Bubbly fit for a queen
Want to drink like a queen? Pour yourself a glass of British bubbly.
As Queen Elizabeth II floated down the Thames Sunday aboard the Royal Barge, the woman of the hour, along with the rest of the royal family, were served three English wines to quench their thirst: a sparkling wine, stilll white and rosé.
The royal family has likewise taken an interest in winemaking, having planted 16,000 vines in Windsor Great Park last year, the former hunting park of the queen's favorite residence Windsor Castle, in Berkshire, southeast England. The vineyards are being managed by Laithwaites Wine.
Here are the three wines served aboard The Spirit of Chartwell:
Nyetimber Classic Cuvée 2007: Produced from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier, the sparkling wine from southern England has won several international wine awards. A glass of bubbly is described as having aromas of toast, marmalade, wax, coffee and dried fruits in the nose.
Stopham Pinot Blanc 2010: A dry wine produced in West Sussex, the Pinot Blanc is described as having a ‘steely acidity' that underpin delicate fresh apple and blossom flavors.
Albury Vineyard Silent Pool Rosé 2011: As one of the few organic vineyards in England, this Surrey winery served the first bottles of their very first wine to members of the royal family. Wine is made from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, planted in 2009.
Meanwhile, in an interview with the DailyMail.co.uk, a former chef at Buckingham Palace revealed that some of the queen's favorite foods during his 15-year tenure included Cornflakes or Special K cereal topped with dried fruit or macadamia nuts for breakfast, jam sandwiches, Darjeeling tea, and gin and Dubonnet before bedtime.
The queen is also supposedly a woman of simple tastes, as a typical lunch would be grilled Dover sole on a bed of wilted spinach.
"...Really simple, light and no sauce. Clean and simple that was how she liked it,' said the chef to MailOnline.
