Had a really fabulous white from Domaine Virgile Joly today, one of many interesting wines being imported into the UK by Dudley and de Fleury. It’s one of those wines…
Northern Rhone series 12, Saint Peray time
Saint-Péray is a tiny appellation in the south of the northern Rhône, consisting of some 62 hectares of vines planted on granite overlaid by limestone, silt and loess soils. It’s…
Northern Rhone Series 11, Tardieu Laurent Cornas Coteaux
My second visit to Tardieu Laurent in this northern Rhone series (previously here). This is a really impressive interpretation of Cornas, an excellent appellation that sometimes gets a bad press…
Northern Rhone series 10, Georges Vernay Condrieu
We’re heading to Condrieu for episode 10 in the northern Rhone series. It’s an appellation that’s a bit of an outlier in the region, but it adds some welcome diversity….
Northern Rhone series 9, Delas Les Challeys St Joseph
Continuing my northern Rhone series, I’m sticking with St Joseph. It’s an appellation with a reputation for inconsistency, but there are clearly some very good terroirs here. This is a…
Northern Rhone series 8, Tardieu Laurent St Joseph
Continuing with the northern Rhone series, and the third in a run of St Josephs, this time from superstar negociant Tardieu-Laurent. Originally involving Dominique Laurent, this firm is now run…
A couple of decent Bordeaux wines
Bordeaux, when it is good, is usually very good indeed. Here are two wines that are drinking very well now. Indeed, this seems to be the skill with Bordeaux: catching…
Northern Rhone series 7, Coursodon Silice St Joseph 2007
The Northern Rhone journey continues. Sticking with St Joseph, an appellation with some excellent terroirs as well as some poorer ones, we move to a superb example from 2007. This…
Northern Rhone series 6, Gilles Barge Clos des Martinets St Joseph 2001
I don’t make whole-case purchases all that often. Usually I find that 12 of a particular wine is a little too much. 6 is usually better. But this is the…