It was some time ago that Miss B first asked me to write a BBF column (Bouquet Best Friend) for her and I apologize for taking so long. There are no excuses, just simple hesitation while I questioned whether I knew anything about wine worth writing. I’m still not convinced I do, however I feel that I am exactly the sort of person that Miss B is targeting and so hoped that if I explained my position and wine frustrations to you now you may relate in some way to me and further understand what Miss B is trying to do…

My wine journey starts pre 2006 when it’s fair to say I was a beer monster, ………

Introducing Gavin Williams from www.wineoftheweek.co.uk, the first male writer brave enough to become a Bouquet Best Friend!!

A giant wine barrel capable of holding 144,000 litres of wine has been refilled for the first time in 400 years. 

The super-sized barrel sits within a German hunting mansion in the Saxony-Anhault town of Halberstadt. According to the Guinness Book of Records it’s the world’s oldest giant wine cask measuring five metres in diameter and weighing in at a whopping 63 tonnes.

Work commenced on the cask in 1592 and was completed two years later in time for the wedding of the Duke of Brunswick to Princess Elisabeth of Denmark. Reportedly it took them twelve years to drink the cask dry after which it fell into neglect.

Let us just consider that for a moment. ………

Introducing Petit Willow, she knows a thing or two about dating and vino!

Bonjour Spring!

There’s nothing like Spring to get you in the mood; considered the season of procreation and of course warmer weather it’s the perfect time for singletons everywhere to start fishing the dating pool with renewed energy!

Dating etiquette itself should come easily to people with good manners. Don’t swear. Don’t get too drunk and lose control of your bladder…… Choose a comfortable place to meet but don’t over analyze where to go. How long do you spend choosing the ‘venue’? Too long I expect. And how long do you spend looking at the wine list? Not long enough? I thought as much. ………

Rookie food blogger Rachel Curran shares her wine diary…..

Before I start I must confess; I don’t know much about wine but I do know one thing, and that’s what I like. So, here goes… Over the last few months I’ve been working too hard and not playing enough, activity which has left my wine racks feeling unloved. Luckily with a bit of help from my partner, my mum and a week off work I soon took the load off the racks! ………

Introducing wine boffin and all round angel…. Halo:

I spent New Years Eve with five of my oldest and dearest school friends. Well, who better to wave a spirited goodbye to 2009 with? Who better to offer a tipsy welcome to 2010 with and poke a sozzled stick in the eye of January’s smug guilt–tripping mug? Not so, three were pregnant and two were breastfeeding, very bad form indeed! And so it fell to me (and the boys) to raise a glass of something good ‘for the sake of Auld Lang Syne’ (it means ‘Days Gone By’ – hmm, how very appropriate). ………

Introducing Clarky:

With the festive season in full swing the question on the thinking girl’s lips is not so much its time to ditch my YSL’s for Moon boots, but what exactly is the best wine to drink on a hangover?

Granted the notion of hair of the dog is nothing new, but over the past weeks of Christmas parties and lunches I have discovered that certain wines can restore equilibrium to even the most partied out journo and binge drinker, such as myself. Traditionally I am something of a white wine drinker – red’s often leave me with a headache, and the cheaper ones a nasty stain on my teeth. But I have found Red Wine is something of a magic fix when it comes to the hairier of hangovers. ………