Had this at lunch yesterday courtesy of Ashleigh Barrowman of Scotch Wine Bar. It’s a quite beautiful wine, but initially on the nose it is a little scary, with some…
Dinner at Café Sillon, Lyon, with Ganevat and Dard & Ribo
It was my birthday. And I was in Lyon. And at short notice we managed to get space at the bar at Cafe Sillon, which I’d heard a lot about….
Vignes Préphylloxérique: a Tannat made from ungrafted vines planted in 1871
For the last few days I have been with Plaimont Producteurs in southwest France. They are a sizeable company who source from 5000 hectares of vines and make 38 million…
Loire adventure: Clau de Nell, Anjou
There’s an interesting story behind Anjou-based biodynamic winery Clau de Nell, which was the next stop on our Loire tour. Christian Jacques was married to the late Anne Claude Leflaive,…
Loire adventure: preparing in Paris
Day two of the Loire adventure saw us get ready to head to the Loire by spending a day in Paris. Nicole, Lexi, Krysta and I caught the Eurostar and…
Wines of the year (4) some brilliant French wines
Continuing the theme of wines of the year, I’ve picked some of the very best French wines that I tasted in 2016, excluding Champagnes and older wines, which I wrote…
In Provence, getting to grips with rosé
A quick post from the road. For the last few days I have been in Provence, trying to understand more about rosé. The popular conception about rosé is that it’s…
Grower Champagne Focus: Léclapart, Charlot-Tanneux, Emmanuel Brochet, Chevreaux-Bournazel
I had these lovely grower Champagnes in a wine bar in Reims (the excellent Au Bon Manger, 7 Rue Courmeaux). Anyone who thinks of Champagne merely in terms of the…
Domaine Clavel Le Mas: excellent value from the Languedoc
Not to be confused with the Côtes du Rhône domaine of the same name, Domaine Clavel has vineyards in four different Languedoc terroirs: Pic St Loup, Grès de Montpellier, La…