Simon Staples of Berry Bros & Rudd is a top bloke. He treated a few of us to a lovely dinner in the boardroom after Thursday night’s screening of red…
Red Obsession, a film about wine
Red Obsession is a compelling film. It tells the story of the rise in interest in the top wines of Bordeaux, and how China has fallen in love with wine. With…
Privacy in the internet age
Occasionally I allow myself the luxury of a non-wine-related post. This is one such occasion. I have been thinking about the issue of privacy recently. Basically, I don’t have any,…
London Cru, an urban winery in Earls Court
It’s 8 am on a Wednesday morning in September, and I’m in a slightly sketchy part of west London, just down the road from the Earls Court exhibition centre. There’s an articulated…
A hugely interesting scientific paper questions what we know about musty cork taint
A scientific paper that has just been published in journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) examines the way that 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA), the key compound responsible for musty cork…
Tasting Noval Vintage Port and Nacional
A great tasting this morning: Christian Seely was in town showing off Noval Vintage Port and Noval Nacional, in paired vintages: 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2011. The observant among…
10, 20, 30 and 40 Year Old Tawnies from Graham’s
Graham’s have recently released a series of aged Tawny Ports, which arrived here in small bottles packaged in an attractive box. Here are my notes on them. Aged tawnies (10…
Lunch at 28-50 with Philippe Pacalet
Great lunch today. It was at the new 28-50 in Maddox Street, with Philippe Pacalet, who I have met a couple of times before. Also present were Philippe’s wife, Monica,…
Some picture highlights from the Beautiful South tasting
I went to the Beautiful South tasting at Olympia, London, today. It was brilliant. Three countries – South Africa, Argentina and Chile – combined to put on quite a show,…