I’m on my way to day 2 of the second tranche of the International Wine Challenge judging at the Oval. For two weeks we will be sifting through an unspecified…
Who decides the news agenda? The Internet?
A small story becomes a big story because of the Internet. The recent media frenzy over a passenger being removed from an overbooked United flight has been interesting to watch….
Some profound(?) thoughts prompted by this Loire trip
Terroir is a creative act between people and a place. Terroir only exists in the context of a wine, and wine is a creative act as a winegrower seeks to…
The ultimate vodka martini at Dukes
After Friday’s lunch at Berry Bros & Rudd, Douglas Blyde persuaded Katherine Houston and I that we needed a vodka martini at Dukes. He was right. This was the best…
Jay Rayner on the aesthetics of wine
The dangers of commenting outside your sphere of expertise were illustrated last week in a couple of tweets from food expert and restaurant critic Jay Rayner. Ok, my personal taste…
Incredible sweet wines, from Mullineux and Klein Constantia, including the 1875
In the space of one day I had the chance to try some mind blowing sweet wines, new and old. The first experience was at Klein Constantia. Back in the…
So you don’t like natural wine? I sense your pain, and I am here for you
So you don’t like natural wine? I sense your pain, and I am here for you. Here to help. I can understand how distressing it must be to see other…
Day 1, ProWein
Day 1 at ProWein was a busy one. This wine trade fair, with 55 000 attendees, is huge. It’s daunting in scale, so you have to have quite a good…
Some fine wines at Ellory, with Texier, Stephan, Foradori, Le Soula, Bosman
Had some lovely wines last night with Angela Jordaan and Thor Gudmundsson at the fabulous Ellory (thoroughly recommended: really good small plates style menu and excellent wine list). Here are my…