Month: November 2018

Liverpool’s Bombed Out Church

St Luke’s Church, known locally as The Bombed Out Church, stands on the corner of Leece Street and Berry Street. The tower is easily seen as you walk from the city centre up Bold Street. Few people ever call it by its true name. When I first visited the city it featured in many directions to places given to me by locals, “go past the bombed out church”, “oh that’s near the bombed out church”,  but sadly no map referred to it as such!  It is much a part of the city as the Mersey Ferry or The Liver Building. It is a Liverpool icon.

The church was built between  1811 and 1832. Designed by father and son John Foster and John Foster junior in the gothic style, it is built from sandstone. In its early years it was also a concert hall until the building of the nearby Philharmonic Hall in the late 1840s. Around this time it was locally called The Doctors Church as it was the place of worship closest to Rodney Street, the home of many of the cities private doctors.

During these second World War Liverpool was bombed heavily as it was the major port on the west coast and vital for supplies coming across the Atlantic from America. Bombing of the city began in August 1940 and went on until January 1942  though it reached its peak in May 1941. The church was hit by a fire bomb on 6th May 1941 and the much of the building was destroyed, only the walls remained.

In total 4000 people died in the bombings of the Liverpool area and it was decided to leave the church standing as a memorial to them. It is now a managed ruin and in recent years opened for the first time since the bombing. It has hosted events including weddings, markets and even hosted a cinema. The gardens are open to wander around and it is a popular lunchtime spot in the summer for students and local workers.

In December 2014 the installation ‘All Together Now’ by sculptor Andy Edwards was placed in the garden to mark the football match that took place at Christmas 1914 between British and German troops in no mans land between trenches. Although only a temporary exhibit it returned in 2018 to commemorate the end of the first World War.

A Drink on the Dark Side

I don’t usually drink very many stouts and porters but I have found myself trying quite a few during the last month or so and enjoying them very much. I am not going to enter the debate about the difference between the two styles other than to say that hey are both dark beers. If your only experience of stout is Guinness, as good as this can be, do try some of the newer styles that are out there. I doubt that you’ll be disappointed.

Wildbeer. Millionaire. Chocolate Stout. 4.7% – Black, opaque with a tan head. Aromas of plain, dark chocolate, coffee,  sweet caramel,  and malt. Full bodied with gentle carbonation. Flavours of coffee, toffee and liquorice. A long slightly bitter finish.

Magic Rock. Common Grounds. Triple Coffee Porter. 5.4% – Dark, opaque with a small tan head. Aromas of espresso, coffee liqueur, chocolate and malt. The palate is medium minus bitterness and gently carbonated. Flavours are predominantly coffee and vanilla. The finish is coffee liqueur and is very long.

Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast. Coffee Stout. 7.5% – Black, opaque with a thin tan head. Aromas of coffee, malt, some chocolate, espresso, tobacco and smoke. Palate is medium bitterness with gentle carbonation. Palate has less flavour than expected but this is a nicely balanced beer with a great lingering finish with a touch of cherry.

Siren Craft Brewery. Broken Dream. Breakfast Stout. 6.5% – Dark and impenetrable. Aromas is coffee and caramel with slight herby notes. The palate is rich and complex with lots of coffee and some chocolate. The mouthfeel is good. Not overly sweet. Low/medium bitterness with a nice level of carbonation. Very nice indeed.

Peerless. Oatmeal Stout. 5% – Dark with a garnet tinge and a small tan head. Aromas of coffee, malt, toasty bread and chocolate. The palate is rich, smokey, coffee and chocolate. Low bitterness, gentle carbonation and a nice mouthfeel.

Loka Polly. Chinook. India Stout. 6.2% – Dark, opaque with a good thick tan head. Coffee, caramel and grassy aromas. Nice mouthfeel, medium bitterness, good carbonation. Flavour is coffee, some caramel, chocolate and pine. An incredibly long, coffee finish.

Loka Polly. Citra Columbus. Stout. 7.1% – Pours black and opaque with a light tan head. Nose iOS lemon. grapefruit with roasted malt and chocolate. Palate is low bitterness and gentle carbonation. A lovely roasted, nutty, chocolate flavour with citrus. A nice bitter finish that end with hint of coffee.

Beavertown x Caravan. Spresso. Imperial Espresso Stout 9% – Pours intense black with deep tan head which doesn’t persist. Nose is subdued but there is coffee. chocolate, malt and a hint of herbs/floral. Palate is soft, round with gentle carbonation and medium minus bitterness. There flavours of coffee, plain chocolate, caramel and nuts. There is a touch of sweetness but nothing too much. A lovely lingering fin ash with coffee and a hint of spice.

Tailgate Brewery. Peanut Butter Milk Stout. 5.8% – Dark, opaque with a large tan head, very lively! Aromas of lightly burnt toast, malt and toffee. The palate is low bitterness, gentle carbonation and a nice texture. There is a slight sweetness and the flavour of peanut butter begins on the mid palate and carries on through to a lingering finish.

Chateau Guiraud Visit

There has been a wine growing estate here for over three hundred years but it hasn’t always been called Guiraud. In the 1855 classification of the wines of Bordeaux it was called Chateau Blaye, however the name was changed shortly after.

Chateau Guiraud is unusual in Sauternes in so far as it has a black label and this is said to date from the death of Napoleon I in 1821. Today the black label has  made Guiraud instantly recognisable on a wine merchants shelf.

The estate was purchased in 1981 by businessman Frank Narby and Xavier Planty was appointed to manage the property. It is here that a series of improvements began which included renovation of the vineyards and the planting of trees to increase biodiversity. The use of pesticides was stopped in 2004. In 2006 the property was sold to a partnership of Robert Peugeot, Olivier Bernard, Stephan Von Neipperg and Xavier Planty. Further modernisation followed including the cellars and the vineyard management moved increasingly to organic practices. This resulted in organic certification being achieved in 2010 with the first vintage the following year. A restaurant, La Chapelle de Guiraud, opened on the property earlier this year.

Planting at the property is 65% Semillon and 35% Sauvignon Blanc. Red grape vines were once grown and a dry red produced but these vines were removed following the current owners purchase of the property in 2006.

Harvesting at Guiraud can involve up to 200 pickers and as many as seven passes through the vineyards to harvest berries at the optimum level botrytis. Pressing is done using a balloon press and is very gentle, taking four hours. Pressed juice is held at 4 Celsius for 24 hours to settle before being put into French oak barrels for a two week ferment using wild yeasts. Barrels are sourced from five different coopers and a very light toasting is used. Batonnage to mix in the lees is used to extract more aroma during the three months following fermentation.

Ageing of the wine takes place in French oak, the proportion of new oak depending on the wine. It is usually 100% new for between 18 and 24 months depending on the vintage for the grand vin. Any dry white wine made is usually aged for between nine and twelve months in stainless steel.

Le G de Chateau Guiraud. Bordeaux. 2014. Pale lime green in appearance with wonderful aromas of lime, lemon and stone fruits. The palate is dry, fresh with lovely citrus and a touch of honey and apricot. A nice texture and very drinkable. Very nice indeed.

Petit Guiraud. Sauternes. 2014. The aroma here is delightful and enchanting, citrus, orange, apricot and some tropical fruit. The balance has lovely balance with fresh acidity as a counterfoil to the rich fruit. A nice finish. Very nice.

Chateau Guiraud. Sauternes. 2015. Yellow/gold in appearance. the nose is complex mix of tropical fruit, honey, nut and pineapple. Palate has lovely freshness and balance with tropical fruits, apricot, almond and a touch of honey. A  long lingering finish. Excellent.