Fantastic weather at the Big Feastival yesterday in the Cotswolds and here is The Wine Tipster in Alex James’ Cheese Hub waxing lyrically about Blue Monday! Blue Monday is a lovely blue cheese, less intense than others, with a savoury,creamy character, good lenghty finish too and is a must for any cheeseboard. Rather than matching with port, The Wine Tipster selected the smooth, intensely fruity Casillero del Diablo Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, Central Valley, Chile 2012 which was a good match.

In this wine matching session The Wine Tipster also featured Alex’s Farleigh Wallop, Little Wallop, Goddess and Good Queen Maude. The semi-soft Goddess which is perfect at around eight -ten weeks, changing from creamy notes at four-five weeks  to a more buttery intense and indulgent cheese at this age was  matched with Heidsieck Monopole’s Rosé Top NV and showed, once again, how versatile Champagne can be with cheese.

The Good Queen Maude, made at Alex’s farm using raw ewes’ milk and matured for four months is firm, smooth with a lingering spicy finish. This delicious cheese worked well with the spicy notes of the good value Zalze Shiraz Grenache Viognier 2012, Western Cape, South Africa, currently on offer at £5.99 down from £7.99 in the Co-op.

Great to see everyone enjoying these wines from the excellent Chilean producer Errazuriz in my Drinks Theatre session at the Foodies Festival in South Parks, Oxford yesterday. Thanks also to the lovely audience at my local Foodies. Look out for my column in The Oxford Times and I’m a regular presenter on BBC Radio Oxford too.

As promised here are the list of the wines and the stockists I presented in my Errazuriz: Premium Chile session:

Errazuriz Estate Series Sauvignon Blanc 2013, Aconcagua, £9.99. Stockists: Budgens, Majestic, Waitrose.

Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2011, Valle de Casablanca, £13.99. Stockists: Co-op, Majestic.

Errazuriz Estate Series Merlot 2013, Valle de Curicó, £9.99. Stockists: Booths, www.rhythmandbooze.co.uk, Majestic.

Errazuriz Max Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Aconcagua Valley, £13.99. Stockists: Budgens, Tesco, Waitrose.

I also mentioned the Errazuriz Estate Series Carmenère 2013, Aconcagua Valley, £10.49, which is available from Majestic and Wine Rack .

We have had a great time in the Drinks Theatre at all the Foodies shows and we will

be in The Old Truman Brewery in London from November 28th-30th for the Christmas Foodies Festival. See you there!

Zoe Bawtree interviews The Wine Tipster ahead of The Cheltenham Food & Drink Festival 14^th – 16^th June 2013.

Q) As you are an expert on Wine, Food, Horse Racing, UK Ambassador for the famous Champagne houses G.H. Mumm and Perriër-Jouet, Master of Ceremonies . . . to name a few is there anything you can’t do?

A) Actually I can’t build a shelf and I can’t do circus acts, especially juggling!!

Q) How did you get interested in Wine?

A) I was a punk rocker living in Gloucestershire, who headed north to Sheffield to see some great bands, whilst doing a degree in Urban Studies and a dissertation on deprivation! Post graduating I went for interviews with record companies before my parents, who were members of a wine society, told me to come along to a wine talk and try some Chardonnays from around the world.

Q) What is it that excites you about wine?

A) There’s a wine for every mood you may have, every occasion. As a taster I am always looking for something new.  At the moment, I am getting excited about wines from Croatia, Brazil and Germany.

Discovering new wines is really exciting, but so is tasting a wine that you already know.  I associate wine with memories. Wine is also very challenging and different every year.  You can never get bored with wine.

Q) As a food and wine matching expert, can you recommend wines to go with the following dishes?

Coq Au Vin, Fish Pie and Beef Wellington

A) Coq Au Vin: Cotes du Rhone 2012, Les Dauphins or Aurora Pinot Noir Reserve 2012 from Brazil
Fish Pie: Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Chenin Blanc 2011, South Africa or Josif Graševina 2011 from Croatia
Beef Wellington: You need a level of intensity with this dish which you could get from a Cabernet Sauvignon from Santa Rita or a lovely Bordeaux from the brilliant 2009 vintage.

Q) Is it still possible to find hidden gems in the supermarket?

A) Yes it is. Knowing regions that are not fashionable is always a good start. Croatia has some fantastic wines from indigenous and classic grape varieties.  Portugal has quality wines at all levels, white or red. Germany is producing some wonderful Rieslings that are great as an aperitif style and match up with fish like mackerel as they can really stand up to dominant flavours.

Q) What are you looking forward to at The Cheltenham Food and Drink Festival in June this year?

A) We are running wine masterclasses on all three days of the show for the first time this year. Our wonderful wine journey will start on Friday at 12.30pm with Podere Sant’ Alberto wines (pictured above) from Tuscany and end on Sunday afternoon by Celebrating with Wines of Brazil!

In between, we will be tasting some exciting wines from Spain, England, Croatia, New Zealand, France, South Africa and Germany.

Also, we have some great beer speakers this year with Tim Hampson, Jane Peyton and Sophie Atherton.  And let’s not forget Phil Huckle who will be talking about Malts and Blended Whiskies.

Look forward to seeing you there. Cheers!

For further details check out the Cheltenham Food & Drink Festival