All

The Wine Show Warm-up

09 Jan, 2018

As official travel partner for the latest series of The Wine Show, Winerist cannot wait to see what happens next. In anticipation of the first episode, airing on Friday the 12th of January at 7pm on Channel 5, we thought we’d look back on some of our favourite moments of Joe, Amelia and the two Matt’s adventures in the first ever episode of The Wine Show!

Episode 1 Highlights:

Vin de Constance:

Klein Constantia

Photo Credit: Klein Constantia

The series debut starts off with wine expert Joe Fattorini taking a very special trip to South Africa in order to visit the Klein Constantia estate, to try the elusive Vin de Constance, which almost died out completely in the 19th century and was  held in high regards by celebrities such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. Joe is told to visit the vineyard at 4am to assist the grape-picking which is done that early to make sure the grapes are at their freshest when collected. All the grapes are hand-picked, imitating the way this variety was picked centuries ago. Not only was Joe able to try a glass of the very fine 2009 Vin de Constance, he was also invited to taste a slither of wine from a bottle dating back to 1791, a time when historical figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte were enjoying the same wine. Find and taste the wine here.

Barrel Race in Montepulciano 

Montepulciano

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Joe sends the two Matts to Montepulciano, a medieval hilltop town that one of the most influential and noble Italian families, the Medici family, used to call home. Grapes have been grown in this town since 780AD, and their wine is so aristocratic that it’s been named Vino Nobile, translating to ‘Noble Wine’. Various traditions have come about during those many years of winemaking, one of which Rhys and Goode were lucky enough to see for themselves and even partake in (to some extent) during their trip: the barrel race. This race consists of 8 teams from different districts competing to see who can roll an 80-kilogram  barrel the fastest from the bottom of the town, to the top. After the race was over, Matt and Matt gave barrel racing a go, and quickly found out that pushing a barrel up a hill a lot harder and exhausting than they’d anticipated.Visit Montepulciano yourself with this tour!

How personalities can expressed through wine

Chateau Margaux and Some Young Punks

Photo Credit: Dominic Lockyer

Wine experts Joe Fattorini and Amelia Singer travel to opposite sides of the world – France and Australia –  to discover how personalities can be embodied in wines. Joe was sent to Bordeaux, more specifically Chateau Margaux, where he was shown all the steps in the complex and delicate process of making a wine good enough for Chateau Margaux’s high standards. On the opposite end of the spectrum was Amelia, who flew down under to see how a more rustic and hands-on approach was used to make Some Young Punks wine. She even got to be a part of the winemaking process, and was shown how to ‘punch down’ the grapes whilst they fermented. 

With many more things to come in season 2, we are incredibly excited for the show to begin. As official travel partners, we also have a dedicated webpage featuring tours inspired by all the different locations covered by The Wine Show. Check it out here!

The Wine Show

Photo Credit: YouTube

Join our mailing list to stay up to date on our top travel tips and giveaways