This is a substantial Bordeaux from a lesser appellation, made by Henry Laithwaite, son of Tony Laithwaite. It’s the first wine to be produced fron this new estate, which has…
A busy day’s tasting: IGP and Cote Rotie
So, today has been a busy day of tasting. It began with the IGP Top 100 tasting in Parson’s Green. Now IGP is what used to be Vin de Pays,…
Squawking Magpie: a serious Kiwi Syrah
Now this is good. Another superb Syrah from the Gimblett Gravels subregion of Hawkes Bay in New Zealand. Squawking Magpie ‘The Stoned Crow’ Syrah 2008 Gimblett Gravels, Hawkes Bay A…
The great Portuguese fortified wine tasting
I’m in the process of writing up the great Portuguese fortified wine tasting in Linhares on Saturday morning. This was one of the most remarkable tastings that I’ve been involved…
A couple more Portuguese wine discoveries
The great thing about visiting Portugal is that there are always more wines to discover. Here are a couple from this week. First, up, a couple of Dao wines from…
Day two at the Portuguese conference
The church at Linhares, where we were staying So after a horridly late night, day 2 at the conference began. There were a few more people in the audience. Jancis…
A fun dinner in Portugal with some nice wines
Had a great time last night at the conference dinner. The food was bad, but the company was good and the wines were excellent. I’m pictured above with a magnum…
At a conference in Portugal, day 1
I’m in the small town of Celorico da Beira, for the the first Encontro e Prova Internacional de Vinho. It’s a wine conference. Celorico is on the fringes of the…
Le Soula Blanc 2007 – a remarkable wine from the Roussillon
I really like this. It’s the latest release from Roussillon producer Le Soula, a partnership between UK wine merchant Richards Walford and celebrated winemaker Gerard Gauby, who discovered this wonderful…