a girl and a glass

Last week I showed you may champagne cupcakes .  For the eagle-eyed among you you may have noticed a glass of bubbly there with some berries that didn't rate a mention at the time.  Oh you don't remember... here's a reminder. See that glass in the right-hand corner?  That's the one I'm talking about.  Well there's a little story behind it.  You see the champagne butter frosting I made for the cupcakes was sweet... very sweet... delicious but sweet.  I originally served it with a glass of straight bubbly but the contrast between quite dry bubbles and the sweet frosting was just a little too much.  Thankfully I remembered I had a host of frozen berries in the freezer and a little crushed berries in the fridge.  It was easy to remedy my pairing by adding a little of the berry syrup to the champagne flute and a few berries and top it off with bubbly. Just enough sweet to pair with the cupcakes without being too sweet.  Yay! Not tru...

It's that time of the week.  The mid-week hump.  And to help you get over that I'm reviewing a great bubbly today & it's an absolute bargain.   Primo Estate's Primo Secco . I have to admit I first came to know Primo Estate's wine via their olive oil .  I'd had some at a friends house and they casually mentioned they make wine too, and had a delightful cellar door I could visit next time I was in McLaren Vale.   Anyway to the wine.  This bubbly is made in the style of a prosecco.  It's fresh, fruity, light and refreshing.  Thankfully for me it's drier than many prosecco's (I like wines on the drier side).  When you first pop the cork and pour a glass you'll get lovely fruity notes and a hint of citrus.  (I swore I  smelled a hint of apricot the first time.... but maybe I was dreaming).   It was great to drink as is, but I also enjoyed drinking a bottle the other day after adding some added rasberries to the...

Yesterday I made cupcakes. Not just any old ordinary cupcakes.  These ones were inspired by the #flavourofthemonth - bubbles.  Yep that's right - Champagne cupcakes.  I did cheat a little bit though.... I didn't quite make them from scratch.  I used a Betty Crocker recipe you can find here .  It was pretty easy and there is more than enough champagne in a bottle to make the cupcakes, the frosting and have a glass or two while they are baking ;-) I'm surprised it's taken me this long to realise that I can incorporate champagne into dessert, not just as dessert.  Guess I'll be baking more cake now.  I wonder if this will work with rose..... Cheers Sally

On Monday I announced the #flavourofthemonth for January was bubbles... or more accurately Champagne & sparkling wine.  Each Wednesday I'll be sharing with you a little bit about some of the bubbly wines I love and why I love them.  With so many to choose from you think it would be hard to know where to start, but in this case it was easy - start with an old favourite - Ruinart Rose. I've shared the story of how I was introduced to Ruinart before so I'll try not to repeat myself too much here, rather I'll get straight to describing the Rose.   The first thing that I love about this champagne is the gorgeous bottle and box it comes in.  Ok I know packaging doesn't really matter, but I must say my heart flutters when I open a gift and see the tell tale salmon pink box :-)  Once the cork is popped and you pour a glass you'll see the colour is reflected in the glass.  It's a subtle pink colour.  Blush is a term that comes to mind...

It's almost 2013 and it's time for something new.  This year I'll be introducing some regular features to inspire you to try something new and also to help keep me focused on sharing my sipping stories with you.  Each month I'm going to pick a different flavour... variety of wine... or liquor and write some reviews and perhaps recipes using this key flavour/ingredient.  I'm not sure where this will end up, but the possibilities are exciting. Picking my first flavour (or variety if you like) for January was easy.  January is a month of celebrations.  We say farewell to a year complete, and celebrate the arrival of a new year full of opportunities and possibilities.  In Australia it's summer, so it's hot... sometimes very hot.  I wanted to choose something celebratory but also light and fresh. Something with a bit of sparkle.  Something fun. Something I love.  I couldn't go past it.  The #flavourofthemonth is ...   W...

When I first thought of starting this blog it was around New Years Eve and I was celebrating with loved ones, the beach and bubbly. The champagne was  Ruinart - the Rose.  It has a hint of pink colour.  Is dry with a touch of berry.  And is all too easy to drink.  It was love at first sip for me, and I've shared my addiction with many of by girl friends since.  (Yes I'm a self-confessed champagne pusher!) But this is not a blog post about how good the champagne is - you can try that for yourself.  You see I think the thing about wine, champagne, cocktails (all beverages) that makes them interesting is the experience of drinking them.  Finding out the story behind the discovery of the favourite drink.  Uncovering the passion.  Discovering the origin of the lust. For  me the story of my love for Ruinart started in France.  In Avignon to be exact.  On holiday with my husband we had the opportunity to go wine tasting i...

OMG I am beside myself with happiness.  My favourite champagne in the world is Ruinart Champagne.... and I'm going to a Degustation & Ruinart tasting dinner in Sydney on May 16.    YAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!

I love love.  I love the feeling you get when you are falling in love and you know it has the potential to be something special, you just don't know how special.  I remember when I first started falling in love with my husband.  The butterflies in my stomach.  The excitement from every phone call and text message.  I knew it was going to be big, but I didn't know how big. That's how I feel when I first discover a new wine that I love.  Especially when I'm not expecting it.  When I'm not looking for it.  When it just appears, as if by magic, or fate.  Destiny perhaps.  That's how I feel about my latest discovery.  It wasn't something I picked.  It wasn't something I expected to like.  But I think I might have fallen in love. On Friday I had the opportunity to take a seaplane to Berrowra Waters Inn for lunch. Pics from the flight up and arriving at Berrowra Waters Inn There we were treated to a fantastic degust...