I’ll very shortly be boarding a plane to head off to Cape Town. I’m really looking forward to returning to South Africa for the second time this year. It’s a…
Beaujolais 2010
Very impressed by these six Beaujolais wines from the 2010 vintage. 2009 in Beaujolais was highly praised as a miracle vintage. The wines were fabulous. And it looks as if…
Champagne Roederer Vintage 2005
Unsurprisingly, Roederer’s Vintage 2005 is a tasty Champagne indeed. Here’s my note on the bottle consumed this evening: Champagne Louis Roederer Vintage 2005 12% alcohol. Very youthful, fine and taut…
A classic Rioja from Vina Tondonia
One of Rioja’s most traditional producers is López de Heredia Viña Tondonia. These wines are remarkable: they are made in a very traditional, somewhat oxidative style, but they always seem to…
Why you need a dog
Or two dogs. We’ve been dog owners for five years now. For almost a year, we have had two of them. Everyone should have a dog. On one level they…
Two lovely wines from St Hallett
Impressed with these wines from Barossa producer St Hallett. The Faith Shiraz is riper and quite seductive, but with lovely fruit purity. The more expensive Scholz is deeper coloured, but…
A superb, affordable Port from Grahams
Now this is pretty smart. It may only be an LBV, with a T-top rather than driven cork. But it’s actually a really good Port, and worth thinking about as…
Video: mechanical/robotic foot treading for Port
In this short film, Paul Symington describes the way his company have pioneered the use of mechanical foottreaders (also known as robotic lagares) for Port production. It’s not straighforward: Port…
Northern Rhone series 17, Chapoutier Petite Ruche Crozes Hermitage 2009
Now this I like. It’s just been listed by Waitrose at a very good price (£12.99), and it’s quite a serious expression of Crozes-Hermitage in a somewhat modern style. I…