VALLE REALE 2006 CERASUOLO, MONTEPULCIANO D’ABRUZZO

The Pizzolo family’s winery is perched inside a wild, glacier-carved national park in Abruzzi, on the “calf” of the Italian boot, where the grapes ripen late, just as the first snows dust nearby Mount Morrone.

A crimson-coloured, supple, tongue-caressing rosato made from Montepulciano grapes

Tasting Notes

If that’s not romantic enough, taste this crimson-coloured, supple, tongue- caressing rosato made from hillside-grown Montepulciano grapes.   A rosé for red-wine lovers.
 

TORRES DE CASTA ROSADO, CATALUNYA, 2007

Description

A rosé wine, made from a combination of two traditional grape varieties: Garnacha and Cariñena.

Tasting Notes

Elegant cherry colour over a light purple background.   Fine floral aroma reminiscent of flowers such as mimosa and iris, complemented by discreet fruity hints (plums, cherries).   Its smooth, rich palate and delicate aromas are prolonged in the finish.

Awards

Gold Medal Cellars of the World (Canada) 2007 (2006 Vintage)
 

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Childrens Entertainment

For children we have Funsters Cool Kids, with mini disco’s, limbo competitions, treasure hunts, crazy games, funkiest funster, visiting shows and gunge fun and so much more, plus our F-Factor talent show with a chance to win a place back here for the finals held in October half term.

For your creative side we have the activity shack where children can paint and create – clay animals, biscuit faces, musical instruments, your own theme parks and even make your own radio programme in our special sessions!!
 

Teenagers and Adults

Funsters ‘Cool Kids’ for the children, ‘The Zone’ for the 12+ age group plus a variety of joint adult and teen activities - family fun for all ages

For the 12+ age range we have The Zone a great way of meeting new friends or catching up with old friends whilst trying your hand at water sports, crazy golf, Wii sports, big screen movies as well as table tennis and pool competitions.

For adults we have the daily quiz for a chance to win a jug of pimms to have in the evening or to enjoy the next day on the terrace overlooking the beach with beautiful views of The Purbecks and Old Harry Rocks.

We also have combined adult and teen activities such as art classes, dance and drama workshops plus giant jenga and boules tournaments and lots more besides.
 

Family Entertainment

The emphasis we place is on great family entertainment, each evening your talented Funsters team offer a full evening entertainment programme for all the family in the peninsular suite from 9.30pm.

The entertainment includes Family Blockbusters, Mastermind, game shows, Family fun nights, Funsters cheesy disco, Karaoke and every Thursday in August enjoy a spectacular firework display hosted by FJB Hotels & Poole Tourism. Enjoy this lovely and exciting evening from our terrace with live bands, a BBQ and a fantastic atmosphere!

There is more with the Funsters entertainment cabaret show “Night at the Movies” watch this all singing all dancing show which is not to be missed.

We also have The Watersports Academy to bring you some great daily deals whether you’re a novice or already have your sea legs; they offer windsurfing, kayaking, sailing, rib powerboat rides, bike hire and much more.

Although the main focus of entertainment is located at The Sandbanks Hotel, the Funsters team are also resident at The Chine Hotel throughout the school holidays, with a daily plan of activities and entertainment for children and adults alike.

The only question you have to ask yourselves is…. What to do first?
 

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

 
Firstly we look at a dessert wine - Icewine.

Icewine

Icewine is a rare dessert wine produced from the juice of naturally frozen grapes that have been picked in the middle of a cold Canadian winter.   At 43 degrees, the Niagara Peninsula is within the same latitudinal range as Southern France, Rioja in Spain, Chianti Classico in Italy and Oregon.  

The Niagara Peninsula is the only place in the world where every single year the summers are so warm we can grow fine wine grapes, but the winters are cold enough to make Icewine (but never so cold that the vines do not survive.)

Icewine is always picked at temperatures at least -10ºC

Icewine is always picked at temperatures at least -10ºC, with the grapes frozen on the vine and hand-picked in the middle of the cold Canadian night.   Once picked, the grapes are pressed immediately while still frozen. Each frozen grape yields just one drop of intensely frozen juice.

Authentic Icewine is very different from other dessert wines; prior to being picked in late December, the grapes freeze and then thaw 8 to 10 times.   Each time they freeze, new and more complex flavours are released into the juice from the grape.   The signature of great Icewine is the balancing tension between sweetness and acidity.

Ice Cuvee, Peller Estates, Niagara, Canada, N.V

A traditional méthode sparkling wine made with hand-picked Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes.   Enhanced by a burst of flavour from Vidal Icewine that creates a sparkling wine of unique style and finesse.

Tropical fruits and a refreshing sweet grapefruit finish.   This is a great wine for an aperitif though it would also go with most styles of food due to the balance between acidity and the touch of sweetness.

Vidal Icewine, Peller, 2007

A sweet mouth-feel balanced by bracing acidity and fruit flavours of peach, apricot and a drizzle of honey.  Citrus peel, pineapple and white currant linger through on the finish.  Who needs dessert when you have all of this going on in a glass of wine?

Levin Winery

As the sun is out we would like to welcome back the Levin range of wines into our new list.

In 2003 David Levin, committed to producing a world class Sauvignon Blanc in the Loire Valley, The LEVIN Winery, in a state-of-the-art building, which was shipped to France in its entirety from Australia, as were the engineers who specialized in its design and assembly.

LEVIN Wine is proudly based on French terroir, history and tradition

Adopting a philosophy of combining the best of traditional organic agriculture with the finest innovative winemaking techniques, LEVIN Wine is proudly based on French terroir, history and tradition giving a true expression of the Sauvignon Blanc grape in its original and traditional home - The Loire.

Levin Sauvignon Blanc, Vin de Pays, 2008

This is the thinking person’s Sancerre, aromas of blackberry leaf and fresh cut grass moving to a palate that is crisp and clean and showing all the work that has gone into the winemaking.

Levin Rose, Loire, 2006, France

The cherry pink and candied apple rose colour looks every bit as fun as it tastes bringing instant thoughts of bright red berries and aromas which are all there in the glass.   Fragrant strawberry and cool cherry notes are enhanced by the underlying red apple and crunchy cranberry fruit spectrum.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

 
Apart from including quite a few top end wines for that special celebration for example;

• Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, Pierre Morey, 2001
• Penfolds, ‘Yattarna’, Chardonnay1999
• Château Lynch-Bages, Pauillac, 5 growth, 1993
• Vosne-Romanée, Mugneret-Gibourg, 2000

To some more unusual wines;

• Domaine d’Alzipratu Rouge, Corsica, 2006
• Estapor Venir Mezcla, Tinto, Mexico 2007
• Ice Cuvee, Peller Estates, Niagara, Canada, N.V

Our newly extended wine list is aimed at offering a great variety of choice

A considerable amount of the list is now aimed at offering a great variety of choice in the mid to low end.  

We have also changed our by the glass offerings to some of the more well known wines like Chablis and Fleurie - though not necessarily the cheapest wines you can rely on.

To view our full wine lists, please visit our restaurant pages.

I do hope that you enjoying tasting some of our new range as much as I have enjoyed selecting them for you.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

For the FJB Group, the wait is until the 29th September 2009, the Travolution Awards at The Dorchester Hotel, London where we have been named as short listed in the ‘Best Hotel Website’ category.    Only six hotel websites are short listed each year so it is fantastic news that the panel of experts has recognised the FJB Group’s website as one of this year’s leaders.

Travolution, is probably the UK’s leading multi-media brand for the online travel industry.   2009 is the third year of the awards which celebrates the achievements of the industry and recognises innovation and outstanding strategy.  The awards are judged by an independent panel of experts drawn from the industry.
 
Winners will be announced in 21 categories split into 8 key areas, including: Marketing Awards; Blog Awards; Travel Portal Awards; Technology Awards; Agent and Operator Awards; Supplier Awards; Ones to Watch Awards and a Travel Pioneer Award.

“It has been our main aim to provide a user friendly website targeting all audiences to create brand awareness”

John Butterworth, Managing Director of FJB Hotels has followed closely the development of the Group’s new and innovative website and is very happy to have received this recognition.

“It has been our main aim to provide a user-friendly website targeting all audiences to create brand awareness and to engage the user to revisit the site.”

For both Miranda and me, who have been working so closely with Strange Corporation on the websites development since the commencement of the project last year, it is very exciting to think that our site has been recognised and short listed by travel leaders.

Having seen the websites of the other shortlisted companies, we appreciate that we are up against some really strong competition, so we are thrilled to have made it this far. Can we win? Of course we would love too, but we will have to wait until September to see what the experts decide.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

The comment was made, “It’s not often we get three out of three: Sun, wind and high tide!” - the day was set to be perfect.

Jim Colliss - possibly the finest windsurfing coach in the country…

Ten students already intermediate windsurfers were now getting a day’s tuition from possibly the country’s finest trainer, looking at stance, rigging and windsurfing techniques. Jim has been coaching people for in UK and abroad for many years now, offering a unique and fresh style to coaching.

The Watersports Academy has the ideal location and facilities to run such courses, with top windsurfing equipment available to hire.

To find out more information please contact The Watersports Academy on 01202 708283.

Up and coming UK dates with Jim Collis

• Hunstanton
• Hayling Island
• Minnis Bay
• West Wittering

To find out more about Jim’s courses, please visit Windsurf Evolution.

To receive instruction from Jim was a wonderful experience for the group, almost all of them felt that they had learnt something to improve their skills and were looking forward to the next opportunity to take to the water to experiment.  It was an enjoyable day for everyone concerned, and we all hope to welcome Jim back again one day.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

In Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole both retained their Blue Flag status, each maintaining their 4 Blue Flag beaches - making the Borough Councils rank forth (tied) for the highest number of Blue Flag beaches nationally.

Blue Flags are awarded in recognition of clean water with litter-free shores, good facilities and high safety standards, while QCAs recognise the highest-quality, well managed beaches which may not reach Blue Flag water quality standards.

The drop in Blue Flag awards has been cause primary by flooding over the past couple of years - an Environment Department spokeswoman said:

“The fall in the number of Blue Flag beaches is largely attributed to last summer’s poor weather as heavy rain and flooding can seriously affect water quality by increasing the amount of diffuse pollution in our streams and rivers.”

Bournemouth and Poole’s retention of their Blue Flag status reflects the hard work put into keeping beaches clean all year round, and innovative environmental schemes operated by the local council, Bournemouth & West Hampshire Water and the Environment Agency.

In Bournemouth, the four Blue Flag certifications were awarded to beaches between Boscombe and Southbourne, and west of Bournemouth pier:

• Fisherman’s Walk
• Southbourne Beach
• Alum Chine
• Durley Chine

In Poole, the award-winning beaches ran from the chines west of Bournemouth to the Sandbanks Peninsular:

• Branksome Chine
• Canford Cliffs Chine
• Sandbanks Peninsular
• Shore Road

With yet another Blue Flag award to its name, Sandbanks Peninsular has flown the European Blue Flag more times than any other British resort – 21 years – and was rated among the top five beaches in the country by a Tidy Britain Group resort survey.

FJB Hotels are pleased to see another set of well-deserved awards confirming the quality of beaches and facilities surrounding our hotels, and further affirmation that Sandbanks is indeed a premier south coast holiday destination.

Residents and non-residents can now enjoy sea views through our gardens from the Sea View Restaurant offering One-Rosette standard food with a daily changing fixed price dinner menu.  

The Gallery Brasserie has been created together with a handsome bar, to offering a relaxed Brasserie feel. The menu at the Gallery Brasserie has been created using only the freshest ingredients, both where possible ethically and seasonally sourced.   Along with this, we harvest as much of our own garden herbs as possible, ensuring the quality of our ingredients.

The menus change regularly, even weekly, as we move through the seasons of the year.

The menus change regularly, even weekly, as we move through the seasons of the year.  In fact this time of the year is quite exciting as we emerge from winter, all manner of produce becomes available allowing our Head Chef, Carl Munroe, to utilise produce and flavours that over the past few months we have been denied, such as English asparagus and new season lamb - not to mention local fish from the Dorset coast.

Carl adheres to the philosophy of fresh simple local food promoting clean bright flavours, cooked and served to order.

Whichever restaurant they choose to dine in, guests can be assured of outstanding cuisine, made with the freshest ingredients to the highest of standards.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

To be successful in his cross channel attempt in September Andy is not only relying on the correct wind speed and force, but also the reliability of his equipment and his own personal fitness and awareness of the record attempt and conditions at sea.

Endurance Runs

The first of the endurance runs already started with a short run on 24th April

As a result it is no surprise that the first of many endurance runs have already started. Andy states ‘Rome was not built in a day’ and has started with some small coastal runs which were completed on April 24th and April 25th from Hengistbury Head to Sandbanks and back and forth totalling over 42 Nautical miles.

Friday 24th April - 1st of Endurance runs from Hengistbury Head to Sandbanks 

Saturday 25th April - 2nd Endurance run from Sandbanks to Hengistbury head

Monday 27th April - Andy launches video blog of his endurance runs onto his channel kitesurfing record attempt website. 

Additional Sponsorship

Wednesday 29th April - FC Watersports and Cabrinha sponsor Andrew by making it possible for new kit consisting of Crossbow IDS kites, new board, Seat Harness and Wetsuit to be purchased at a very good discounted rate.  This will allow Andrew to have new reliable kit therefore reducing the risk of kit failure due to wear and tear.

Friday 1st May - Andrew demo’s the latest Cabrinha Crossbow IDS kite and is overwhelmed by its Performance and the standard of kite control and handling.

Future endurance runs further out to sea will take place in May and in June a coastal run from Lyme Bay to Portland will take place.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Beach Polo is a variation of Arena Polo which over recent years has seen an increase in popularity.  Over the weekend, six polo teams will compete for the overall title. 

The rules are essentially the same as the more traditional grass polo

The rules are predominately the same as for the more traditional grass polo, with regulations for the ponies and equipment being similar. 

However, a softer large orange ball is used to ensure it can easily be seen in the sand and three players, instead of four, will play on each team.

The teams often consist of two professionals and one amateur player.  Beach Polo is played within an enclosed boarded area measuring approximately 50 x 100 metres. 

This years championship is being organised in associated with Sunseekers to raise funds for two charities, The Heaton Ellis Trust and The Army Benevolent Fund. 

For further information on the event or to book accommodation at either The Haven Hotel or The Harbour Heights Hotel please visit the British Beach Polo Championships 2009 official website.

Beach Polo Rules

Beach or Sand Polo is a strategic game played by teams of three players.  The clear object of the game is to score as many goals as possible, to claim the title.  Because of the restricted area available to play the match players must be skilful riders as well as strong polo players as they may well need to change direction or stop suddenly whilst travelling at high speed. 

The line of the ball - an imaginery line created as the ball travels between points A and B - is critical to the game, as it dictates how the players are able to attack, ensuring that they each remain on one side of the line whilst trying to approach the ball.

Each period of match played is called a chukka with up to eight chukka’s being played in any match.  The periods of play are kept short to ensure that the ponies are not too stressed or tired.  It is not unusual in championship matches to consist of six chukka’s with each player riding a different pony for each period of play.

More information on the full rules of the game can be found on the Ascot Park Polo Club Site.

With the event secured for this year, organisers are hoping that the British Beach Polo Championships will become an annual event such as those already taking place in Miami  and Dubai.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]