So, day 3 of the International Wine Challenge has come and gone. Today, the panel I was part of tasted 109 wines, which was a comfortable number. It’s important that…
Day 2 at the IWC – an enjoyable day of tasting
Day 2 of the International Wine Challenge has finished, and I’m beginning to get in the swing of things. Just as an athlete gets into shape through training, I reckon…
International Wine Challenge Day 1 – fun at the Barbican
For the next two weeks I’m going to be filling the role of ‘panel chair’ at the International Wine Challenge (IWC), the world’s largest blind tasting competition. For a freelancer…
My new book: first glimpse of the cover design
So here’s the cover design for the book Sam and I have written. I think the designers have got it right first time. Now it all seems a lot more…
At a conference in Portugal, day 1
I’m in the small town of Celorico da Beira, for the the first Encontro e Prova Internacional de Vinho. It’s a wine conference. Celorico is on the fringes of the…
FFS update, as spring approaches
Had a nice walk with the dogs today on Hounslow Heath. It has taken a while to get used to walking a pair of dogs, as opposed to just the…
Why tasting panels suck
It’s simple: the results. I don’t know why (but I can make guesses) that panels of tasters consistently produce embarassingly bad results. This has been in the news over the…
The shard, and judging with sommeliers
This year, for the first time, I’ve been judging the sommelier wine awards for Imbibe magazine. It’s been an interesting experience, because unlike other competitions, the goal of this one…
Wine has never been so good!
For all the moaning about the internationalization of wine styles (something that I am concerned about), I need to point out that there’s never been so much good wine in…