September Wine Round Up

A brief look at some of the more enjoyable wines from the last few weeks including few I came across on a recent trip to Kraków in Poland.

Kvaszinger. SargaMuskotaly. Tokaj. No vintage given and couldn’t see one on the label unfortunately. This was a delightfully refreshing and drinkable wine, dry with lovely peachy stone fruit, lemon and a delicate floral character.

Pendits. Willie – Baumkauff. Tokaji Furmint Krakó. 2011. Handharvested, destemmed, fermented in Hungarian oak barrels then aged for 12-18 months. Lovely aromas of orange and stone fruit. Palate has a nice texture and is dry with a nice savoury finish.

Cantina Filippi. Monteseroni. Garganega. Verona. 2013. Golden in appearance with aromas of orange, honey and stone fruits. The palate is dry with lovely balance and a stoney minerality. A long, long finish.

Stagard. Handwerk. Gruner Veltliner. Austria. 2018. Made from grapes from two certified organic vineyards in the Kremstal appellation. Lots of apple and stone fruit here, lovely balance with nice minerality and a great finish. A wine that refreshes and satisfies.

Florent Rouve. Viré-Clessé. Vieilles Vignes. 2017. Stone fruits, lemon citrus and delicate vanilla in a wine that has lovely balance and freshness. It is not overly oaked making this a very approachable chardonnay.

Korenika and Moskon. Paderno. Slovenska Istra. Slovenia. 2013. An organic/biodynamic wine, wild ferment, unfined and unfiltered. Deep in colour with aromas of orange, tropical fruit and vanilla. The palate has depth and concentration. Well balanced with a crisp finish.

Weingut Weninger. Rozsa Petsovits. Rosé. Austria. Pale red in colour. Delightful nose of fresh red fruits – strawberry and cranberry. Bright fresh acidity. Earthy and perfumed. Very drinkable.

Costers Del Sio. Petit Sios. Costers del Segre. 2017. A blend of Tempranillo, Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon. Masses of red fruits with a gentle warming spice and a delicate herby perfume. Great value for money and very drinkable.

Baltic Triangle Street Art 2019

I first wrote about the street art to be found in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle in September 2018. You can read the original post using the link here. As twelve months have elapsed I thought it would be a good idea to revisit the area and have a look at what was new. Much of the original work first seen in 2018 is still here but this post will just concentrate on that which is new to me. Check the link above to see the earlier works.

The Baltic Triangle is a pleasant 15 minute walk from Liverpool city centre, head out along Paradise Street, turn left onto Park Lane and when the road forks take the right branch which is Jamaica Street. This brings you to the heart of the Baltic Triangle.

Blundell Street is very much under redevelopment but there are a couple of nice pieces on the hoardings surrounding the building work.

The next street is Kitchen Street where you will find this work. I can’t seem to find anything about the artist and there are a number of works of a similar nature closely. If anyone knows add a comment at the end of the post.

The building at the corner of Jamaica Street an Bridgewater Street has a number of smaller works including the ceramic by HEX.

On Watkinson Street Liverpool based artist John Culshaw has created a mural of the ‘Fab Four’, although Ringo does appear to have had one of his teeth coloured in.

The north side of Norfolk Street is now cordoned off for redevelopment work but you can just glimpse the work by PinHeadUK on the corner with Jamaica Street.

The brick wall on Jamaica Street between Norfolk Street and Brick Street has long been a popular location for artists and is home to probably the real most iconic work, Paul Curtis’s Liver Bird Wings and Straw Girl by Irony. Much here has survived the passage of time but there is a couple of pieces I had not come across before. Latvian street artist Kiwie has this work here.

Check Point Charlie is also a relatively recent addition.

Neal Keating’s Game Over is also here.

Vancouver based artiest Emily Gray has created a delicate, pastoral mural which has suffered a little with a tag added but still looks pretty good.

The Liverpool Life Sciences UTC building on Greenland Street has yet another mural by Paul Curtis. You can even become part of this work as a convenient space has been left for you to stand in.

The skate park on Jamaica Street has always been popular with street and graffiti artists. What started out as an advert for the Netflix series ‘Our Planet’ has since been partially overpainted. It was created in March 2019 and showed Pink Flamingoes coming into land on a lake. Only the top section now remains.

On Jordan Street Manchester street artist Aske has created this portrait of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

Paul Curtis has another mural on the wall of Cains Brewery Village. Commissioned by The Beatles Story Museum, in the Royal Albert Dock, for the 50th anniversary of the release of Abbey Road. Paul has created the famous street scene minus the four Beatles enabling you to create your own version of this most famous album cover.

House of Beer Krakow

There is a thriving craft beer scene in Poland and the city of Kraków has a number of good places to sample the local brews. Admittedly there are a lot of bars selling the more traditional lager style beers from the big brewers such as Tyskie, Zywiec and Okocim and if you drink on the main square this is likely to be what is on offer. Walk just a few short streets away and you will find a much wider choice of beers. Craft beer In Polish is piwo rzemiesinicze and this is worth looking out for on bar menus if you are unsure. In Kraków head to the House of Beer at Tomasza 35, only a short walk from the square, where you will find a superb range both on tap and in bottle.

It certainly gets busy here but if its full in the main bar they open the downstairs area which is huge with very comfortable seating. We were in the city from Sunday to Friday and so did not experience the weekend. crowds.

There are usually eleven beers and one cider on tap, from both Polish and international breweries. We visited three times during our stay and there was usually something different to try each time. They also have a large selection of bottled beers from around Europe. You need good eyesight here to see what’s on offer as they don’t have a list of beers available, at least not one that I could find, but the staff are incredibly helpful and knowledgeable so its not really an issue.

Food here is also very good with burgers, hot wings and nachos on the menu.

Pracownia Piwa. Mieszanka Krakosa. Session IPA. 3.7%. Yellow, hazy with a good white head. Nice hoppy flavour here with a touch of malt and sweetness. Very drinkable. Good session beer.

Pinta. Like Fake. Peach IPA. 5.8% Pinta produced the first craft beer in Poland back in 2011. this particular beer is yellow in appearance with a slight haze. Aromas of peach along with citrus. Palate has malt, peach and lemon. Medium bitterness and nice carbonation.

Birbant. Amity. Hazy IPA. 4.7% A yellow/orange colour with a definite haze. Aromas are citrus and a nice touch of tropical fruit. Low bitterness, good carbonation, gentle sourness and a nice texture.

Cztery Sciany. Sciana. APA. 5.1%. Light yellow in appearance with a small thin head. Aromas of malt, lemon and grapefruit. Low bitterness, gentle carbonation and a good texture on the palate. A nice bitter lemon finish.

PiwoWarowina. Coffee Milk Stout. 4.7% Wow strong coffee with some chocolate. There is some sweetness and the palate is intense, deep and strongly flavoured. Nice carbonation and an incredibly long finish. Very nice but I couldn’t drink many of these.

Tempest Brewing. Citra Citra. IPA 6.8% Yellow/gold with a haze. Aromas of tropical mango and pineapple with lemon and orange. A good texture, low bitterness, nice carbonation and lovely tropical fruit flavours. Very drinkable.

Amager Bryghus. Sabrotaged. DDH IPA. 8% Dark orange, small white head. Aroma is malty with lots of tropical fruit. Palate is low bitterness, gentle carbonation, smooth and creamy. There are flavours of tropical fruit, orange and stone fruits.