Test-tube wines
Alison Mann of EW PR sent me this link, and asked me what I thought of it, the idea being that press samples could be delivered this way.
mainly wine...
Alison Mann of EW PR sent me this link, and asked me what I thought of it, the idea being that press samples could be delivered this way.
Supposed to be playing cricket today for the winetrade XI versus the Hamsphire Hoggs, down at their lovely ground near Petersfield (above). But it rained and rained. Then it stopped and the sun came out, but an inspection of the pitch revealed standing water, under the covers. So we had lunch, before the decision was made to call the game off just before 3 pm. Not a wasted journey though: an occasion like this gives you a good chance to chat with your colleagues and make some new connections. I did feel sorry for Nick Oakley, though, who'd driven down from Colchester specially for the game.
Began today with Tesco's press tasting at County Hall. The Tesco team were beaming with pride as they launched their new range: all 180 wines on show were new additions. Dan Jago was bursting with boyish enthusiasm - he makes everything he does look very easy, as if he's just having a bit of fun. I suspect the reality is that it's like watching a swan cross a pond: on the surface everything looks smooth, but under the water those legs are paddling like crazy. I also discussed football with fellow Man City fan Jason Godley. Interesting times.
Labels: austria, california, napa
Another wet day in London. Elder son and younger son turned out for the same U11 cricket team tonight. Dodgy looking weather meant the match was restricted to 15 overs a side, and going in at no 3 elder son batted well, ending up with 18 not out. Then the heavens opened and the game was washed out. I can't remember the last day when it didn't rain, and we are almost into July.
Labels: Australia, merlot, sangiovese
I have a cold. It's not horrendous, but it's mightily annoying, and tasting wine with a cold is like the equivalent of driving in rain with broken windscreen wipers - something I've done before, many years back when I was courting Fiona in a blue Vauxhall Astra 1.3 Estate with 140 000 miles or so on the clock. The windscreen wiper motor had failed, and it was summer, and in the interim period between the motor failure and getting a 'new' motor (from a breakers yard) I risked it, checking the weather forecast before driving. On the way back from Fiona's place in Cheam one day, it started raining. The remainder of the 5 mile drive back to Wallington was tricky, to say the least.
Labels: Australia, films, hunter valley, semillon
Had lunch with Barbara Banke of Jackson Wine Estates today. Barbara, wife of Jess Jackson (who pulled out of the gig because of negotiations surrounding a race horse, his new hobby), is fully involved in running Jackson Wine Estates, and communicated the story behind Kendall Jackson very effectively. As usual, I'll write up the interview and tasting in full soon, but here's a taster.
Labels: Cabernet Sauvignon, california, Chardonnay, merlot
Yixin Ong was in town, so on Friday night he convened a wine nut dinner at RSJ, with myself, Rahsaan Maxwell and Tom Blach. Tom and Rahsaan are people whose writing I've read on the internet, but have never met before. It was a very nice evening, with some interesting wines and a couple of near misses - wines that were good but had the potential to show better. (Pictured, left to right, are Tom, Yixin and Rahsaan.)
Interviewed Alain Dominique Perrin yesterday at a hotel in Canary Wharf. As the man behind the revival of Cartier, he's seriously well known in France; not so well known in the UK. One of his passions is wine, and for the last 27 years he's been the owner of Chateau Lagrazette in Cahors. I was slightly apprehensive about trying his wines: mega-rich guy buys Chateau, invests loads of money in it and hires Michel Rolland as a consultant - the potential is there for wines that have power but no sense of place. But the two wines we drunk, the Chateau Lagrazette 2001 (retail £17.99) and the Cuvee Pigeonnier 1999 (retail £80), were really impressive. They're big, dense wines which combine refinement with a darker, edgier personality that gives them a real sense of place. They actually taste like Cahors. He was charming, down to earth and had lots to say - the full interview will be on the site soon.
Some late-night thoughts on blogging. I've been reading a lot of blogs recently. It seems that every website now *has* to have a blog, whether it's a winery, a magazine, a merchant or an agent. Somebody gets lumped with the job of blogging, or more commonly a team of people are required to provide the content. While I'm fully convinced about the effectiveness of the blog as a communication medium, I'm frequently underwhelmed by the blogs out there. Most of them just don't work. Why?
I'm tired at the end of an interesting day. This afternoon I played cricket at Hampton Wick: it was the Wine Trade XI versus Balls Brothers for a fun 20/20 game. I was donated to Balls Brothers as a guest player - technically this was because I was the last to sign up; perhaps, though, the Wine Trade XI fancied some easy runs off my bowling.
Labels: Cabernet Sauvignon, cricket, Grenache, south africa, spain
If you fancy being a winewriter - or a writer of any kind, for that matter - one of the things you have to learn to live with, and be ruled by, is the deadline. I've always had a simple attitude to deadlines, and it goes something like this. You keep them. While it may not seem very rock 'n roll, and it makes me sound like the smug kid who always handed his homework in on time, I realise that I need editors more than they need me, so I'll do all I can to keep them happy. Along those lines I try never to renegotiate deadlines (which is pretty much the same as not meeting them) unless absolutely necessary. I don't know whether my fellow winewriters feel the same; I don't really want to know, because sticking to deadlines is hard work and it's a good habit to keep.
Labels: Chablis, Chardonnay, France
Labels: california, pinot noir, Priorat, ramblings, spain
It's been a bit of a cricket-focused sort of week. On Monday and Tuesday evenings I took the boys down to a local artificial wicket, where we set up our new sprung stumps (a great purchase) and trained for a hour or so each time.
Labels: Australia, Cabernet Sauvignon, cricket, Languedoc, organics
Labels: Australia, Cabernet Sauvignon, marketing, wine brands
I'm trying to think of a wine like Manchester City, the football club I support (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/). But I can't. Oasis frontman and City fan Noel Gallagher sums the situation with City up best:
"The fixture list comes out on Thursday, we haven't got a manager, we've only got half a team and we haven't sold any season tickets. It's brilliant."He adds:
"It's pure Man City. I'm loving it."
Had lunch today with Dr Cecil Camilleri of Yalumba, who was keen to talk about the pioneering work he has initiated on sustainability. It's important, because this will be increasingly important in the wine industry. Also present was Valerie Lewis of Negociants (Yalumba's UK arm), and we ate at Black and Blue, an upmarket steak joint in Borough Market. Borough Market is a buzzy sort of place, and I like it.
Labels: cheese, sustainability
It's the most beautiful time of year. Early summer in England. The days are so gorgeous you want to grab them and store them up for later. I guess enjoying something without being able to hold on to it or control it in any way is a useful lesson in life.
Labels: ramblings
Just a heads up about a new book, coming out in September 2007. It's entitled Wine and philosophy: a symposium on thinking and drinking. I'm a contributor, with a chapter entitled Experiencing Wine: Why Critics Mess Up (Some of the Time). There are some decent high-powered contributors so I'm looking forward to reading it when it comes out. Preceding this volume, there's another book on the same topic coming out in the next month or so, titled Questions of taste, another multiauthour work in which I also have a paper as a token wine writer with a philosophical bent. I reckon you should buy both. It won't benefit me financially (let me reassure you that because academics are used to writing for nothing, these were the least lucrative articles I ever penned), but I'd just be pleased to see these worthy, interesting projects both succeed.
Labels: Philosophy of wine
I don't like to be negative. At the same time, a critic's job is to be critical of the bad as well as praising the good.
Labels: Bandol, Barossa, Bordeaux, california
One blog I really enjoy reading is Bertand Celce's wineterroirs. For those of you who haven't visited, this report on a visit to Domaine Mosse is a good example of the sort of thing Bertrand writes. He has a good eye, writes sympathetically but still dispassionately, and has an interest in 'authentic' wines.
Labels: blogging, natural wine
Where is the picture above from? What can you tell me about it? As much detail as possible, please. [The filename will give no clues.]
Labels: computers, photography
My laptop is dead. It had been playing up over the last couple of months, to the extent that I became extra serious about backing up. Then a few weeks ago it didn't start up. Repeated attempts, however, were successful in firing it back to life, but it was a short-lived remission, and tonight it looks like it's gone to laptop heaven - it won't respond at all.
Really nice piece by NY Times wine writer Eric Asimov on the influence of internet wine geeks in celebrating diverse wines. He even uses the term 'spoofulated'.
Labels: blogging, natural wine, websites
Labels: Australia, Chardonnay, Italy
Another warm, mostly sunny day here in London. We headed over to lunch with two couples who are good friends Karl and Kate, and Paul and Ros, over at 'The Land'.
It's been a perfect summer's Saturday here in London. Wam but still comfortable temperatures and lots of sunshine. The day began with cricket practice for the boys: I drop them off on Twicknham green, then take Rosie for a walk via my allotment (where I applied the second sulfur treatment and dealt with the prolific weeds).