Michel Roux Jr & Balvenie #TheCraftmensDinner

Good food and drink is something that I am passionate about. I regularly champion both and especially British independents. Last year I was lucky enough to visit and make my own gin with Master Distiller, Jamie Baxter at the 45 Gin School. The very same place, that they make the now famous Burleighs London Dry Gin. Like gin, wine making in England and Wales has a long and rich history. From pre-Roman times to the present day, there has been wine growing in Britain. My favourite wine will always be a crisp sparkling wine, enjoyed cold, together with a meal with friends. One of my husbands good friends has a small vineyard and we visit it each summer with the girls.

We even have one of the vines in our own garden at home, though I haven’t managed to grow enough grapes to make wine yet, maybe one day!

Dedicating yourself to producing something of such great skill that tastes so good, really is an art form. For me that marrying of amazing ingredients produced with love, dedication and knowledge, is a true master craftsmen pursuing his or her perfection.

One such craftsmen is Simon Ridgeview one of the leading wine makers of the sparkling English wine Ridgeview Wines, who are being championed in a series of films that you can view on YouTube currently. Ridgeview have won a whole host of awards, and their sparkling wine is served by the Queen at state dinners.

Here is the film :

The 6 part film series (you can view the complete series HERE) sees the two-Michelin star chef, Michel Roux Jr travel the whole of the British Isles to discover the true meaning of this craftsmanship. These films were created in partnership with The Balvenie whisky.

His aim was to meet ‘masters of craft’ within their respective fields. He found and filmed a salmon smoker, a potter, one of the last remaining knife makers in the UK, a sparkling wine producer, an organic food producer and The Balvenie’s very own cooper. Finally you get to see of all of those carftsmen come together in a very special three-course ‘Craftsmen’s Dinner’, in which Michel uses produce from each of the craftsmen he meets.