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Weekly Digest

Our weekly newsletters with current thoughts on the world of wine as well as our wine pick of the week.

Autumn Wines

During the spring lockdown a cosy night in was still a luxury, but after six months, it has rather lost its sheen. This time last year we were relishing the changes that autumn brings and the prospect of hunkering down for the winter with plenty of good food and wine. We were slowing down after

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South island, New Zealand

Donna Olimpia 1898

Bolgheri, on the Tuscan coast, is littered with the greats from the Italian wine making world: Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Antinori, Gaja. These behemoths have set the bar high for both quality and price for the region. So when you find yourself surrounded by the them you may be excused for feeling a little intimidated as proximity

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Donna Olimpia Orizzonte

2015 Bordeaux

2015 was a good year for most of the wine world but particularly for Bordeaux. It was sunny and warm and nearly everyone got the chance to make a decent wine from their crop. There are, of course, those wines that outshone others but it was most noticeably a year where producers we donโ€™t tend

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2015 Chateau Capbern Saint Estephe Cru Bourgeois

Mendoza

Argentina spent the majority of the 20th century shrouded in trouble and political instability. Despite having all the key elements to create a wine industry worthy of taking on the old establishment, investors never felt secure enough to really put the time and money into the areas that showed real potential.  However the 1990s saw a

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Mendoza Vineyard

Cornas

Camping with small children is fairly torturous. After a week in a frequently rain soaked campsite in Brittany we were in dire need of some vestige of relaxation.  A brief trip into the local town gave us the chance to investigate the local wine merchants and we emerged (after the only 5 minutes the children

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Vineyards in the Cote du Rhone France

Antonio de la Riva

19th Century Sherry I am a big fan of Sherry. It reminds me of growing up in southern Spain where the old men would be in permanent position at the rickety tables in front of the local bar slowly working their way through the afternoon heat with endless sherry and animated chat. But they are

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1940s Antonio de la Riva Viejisimo Oloroso

Rioja

Reacquaint yourself with an old friendย  Thereโ€™s something comforting and familiar about Rioja. Itโ€™s like the old friend you perhaps donโ€™t see very often but when you do itโ€™s like old times. Whether you drink it regularly or not most people could happily come up with a couple of adjectives to describe Rioja that will

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Rioja Vineyards

New World Wanderings

We donโ€™t spend a huge amount of time in the New World; we have a tendency to gravitate towards France, Spain and Italy because most of what we know and like comes from there. But we would be doing ourselves and the wine world a disservice if we didnโ€™t occasionally look outside of Europe. Argentina,

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Map of the world with a compass

White Christmas

That time of year has rolled around again where everyone wants to tell you how to enjoy the cold weather and the festivities. Wrap up warm and soak up the winter sun before heading home to celebrate in front of the fire with a nourishing and warming glass of red wine. As the average person benefits from

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Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay

Russian Roulette

Opening a bottle of wine to discover itโ€™s too old, too young, faulty, or worse, just distinctly average, is fairly irritating. But it shouldnโ€™t put you off trying something new. We like to experiment and take risks with wine, thatโ€™s how we started out and we continue to open weird and wonderful bottles on an

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spanna 1977

Pessac-Leognan

Is there value to be found in Bordeaux? This is a question that gets asked frequently and answered in a myriad of ways. But it is not a question that should be asked in such broad terms: Bordeaux produces an incomprehensible amount of wine, some good, some great, some terrible. Its many tiers of quality,

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Chateau Pape Clement Pessac Leognan Grand Cru Classe

Single-Quinta Port

Terroir and Character in the Douro Valley Port is one of theย mainstays of any drinks cupboard. It always makes an appearance at Christmas and, depending on whose house youโ€™re in, may well have been there since the dawn of time. It is fairly easy stuff to come across and the main Port houses, whetherย Portuguese orย British,

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Oporto Vineyard

Cรดte Rรดtie: Syrahโ€™s Delicate Incarnation

A description some may find odd as Syrah is known for its meaty, spicy red wines thatย can sometimes bowl you over with smoke and pepper. However, Cรดte Rรดtie in the Northern Rhรดne producesย a softer more delicate incarnation of Syrah with aย perfumed and floral nose. Traditionally the difference has always been put down to the inclusion

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E. Guigal La Turque Cote Rotie

California ABC

California and Cabernet go hand in hand: Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate, Scarecrow are all top producers that have been in pursuit of perfection for many a decade now and, for some, they achieve it. As wonderful as they may be, one cannot survive on ยฃ3,000 bottles of wine. Our daily rations must come cheaper and

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California vineyard

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