Thanks for taking an interest in the WineTubeMap®, a unique Convivium Wine creation.

If you’re reading this you are probably standing in front of the map at the LIWF and are curious. Here are some brief details about the map, Convivium and how you might benefit from either. For a longer read hit the links and if you want to speak to us call Nikki who is at the fair.

Nikki’s number +44 7808 791904 

Nikki’s email nikki@conviviumwine.com

Convivium is a consumer experience business and consultancy run by Nikki Welch – Nikki spent 10 years working with a leading wine importer before leaving in 2010 to set up Convivium in Edinburgh, we work with consumers and wine businesses to help improve the communication and experience of wine.

The map was created to meet a consumer need that came out of the events and activity that we run. It is now used as an online digital tool , a format for events and staff training, an instore merchandising unit and incentive scheme. For more details about the map go to our about the map page.

As well as the map we gather situational insight and create reports studying the driving factors behind consumer behaviour to help you create strategies that speak directly to your target audience. Nikki will be speaking about this at Speaker’s Corner on  Tuesday 21st May at 4pm. We’d love to see you there.

We use this insight, our 12 years wine trade experience and our creative approach to help develop solutions for businesses on a consultancy basis. If you’d be interested in talking to us please get in touch.

More details of our full services are here.

Thanks for taking an interest! We’d love to hear your feedback, please get in touch!

Whenever you see the St Clair name you can be reassured what’s in the bottle will be better than good and this is no exception.

Gewurz is a great match for spicy and smoked foods (I particularly like it with smoked mackerel) and with a cheese board. So basically whenever.

As ever, we had a lovely bunch of attendees; someone celebrating a 30th birthday, some Christmas presents and some people just celebrating the end of January! Before long they were all engrossed in conversation and travelling the WineTubeMap, and tasting the goodies at each stop. We love dressing up the cellar of the Bon Vivant’s Companion and creating some candlelit atmosphere! (at this point there should be a photo but I’m having a minor technical meltdown – just imagine smiling faces and some lovely looking food).

I say this every time, but as I was opening the wines to check them before the event (yes, it is a hardship) I couldn’t believe how good they were! So, we had a brilliant selection of wines and some really interesting food matches, chef had done us proud! Full list below.

We like to show the wines some love so everyone votes on their favourite wines as they are tasting, of course everyone’s taste is different but we had some standout favourites… Top 3 of the night were The Q Tempranillo, the Stella Bella Moscato and the Heartland Dolcetto Lagrein. All New World takes on classic wines!

And did we manage to keep those New Year’s Resolutions for another day, I should think so, particularly if they were about having fun!

If you like the sound of this then why not come along to another Thirsty Thursday. Held on the last Thursday of the month (with the exception of February and December when it’s the 2nd and 3rd Thursday respectively). The theme, menu and wines change every month and attendees get an exclusive Convivium discount card giving them 10% off all wine at the Bon Vivant’s Companion. It’s friendly and informal, just as much fun if you come on your own as in a group.

Our next event is our alternative Valentines Thirsty Thursday on the 14th February.

For couples, singles or just friends we promise no ‘romantic’ cliches or talk of lurve, unless it’s for the food or wine.

The theme – celebrating the Chinese New Year of course!

Details here 

The entire Convivium and Bon Vivant’s companion team are committed to you succeeding at your New Year’s resolutions, so we’ve put together a wine and food matching to help you do this. It’s on the last day of January, by when you’ll definitely deserve a little reward…

New Year’s Resolutions that wine tasting can help you achieve…

#1 Drinking less (yes really)

#2 Saving money / spending less

#3 Finding love

#4 Getting a promotion

#5 Learning a new skill

#6 Speaking a foreign language

#7 Travelling the world

#8 Meeting new people

If that’s got your attention then come along to Thirsty Thursday on 31^st January at the Bon Vivant’s Companion from 7pm until 9pm  where we’ll be showing you how to achieve all of the above (with a little bit of tongue in cheek) during a food and wine matching evening with a difference. Informal, sociable, delicious (and self improving!).

Tickets are £25 each and for January and February you can book your ticket now online for £5 and pay the balance on the night – so the credit card can breathe a sigh of relief. http://thirstythursdayjanuary.eventbrite.co.uk/

The only thing we can’t help with is a dry January – but we believe in moderation not deprivation.

Call Nikki 07808791904 for more details.

Given tomorrow is the first day of December I’m prepared to swap my advent calendar for a glass of fizz a day  – I might not manage it but I’ll give it a go!

The great thing about bubbles is there’s a mass of different kinds and one for every occasion, and even time of day. As a friend said to me last weekend, “There are times of day when it just wouldn’t be right to say yes to a G&T, whereas with bubbles…”.

Here’s our guide to the different fizzes and when they work best.

Whereas some wines are technical and refined this has a natural bounce, flavours of blackcurrant and berries combine with a delicious rosemary garrigue character. As I sniffed and swirled (I really didn’t want the bottle to end) I really enjoyed the scents of the South of France.

After a trip to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday I managed to rustle up a rather scrummy game pie with (home made!!) puff pastry. This was the perfect match, although it may have worked just as well with pizza or herby sausages and mash.

Along side my passion for wine, and the diversity and variety it brings, I’ve become increasingly interested in other drinks – and not just gin based cocktails! The growth in popularity of specialty tea is quite phenomenal, and it shares many similarities with wine… not least that people are now using both to cook with and make cocktails (can you see the theme here?).

So it’s been fascinating working with eteaket to explore both drinks on a purely geeky level! We are delighted to be running our first tasting this week – a unique look at wine and tea, where we will be matching up various wines and teas based on flavour and textures – your senses will be tickled!

Some of the research

We have tickets left so if you are interested then please do come along and join us in this taste sensation.

18th October 7pm, tickets £15, at eteaket, 41 Frederick St, EH2 1EP

Buy tickets here or contact eteaket via Sarah Chanter  on 0131 226 1292 | 07725 816 464 or at sarah.chanter@eteaket.co.uk.

Almost everyone I know has a soft spot for these luxuries – often the go-to pickmeups, everyday consolers or celebratory aids which sadly have a reputation for not working together.

It’s true, they aren’t always the most comfortable bedfellows, but that’s no reason to believe that all wine and chocolate combinations are bad – I wanted to find something for the chocaholic, wine-lover which would tickle both of their fancies.

I had already met the team at Coco, a local artisan chocolate producer, and having tasted their chocolate (on numerous occasions) I knew they would be great people to explore this with.  There isn’t a lot of good research out there so we decided to start with good old taste testing.

Experimental tasting

The deal was simple, I provided the wines Coco provided the chocolate and we would experiment and play with the combinations. We started with 9 wines of varying styles; sparkling, white, pink, red, fortified, dessert and LOTS of chocolates. We tried the wines then picked out chocolates by their flavours or textures and went back and forth, sipping, spitting (only the wines!) and comparing. The results were surprising and delighting, we found a number of really fascinating matches that we weren’t expecting to work.

One of the realisations for me was about chocolate quality, all of Coco’s chocolates use cocoa butter and no vegetable oil (a revelation to me, a mere choconovice) and this seemed to improve the textural quality as you added wine to the mix. Check the packet, cocoa butter rules!

Clearly there is more exploration to be done, but because we want to know what you think we’ll be introducing some wine and chocolate pairings into Coco and Convivium tastings in the next few weeks to get your feedback.

If you want to get tasting yourself here are my tips and our favourite matches :

MATCHES

Moscato and White chocolate with Raspberry (Coco are trying this out tonight at their Chocolate week party!)

This was an ‘oh’ moment. The wine is light, sweet and frothy and so works really well with the creamy texture of the white chocolate. The raspberries pick out the fruit salad character of the wine.

A real match made in heaven, I would serve it as a light dessert, or maybe even as breakfast!

Aussie shiraz with Valhrona 64%

The fact that this dark chocolate has fruity character, and that the wine has unmistakable juicy sweetness, help these two heavyweights meet in the middle. Granted, it’s a bit of a mouthful, we all agreed there was a clash as the two meet, but the after effect sees them meld and the finish is great, really long and spicy.

For people who like their chocolate on the bitter side.

Rich Cream Sherry and Hazelnut and Sea Salt

I am a sherry nut so I adored this mix. This sherry is a blend of dry, nutty Oloroso and the very sweet raisiny PX (a bit like a fruit and nut bar), which is probably why this worked so well. The chocolate brought out the nuttiness of the wine and the wine added to the luxurious texture of the chocolate.

This is an indulgent and luxurious alternative to coffee and chocolates after a meal.

Where you can try it

Coco Connoisseur evenings with wine – 23rd and 30th November, contact Coco (see below).

We will be featuring Coco Chocolates at The Wine Show WineTubeMap Tasting Tours in London 9th – 11th November and during our monthly Vino tastings.

Coco Chocolate

174 Bruntsfield Place, Bruntsfield, Edinburgh, EH10 4ER Tel : 0131 228 4526

71 Broughton Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3RJ Tel : 0131 558 2777

As it’s the end of September, we’ll be combining two of my most favourite things… Autumn and Spice.

Think robust reds, warming whites, earthy flavours and wafts of smoke.

The fabulous chefs at the Bon Vivant will be whipping up some autumnal dishes, with enough oomph to warm your cockles after a chilly day under the crisp blue skies of Edinburgh.

We’re not giving the game away just yet of all of the matches, but there will be some twists on Indian and Thai cuisine and some gorgeous tipples to wash them down.

Prepare to amaze your tastebuds!

Indian Summer tasting 27.09 7pm – 9pm, tickets £25 including 14 wines and matching mini meal canapes.

All of our Thirsty Thursday tastings take place at the Bon Vivant’s Companion, 55 Thistle Street, Edinburgh.

Buy your tickets here