Wine Review: Stella Alpina Chardonnay 2012 Alto Adige ITALY

Yes I know most of the wine has gone...

I am a massive chardonnay fan, I will always choose it over the ever popular sauvignon blanc. I also love Italian wine, their bold, full bodied reds and their easy drinking, light whites. So when this wine came to our store (on a great offer) I had to try some!

Coming from Alto Adige, the most northern wine region of Italy. The grapes are grown in a cool climate so I was expecting a cheap burgundian style. I was right to some extent, though way off on the quality! the wine has a lovely buttery texture with a steely edge, typical of burgundy chardonnay. I was surprised at the depth and finish this wine has, and a lovely smoothness which goes down almost too well. well balance with hints of lychee and pineapple. This is a lot better than many burgundies I have tried.

On reflection, I'm not sure why I was so surprised at how good this wine is. Stella Alpina also do an amazing pinot grigio, much better than the cheap stuff constantly ploughed out of Italy. This is the first 100% chardonnay I've tried from Italy. I recently had the chardonnay, pinot grigio blend from Sainsbury's which was, frankly, weird. (drinkable! but weird…) I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for more to compare. In the mean time, this is a must try for any chardonnay lover.

I would recommend not drinking it too cold! always leave your white wines out for 10-15 minutes before drinking so that you can get the full flavour of the wine.

Currently at £9.32 as part of Majestic's Pick and Mix offer (buy 2 save 33.33% single bottle price: £13.99)

Worth every penny! get some before I grab it all….

Nomnomnom: raspberry brownies.

Found this recipe online and was amazing! a great bake for fresh strawberries but i guess you could just as easily use defrosted frozen red berries. The tartness of the berries goes incredibly with the rich chocolate. You can use whichever kind of chocolate (dark, milk or white) you prefer. I'd recommend a mixture of milk and dark! whatever is easiest for you, this recipe is so versatile.

300g dark or milk chocolate
250g salted butter
400g soft light brown sugar 4 large eggs140g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
200g raspberries

My Boyfriend wasn't a massive fan however, he doesn't like fruit much...

Lemon cake with lemon cheese icing

I think its safe to say that everyone wants Mary Berry to be their favourite Auntie who constantly feeds them with yummy bakes. After watching the first episode of her new BBC series 'Mary Berry Cooks' I was inspired to bake her amazing looking Lemon cake with lemon cheese Icing. Plus, with the amazing weather we've been having I thought lemon would go down nicely!

Slightly comply consistency, tasted amazing!

The hardest part of the whole bake was the fancy decoration on top. though the lemons were easy to peel I wasn't sure exactly what I was bring to achieve as I boiled them in sugared water. As I didn't have time to dry them out over night I did it in a low oven for around 40 minutes and they came out good! I bit chewier than I would have liked, think I should have boiled them for a bit longer. 

The cake itself was a very simple sponge. With two whole lemons in it I was a bit sceptical but it turned really well. The tins i used were a bit large so it was probably a lot harder for me to cut the sponges in half. Though I think it worked out ok in the end! apart from a slightly messier, crumply consistency than I was expecting. Its the taste that counts in the end.

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