I’m in Alsace, and last night I began with some crémant, Alsace’s traditional method sparkling wine, of which over 30 million bottles are produced annually. Here are a few that…
Lunch at Daniel Primack’s with some lovely wines
Lunch at Daniel Primack’s on a perfect June day. We sat outside, listened to music, ate salt marsh lamb and talked. And drank some lovely wines. Champagne Pierre Gimonnet Blanc…
Champagne Veuve Clicquot Rich
Champagne isn’t a region known for innovation. When you have a product that’s so delicious and so commercially successful, then why would you mess with it? But marketing is critical…
Elitism and accessibility
As I was waiting to board a recent flight, a group of young people in front of me were singing. Harmonising competently. Not too loudly, but for a moment it…
On the road in Germany, part 2: Ahr, Rheingau, Nahe and Rheinhessen
It was raining when we woke in the Mosel, and the rain continued most of the way on our journey to the Ahr Valley. It had mostly cleared by the…
From the road in Germany
Just the briefest of blog posts this morning from what is turning into a truly enlightening but also incredibly fast-paced trip. The only downtime we have had so far is…
Travelling again, off to Germany
About to get on a plane. The destination? Germany. A wine country that I visit all too rarely, but which I always enjoy. My most recent visit was to the…
Garnacha not Guerra 2015
This is a new wine. Naturally made Garnacha (deliberately chosen as the name to indicate a style difference, rather than the local Cannonau), just 360 bottles produced! It’s such an…
Asda’s £10 Champagne Louvel Fontaine is actually pretty good
Oh, I know I shouldn’t say this. But Asda’s £10 Louvel Fontaine Champagne is actually quite nice. I’s so much safer to slate cheap fizz, but I can tell you…