As my wine diary continues I must let you know about another wonderful Bodega in the island of Mallorca.

Having travelled by car from Palma (the Capital) to the beautiful town Validemossa, which I have to say is well worth a visit, we took the scenic road then towards Port Andratx/Andratx and arrived in the attractive town of Banyalbufar which is equally worth a visit too. Once through the town we arrived at a vineyard/bodega named Son Vives.

We met with Tony the proprietor who is a passionate ‘wine man’. It was a hot day and we favoured tasting chilled whites. Two very clean, crisp wines were on offer one made from 100% Malvasia the local grape which we enjoyed………. but our ‘pick of the bunch’ was the ‘Fusio De Blancs’ which was 65% Malvasia grape and 35% Chardonnay grape.

This wine really was quaffable and we would seriously recommend anyone making the same tremendously scenic journey to stop off and enjoy a glass or two with Tony and the team at Son Vives. We will be venturing back to try their reds this autumn and will be bringing a bottle or two back for our wine lovers to enjoy at the Bulls Head.

Visit www.sonvives.com for more details. Thank you to Tony for his hospitality.

IN THE NORTH SEA HALF OF ALL FISH CAUGHT ARE THROWN BACK OVER BOARD DEAD!!

The ocean is a source of food, a place for recreation, and its beauty has inspired countless artists. But, it’s under threat – from over-fishing and poor fishing practices.

The Bulls Head supports Oceanic conservation groups that celebrate the beauty of the ocean, highlight the issue of over-fishing, help us all understand the threats to the ocean and make positive choices about the right fish to buy and eat.

We support Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (who we saw in London recently. Nice haircut Hugh!!) and his Fish fight campaign!!!!

We are featuring a Wild Boar Roast as well as cool music from the dynamic duo ‘Smoooth’ all starting at 4pm in the afternoon.

Look forward to seeing you at the Birthday party and ………Our normal Sunday Menu will be available with our lovely Roast Sirloin of Beef and we will be Roasting a Wild Boar which is being served with all the trimmings in the pub as well as more casually as a hot hog bap too!!

Individual birthday cup cakes will be on the bar, as were enjoyed on Mothers Day (see below). We cannot believe a year has gone by. We have enjoyed it immensely thank you to everyone for your support!! Here’s to year two which incorporates the Bulls Heads 200th Anniversary!! See you Sunday!!

Customers thoroughly enjoyed our ‘alternative cheese and wine week’ where we gave wine (with our compliments) to taste with both special dishes for the week as well as ‘resident’ dishes from our spring menu where cheese was a key ingredient.

Such starters as ‘warm bread crumbed Brie with our Tomato and Caramelised onion Chutney’ was served with a Macia Batle Anada, superb Mallorcan Red with a light ‘caramel’ taste our most popular ‘shipped in’ red

Twice baked Goats Cheese Souffle with roasted beetroot and dressed leaf salad served with our shipped in Italian Bottega Vinai Sauvignon Blanc went down very well.

Vernaccia di San Gimignano is Tuscany’s first DOCG before the likes of Chianti, etc. A Pinot Grigio in style but with more weight was served with our ‘celery and stilton’ soup and is our ‘shipped in white’ for May.

Such mains as our Cumberland Pie with a Lancashire Cheddar top served with Carrot and celeriac mash and a glass of our shipped in  Chianti Classico, Villa la Pagliaia, this is a proper old school version of Tuscany’s most famous red wine and is still available as a ‘guest wine’ in May and Veal Chop with Blue Cheese Dauphinoise potato, green beans and a red wine gravy served with a glass of Macia Batle Mallorcan Rosado from our list.

Finally from our menu we selected ‘Our famous Pork Chop’ and served it with a glass of Vouvray demi-sec which is a medium French wine that suits the flavour of the Pork, cheese and apples wonderfully and is on our list all summer by the bottle. Then we featured ‘Lloyds Cauliflower cheese’ served with a glass of our French Pasquiers crisp dry rose a favourite from our list.

Our wonderful Cheese board was served with two 50 ml glasses of Antique PX from Spain. This prune/Balsamic coloured dessert wine offers an alternative to port and has a fruity/nutty sweetness that works with the Cheeses particularly the Bowland fruit Cheese and is available all year round and has become a ‘niche’ favourite since we opened a year ago.

Thank you to all the customers that visited on different days and enjoyed the experience of wine and food matching.

Yes from today Monday 9th May 2011 ‘til the 16th May 2011 we will be featuring delicious dishes that, in one way or another, will have a variation of cheese as a key ingredient.

This will include various starters, mains and desserts throughout our special week.

That’s not all…………. we will be including a taster glass of a wine with each dish that we believe is the perfect accompaniment. Hence ‘Cheese and Wine week’!!

As an additional ‘bonus’ for the week, we will also be selecting different dishes on a daily basis from the main Bulls Head menu that include cheese as a main ingredient and offering you a free glass of  wine we believe you will  enjoy with the chosen dishes.

So if you love tasting different new wines while enjoying fresh home cooked dishes of the cheesy variety then call in and see us here at the Bulls Head!!!

On a sunny day over an exceptionally busy Easter and ‘Wedding’ holiday period a funny thing happened here at the Bulls Head……….Nuala the Irish terrier (pictured) arrived at the door of our pub!!!

She firstly took a drink from our dog bowl at the front door then ventured into our ‘Whisky’ Snug (where dogs are welcome) and gave a soft ‘woof’ to Shane and Nick our bartenders on duty.

Shane offered Nuala a dog biscuit (Bonio no less) from the Jar on the bar!! Noola gladly accepted the biscuit with a grunt and hit the sunshine to enjoy her ‘free’ snack.

She then took another slurp of water and re-entered the pub and woofed again…………a further snack was dispensed by our generous team!!

Nuala was ‘away from home alone’ having ‘escaped’ from her nearby residence. Jenny our landlady decided to phone the number on the collar and Nuala was re-united with her owner.

It would appear to me that Nuala and many dogs locally know a good pub when they see one!!!  The only free meals here are in the shape of a bonio!!

Cheers Tim

Mothering Sunday turned out to be a lovely day here at the pub. Despite indifferent weather, a great day was had by all in the usual relaxed atmosphere that is the Bulls Head!!

As the picture shows ‘Cup Cakes’ were all the rage as each mum (and a few children and Gentlemen too!!) were presented with the most delicious Cup Cakes (or as my mum called them…..butter iced buns!!).

I have to say my mum, god rest her soul, would have been exceptionally proud of these Cup Cakes!!! They were supplied by the wonderfully named “And the dish ran away with the Spoon” situated in West Didsbury.

Do visit www.dishandspoonfood.co.uk  to find out more…a great start up business that will feature greatly in future events here at the Bulls Head!!

Thank you to everyone for coming to the pub on Mothering Sunday we all enjoyed it immensely!!

Here at the Bulls Head we try our very best at all times to ensure we give our customers a great experience, if, on the very rare occasion, we don’t get it right, we make sure we do something about it and learn from your comments.

That’s why we are honoured to have been included in the book ‘ The Hidden Places of Lancashire and Cheshire’ on the back of recommendations from you, our customers!!

We know the Bulls Head is a ‘little gem’ and we are very proud of our team and the lovely village pub we have created.

The book is on our book shelf in the pub so by all means have a quick read next time you are in.

Thanks once again.

We are delighted to announce that The Storm Brewery of Macclesfield have won the right to brew ‘The Blonde Bull’ Ale for the Bulls Head this summer!!

The competition began last Monday 28th and ran until Thursday when the first Ale sold out!!

Storm won by a country mile with 57 votes in total. Tatton Brewery were again second (they were second for the 1812 Overture Ale competition too) and the Frodsham Brewery were third.

We would like to thank all the customers who took part and the Brewers for presenting their ‘blondes’ so well.

The Blonde Bull Ale will be sitting on the bar soon!!! So if you fancy a blonde moment then you know where we are!!