The Retreat Elcot Park in Berkshire is the perfect country hotel weekend getaway, says Lucy Cleland

Relaxed British Charm And Cheer: The Retreat Elcot Park

Sometimes you just want a quick, breezy, relaxing, yet spoiling, break from London – you don’t want to drive too far; you don’t want to have to pack your finest threads; you just want to chuck the kids in the back of the car with the dog and some wellies and off you go for a change of scene. It’s sort of like going to a posh friend’s country pad, in fact. If that sounds appealing, Elcot could be the perfect place for you. 

STAY

Hector Ross and his partner Ronnie Kimbugwe made waves on the British hotel scene with the opening of The Mitre, a cat’s whisker from Hampton Court right by the Thames, back in 2020. Their vision for The Signet Collection (more hotels are in the pipeline, including Barnsdale Lodge in Rutland) is to find neglected, downtrodden gems in quirky locations and breathe new life into them with a blend of great design, top-notch food and a large dose relaxation – stuffiness is definitely off the menu. Their second hotel, The Retreat Elcot Park in Berkshire, fits this brief superbly. A handsome 18th-century home, with links to Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (you can spot his portrait hanging over the fireplace in the entrance hall), its most recent incarnation was as, I’m guessing here, a less well-designed and foodie-centric hotel, belonging to the Mercure group, catering for a more corporate audience. Hector understood its more boutique potential after taking his son swimming there. It took him six years to persuade them to sell up.

But succeed he did. Architects and designers in, and millions of pounds later, the result is, among the other communal spaces, two restaurants, a spa and 55 individually designed bedrooms by duo of Taylor and Turner (ex de Gournay and Alidad), who have brought it bang up to date with a strong colour palette and bold wallpapers – the Pierre Frey in the Bushby Bacon suite is particularly striking. Between them all, they have managed to make it feel both super-smart and relaxed at the same time – children and dogs are most definitely welcome and encouraged. A glass of wine is proffered as soon as you arrive; there are snacking pantries for hungry children to raid; there’s a recreation field with football goals; a tennis court; and a croquet lawn to lose your temper on (no one can fail not to lose their temper playing croquet). 

Then there’s the outdoor swimming pool – not always a given at country house hotels. With loungers, hot weather (well, isn’t that pretty much always the status now?) and a large glass of Whispering Angel (the cult rosé has its own branded pool bar), if you’re thinking of ditching your carbon-intensive weekend to the South of France, come here instead. 

The 2022 Ultimate Thanksgiving Guide To Celebrate With The People You Love

It’s almost time to carve up that turkey and set the table for a gathering with your loved ones — make it a memorable Thanksgiving!

By Tony Bowles

Thanksgiving will be one of the big family gatherings that will bring us together around the table to give thanks, argue about who made the best side, and watch some good ol’ football!
Whether you’re making an intimate dinner for your family or dining out, we’ve compiled a robust guide for those dining out. If you’re wondering what to sip throughout the day, we’ve got some top-notch Thanksgiving cocktails, wine, and spirits you and your guests will be sure to enjoy.
However you celebrate this holiday, we hope that you have a festive, but safe time with those you love and cherish.

Whispering Angel 2021 Rosé

The benchmark for all Côtes de Provence rosé. Adored by wine enthusiasts and Hamptons-goers alike, the wine has evocative flavors of grapefruit and citrus and pairs beautifully with crudités and fresh seafood.

Rosé Wine Pairing: Pear and Camembert Crostini

By Helga & Kitty

The holiday season is upon us, and with it comes gatherings with family and friends!

One of the most versatile wines to combine with food is rosé wine, and we have found an excellent option that we want to share with you: Whispering Angel. It has a balanced body; it is dry and with very pleasant acidity. On the palate, it has notes of strawberry, peach, and citrus.

This wine pairs very well with pork, seafood, or chicken recipes, as well as vegetarian dishes, and with cheese. With this in mind, we have a very simple yet elegant recipe that goes perfectly with this rosé wine.

You will need a baguette bread, a wheel of Camembert cheese, a couple of pears, honey, and fresh rosemary. In our reel, you can see the step-by-step so that you can prepare this delightful appetizer for your next get-together. Don’t forget to use fresh rosemary, the aroma is so delicious!

Imaginary Spanish cuisine from a 12-Michelin-starred chef

By Eu Hooi-Khaw

It was a pleasure to taste the finest cuisine of Spain’s brightest culinary star, Martín Berasategui. The chef, who has a total of 12 Michelin stars, incorporates his creations into the lunch and dinner menus at EQ Kuala Lumpur’s Sabayon through 24 November. You must visit four Berasategui restaurants in San Sebastian, Barcelona, Ibiza (Spain) and Tenerife in the Canary Islands to taste everything on the dinner menu.
As he was unable to physically attend, Etxego Ibiza’s head chef, his protégé Paco Budia, presented his signature style of panache berasategui at Sabayon on a menu curated by him. Complexity, depth of flavor, texture, exquisite flavor and presentation perfection are part of Berasategui’s cuisine. So it was 3 star appetizers for us – Caipirinha-soaked melon (from Michelin 2 star MB Tenerife), seaweed potato chips (1 star, Oria Barcelona) and fried brioche (EtxegoMore Ibiza, Michelin Guide). There was a sweet, citrusy bite from the melon lightly soaked in a rum-like liqueur. I submerged it in a nice brioche.

I was blown away by the cucumber mayonnaise, black garlic ice cream and jalapeño foam with tuna. The sweet black garlic ice cream, contrasted with the salty jalapeño foam and cucumber mayonnaise, sent ripples through the mouth.
Seabass with mashed potatoes, green sauce, citrus mist and mollusks was also delicious.
Tender, mellow and moist sea bass harmoniously blends with the other components on the plate. This is a dish from a three-star restaurant named after Martín Berasategui in San Sebastian.

The beef tenderloin with chlorophyll sauce, cheese pieces and perigueux sauce was excellent. Sauce is the definition of a chef and Berasategui deserved his three Michelin stars for this creation.
The beef tenderloin looked chocolatey and tasted smooth and creamy, gelled in a rich, complex and exquisite Perigueux sauce garnished with black truffles and a sophisticated chlorophyll sauce garnished with asparagus.
The ensemble black truffle shavings complemented it. The rich flavor of the cheese sauce is perfectly balanced.
Then served as a taste cleanser before dessert was a classic gin fizz with echego strawberry granita. We enjoyed a wonderful dessert of coconut ice cream with compote.
Mignardises, or petit fours, rounded off a wonderful dinner accompanied by wines, including an award-winning Barbaresco that we loved.
A native of the Basque Country, Berasategui also owns the Eme Be Garrote restaurant in San Sebastian, the Orla Martin Berasategui restaurant in Bilbao and the Fifty Seconds Martin Berasategui restaurant in Lisbon.
‘Flavors of Spain’ dinner is RM688+ per person. Wine pairing can be added for RM328+, or a total of RM1,016+.

Lunch menu is RM328+ or RM428+ with wine. Meal wines include Champagne Baron de Rothschild, Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand, Albert Bichot Chablis, and Whispering Angel (Côte de Provence rosé).

7 Finest Wines to Present to Other

Did Somebody Say Rosé?

By VivacityI van

Whispering Angel Côtes de Provence Rosé 2020 is without doubt one of the 12 months’s most extremely regarded Rosés. A mix of Grenache, Cinsault, and Vermentino delivers flavors of citrus, peach, watermelon, and purple berry. Its floral and mineral fragrance and light-weight rose hue make it fulfilling to all of the senses. Crisp and dry with a easy end, it’s additionally surprisingly inexpensive. You’ll discover it superb to serve with frivolously grilled steaks, salmon, salads, and cheeses.

4 Spots to Drink Wine Like Adele in SF

By Christina Campodonico

British pop star Adele’s latest music video shows the singer enthroned atop a red inner tube, adorned in a glittering gold dress, regally floating down a lazy river with a glass of rosé in hand as she sings the lyrics to her boozy ballad, “I Drink Wine,” from new album 30.
This vision of absurdity and elegance was brought to life by an SF hometown hero, Joe Talbot, who directed the video. Talbot is one of the filmmakers behind the A24 hit, “The Last Black Man in San Francisco.”
The director grew up in SF and recently gushed about working with Adele on Instagram, writing: “She supported us in the making of this in every way a fellow artist can. I feel like the luckiest boy in a Giants hat.”
Whether you’re a fan of Talbot or Adele, here are four spots where you can emulate the singer-songwriter’s wine game:

1. Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar 950 Mason St.

Note: You could be fined $1,000 for jumping into the pool at the Fairmont Hotel’s legendary Tonga Room, according to a sign posted by the pool. But sitting around the old school tiki bar’s blue lagoon could be the closest best option to floating down a lazy river in SF.
The atmospheric cocktail lounge, complete with thunderstorms on the half hour, is known for its classic tiki cocktails (think Mai Tais, Zombies and rum-driven drinks), but Tonga Room also has an equally whimsical list of wines, including “Whispering Angel” rosé.

Dakota Fanning

Excerpt from An Interview Published on October 31, 2022

… Here is an unconscious and casually curated feed of “little flashes of my sense of humor or things I care about.” I couldn’t help noticing her love of Whispering Angel rosé wine.
“Oh my god, it’s the best” she cries.
I had been tempted to bring her a bottle as a gift, but I didn’t want her to take it the wrong way.
“I would have welcomed it with open arms” she reassures me. “And we would be drinking it right now.”

rosé wine, a truly seasonless sip

When Sacha Lichine acquired Chateau d’Esclans he knew he had no-easy task ahead him: to educate the world about the true potential of rosé wine. Since 2006, Sacha and his team have tirelessly worked to spread one simple message: rosé truly can be a fine wine. Gone are the days of it being merely a summer tipple to be drunk while relaxing by the sea, in the present day it is now a widely respected and truly beloved beverage that can be appreciated by anyone, whether they be a connoisseur or your everyman drinker. Rated amongst some of the best wines in the world, the Chateau d’Esclans portfolio is paving the way for the rosé category to become a totally seasonless sip.

After sixteen vintages, the realization is slowly but surely starting to dawn on the world that rosé is in fact a wine that can be enjoyed with a vast array of cuisines at any time of the year. So, with the festive season around the corner, as family and friends come together to enjoy each other’s company, it is high time that a glass of rosé becomes commonplace when celebrating what has been this year, and what is to come in 2023. Whether it be cheese fondue in the Alps, hearty truffle dishes next to a warm fire or a delicious game course shared around a table of friends, the Chateau d’Esclans wines are the ultimate compliment to a seemingly endless number of traditionally wintertime treats.

So, as the winter months descend upon us, please consider this an invitation to experiment with your seasonal drink choices, whether it be around your own table or gifting a bottle to loved ones. From harvest to holidays, Chateau d’Esclans has got you covered this season.

Dillon Bass Seeks to Drive Rosé Renaissance in Northern Ireland with Whispering Angel

Drinks company Dillon Bass has added Whispering Angel – the world’s number one premium rosé – to its burgeoning wine and spirits portfolio.
With a 24.4% market share, Whispering Angel has driven the ‘rosé renaissance’ in recent years, supported by high profile celebrity endorsements and sponsorships. Widely regarded as the benchmark for new rosés, Whispering Angel essentially established a category that is now worth a massive £63M globally, with premium £10+ rosés growing +58.1%, as consumers opt to enjoy blush wines all year round.
The popular rosé brand was officially welcomed into the Dillon Bass wine portfolio at a special dinner for key hospitality staff at Belfast’s Waterman restaurant at the end of September (Wednesday 28 September), hosted by Whispering Angel’s UK brand ambassador, Kelly Stevenson. Chef Niall McKenna prepared an exquisite menu with dishes expertly paired to complement Whispering Angel.
Dillon Bass will now begin a programme of trade engagement, events and activations to support growing consumer demand for rosé.

Speaking after the event, Laura Shiels, brand manager for Whispering Angel said: “Whispering Angel has been a gamechanger for the rosé category. From humble beginnings in 2006, the brand has grown to become the world’s number one rosé, building a whole category through its own impressive trajectory. We’re excited to amplify the stellar work the brand has been doing globally to drive the rosé renaissance here, helping consumers to enjoy a taste of ‘la vie en rosé’ in Northern Ireland.”

Whispering Angel is available to buy in leading local retail and off sales outlets across Northern Ireland, RRP £20.