Well 2009 is now well under way. The Alan Titchmarsh Show is back on our screens on ITV1 every week day from 3-4pm and I am back doing the wine slot each Thursday.
I say wine, but we have evolved the item a fair bit over the last 18 months. Last week I did a tasting of the most popular winter warmers – from Hot Toddies to Bailey’s Latte. I have to say, if you haven’t yet had a Bailey’s Latte please try one they are Grrreat ! You can get the recipe by going to Alan Titchmarsh’s web site ; www.alantitchmarsh.com - follow the links to me and you will arrive at will of the winter warmers that we tried.
Next month I make my debut on ‘Ladette to Lady – Australia’. This has been produced for Chanel 9 in Australia but I think that it will also be shown on ITV2 – more to follow when I know for sure. Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I conducted an extensive tasting with a rather predictable outcome !
February will see the launch of “The Jaspar Corbett School of Wine”. This has been on my mind for a couple of years now and recently I have had a number of requests so I thought it time to put my toe in the water. There will shortly be a link on the website, but if you would like to know more please send an e-mail to tasting@compasswines.co.uk
On the wine front I shall be offering a number of wine from the 2007 Vintage in Burgundy. I am not as bullish about this Vintage as many commentators. I found a lot of good white wines and a few excellent ones. I struggled more with the reds and have a fairly thin offering here, just what I think are the very best wines. Please e-mail me directly for more information on jaspar@compasswines.co.uk
Other than this, I am back looking at parcels of distressed stock of which there is no shortage. To add to this I have some really super parcels of wines that Merchants have long stock positions in and some very pretty prices shall follow.
On the Fine Wine Market we are now seeing a lot of stock and prices are weakening. By early spring there will be some excellent purchases to be made, I just hope that there will still be some buyers in the UK !
All best wishes, Jaspar