This new approach allows me to award articles that are outstanding – more than once a month if necessary! Previously, we only choose a winner each month.

Please note, to win, your article must be:

- factually correct re your experience;

- details provided where possible, location, URL, telephone number and a guide to the costs;

- a good description of your experience, the food, where possible, what you like or dislike.

My decision remains final.

The next bottle(s) on offer:  Chbilis Premier Cru (Montmain) 2002 from Domaine Marie Berangere.

E

8th May 2011

The winner is Jo. Well done.

I have awarded  Demetris Savva as the other winner (reviews)  for eating his way round Havana and Munich in April. Well done.

The user competition is now closed until Bottles and Cooks hit another usage milestone.

Re the competition for reviews submitted, I am going to change the format – it will be announced in the next few days.

E

see above articles or just enter by submitting the words “user competition” on the comment section of this article.

Please note that by submitting the words “user competition”, you are agreeing to abide by the rules as laid out on 21 February 2011.

E

April 2011

Since January 2011, Bottles and Cooks.com has over 1200 regular unique users.

To thank you for your support, I have dug out a few bottles from my cellar.

To enter the  competition, all you have to do is enter your details and the words “user competition” in the “leave a comment” section of this article. All entries will be acknowledged.

Your email address will not be passed on or used for anything other than for this competition. We will destroy the data when the competition ends.

Every month (deadline is 12.00 noon on the last day of each month) for the next 3 months (March-June), we will randomly draw a user from the pot of emails addresses submitted. Please, no spamming, no funny email addresses and one entry per user only. Once you have entered, you will stay in the draw until the competition expires. Winners will not be re-entered. However, this does not exclude you from winning the “review” prize if you enter articles on shopping experiences or dining experiences.

My decision (E) is final for both the users and reviewers competition. Please also be aware that we will not guarantee the condition of the wine. As far as we are aware, the wine has been kept in perfect conditions.

If you live in the UK, I will try to get the bottle to you within 2 weeks. If you live outside the UK, you will receive wine vouchers to the value of £150 (per draw) if we are unable to get the wine to you because of logistic or “local laws on alcohol import” . If we can’t find a suitable wine merchant in your country, you will receive a cheque to the value of £120. Please note that the vouchers and cheques are only applicable to non UK residents there is no cash alternatives. All winners outside the UK will bear the cosequences – if any-  of exchange rates changes, commission and local or import tax.

If we can find a suitable wine merchant in your country to issue vouchers, there will be no cash alternative. By entering the words user competition, you will have read and agreed to the rules. We will disqualify enteries that have not followed the above procedures.

The first competition will run till the end of March 2011.

For this competition we are offering abottle of  Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1989. There is also a bottle of the same wine on offer for ALL reviews submitted from now till 31 March 2011

Parker gave it 90 and said: It is a medium weight clasic Lafite. It is elegant, restrained……..Anticipated maturity: 2006-2025.

I had a bottle the other day and it offered elegance and smoothness that the modern day wines from the New World lacks. It is currently available at over €1,000 a bottle from certain sites!

Good luck. The competition starts NOW!

E

February 2011

The Bordeaux First Growth draw will be announced on Sunday 20 February 2011.

Damian is in Austin, Texas over Xmas and he will report back on the dining scene in the New Year.

Eddie is off to Australia (Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart) in the New Year. He will test out “different” restaurants to those that Paul Plant reported on a few months ago.

We are unlikely to post any new articles until the New Year!

Over the past year we have had several responses from Chefs or Management re the articles. We welcome the debates and participations.

In the New Year, I am off to Australian for a month to eat, drink, follow cricket and tennis. There will be regular updates whenever I can find a WiFi spot.

To celebrate the grand occassion after we have reached 1000 plus unique visitors, I will offer our readers 3 bottles – one per person – of first growth or equivalent in a good vintage. All you have to do is email me with your email address – the address will not be sold on or used for any purpose other than the draw. We will also NOT store any data. But please, no spamming and one entry per reader please.

Watch out for the announcement of how the draw will work in the New Year.

E