WHAT WE’RE DRINKING… Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that gin is in. New brands are appearing every week and it’s showing no sign of slowing. The exponential growth of the spirit has been phenomenal, with sales totalling over £1 billion in the UK in 2016 alone. Whilst there may be some doubters who have begun to question whether the tipple has hit it’s peak, we think you can’t have too much of a good thing. So, if you haven’t already guessed it, we’ll be drinking gin all summer long. And not just any old Gin, our own handcrafted Camber Gin… We’ve joined the craze and are delighted to have created a Gin that encompasses everything about Portsmouth’s naval history and our seaside community.
Our own blend has been made with coastal botanicals of seaweed, samphire & seabeets and we’re serving it garnished with samphire & lemon. As if this Gin wasn’t personal enough to us, our staff member Chloe has designed and created the labelling for the Gin (Studying illustration at university really does help), and we take our hat off to her and her incredible talent! So come down and grab your new local G&T now! Retail price: £28 Drink in G&T at abar: £5.35
WHAT WE’RE EATING… Summer calls for light, fresh dining & our obsession at the moment has to be abar’s shell on Crevettes. There is something incredibly satisfying about working for your food – and picking apart and peeling off the shell of these tasty, chunky prawns builds you quite the appetite! For an afternoon of grazing in the sun, these Crevettes at £7 are a must have. Oh, and as if these weren’t enough, the accompanying aioli for dipping completes this delicious summer feast, and is dangerously moreish…
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN AUGUST
* There will be NO SIPPING SATURDAY this month due to the bank holiday weekend
*Our FISHY FRIDAY will be this coming Friday 3rd August, fish & chips and a dessert for £12 between 5pm-6.30pm
* For all you super pre-planners getting your office CHRISTMAS PARTIES checked off the list (Yes, I said Christmas – don’t say we aren’t well prepared!) abarbistro are now taking bookings! Call 02392 811585 to discuss further. (we are still working on the menu but keep your eyes peeled on the website…)
*Our WINE TASTING SUPPERS will be making a return from September! Join us for a three course meal prepared by our chefs, four hand selected wines from a specific producer and a special guest from the winery, who attends to discuss the lovely wines you will be trying! Tickets cost £40 per person.
Dates for the diaries:
Tuesday 25th September – Kaiken, Argentina
Thursday 8th November – Boutinot Wines, France
To book your space, call abar on 02392 811585, payment upfront is necessary to secure your booking.
WHAT’S NEW IN THE WINE DEPARTMENT 
We’re going all Italian with the two newest additions to the Camber portfolio. We’re putting a spin the Gewurztraminer with this Italian interpretation from Cantine di Ora. This modern winery in Alto Adige has a vineyard warmed by Lake Garda during the growing season and ripens at altitude in the Bassa Atesina district in the foothills of the Dolomites. Perfumed , aromatic Gewurztraminer with rose and honey characteristics on the palate, unusually fresh and racy.
It’s taken a while to discover a new Amarone that is worth the pennies, but finally the work has paid off! (Though we did enjoy doing the research..) Here we present to you, Tedeschi Amarone Valpolicella DOCG 2013. The grapes are harvested from various vineyards across the Valpolicella zone and the wine is a blend of four grape varieties, with most dominant being Corvina. Notes of vanilla and sweet fruits, such as blueberries, cherries and currants. Followed by a slight raisiny character with a firm structure which lends itself to a succulent and more persistent flavour.
Retail Prices:
Cantina di Ora Gewurztraminer £13.00
Tedeschi Amarone Valpolicella DOCG 2013 £33.00
WINE WISDOM
Our monthly wine wisdom brings you ageing of wines like you’ve never heard of. Oak ageing is a thing of the past, and it’s time to welcome a new innovative technique of ageing wine below our beloved sea – and, as sea dwellers, this method has obviously stolen our hearts. After the recent discovery in 2010 of Champagne bottles abroad a 19th Century shipwreck in the Baltic Sea, this type of ageing is big news in the wine world. Much to everyone’s amazement, some of the 170 year old bottles still had fizz and were actually drinkable! More complicated is how this actually works, with the science behind the process being as yet unexplained.. But for now, it’s currently believed that the consistent temperature, lack of light and oxygen, and the sea’s pressure and humidity all have positive effects on the wine. The Most recent grower to test this out is a Medoc estate Chateau Tour Castillon who has immersed 600 bottles of its 2015 vintage in the English Channel where it will stay for a year. But before you put on your diving gear and jump on a boat, the wines are under surveillance and checked by diving teams daily… damn. But seriously, we’re already counting down the days until the release date – when it comes to wine “tasting”, we’re all for trying something new…!
