The Yarra Valley. It was almost a decade ago that I first visited, back in March 2006. It was a lovely trip owing much to the generosity of Tony Jordan,…
1937 Margaux and 1966 Lafite: what are we to make of old wine?
Yesterday I popped into The Sampler on Upper Street, Islington, to try some of their ‘icon’ wines (and a few others). This time every year they put on some lovely…
Negociants Lunch with Armagh, Contours, Nautilus Pinot and others
I’ve kind of got out of the habit of lunching well. You know: old school wine trade lunches where you leave your desk before noon and write off the rest…
In Gippsland with Bill Downie and Patrick Sullivan
The flight from Adelaide to Melbourne is a short one, and before I knew it I was at the arrivals hall, being greeted by Bill Downie. We headed off to…
Taittinger becomes the first Champagne house to buy vineyards in England
English sparkling wine has been a talking point for a while now. There’s no doubting that there is some very good English fizz being made, as the recent Noble Rot…
Revisiting the Barossa
Australia’s Barossa Valley. This was the first wine region I visited, back in 1996. I revisited as a professional in 2004 and 2005 to see some of the new young(-ish)…
Champagne Taittinger 2008
2008 is looking like a very good vintage in Champagne. The summer was a cool one, and the season was saved by beautiful sunny days just before and during harvest….
Video: Rootstock Sydney 2015
So here’s a short film from last week’s Rootstock, a natural/artisan wine fair held in Sydney, Australia. It was quite an event, and in this video I just tried to…
Champagne Marie-Noëlle Ledru Grand Cru NV
This is one of the cult grower Champagne producers. Marie-Noëlle Ledru took over her 6 hectare family domain in 1984. It’s based in Ambonnay, and all the wines are hand-riddled, hand-disgorged…