Thank you so much to everyone that joined us for our screening of 'Bohemian Rhapsody with Wine' at The Electric on Sunday afternoon.
Read on for details on all the wines from the evening, our gallery of photos, and bunch of trivia.
As promised, these are the wines we enjoyed ...
Wines fit for Queen
Pol Guyot Champagne, Sainsbury’s £16
This Champagne has a pinkish hue due to the prominence of red grapes in the blend over white. Pinot Meunier, then Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Brioche and baked apple on the nose, ready with apple and peach on the palate. It might not be Cristal but we think Freddie would approve!
Glace de Rocher Fendant, Valais, Switzerland, Aldi £8.99
Freddie would spend thousands importing Saint Saphorin Swiss wine from Laveaux and not much of it makes it's way to the UK now.
This, however, is Fendant from Valais, a rich white wine imported by Aldi. Baked pear and nougat on the nose, off dry with low acidity on the palate. A bargain at £8.99 a bottle.
Thierry Delaunay 'Le Manoir' Rosé, Touraine, Loire Valley, Majestic £11.99
(£7.99 as part of a mixed case of six)
Touraine is amous for it's Loire Sauvignon Blanc but also awesome rosé.
This a Gamay (Brian Ga-May) with some Cabernet Franc & Malbec.
Red fruits on the nose, mineral, peach, raspberry and strawberry on the palate Would go great with goats cheese but perfect on it's own with some sunshine.
Deakin Estate Shiraz, Riverina, New South Wales, Australia, £9.99 All about Wine
John Deacon / Deakin Estate .. sorry.
This Shiraz, or Syrah as it's known in France or New Zealand, delivers a bouquet of spicy fruit, ripe berry and plum. There's more fruit on offer as you taste it, coupled with hints of vanilla, oak and trademark Shiraz black pepper.
Taylor's Late Bottled Vintage Port 2017, Douro, Portugal, Waitrose £16.99
Late Bottled Vintage was developed as an alternative to Vintage Port for more informal occasions. Produced from wines from a single harvest, it shares the heritage and the complex rich fruity character of a classic Taylor Vintage. However, the longer time spent in large oak vats means that it is ready to drink when bottled and needs no decanting.
Blackcurrant, strawberry and plum on the nose. On the palate, lusciously intense fruity flavours and a long finish.
Bohemian Gallery
Killer Queen Trivia
Some highlights from our movie trivia ...
Freddie was born, Farrokh Bulsara of Zanzibar, but changed his name to Freddie Mercury in 1964 Middlesex.
Freddie had our extra teeth in his top set, but didn't want to risk his singing voice by removing any.
Like Brian May, Freddie was a huge animal lover. He had 10 cats, used to call them whilst touring and had professional portraits created of them.
Freddie could be inspired to write songs anywhere, he composed “This Thing Called Love”, in the bath and had someone bring a piano to the tub. He composed “Who wants to live forever?” in back of car after seeing Highlander the movie.
Freddie featured on a British stamp, he was the first person to feature other than The Queen.
He won the 1990 BRITS Outstanding contribution award - alas, it was the last time he was seen in front of audience.
The hit song Bohemian Rhapsody was released on Halloween in 1975, and has grossed almost a billion dollars.
Named Britain’s favourite all time hit by Guinness Book of World Records.
Originally known as the Cowboy Song, it is actually three different songs stitched together.
Recorded at Rockfield Studios Monmouth Wales, the Opera section took three weeks to record.
Bismillah is the name of God in Arabic.
Freddie claimed the lyrics are just random rhyming nonsense.
Despite it's 6 minute length, its not longest Queen track, the Prophets Song is 8 mins 21 seconds.
Whilst the song took three weeks to record, the video only took 4 hours to shoot!
Under Pressure, the epic song with Bowie was a coincidence. They both happened to be in Montreux Switzerland at the time and seized the moment to record a track together. There is also a 3m statue of Freddie in the city.
The Queen logo was created by Freddie and is actually the band member’s zodiac signs, Leos Taylor & Deacon, Cancer - May, Virgo - Freddie.
Money was very tight at first. Their first two videos, “We Will Rock You” and “Spread Your Wings” were filmed in Roger Taylor’s backyard.
Their Greatest Hits album is the greatest selling album of all time.
Brian May’s Guitar, the Red Special, was made from a 200 year-old mantle. His father helped him make it.
Movie and real life inaccuracies
Freddie didn’t stumble into a 1970 gig and see the band, he’d been friends with singer Tim Staffell for a long time and a fan of the band. Freddie had been badgering Brian May to join for some time, he eventually relented when Staffell left.
John Deacon is shown in the band from the beginning but was actually the fourth bassist.
Mary Austin didn’t meet Freddie on the night he met the band but met Freddie when already lead singer after a brief period when she'd been dating Brian May.
Roy Foster is based on Roy Featherstone who loved the band but thought Bo Rap too long, all else fiction.
The group never actually split up. The truth is that they were all burnt out in 1983 after touring for a decade. They all took a break and began working on Album 'The Works' together in late 1983.
Freddie was actually the third band member to record a solo album after Roger Taylor and Brian May.
So, Live Aid was not a reunion. They actually toured ‘The Works’ in 1984 and Freddie had no idea he had AIDS at Live Aid, 86/87
Freddie actually met Jim Hutton at Heaven nightclub
Thank you!
We look forward to welcoming you back to another of our events very soon but why not check out our website or sign up to our monthly mailing list to find out about new events first:
Tony and the Wine Events Co Crew