These were some of the highlights from this week’s Washington State and Oregon tasting. Some really lovely wines from the Pacific Northwest. Gramercy Cellars Forgotten Hills Syrah 2014 Walla Walla, Washington…
Fun in Athens: a wine shop and two wine bars
I really enjoyed Athens. On the first evening we popped into Mr Vertigo, a brilliant wine shop (and importing company) run by Giannis Siganos (above). He gave us a taste…
On beginnings and endings, and making sense of loss
Everything has a beginning; everything has an end. There are beginnings of endings and endings of beginnings. I’ve been thinking about these things for a while. A couple of weeks…
Greek wines on the world stage: a talk I gave in Athens
Here’s a written version of a talk I gave to Greek wine producers in Athens yesterday. It’s not exactly what I said (I never read talks); but rather it’s something…
Video: what makes Elgin a special wine region?
In this video clip, I interview Andrew Gunn of Iona, and his winemaker Werner Muller, about what makes the Elgin Valley a special wine region. We also talk about Elgin’s…
Two lovely Kiwi Pinots: Burn Cottage and Ata Rangi
It was nice to drink these two side by side: a couple of New Zealand’s most highly regarded Pinot Noirs. Both were showing really beautifully, in the middle of a…
Some new Torres wines, with Miguel
Miguel Torres was in town, to discuss Torres’ environmental concerns, and also to show some new wines. I have great respect for Mr Torres, who has made the environment and…
Vancouver wine festival: two trans-Canada tastings
Here are my notes from the last two seminars that I have to write up from the Vancouver International Wine Festival. These were both sessions that covered Canada’s coast-to-coast wine…
UK sparkling wine sales continue to soar
New data released today show that in the last 12 weeks of 2016, in the run up to Christmas, 45 million bottles of sparkling wine were sold in the UK….