There are also regular free wine tastings, usually held in a local hotel. These are not in any way formal or intimidating, we just put out the wines we have selected, give you a glass and let you work your own way around. We are there to talk about the wines (or anything else) but we do not make a formal presentation or try to preach about them, we prefer to let the wines speak for themselves.

Most times we arrange an optional fixed price meal in the hotel afterwards to make the whole evening more special, and usually most people do stay for the meal which makes a very pleasant social event. The wines are offered at a special discount for orders placed on the night.

We also put on regular promotions for Tasting Club members offering special deals or discounts, details of these in the newsletters.

To join, simply submit your e-mail address in the box below, and you will receive future newsletters

April Newsletter - 08/04/2009

English Wine on St Georges Day.

We are going to be offering a free tasting of our range of wines from the Chapel Down vineyard in the restaurant at Cragside on 23rd April to mark St Georges Day. We will be there between 11am and 3pm and you are most welcome to join us.
Chapel Down have changed their red wine which was a combination of Pinot Noir and Rondo grapes and now offer two different single variety Pinot Noirs. We stock them both; they are subtle, lightly fruited wines with lower alcohol than most reds at 11% and 11.5% which makes a change when so many wines are getting ever more alcoholic. They are worth trying. The whites are as good as ever with my favourite still being the Bacchus.

New Ranges
Still on the English theme we have a new range of English spirits and liqueurs. The spirits are apple brandies aged for 3 or 5 years as you choose, and an eau de vie also apple based. The liqueurs are cream based liqueurs like Baileys but in four flavours – Double Chocolate, Ginger, Chocolate Orange, and Butterscotch and Brandy. For anyone with a sweet tooth they an absolute must. Great with Easter Egg!

South African Wines
The 2008 vintage from South Africa is just beginning to come through now, and it was a corker. What is more the exchange rate has not suffered as badly as that with the Euro or the US Dollar, so prices have not increased significantly over last year. Give South African wines a try for excellent quality and value.

Local Beers
Don’t forget the excellent range of local bottled beers we stock. The selection changes but we normally have several from each of these breweries: Matfen, Jarrow, Big Lamp, Durham, Geltsdale, Traquair, Wylam and of course Alnwick. With each brewery producing a range of beers from lager style through to stout we usually have 30-40 on the shelves at any time, and quality is excellent. They make great gifts too.
Have a good Easter break and we look forward to seeing you in the shop soon, and of course you can order online at www.rothburywines.co.uk
Jon

click here to return to the newsletter list