Nyetimber, one of the UK’s most celebrated sparkling wine producers, has released the new vintage of its Tillington Single Vineyard, the 2010. At around £75 a bottle, this is ambitiously…
In Champagne, day 3 (part 2): De Sousa and Pierre Paillard
De Sousa is a small Champagne house with a Portuguese name. It’s run by Erick and Michelle Se Sousa, and was established by Erick’s father and mother in the 1950s….
In Champagne, day 3 (part 1): Pierre Peters and Ulysse Collin
Day three began with a brilliant visit with the engaging, smart Rodolphe Péters (above) of Champagne Pierre Peters. He explained that there are three critical elements for him in making…
What are my 12 most popular recent Instagram posts?
I love Instagram. I post pretty much every day, and interact with quite a few folk there (here’s my Instagram account). What’s interesting is looking at which posts get the…
Video: judging the International Wine Challenge 2016
So, here’s a short film from the International Wine Challenge judging earlier this month. This was Tranche 2 (the other being in November) of the 2016 judging, and 200 judges…
Lunch at Terroirs, with the fab Belluard Gringet from Savoie
Had lunch at Terroirs wine bar today with a friend. I haven’t been here for a while, but we were in the neighbourhood, it was just past noon, and the…
In Champagne, day 2: Bruno Paillard, Selosse and Gosset
Day two in Champagne began at Bruno Paillard, someone who I have featured on this site before (here and here). Bruno began with an interesting statement: ‘The true richness of…
In Champagne, Day 1: visiting Vergnon and dinner at Bocal
This Champagne trip started gently, with a weekend in Reims that contained just one vineyard visit: JL Vergnon, in Le Mesnil. We were hosted by Christophe Constant (below), who has…
Le Lude, a new Méthode Cap Classique fizz from South Africa
This is not a Champagne and sparkling wine blog, although if you’ve been scrolling through recent posts you could be forgiven for thinking that it is. It’s just I’ve been…