A heads up for a remarkable charity wine dinner in aid of Pebbles, the South African childrens’ charity with a strong connection to the wine trade, to be held in…
Seven lessons that other wine regions can learn from Bordeaux
Following up on my somewhat controversial post on the coming wine war last week, here are some thoughts about what the wine world can learn from the current success of…
Kennedy Point Chardonnay from Waiheke Island
This is an interesting wine. You wouldn’t expect to find this in the UK, such is the small scale of its production, but Sam Harrop brought me back a bottle…
St Hallett Dawkins Vineyard Shiraz
Now this is interesting. It’s a new single-vineyard Shiraz from Barossa producer St Hallett, and it has bags of personality. It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but it’s distinctive and…
Touraine Sauvignon Blanc seems to rock
Been very impressed with the recent Touraine Sauvignon Blancs I’ve tried. The Loire fights back! Here are three that I’ve enjoyed over the last couple of days. Famille Bougrier Touraine…
Northern Rhone series 4, Jean Luc Colombo Gravieres Crozes Hermitage
I admit to not having been a great fan of Jean-Luc Colombo in the past. His wines have seemed slightly too polished and modern, lacking the raw essence of northern…
The debate on wine writer ethics
Fiona Beckett, in The Guardian, is the latest wine writer to opine on winewriter ethics. I like Fiona – but find this piece a little annoying. There’s the totally unnecessary…
At the Tesco press tasting
Off to Millbank today for the Tesco press tasting. Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket, is also one of the globe’s biggest wine retailers. So it’s important for many consumers that…
Lunch at Hibiscus with some New World classics
It has taken a few days, but I wanted to report on last week’s great lunch at Hibiscus. Hosted by Doug Wregg of Les Caves de Pyrene, the lunch accompanied…