I am exhilarated. Yesterday I ran – and completed – the Marathon du Medoc. To run any marathon for the first time would rank as a great life experience, but…
Term starts again, and a tasting at the Perfect Cellar
Holidays are over, and the wine tasting calendar starts again here in London. I was in town for the first tasting in a long time – a small portfolio tasting…
Chateau Rahoul, an excellent white Bordeaux
The older I get, the more I like white Bordeaux. It’s such an interesting expression of Sauvignon Blanc (often bolstered with a bit of Semillon, of course), usually barrel fermented….
Clos de la Coulee de Serrant 2009, a controversial wine
This is a controversial wine. It’s from biodynamic high-priest Nicolas Joly, who in Clos de la Coulee de Serrant possesses what is universally acknowledged as a special terroir. It’s just…
Château Sénéjac 2009
Relatively affordable yet really good Bordeaux is a rare thing. There’s good quality cheap Bordeaux, and high quality expensive Bordeaux, but I don’t encounter much between the two. Is that…
Three amazing natural wines from Mas Coutelou
These are lovely, lovely wines. I followed them over the course of a few days, so I’m fairly confident in my recommendations, too. They are made by Jeff Coutelou, in…
Video: visiting Sancerre by helicopter
Here’s a short film shot from my recent visit to the famous Loire village of Sancerre, by chopper. It proved quite an eventful journey: on the way, the door I…
Judging in the Concours Mondial Sauvignon Blanc
I’m just back from a few days in the Loire, where I was part of a large international jury judging the Concours Mondial du Sauvignon competition. We stayed in Blois, and…
In the Loire
This is going to be one of those slightly frustrating, short-on-words, big on pictures posts. It’s just that I am in the Loire, in Blois, not far from Touraine, and…