I wanted to share this shiny gem of a wine shop with you. Jaded Palates in Ashburton is an independent wine merchant downstairs and a boutique wine tasting venue upstairs. Using state of the art ‘Wine Emotion’ technology to keep their wines in top notch condition ready for you to sample. Named Jaded Palates because of the people out there who are tired of the same old wines. Their aim is to refresh tired palates and inspire their customers to try something new. Each one of their wines are chosen by Ian, a qualified winemaker to ensure quality from vine to glass.
You can’t help but get the “wow” factor from your first impression at Jaded Palates. Plenty of choices; red, white, rosé and sparklers as well as local beers, ciders and gins entice you in as well as a lovely welcome with a smile from Gill.
From the first steps into the store, you instantly get drawn to the beautifully labelled bottles from unusual and not so unusual places. Gill is on hand to guide you through your choices giving expert advice as you glide from whites and rosés then on to the reds and sherries.
After chatting with Gill she mentioned how Jaded Palates welcome people to shop locally for lunch, nibbles and snacks to have alongside wine in their upstairs tasting room. Instantly I knew this was what I wanted to do so I took myself off along with Steve and our two friends Nick and Harry to see what the local and independent shops had to offer for the four of our hungry bellies. Using the nifty Love Food Devon guide that I had picked up at a food festival a week or so before I turned to the pages for Ashburton. Recommended were the Ashburton Deli that resides next door to Jaded Palates. Just around the corner is a fruit and veg shop and the Fish Deli. We picked up delicious lunchtime treats to share with our wine including fresh salad leaves, cheeses, fish pate and bread amongst other bits and bobs. All sourced within a 20-mile radius. How wonderful is that?
Setting up camp in the wine tasting room with our lunchtime local treats, we set about choosing our wine selections. All stored to perfection in the fabulous Wine Emotion dispensing and preserving system.
Before selection, you must load a small card downstairs with a set amount of money that you would like to spend. Gill talked us through how to use the machines which thankfully turned out to be a very simple process. With a loaded card in hand, you pop it into the machine where it instantly recognised your budget. We had loaded our card with £20.00 for the four of us which gave us the opportunity to sample many of the wines on offer. With three measures available you can have a ‘tot’, a small or large glass. Each of the measures are priced accordingly. We mostly opted for the ‘tots’ which enabled us to sample many at around the £1.50-£2.00 price point. Obviously, if you were on a night out you would maybe go for the larger measures but for us, on a drizzly Tuesday afternoon, it was the perfect way for us to try many varieties alongside our locally sourced lunchtime delights.
The process of selecting and trying is so much fun and it felt very social. We all talked about our choices and said what we liked and disliked about the wines. It was also an eye-opener because it enabled us to try wines for a few pounds that we thought we wouldn’t enjoy. To our surprise, there was a single wine that we didn’t enjoy.
I think Jaded Palates is a must visit shop. Get in the car or take a bus and head over to Ashburton. You won’t be disappointed. It’s a lovely way to spend a couple of hours in this incredible foodie town! I for one am already planning my next visit. Who wants to come with me?
You can find Jaded Palates at 12 North Street, Ashburton, Devon, TQ13 7QD or 42 The Square, Chagford, Devon, TQ13 8AH.
Film credit: Nick Hook Photography
Disclaimer: I was not paid for writing this blog post and all views are my own as always.