I was very impressed by this pink English sparkling wine. It’s a non-vintage blend made by Dermot Sugrue. It’s 50% Pinot Noir (about 12% of this is red wine for…
Brancott Estate Chosen Rows 2013, and a recap on the 2010
Brancott Estate’s Chosen Rows Sauvignon Blanc is the result of their desire to make a high-end Sauvignon. I’ve been following this since its inception. Back in 2009, then chief winemaker…
Three lovely wines: Testalonga, Commando G and Domaine Labet
Had lunch at Moro today with Emily Harman and Laura Rhys. Mark Andrew was supposed to join, but he had to fill in for someone at Noble Rot, so after…
Mark Haisma’s 2014s
Mark Haisma, Aussie ex-pat Burgundy micro-negoce showed his new releases yesterday. Here are my notes. As usual, please treat these scores as a very approximate indication of how much I…
A remarkable tasting of sake
This was a remarkable evening, and my first exposure to high quality sake. It was at the Selfridges pop-up sake bar – billed as the world’s smallest, with just 6…
The race to the bottom
An observation. Not backed by firm data, admittedly, but an observation of a trend in the UK’s wine market. There seems to be a race to the bottom, and it’s…
Gamay focus 19, du Grappin Fleurie 2014
I love this. It’s a Fleurie made by the talented Andrew Nielsen, Aussie ex-pat and micronegoce based in Beaune. In 2015 he made more Beaujolais than Burgundy, and he’s enthused…
L.A.S. Vino: alternative wines from Margaret River
Caught up with this pair yesterday at the Liberty tasting. Strikingly labelled, they are interesting wines from Margaret River. LAS Vino (LAS standing for luck, art and science) is the…
Who would be the ideal wine critic? A specialist or a generalist?
The wine world is big. Properly big. I’ve been travelling it now for quite a few years, and since 2008 as a full-time wine writer. There are still so many…