Lunch at St John today. A special time with Francis Percival, Dan Keeling and Jeremy Seysses. The company, the wines, the food: all were on sparkling form. I haven’t been…
A couple of Beaujolais Villages that I liked
Gamay is a grape that intrigues me. And I reckon that Beaujolais is getting better. It’s high time I did a proper visit to the region. Here are a couple…
Three lovely wines: Leflaive Pucelles, Wetzer Kekfrankos and Kopke white port 1935
These three lovely wines were brought round by guests. The best sort of guests. The Leflaive Pucelles was served blind, and in a stroke of lucky intuition, I guessed it…
Amery Vineyards Block 6 Shiraz 1989
My wine trade buddy Greg Sherwood brought this wine around to dinner, and served it blind. It was a real treat. I reckoned it was properly old, and new world,…
Two gins from Inverroche, South Africa
While I was in Franschhoek, Rob Armstrong of Haut Espoir introduced me to two gins, both from local producer Inverroche. Included in the list of botanicals is wild Cape fynbos….
Tio Pepe Fino en Rama, sixth release, 2015
I remember first tasting the Tio Pepe Fino en rama. It was a great experience: an unfiltered, unclarified Fino sherry taken straight from the cask and bottled, just when the…
Franschhoek, the final day
The last day in the valley. It began with another run with Kevin and Gary. The same 6.5 km route taking us out to the monument, then round past Mr…
In Franschhoek day 4, Petite Ferme, the AGP guys, and Foliage
Day four in Franschhoek started a little sluggishly. It was raining hard at Glenwood, where I’d been staying, so a 3 am bedtime plus the precipitation put paid to rather…
In Franschhoek, day 3
So, my third day in the paradise that is the Franschhoek valley. I began at La Bri, with Irene Waller (above), who has been making wine here for a while….