Welcome one and all to Grape and Grain - UP Front magazine's beer and wine club.
We held our first meeting at Beer Mania on Thursday 27 September. The main thrust of the first meeting outlined our plans for monthly beer/wine tastings, away days to breweries and bars outside Brussels and to explain the discounts that members will be able to get at various outlets in the city.
We also want to hear any cool ideas you may have, because that's what it's all about.
Signing up for Grape and Grain is 20 euro for the year - which you will easily get back through subsequent purchases at our hand-picked outlets and on discounts on trips away.
"I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty"
...and of course she was talking about Champagne.
Today there is a bubbly for everyone's taste and pocket. What is Champagne, Cava, Prosecco, MCC, Sekt or Cremant and how do they get their bubbles? Sign up now to learn (and taste) the difference.
Date: Tuesday, 26 February 2008
Time: 20h00
Venue: British & Commonwealth Women's Club, Rue au Bois 509, Woluwe-St.-Pierre, Brussels
Cost: 25.00 euro per person
Theme:a glass of Bubbly
Elizma Myburgh
R99 Wine Consulting
Belgium
+32 477 755 763
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Come and taste our new wines imported from South Africa and Chile.
Saturday February 16 from 10am to 7pm
South Africa Mooiplass (meaning the beautifull farm) is owned by the Ross family in Stellenbosch close to Cape Town. Moiplass produces some wines with very fresh aromas because the farm is situated on hills that bring some cool air during the night. The freshness and the minerality also come from the granitic and volcanic soil. Chenin blanc 2006 : 6.75€ Sauvignon blanc 2006 : 7.65€ Cabernet sauvignon 2001 : 10.71€ Shiraz 2003 : 11.61€ Rosalind (blend) 2003 : 14.31€
Chile (Sud) Maule Valley - Botalcura , is owned by the chilian Juan Fernando Waidele and the French winemaker Philippe Debrus. Botalcura produces some very gourmet wines but not "heavy". Our selection is 2 wines from the cheaper line "El Delirio" and 3 wines from a more complex line "La Porfia". El Delirio : Chardonnay/Viognier 2006 : 7.11€ Carménère / Merlot 2005 : 7.11€ La Porfia : Cabernet Franc 2005 : 11.61€ Carménère 2005 : 11.61€ Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 : 11.61€
Brewing beer in Belgium is a old tradition with its origins back in the Middle-Ages, when monasteries began producing beers. Belgian beer production was assisted by the 1919 Vandervelde Act that prohibited the sale of spirits in pubs, inducing the market to produce beers with a higher level of alcohol. The Vandervelde Act was lifted in 1983.
Only in Belgium beer is brewed according to four different fermentation processes :
top fermentation (Belgian special beers, white beers, abbaye and Trappist beers, strong blond, regional beers – some of them are already imitated in other countries)
The art of serving a good glass of beer is part of the Belgian beer culture : each beer has its proper bottle and glass (imprinted with a logo or name)and is served according to the rules of the art. The brewer provides on the back label of each bottle, information regarding the conservation and the pouring of the beer in question.
Nowhere else in the world you can find a larger choice of regional, authentic and colourful beers.
There are approximately 125 breweries in the Belgium producing about 500 standard beers. When special one-off beer styles are included, the total number of types of Belgian beer exceeds 1000. Each of these is divided into particular styles.
