2012 was quite a year. I’ve chosen some pictures to illustrate some of the key points of the last 12 months. This is what a wine writer’s life looks like…
Some predictions for the wine world in 2013
A startlingly unoriginal post. I’m afraid. Begin the new year with some predictions. The problem is that I’m rubbish at predicting the future. And most of these lists tend to reflect…
Beauty, ugliness and branded wines
[A post prompted by a twitter discussion with Robert Joseph and Tim Atkin.] It is great for the wine world when big brands do a good job. Examples that come…
A spot of blind Christmas tasting, in which I fail
A spot of blind tasting Blind tasting is fun. It isn’t the only way to taste, and I don’t think it’s necessarily all that useful to assess fine wines blind…
Getting ready for Christmas, and choosing some wine
Christmas eve has been a nice family day so far. A quick dog walk, a visit with the boys to Fiona’s folks in Lightwater, some last-minute present buying, off with…
Pay-to-play and wine writer ethics
I apologize for talking about talking about wine, but there’s a lot of discussion on wine writer ethics at the moment. This discussion has been led by the excellent Palate…
The wines from Friday night’s wine peeps gathering
So, we’ve seen the food from Friday night. Now the wines. Special shout out to Greg Sherwood for bringing along two older reds, which he served blind. They were both…
Supermarket wine buyers: how are they doing?
When I started out drinking wine, supermarket wine ranges were extremely variable. There were some terrible wines: wines that made you gag. As a student, and thus a bottom-feeder, the…
The internet, cozy cocoons, confirmation bias and the death of the generalist
I have been leafing through issue 38 of The World of Fine Wine. One article that has got me thinking is a book review by David Williams, who is one…