A pretty lazy Sunday - well, lazy in that I wasn't rushing around out and about. Teenagers were both at work (Ha, now that has to be funny in itself!) and wife was snoozing in front of the TV having just presented the breaky programme for the radio station where she works.

Anyway, I was pretty active in terms of an afternoon spent catching up with stuff online, including all those interesting things Google Reader picked up for me during last few days that I haven't had a chance to read until now. If you don't already follow them, two (other!) wine blogs worth reading and book-marking are Ryan and Gabriela Opaz's Catavino and Joe Robert's 1winedude - but there are heaps of great wine blogs being written by passionate people - why not have a look next time you have a few minutes online? There is a good list of great wine blogs here: 100 Top Wine Blogs. Aim for 2009 - to get S4W's blog into that list!

A house to myself; and no need to feel guilty about work as it's Sunday. Spent some fun time catching up with people I follow on Twitter - follow me there if you like http://twitter.com/AndrewChapman. In fact, Twitter has been getting some great press of late. Robert McIntosh over at The Wine Conversation, another very good and highly recommended wine blogger, was featured on the BBC's Working Lunch (@declancurry and @workinglunch in Twitter-speak), and Jonathan Ross, a new Twitter convert (@wossy) interviewed Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) about his Twittering's on his first show back after his ban. Plus a piece in The Guardian recently.

... and before I knew it it was time to put the roast chicken in and get a move on with supper. Which gave me time to try a couple of Sherry's while messing about in the kitchen

First up, a chilled Fino... Fino Marismeno from Bodegas Sanchez Romate. Chilled Fino is sooo under-rated. This one is zingy, dry, salty, tangy - such good value for quality compared to wine. Its dryness and almondy, citrus-like/salty edge make it a great aperitif. Fino needs to be drunk fresh, and preferably, if you have enough people in the house to consume it, in one go - just like you would a table wine

Next up was Oloroso del Puerto from Gutierrez Colosia. I've been a big fan of this producer since visiting them afew years back. The Bodega is on the banks of Guadalete rive, next to the Atlantic - I'm sure you can detect a distinct salty tang on in all their Sherry's, even the Oloroso and Amontillado. War, rich, nutty but with a good zip of acidity/saltyness this works as an aperitif, but also is quite foodie too - a really versatile wine. Dry, but with a wonderful lingering after-taste.

A splash went into toe Chicken roasting pan to deglaze it and we had THE best chicken gravy in ages - as voted by teen2, the gravy and roast potato connoisseur of our house!

 Too bad tomorrow is Monday....

It's a Bank Holiday in the UK, so having a slightly leisurely morning; although thinking I ought to be up and out as I've some errands to run, and even an emergency delivery to make. It's an awful day weather-wise, so not much chance on geting the Bar-B later out either.

Alison is doing a shift at JackFM, so just me and the kids until she gets home - maybe it's the perfect weather for a trip to the cinema? Or just some films on the TV...

With some extra time to hand I've been catching up on some of my favourite wine blogs. In fact, I just saw the Vouvray Sec 1995, Gaston Huet that we have on our list mentioned by Jamie Goode over at The Wine Anorak. Vouvray, made from that chameleon grape variety Chenin Blanc, is a lovely wine - produced, as Jamie points out in his blog post, in a variety of styles from bone-dry to lusciously sweet and everything in between. Vouvray can be, perhaps, a bit tricky for the novice wine drinker. Vouvray can be fiercely acidic in it's youth, and the sweeter styles often have their higher sugar content masked by their acidity or alcohol/ripeness, so can be difficult to asses when young. Vouvray's, both dry and swet styles, can age brilliantly with this natural acidity helping to keep hem fresh and lively - for decades in the right year. I have been lucky enough to try some pretty old vintages in a former life while Butler at The Queen's College in Oxford (now that was a job I enjoyed - almost as much as being a wine merchant!), and I have always been a bit of a Vouvray fan ever since (check out Surf4Wine's current Vouvray selection) - so it was nice to see them mentioned on Jamie's Blog.

Actually, having a bit of extra time to take look and delve deeper and think about wine blogging (normally it is a quick zoom through headlines/latest posts while having my first cup of coffee!), it struck me how lucky we are in the UK with the variety of wine blogs we have, blogging on everything from Best Buys to latest tasting notes and news. In fact, it's set me to thinking about an idea mentioned to me recently by Spanish wine blogger Ryan Opaz over at Catavino; a feature on the Best of British Wine Blogs. I think that could be an interesting idea to explore further on our blog here in coming weeks ... so, do you have any favourite UK wine blogs?