Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages Combe Aux Jacques & Macon Blanc Villages Wine Review

Posted on September 3, 2015 by Margaret Graham

The wine-producing region of Burgundy produces some of the best wines in the world. Why? Well, who doesn’t appreciate a continental climate, and grapes are just the same.

On the whole the region has long cold winters and hot summers with enough rain to jolly along the vines. Luckily for the growers, wine-makers and wine lovers of Burgundy, there is a Burgundy wine to suit every season and weather condition.

On warm summer days there is nothing more pleasant than unwinding with a lightly chilled glass of red Beaujolais or a lovely fresh young Chardonnay from the Mâconnais.

Frost tried two bottles from renowned wine producer Louis Jadot including the brand new 2014 vintage Beaujolais Villages Combe aux Jacques.

NEW VINTAGE: Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages Combe aux Jacques 2014
Produced from the Gamay grape, this beautifully scented, fruity red wine is delicious lightly chilled and enjoyed as an aperitif or even better at a picnic in the sunshine, accompanied by a spread of charcuterie and cheeses.

Beaujolais can often be disappointing, I find, but not this wine. It is produced from the Gamay grape and lives up to its scent: fruity with a deep timbre. I liked it slightly chilled. Try it with light meat, poultry and cheese. And a few friends – but get two bottles, so the sharing doesn’t become a burden.

RRP: £11.00
Stockists: Waitrose (for the 2014 vintage).

(The following stockists are currently on the 2013 vintage but will be moving to the 2014 vintage soon. Tesco.com, Budgens, NISA, Booths , Whole Foods Market Camden, Ellies Cellar, Vintage Wines Ltd, Hoults Wine Merchants, Islington Wine, Bin 21 , Nailsworth Wine & Spirits, Village Wines (Amersham), Dickens House Wine Emporium Ltd, Kingsgate Wines, Refreshers, The Devine Wine Company (Kent) Ltd, Dylans Wine Merchants Ltd, Famous Wine UK Ltd, Ann et Vin Ltd, Corbridge, Wines and Spirits, Grape Sense, Grayshott Wines, Hailsham Cellars, The Leamington Wine Company
Lindley Fine Wine

Louis Jadot Macon Blanc Villages 2013

This is an unoaked Chardonnay, one which is smooth and creamy but balanced by fresh, crisp apple characters. This indicates a newly ripened grape.

We loved this, which was slightly surprising, as often we prefer oaked Chardonnay, but it’s all down to personal preference, isn’t it. We took it into the garden after a tough day, and found it perfect with salad, and the odd prawn on the B-B-Q.
RRP: £12

Stockists: Asda.com , Budgens, Whole Foods Market Camden, Ellies Cellar, Luvians Bottleshop, Bin 21 , The Devine Wine Company (Kent) Ltd, Village Wines (Amersham), Eynsham Cellars Limited, The Strand Wine Company, Ann et Vin Ltd, Islington Wine, Grape Sense, Famous Wine , Grayshott Wines

A Director In Search Of An Actress by Paul Vates

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Margaret Graham

Pity the poor director who raises his head above the parapet and publicly proclaims ‘Is there anyone interested in playing Nora?’

If you’ve read my previous articles about the process of staging A Doll’s House, you’ll know it’s audition time. The chosen poster used to represent the internal struggle within the protagonist’s mind …

… but now represents the director’s (Kevin Russell’s) horror as the emails began to arrive. The number soon reached 200. How do you find the Special One amongst all those? Stories abound of some producers and directors abhorring hotmail email addresses, detesting specific drama schools or, even, flinching at the names of rivals on CVs. One famous director is known for whittling the list down by deleting every third email and removing every third application from his pile.

Ask any HR Manager attempting to fill a vacancy in a company – it’s a nightmare .So can it all be that random, relying so heavily on luck?

Ohhhh, yes.

Kevin told me that ‘it’s so silly what goes through my mind when looking at headshot after headshot. Whether they can act or not seems irrelevant. The first time acting gets involved is at the audition itself, but that seems so far away.’

He does, though, admit other skills are required. For him – and this is just Kevin, no one else (before someone complains that’s not how it’s done) – Kevin wants a clear CV, a photo that shows a certain attitude and a covering letter that indicates a little thought has gone into the application. The rest is gut instinct on his part.

Gradually, the audition list was reduced until sixteen actresses were invited to the venue, Barons Court Theatre. Then I joined him in the process, as a guide, a shoulder to cry on and the-fella-that-reads-along-with-the-auditionees.

The pressure is on them: 1 – to turn up on time; 2 – to resemble the person in the photograph (you’d be amazed how many don’t); 3 – to enjoy themselves. We assist with the last part, aiming to create a jovial and inspirational atmosphere.

So – the big news … Drum roll … An actress has been chosen and she did say ‘Yes.’ Her name is Alexa Matthews. When asked she said, ‘I have always wanted to play the role of Nora and as soon as I saw there was an opportunity to do so I applied immediately. She’s a complex character and makes such an interesting journey though the play and one that as an actor you can really challenge yourself with, this really excites me.

Alexa Matthews – Photo by Michael Shelford

‘The audition was lots of fun and Kevin and Paul have a way of naturally making you feeling at ease. What I loved was that Kevin directed me in some of the chosen scenes with Paul and we got it up on its feet. Auditions can be a really surreal environment but instead of sitting behind a desk Kevin and Paul were much more involved.’

Where was she when she heard she had been offered the part? ‘I had just boarded the plane to France for a friend’s wedding with my boyfriend and received the email just before taking off. I was so excited to hear the news and couldn’t wait to get back to discuss the play further.’

The whole production rests on Alexa’s shoulders – so no pressure there. It’s such a famous role, it is natural to feel nervous about the months ahead. Alexa said, ‘I really hope that I do the play justice and that the audience come away feeling like they have seen a great version of the play. I hope that they are tickled with its lightness but also come away with an understanding of the fresh and relevant messages it has to convey. Importantly I hope they have a great evening out and that as a company we also have lots of fun.’

What Alexa may not realise at the moment, though, is just how many macaroons she will have to consume during the run. I think I may keep count… but more on that later.

A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen will be performed from November 3rd to 22nd at Barons Court Theatre, west London. Tickets are selling fast, so if you fancy stopping by call the box office direct on 020 8932 4747 or email londontheatre@gmail.com to reserve seats.

www.newdreamstheatre.co.uk

Facebook: New Dreams Theatre

Twitter @KevinNewdreams

Willoughbyland by Matthew Parker Book Review

Posted on September 1, 2015 by Margaret Graham

Another absorbing exploration of lives lived in far off times from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Goldeneye and The Sugar Barons. This time, in Willoughbyland, Matthew Parker explores and reveals the untold story of England’s lost colony in Guina. It is a seventeenth-century tale of empire, El Dorado and violent rebellion, of spies, trickery and forbidden love.

Parker opens with a Foreword in which he travels to dense relentless jungle, searching for traces of the English pioneers and refugees who fled the turmoil of the post English Civil War years. Were they chasing a dream? Of course. After all, the reality of post English Civil War was not a bundle of laughs with its grief and poverty, especially for the Cavaliers who were not Oliver Cromwell’s favourite dish of the week.

I was delighted to review this book, because it is a period that fascinates, and I have always pondered on the fate of the Cavaliers, hustled off into exile.

In this case, a group of Cavaliers set sail for the Amazon and Orinoco rivers following in Sir Walter Raleigh’s footsteps. They set up a new settlement named after its founded, Sir Francis Willoughby. Thus was Willoughbyland born.

Parker sucks up the atmosphere for us, we bathe in it. We breathe in the scent of oranges, and suffer in the humidity, we begin to understand how the dream of the explorers fades in the face of incoming planters and traders. Things grow more complicated as mercenaries and soldiers follow political dissidents and increasingly the dream turns sour. Terror and cruelty become the norm. Sugar is produced, slaves are introduced …

This is an intelligent and evocative examination of a period in history that Parker reveals as a microcosm of the history of empire, with its heady attractions and appalling dangers.

Prepare to BE there, feel the heat, absorb the facts, and understand the English past just a little bit more. Well done, Matthew Parker. I knew nothing of this, and now I do. Fascinating. Good jacket too.

Published in Hardback by Hutchinson. £16.99

Also available in eBook

One Man’s Everest by Kenton Cool by Frances Colville

Posted on August 29, 2015 by Margaret Graham

You don’t have to be an expert, or even a novice climber to enjoy Kenton Cool’s memoir, One Man’s Everest. I’m a wimp of the first order when it comes to heights, particularly if there is a sheer drop in the vicinity. So was this book for me? Yes – I couldn’t put it down.

Kenton Cool (what a fabulous name for a mountaineer) has devoted most of his adult life to climbing, whether completing challenges, or as a climbing guide. He writes with humour and self deprecating understatement which belies the enormous achievements of his career, the summit (no pun intended) of which has not in his opinion yet been reached.

Cool keeps technical language to a minimum and while I’m sure his fellow mountaineers and climbers would find much to enjoy in the book, there is also plenty to interest the rest of us. For this is the tale of one man’s determination to conquer not only the highest peaks in the world, but also his own physical handicaps and his self doubts about what his choice of lifestyle does to his wife and young family. He talks about motivation and about the hardships he and fellow climbers endure. He writes too of the toll the increasing popularity of ‘big peak’ mountaineering takes on the environment and the dangers casual commercialism brings to climbers and their support networks. Poignantly he also talks about the terrible impact of the recent earthquake in Nepal and the devastation it has caused to a people he clearly holds in very high regard.

I’d have liked more information about how he recovered sufficiently from his ear ly accident – after which he was told that further climbing was completely out of the question – to be able to climb Everest on several occasions. You can’t please everyone.

Perhaps appealing to a wide range of readers is one of the best tests of a successful memoir and One Man’s Everest achieves this. It is readable, inspiring, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

One Man’s Everest will be published as a Preface hardback on 27^th August 2015.

http://www.prefacepublishing.co.uk

My Stratford Friend – Dominick Reyntiens by Frances Colville

Posted on August 28, 2015 by Margaret Graham

Taking the reader back to the time of Shakespeare and setting the scene of his early years – what’s not to like? Once the author Dominick Reyntiens gets into his stride, he captures the essence of the period and creates believable characters and settings.

I love the way Reyntiens integrates actual names and phrases which appear in Shakespeare’s writing. For example on page 1 we learn that Tom’s horse is called Prospero (an important character in The Tempest), and later on we meet the matched pairs of horses, Lysander and Hermia, Helena and Demetrius, all names used by Shakespeare for characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A man wearing the head of an ass appears as a precursor of Bottom. And we’re introduced to a Robin Goodfellow otherwise known as Puka – a clear link with Shakespeare’s Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream. This is clever stuff and makes for a fascinating read. I found myself constantly looking out for references to the plays, and at the same time wondering just how many I had missed.

I don’t know, not having done extensive research on Shakespeare’s life myself, whether this is the true version of events. But I don’t think that matters. It’s definitely a possible version, an interpretation of the evidence we have, and a personal view of what might have happened, and that after all is what historical fiction is all about. What’s more, it’s a fast paced well-plotted story. And I very much look forward to reading the next instalment.

Available from Amazon.co.uk

The WforW Grannies Raise More Money…

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Margaret Graham

Photographs: Kate Pain

‘OK, let’s get down and dirty, then.’ The decision was made. We’d do the military assault course Mud Challenge at www.actiondaysout.co.uk to round off charity Words for the Wounded’s 2015 fundraising activities.

We? Margaret Graham, Jan Speedie and Penny Deacon, are the grannies who run Words for the Wounded. We choose to conduct strategy meetings at The Wellington on the Strand, and decisions seem so easy over the second glass of wine. ‘Yes, there’ll be a bit of mud. Yes, we’ll get the families involved. Yes, it’ll be a bit of fun – and easy peasy.’

Easy peasy? For goodness sake.

On the whole our charity, Words for the Wounded, raises funds by offering opportunities to readers and writers: the annual Independent Author Book Award, the LitFest Day. But we also like to do something different. Last year was the sky dive, this year MUD.

With our long-suffering children and grand-children on the team we met up at Action Days Out, Henfold Lakes, Dorking, in the rain. Ah well. Ian and Callum Marshall briefed us, which is when ‘easy’ and ‘The Wellington’ seemed a million miles away, and teamwork was emphasized as crucial to the escapade. Off we trooped, to the warm up obstacles.

Ho hum. Warm up, indeed. Then it was 1,2,3, and off we went. Mud? Oh yes. Water? Oh yes? Small obstacles? Oh no. BIG obstacles.

Ian and Callum were there all the way, (on the bank). We ranged in age 11 to 70, and everyone helped everyone else. Was it like one great mudlark? Not exactly, one has to say, in fact, just feeling a little faint at the memory.

I found dragging my feet out of the mud was half the battle, but there was the other half of the battle looming as I tried to find somewhere to put the foot that would actually help me hoof up the bank. Frequently it was on some poor soul’s knee. But then I took the weight of a few so all is fair in a mudbath.

So, easy? NO. Fun? Oh yes. I haven’t laughed so much for years, even when Ian asked us to link arms and run across the next few inches of water, which we did. It was actually several feet deep. Then there was crawling through water beneath barbed wire, throwing ourselves through tyres (frantic searching to find one big enough for my bum – oh, the humiliation had I stuck)

Finally the end, and yes, you guessed it: debrief over lunch at a pub down the road, The Royal Oak Stonebridge. Adrian and Beverley Waterworth looked after us like troopers. Try it.

A success? Fantastic day, a great team, we all know one another far too well, having trodden/thrown, tugged one another into and out of obstacles. We surely must have soft skin from the all- over mudpack.

Action Days Out – Ian and Callum are a great team. Boris, Callum’s 5 month old Norfolk Terrier came round with him, and found a false boob from the previous day’s Stag Mud Challenge. Yes, indeed, Stag and Hen parties do it here too. Crikey. It’s fun, give it a whirl, but be prepared to throw your clothes away afterwards. Of course, we’re all looking at Norfolk terrier puppies now.

£1750 raised so far. Remember every penny Words for the Wounded raises goes to where it should, as the grannies absorb all costs. If you fancy helping the wounded. Go to:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/granniesmudchallenge

www.wordsforthewounded.co.uk

www.actiondaysout.co.uk

Facebook: royaloakstonebridgedorking

A Day In The Life / Hester Young

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Margaret Graham

Today finds me far from the New Jersey suburb that I call home, in the midst of a research trip for my second novel. My husband and I have left our kids with my mother and journeyed to Arizona. The timing isn’t perfect–my first book, THE GATES OF EVANGELINE, has a lot going on publicity-wise as we prepare for our U.S. release. But the sequel needs some love, too, so here I am!

Today, we begin the morning at a B&B on the edge of Tucson, a city I used to live in. I take a 5 AM stroll on the trail out back and watch the sun come up. Lizards, birds, and rabbits scuttle and hop about, and I even spot an antelope jackrabbit. I make notes on the different types of cactus and desert plants I see so that I can accurately describe them in the book later.

My husband and I enjoy a breakfast of tortilla chips, black beans, and nopalitos (a type of cactus)at a place called Coyote Pause. I scan through publicity and marketing emails regarding THE GATES OF EVANGELINE while he frets over the weather reports. Looks like we will be braving temperatures of up to 46 degrees Celsius! My first novel required research trips to Louisiana during Mardi Gras–this is not quite as cushy. We chat and review our plans for the day, and then I sneak in some writing time with a notebook in the courtyard before it gets too hot.

Next, we head an hour south to Nogales, an Arizona town that borders a Mexican city by the same name. I’ve arranged a tour tomorrow with an officer at U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to get info for the book. Today, we are meeting Scott Nicholson, an American charity worker who has offered to guide us through the Mexican side of Nogales and show us one of the city’s poorest communities.

Scott brings us to Tirabichi, a garbage dump once home to thirty families who made their living recycling found materials. The dump has recently been shut down by the government and its dwellings destroyed by a pair of suspicious fires that killed one resident. Few families remain. My work-in-progress has a scene set here, so I get a good look around and speak a bit with the caretaker in my stilted Spanish.

Over lunch, we chat with Scott about his life and work. Though American, he lives and works at a Mexican community center called HEPAC, which offers free lunches for local children, adult education courses, and a new affordable child care center. In his free time, Scott hikes seven miles through the desert to leave water for desperate migrants who might otherwise die as they seek to cross the border. I am amazed by his big heart. Meeting interesting individuals with powerful stories is one of my favorite parts of being a writer.

My husband and I return to the U.S. mid-afternoon and check into a local hotel. I spend a couple hours writing while he naps. When he wakes, we do a Facetime call with our children, who breathlessly relate their day’s adventures.

Although we aren’t expecting high cuisine from this dusty border town, we find a surprisingly delicious Italian restaurant in a neighboring town. It’s strange to go from the poverty of Mexico to sipping wine and nibbling an eggplant appetizer, but I suppose this is what writers do: move in and out of worlds. Tonight I am particularly grateful for all that we have. I can’t wait to integrate the things I’ve seen into my latest novel.

The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Margaret Graham

When The Gates of Evangeline arrived – kerplunk – on my desk and I read the blurb, ‘Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Cates, a New York journalist and single mother mourning the recent, unexpected death of her young son … my first thought was – not for me. I don’t do grieving mothers. They tear me to shreds.

Thankfully, I flicked through the first page, and was hooked.

Hester Young handles her material with aplomb, and though we are aware of Charlie Cates’ loss we are not manipulated by it. Instead, Young, who writes in the first person present, with spare and finely edged language, takes us on Charlie’s journey -from the urban New York to small town Louisiana.

It is here, in the sultry state with its swamps, and evocative history, that she takes a commission to write a true-crime book based on the case of Gabriel Deveau. Gabriel is the young heir to a wealthy and infamous Southern family who was kidnapped thirty years ago and it is a crime that has never been solved.

Charlie ‘witnesses’ events through hallucinations, which drive her onwards. She uncovers long-buried secrets of love, money, betrayal and murder. The facts appear to implicate those she most wants to trust.

The Gates of Evangeline is gripping, with a tremendous sense of place, (I need to put Louisiana on my list of places to go). It is a sense of place that I found reminiscent of James Lee Burke, one of the most atmospheric authors I have read, and whose work I love.

Young has created a Gothic epic, a great whodunit with a slightly but ‘in context’ supernatural bent. I couldn’t put it down, and found myself trying to work out who indeed ‘dunit’. I was half right, but that’s the thing with Young, there’s always another twist, an unpredictability that is in keeping, but surprising.

In The Gates of Evangeline, Hester Young, who lives with her husband and two children in New Jersey, has created a carefully crafted and fantastic literary debut.

Read it, but don’t expect to be able to put it down. This is a new crime series, which is great news. Can’t wait for the second to hit the bookstands.

Frost is publishing Hester Young’s A Day in the Life in a week.

Hardback by Century at £16.99

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