Out with my Dad
I had a lovely evening last night when I headed out for a rare night out with my Dad. I’m lucky enough to get to see loads of my Dad as he lives in Harrogate too, he’s a brilliant babysitter for the Smalls and all round ‘International Rescue’ to me and the famalam, but it’s not often just the two of us get to go out together for fun, which made it all the more lovely!
Veeno in Harrogate
We headed to Veeno, the Italian wine café, who serve their family produced Sicilian wines & authentic Italian spuntini (appetisers), which was the perfect setting for us. We were invited to try their wine tasting experience as my Dad also knows a thing or two about wine!
Veeno in Harrogate, opened last year at the site of the new Everyman Cinema and is in the perfect spot. The bar has a lovely chilled vibe about it, with a ‘half wine bar, half nice place to eat’ feel about it. It definitely feels quite grown-up, which is really nice when you want a Mama night out.
Wine Tasting Experience
We were lucky enough to enjoy the Selezione wine tasting experience whereby we were treated to two white wines, a rose and two red wines, all expertly paired with authentic Sicilian food which was polished off with a homemade tiramisu and a dessert wine too! It was amazing!
Veeno is owned by two Italian chaps who set up the business in 2013, they now have a fifteen Veeno’s across the UK and plan to open further ones over the coming months. One of the nicest things about the wine tasting experience was that all the wines we got to enjoy were from the family vineyards in Sicily.
Authentic Italian Food
We were firstly presented with a simply gorgeous array of genuine Italian foods on a sharing platter to enjoy. It looked amazing and it tasted even better than it looked. All the cold meats, cheeses and breads are sourced from Italy too making it a really authentic platter.
The lovely manager then came across to us to share the first wine to taste, she explained all about how it was made, what sort of flavours to expect and which food it paired best with.
Wine and Food Pairing
In the first case it was a white Grillo, ‘Our Driest’ which, as expected, was very dry – just exactly how I like it, it was perfect and it was paired with their special Mozzarella di Bufala – which was melt in the mouth good.
Each wine is served as a 70ml glass, which means you get to really taste it and enjoy it whilst not having to worry too much as to whether you’ll remember which the last wine was you tasted either! A perfect measure in my opinion.
Five Wines and a Dessert Wine
The second white we tasted turned out to be my favourite, the Zibibbo ‘The Wine of Love’ – which was a little random when I was with my Dad! Still we did both Love It – so maybe that was it, we enjoyed that with Pecorino (sheep’s milk) cheese – which is one of my favourite cheeses, I think it’s the saltiness – again they did pair well and I would definitely buy this wine again!
Next it was time for the Rose, I love a Rose and it’s usually my go to girls meet up wine of choice, this ‘House Rose’ it was effortlessly easy drinking and went wonderfully with the olive tapenade on Italian bread that I had, and the Speck (smoked Ham from Trentino) for my non-veggie Dad.
Then it was on to the reds, the ‘Experts Only’ Perricone served with the Bresaola for my Dad and a tomato pate for me, which went down very well indeed. The star of the show for my Dad was the last red we tasted ‘Our Richest’, which is made from a Nero D’Avola Riserva, it was a really deep, rich wine, spicy, silky and persistent. It went beautifully with the Gorgonzola cheese.
Polished Off with Pudding
Finally it was time for dessert, a homemade tiramisu which was exceptionally light and creamy and went perfectly with the ‘Tagos’ the family produced desert wine, which made for the ideal end to a lovely evening.
Lovely Relaxed Atmosphere
The setting at Veeno was so relaxed, it was fairly bustling with couples and a few groups of friends chatting over wine and bites to eat, the atmosphere was lovely and it was so nice for me and my Dad to catch up and enjoy a shared experience together.
The food was top notch too – I felt I learned just a little more about wine and it helped me realise what I really love in a wine and identify it a bit better.
A great place to hang out
Mostly it reminded me that Veeno is a lovely place to hang out, perfect for a post work drink, a pre-cinema quick one or a girls night out as somewhere to chill and chat whilst enjoying a relaxed bite to eat.
I would really recommend the wine tasting experience as something a little different to do as a couple, or with a group of friends.
Three Types of Wine Tasting
Veeno have a Classic wine tasting from £19.90 per person which also includes the Sputtini (sharing platter) and the tiramisu and the Selezione experience is from £26.90 per person.
The blind tasting experience looks like loads of fun too – and would be perfect for a Christmas party night out. You still get all the amazing wines and tasty food, but it’s a bit more interactive and there can be an element of competition too at £28.90 per person – groups of six or more.
You can find out about all Veeno Wine Tasting Experiences on their website. We were at Veeno for just over two and a half hours, drinking, eating, chatting. It was a really lovely night and one I’m sure I’ll do again soon.
Disclaimer: Veeno invited me and my Dad to enjoy the wine tasting experience with their compliments.