I’ve enjoyed drinking this wine over the last two evenings. It’s the ‘second’ wine of Douro star property Quinta do Noval, and I think it’s a really good wine in…
A Christmas treat – a remarkable Tokaji
I can’t think of many wines more appropriate for this festive season that this little beauty. It’s a Tokaji, from the wonderful Disznókő estate. Lovely complexity, with a bit of…
Wine and music, a scientific study
It is well known that context can affect our experience (and enjoyment) of wine. But how do you measure this? In a paper published in open access scientific journal Flavour,…
What is a grape variety? What is a clone?
We talk a lot about clones and grape varieties. But what, precisely, do these terms mean? Let’s first define ‘variety’. A new grape variety is produced when a grape seed…
Zelige Caravent, exciting wines from the Languedoc’s Pic St Loup
Two wines from this interesting Pic St Loup property. Zelige-Caravent have 12 hectares of vines, separated into 22 different parcels, on interesting soils in the over-achieving Languedoc commune of Pic…
On fake wine
So, Rudy Kurniawan is the first person to be convicted in the USA by a Federal Court of counterfeiting wine. It seems that the fine wine auction market is awash…
Wines of the year, 2013
So, here are my wines of the year. It’s a strict meritocracy, I am afraid, and as this has been a very good year, it looks a little boastful. I…
Waterkloof Circumstance Sauvignon Blanc 2013
This is a lovely South African Sauvignon Blanc from biodynamic winery Waterkloof, which I visited last year. It’s the first release of a Waterkloof wine made by new winemaker Nadia…
Nebbiolo, I’d love to like you more…
Just been discussing Nebbiolo on Twitter. It’s one of those grapes that we in the wine trade are supposed to like. For sure, it’s a grape I love the idea…