I’m in Budapest for the VinCE wine conference, where this morning I am giving a talk and conducting a tasting on biodynamic wines. I arrived yesterday afternoon, and spent a…
Oakridge Lusatia Park Chardonnay 2011
I love this wine. It typifies what is happening with high-end Aussie Chardonnay at the moment – the embrace of elegance and freshness over weight and richness – picking earlier…
Some Portuguese wine people
Snapped today at the wonderful wines of Portugal tasting in London, some top Portuguese wine talent. Filipa Pato, who makes great wines from Bairrada, white and red. Pedro Araujo of…
Two from Mas Belles Eaux
Mas Belles Eaux is the Languedoc outpost of AXAs wine empire. Christian Seely was captivated by the potential of the terroirs here, and since 2002 has invested heavily in the…
Learning, the counter to subjectivity in wine appreciation
Like what you like. That’s what we are so often told, in terms of appreciating wine. It’s fair advice. When it comes to wine preferences, no one should tell you…
Two promising Rieslings from Chile
I may be in a minority, but I reckon Chile’s whites are a bit more interesting than reds at the moment. And Riesling, although it’s still quite rare here, could…
On beauty, and wine
Is beauty intrinsic to a wine. Or is it a quality that is conferred upon the wine by the taster? Think of people. What makes someone special, someone beautiful? Isn’t…
A new Spanish producer, and quite a discovery
In Madrid today at lunch I was sitting next to David Gonzalez, who together with three friends has started a new winery in the DO of Arlanza. It’s a region…
A perfect wine list, what’s yours?
A question. What would your perfect wine list look like? If you were to go into a restaurant and pick up the wine list, what – in an ideal world…