This was very interesting: as part of the Elgin Chardonnay Colloquium, we did a blind tasting with 21 different wines, pitching Elgin’s finest against some international benchmarks. Michael Fridjhon and…
Elgin Chardonnay Colloquium: tasting 16 Chardonnays from 2016
This weekend is the second instalment of the Elgin Chardonnay Colloquium, and as part of yesterday’s proceedings, we tried 16 different wines from the 2016 vintage. This is a warmer,…
Three lovely Hawke’s Bay Chardonnays
Hawke’s Bay is becoming quite well known for its Chardonnay. It’s a grape that New Zealand hasn’t really owned in the same way as it has for Sauvignon Blanc and…
Score inflation is everywhere and it’s killing wine criticism
Back in 1984, I sat my ‘O’ level exams at the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe. I was a quiet, geeky pupil – a classic in-betweener, friends with some…
The amazing Vanguardist Wines, from South Australia
I was really pleased to try these wines (thanks to Christina Rasmussen for getting these samples to me). They’re from a relatively new project, Vanguardist, which is a collaboration between…
New releases from Neudorf, Nelson, New Zealand
Just tried a lovely set of new releases from leading Nelson winery Neudorf. Neudorf Rosie’s Block Chardonnay 2016 Nelson, New Zealand 13.5% alcohol. This has lovely richness, but because it’s…
Is elevated atmospheric CO2 to blame for rising alcohol levels in wine?
Lisa Perrotti-Brown of the Wine Advocate recently published an article that caused quite a stir on the Internets. Lisa begins by saying that that the rise in alcohol levels in…
Tasting the icons and Pizarras wines from Errazuriz with Francisco Baettig
Yesterday I met with Errazuriz winemaker Francisco Baettig, tasting some new releases. He’s the man behind the ‘icon’ wines of Errazuriz owner Eduardo Chadwick, and also the new venture in…
New releases from urban winery Ldn Cru, Gavin’s last
Yesterday afternoon I met with winemaker Gavin Monery, to taste through the new wines from urban winery Ldn Cru, plus the previous vintage. It was Gavin’s last tasting, but he…