not sweet, as most people think - the lower the alcohol content, the sweeter the wine) has a buttery and salty feel on your tongue. Although Riesling is a traditional grape found along the Rhine river, this particular Riesling is French. Riesling was first grown in Germany in the 15th century and then in Alsace a few decades later. Riesling covers now roughly 25% of the vineyards in Alsace.

This particular Riesling has a light yellow green colour. Older Rieslings have strong mineral aromas while younger wines offer flowery notes.

A younger Riesling should be served colder (9°C - 48°F) than an older Riesling (11°C - 52°F). Riesling should be drunk after 5 years but a wine is already very good after one or two years.

Riesling grapes grow now in many locations in the US, South Africa, Australia, Bulgaria, Slovakia and beyond. Do not confuse with German Riesling which is mostly a sweet wine but can also be a dry or a sparkling wine. 

It is accompanied by Gruyere cheese.

CERTAINLY NOT SECOND BEST

The Vietti Perbacco Nebbiolo Langhe is a Barolo wine often described as having the aromas of tar and roses, and the wines are noted for their ability to age and usually take on a rust red tinge as they mature. Barolo needs to be aged for at least 38 months after the harvest before release, of which at least 18 months must be in wood. When subjected to aging of at least five years before release, the wine can be labeled a Riserva.

In the past, Barolo wines tended to be rich in tannin and for this reason, it’s best enjoyed with food. It can take more than 10 years for the wine to soften and become ready for drinking. 

It is accompanied by Pecorino cheese. Pecorino is a firm, salty cheese made from sheep's milk and occasionally a mixture of sheep and goat milk. Pecorino Romano competes with Parmigiano Reggiano in the hard grating cheese market but is saltier and less complex in flavor.

As Pecorino Romano ages, it becomes saltier and firmer.

YOU’RE SO SWEET.. 

Our final tasting is a Petit Guiraud dessert wine.

In 2010, Chateau Guiraud, in France, to the South of Bordeaux registered the term BioViticulture. They did this because the estate is focusing on not only organic farming but on a more global approach to sustainable viticulture. 

The terroir of Chateau Guiraud is a blend of sand, gravel, clay, limestone soils. On average the vines are close to 40 years of age. The vineyard is planted to a vine density of 6,500 vines per hectare.

The process of wine production for this particular wine comes from the fungus that grows on the grape, making it more porous so the water inside the grape can evaporate. Importantly, the grapes can only be harvested on a day that has a foggy morning and a clear afternoon.

It is paired with Blue Cheese. Many blue cheeses are mild enough to be reasonably kind on wine. In general, a simple, roundly fruity wine, without too much structure is an easily accessible safe bet with milder blue cheeses.

This concludes your wine tasting at The Grocery Wine Vault.

Thanks for stopping by!

Are you ready to move on?

A taste of the orient.

Head out of The Grocery Wine Vault, and turn left down Kingsland Road towards Shoreditch High Street Station. 

Just around the corner in Rivington Street, Banksy created an area specifically designated for ‘Graffiti Art’. See if you can find it in the courtyard garden of ‘Cargo’. Blink and you’ll miss it so look hard! 

As you continue down Kingsland road, pop into the Ace Hotel lobby and find the 50’s style photobooth and take some quick snaps to remember your Secret Menu Tasting evening - 100 Shoreditch High St, Hackney, London E1 6JQ

Now you need to take a left onto Bethnal Green Road, passing Shoreditch High Street Station and BOXPARK. Keep walking up until you reach number 185 Bethnal Green Rd. 

Your next tasting is at Issho-Ni Japanese Restaurant. 

185 Bethnal Green Rd
London , E2 6AB

When you arrive, let Claire and the team know your name and that you are here for an AmazingCo Taster!