Wine Tasting Notes

The suggestion made by Anna Capernaros in November that it would be a good idea to form a Wine Appreciation Society was met with delight by many of the Bugle readers. The first official wine tasting event took place at the Acropolis in Platanes on 24th November. As ever, Laina and Wendy provided us with a very hospitable venue and we were fortunate to be able to sample wine from Manolis Kalomenopoulos’ vineyard (as featured in our October issue) along with a selection of wines produced by other local growers. Manolis also gave us an informative talk about organic wine making in the region and guided us through the varieties on offer. We were impressed by the quality of the wine that we tasted — so much so that the quality of the ‘tasting notes’ seriously suffered, and we can’t actually give you as much detail about the different vintages that we tried as we would like. Put it this way, roving reporter Mabel was under the table when she should have been asking “What label?” It was good wine, the ‘nibbles’ were great, we had a good time and thanks to all for a lovely evening (To contact Manolis Kalomenopoulos for further information about his wine phone 6972711882). What with Christmas coming up and the charity bazaars taking place this month, there will be no official wine tasting event for December, though we suspect that at least some of us will be tasting a glass or two of wine during the festive season. Anna will be organising a visit to Dourakis winery in Alikampos in January. This will be on a Saturday, arrival around midday and we will have lunch there. Anna will notify those who have already given contact details via email or text message. To get in touch with Anna email ananke@ret.forthnet.gr or phone: 28310 57305 / 693 8708410

Recipe: An Irreverent Version of Not Mince Pies

A note for those not familiar with the concept of mince pies:

Mince Pies are not made with the type of mince used for the ‘spicy mince’ recipe on last month’s Lifestyle page. Or, to put it another way: this mincemeat is not the type you can buy from the butcher. “But hang on a minute” I hear a pedant cry. Time to consult Wikipedia again….

“A mince pie is a traditional festive British sweet pastry, usually consumed during the Christmas and New Year period…..Up to Victorian times, the mince (meat) pie would actually have been a spiced meat pie with some dried fruit. Nowadays, the only remnant of the original meat is the inclusion of suet”.

For those of you of a sensitive nature who are wondering what suet is - don’t even go there. Anyway, today, mince pie filling is fruit based — including dried fruit such as apricots, currants and raisins and candied peel (dried kiwi, pomegranate, tomato and avocado not considered essential). Spices should include cinnamon and nutmeg, but go easy on the garam masala and star anise. Add alcohol — usually brandy and/or rum. Not a great idea to use Pernod for this one. To follow British traditions you also need a carrot and a glass of sherry, but more of this later.

That was the filling. What about the pastry? Put it this way, frozen filo from Champion just doesn’t work. Make your own shortcrust or puff, using your own tried and tested methods, and for those experts out there the Bugle plays a salute. Small hint: trying to make shortcrust pastry in a panic from memory after tasting disgusting samples of filo filled mincemeat may not always be successful. Especially if your memory of the pastry recipe is from John Noakes of Blue Peter.

For those not familiar with the concept of Blue Peter:

Difficult to explain really. It is a long running ‘magazine’ TV programme geared towards children, which aims to be educational. John Noakes was a maverick presenter some years ago, who often demonstrated the cookery bit. His catchphrase was “Here’s one I made earlier” and he had a dog called Shep.

Clearly, this hasn’t helped a great deal. So how about importing mince pies from England? Well, the pies might get squashed and you should bear in mind that a jar of traditional mincemeat counts as a ‘paste or gel’ according to current airline security regulations and cannot go in hand luggage (and yes, we did ask). Carrot and sherry? In Britain, you’re supposed to leave a mince pie and a glass of sherry out for Santa along with a carrot for the reindeer on Christmas Eve.

Cocktail of the Month: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

To get your red noses you will need:

1¼ oz rum, 1½ oz lemon juice, ½ oz grenadine, cranberry juice, ice, wedge of lemon. In a tall glass, mix the rum, lemon juice, grenadine and add ice cubes.
Top up with cranberry juice and garnish with the lemon wedge. Wiggle those antlers and enjoy.

Warning: The Bugle Team take no responsibility for injuries sustained whilst flying when being drunk in charge of a sleigh and crashing into a chimney breast.