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 …
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 …
Being wrong about something should be approached with grace and humility which is why we will hold our hands up and say that we, wrongly, judged a wine solely on the basis of its name. A gaudy wine label or an off the wall name has a tendency to make us wary of the wine it …
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 …
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 …
Terroir and Character in the Douro Valley Port is one of the mainstays of any drinks cupboard. It always makes an appearance at Christmas and, depending on whose house you’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, whether Portuguese or British, …
Second wines are second best. You can argue the point all you like but their purpose in life is to take second place after the grand vin. Nearly all of the big chateaux in Bordeaux have a second wine, a wine supposedly made from the grapes not deemed quite good enough for the top claret. …
What to do with an Auslese Riesling? Is its only purpose as a dessert wine? What’s all this talk of sweet wine with curry? There are always trends in wine and food and luckily for Auslese Rieslings the trend is working in their favour. Cuisine from across Asia that encompasses spices and flavours that our …
There is often a moment when my partner and I are out for dinner that we know may cause confusion or offence. This is the moment when the waiter brings over the glasses to go with the bottle of wine we have chosen, glasses so big as to engulf our faces. They then proceed to pour half the bottle …
It’s easy to be rude about Chardonnay. It’s the grape variety people love to hate – the bad reputation it gained many moons ago thanks to cheap, over-oaked, synthetic tasting offerings make it an easy target. But so many of those that say a blanket no to Chardonnay are quite happy to drink Blancs de Blancs …
I think we can all safely say that summer has arrived and, although we dislike being told that we should be breaking out the barbecue and bathing in rosé, we will freely admit that a fair number of our wines are not really tempting us in this weather. So for the next few weeks we …
Growing up in a large wine drinking family I always presumed my approach to wine was perfectly normal. I realised its abnormality when I reached university and my peers were confused by my love of dessert wine (or pud wine as we’ve always referred to it). Whenever we had a family celebration an uncle, parent or third cousin once removed would …
The more time you spend looking at wines from around the world the more you realise there is a pattern to the whole thing. Aside from the odd anomaly you start to recognise why certain regions are more revered than others, why certain blends command higher price tags than their contemporaries, and why the terms …
Given the recent revelation that grape varieties grown today are so closely related to those grown by the Romans 2,000 years ago, we thought that this week might be a good week to talk about old vines. Vieilles Vignes (old vines) is a term used in France to denote a wine that is produced from vines usually older …
Not an easy question to answer when it comes to wine but certainly one that should be given more consideration by the average wine drinker. I recently saw someone boasting their good fortune at opening a bottle of 2015 Chateau Margaux. That’s like eating Wagyu beef before the cows had its first massage! I know …