Drinking a very nice, affordable Pinot Noir as I type. It’s Villa Maria Private Bin 2009 Marlborough, New Zealand (£9.99 Sainsbury, Tesco, Coop, Wholefoods, NZ House of Wine). Fresh and…
Superb Pinot Noir from northern Italy: Gottardi
This is nice. It’s a Pinot Noir from Gottardi, a grower in the northern Italian region of Alto Adige, which is often referred to by its Austrian name of the…
Cask ale at home – wonderful Strange Brew
Had a fun dinner party last night. My buddy Karl started proceedings off well by bring round a wonderful beer. It was a cask ale from Twickenham Fine Ales –…
This video makes me squirm: is it because I’m a Brit?
James Suckling, previously wine critic with the influential US publication The Wine Spectator, is launching his own website. He’s going to be focusing on video content, and to whet readers’…
Champagne Philipponnat ND
As most readers are probably aware, Champagne usually has some sugar added during the bottling process. It’s called the dosage, and it helps to balance the wine. For a typical…
An illustrated report from today’s big South African tasting
Spent an enjoyable few hours at today’s South African tasting, held in the rather dimly lit great hall at Vinopolis. The time passed quickly. There’s lot of interesting things going…
The New Douro tasting 2008
Yesterday was the New Douro tasting at the Tate Modern in London. It has been going for a few years now, and it’s a great event. But it could be…
Dinner with Dirk Niepoort: projects at the project
Very interesting dinner last night with one of Portugal’s finest, Dirk Niepoort (above). The focus was on special projects that he’s been involved with, and – rather appropriately – the…
Domestic stuff
I know some readers encourage me just to stick to wine. But I also know that some like to know a bit more about the context of me as a…