The Road To Abersoch

The Road To Abersoch

Bank holiday weekend. The children have been rudely awakened at 9am from their holiday slumber. Effectively shortening their sleep by at least four hours or if you prefer the glass half full, adding to their day by as much.

We have over packed our four door saloon car with five people and a boot that will barely close. The tyres have been stretched to the manufacturers 'heavy load' condition.

We leave late.

At least the kids think so. My cunning plan was to tell them we were leaving at 9:30 with my goal being 10:30.

We leave late.

Uncharacteristically the weather was looking fine. With all our essentials packed we set off. My indulgence was a case of hand picked wine from Winos wine shop in Oldham. I had covered all bases from fruity and oak filled Rioja to light and refreshing French Sauvignon Blanc hopefully plenty to last us our four nights.

It's a three hour drive to Abersoch and once passed the notorious Eccles interchange it actually becomes quite enjoyable and you know your making headway when the idyllic Stanlow refinery plant looms on the horizon.

Holiday tradition dictates a drive through McDonald's in Canaerfon. It's probably the only one of the year for me so I supersize everything.

We were very lucky to rent a chalet in the Warren just outside Abersoch. A truly impressive 'caravan' site that now holds a hundred plus chalets that are all more impressive than my own. home. Add to that the array of sports cars (Mclaren actually had a stand in the car park for their P1 cars), Range Rovers and Daimlers and our 1999 saloon with rusty boot slipped in completely un noticed. One hitch was my drivers side window which refuses to open, making the entry barrier a 'drive passed, open door, run to fob, swipe and back in the car' operation.

Four days of sun, cloud, wind and rain. However this is par for course in Wales and we come well prepared even managing a 15 mile trek around the newly opened coastal path returning back looking like drowned rats.

The wine, well it didn't last the distance although it was very good my favourite being a full bodied 14.5% Tempranillo from Bodega Matsui from Toro, South West of the Rioja region in Spain. A truly great wine wine with chocolate black fruits and vanilla. Highly recommended. www.bodegamatsu.com/en/vino/el-recio/.

We matched this with a Welsh black beef red Thai curry. Although we made this meal ourselves it was probably the best meal we had over the four days.

Having over indulged on our vino we popped to one of our favourite wine shops in Pwhelli. Gwin Llyn Wines a brilliantly well stocked wine shop that offers plenty to the well healed oenophile. The one section that caught my eye though was the Welsh wine from Ancre Hill estates in. Monmouth. A fabulous state of the art winery with noble grape varieties of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

I would have loved to try some but it had sold out. Which in itself is a good sign. They also make an award winning sparkling rosé. I have been told this is one to look out for.

We left with a collection of wines including a cool Coonawarra; a bold Barossa Shiraz and a citrus Chablis. All, we decided, we would take home and enjoy at a later date.

Having spent too long in the Vaynol, Abersoch's well known bar and too much money we returned home. Poorer, wetter but well exercised and with a new wine to look out for.

Food & Wine by Paul Sheerin
Pshearse@gmail.com