Some images of Lisbon including Contra Campo and a Finkus' cap

 An old TV van parked or abandoned near Principe Real

View from Graça across to Amoreiras  

 Blue house over there yonder – Central Lisbon 

 View towards Botanical Gardens and Rato

 Floral house in the Alfama 

São Vicente de Fora

 Man in market by São Vicente de Fora (above and below)

His Master's Voice 

 RIIA or RITA in need of repair – Alfama
 

 Rua do Loureiro, Alfama

 Restaurante Morgadinha de Alfama (friendly, good value and French spoken)

 Restaurante Morgadinha de Alfama: menu 

 The singing fish, Alfama

Steps in the Alfama 

Greve Geral 

Demonstration near Rossio

A Finkus' cap displayed in hat shop on Rossio Square in Central Lisbon

Reflections in a bookshop – Campo de Ourique 

Bookshop in Campo de Ourique

***

On Les 5 du Vin Alexandre Truffer is our third Saturday guest. He explores the origins of the grape variety Humagne here. 

Jim's bid for Z-list celebrity now on-line!

Finkus Bripp@Conference in Portugal December 2010

Finkus Bripp's interview – 'The JIM BUDD INTERVIEW - "CAMPOGATE" AND "THIS BLOGGER" – is now up on-line here. Thanks Finkus!


Matter of record:
As of 18.20 (GMT) 22.2.2012 I have not been contacted by Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate or anyone carrying out the investigation Parker set up to look into events in Spain. I have received no requests for further assistance or further information nor any request for a meeting. The last communication was from Stephen Miller on 8th February 2012. See here:


'Thank you so much for your assistance.

Stephen Miller'

Stephen A. Miller | Cozen O'Connor
1900 Market Street | Philadelphia, PA 19103-3508 | P: 215.665.4736 | F: 215.689.3815
samiller@cozen.com | www.cozen.com

Finkus Bripp: TRAILER - THE JIM BUDD INTERVIEW - COMING SOON

 Finkus Bripp seeing whether he might add a shade to his cap

Here is a trailer to the interview that Finkus (wine on the rocks) did with me on Sunday 29th January. Decidedly topical as we talk about Campogate and the request from Robert Parker's lawyers for relevant documents, which were duly sent on 2nd February. The full interview is due to be released next week. 

As the trailer shows I tend to blend into the background, which may be why Parker's lawyers have apparently had difficulty in contacting me to arrange a meeting.  

Duo of crus communaux + Finkus Bripp interviews 'This blogger'

Finkus Bripp: "Can anyone tell me why I've got a camera growing out of

my ear and a shade attached to my cap? I thought I did the off-beat stuff!"

Plenty of entertaining this weekend that gave me the opportunity to try out some more of the Muscadet crus communaux and to gauge people's reactions to them.

First on Saturday evening we had friends over for dinner. The willingness of our recently opened fishmongers and butchers – Billings – to take orders prompted me to opt for a first course of mulet aux olives et au vin blanc (grey mullet with olives and white wine) served cold. This simple recipe comes from Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking and used to be one of my regular dishes in the days when Richards, a fine fishmonger in Brewer Street in the heart of London's Soho still existed. Sadly this shop along with others like Hamburger (also on Brewer Street specialising in a variety of smoked fish) and Gomez Ortega (a wonderful Spanish grocers on nearby Old Compton Street) have long gone. Grey mullet came hard to find. The dish is very easy to make but served cold and decorated with thin slices of lime and lemon can look pretty impressive. As an experiment we offered the option of some Polish horseradish sauce bought from Topolski in Druid Street. It worked well.

2006 Monnières Saint-Fiacre, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine

With the mullet we drank the 2006 Monnières Saint-Fiacre, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine from Véronique Gunther-Chereau at Château du Coing. The Monnières' quite opulent and rich fruit matched the meaty flesh of the mullet and with enough acidity to freshen the palate. Our friends were surprised to discover a Muscadet in this style and of such quality.

Finkus Bripp

Then yesterday lunchtime Finkus Bripp (wine on the rocks) made his way down from Hendon to South London to interview 'this blogger'. Finkus is normally based in Munich but is over in the UK for a few days. He continues to be a busy boy having recently launched his own 'pointless' wine shop and making a wine in Portugal's Douro Valley.

Miolo Brut, Franciacorta, Villa Crespia

In preparation for the rigours of the 'on the rocks' interview we had a glass of the full textured Miolo Brut, Franciacorta from Villa Crespia with its toasty and honeyed notes balanced by good, ripe acidity. Sadly this was the last of our half bottles that we brought back from our October visit to Franciacorta for the European Wine Bloggers Conference. These halves have proved to be a very useful and practical size providing an evening apéro for two or even a glass each for three people.

Then over a light lunch – baked omelette with bacon, potato and cheese and salad – we tried another Muscadet from Véronique Gunther-Chereau – the 2005 Château de la Gravelle from Gorges. This proved to be more mineral than the 2006, which was somewhat of a surprise for the vintage but may instead be a reflection of the terroir of Gorges. The Gravelle, however, did have enough buttery weight to partner the omelette.

Finkus prepares to interview 'this blogger'

Lunch over it was onto a wide-ranging interview with Finkus (shot using a Canon EOS 7 with a 16-35 L lens) – to be released at some date in the future.

The trademark Bripp cap – 'the Bripp effect'