This was very interesting: as part of the Elgin Chardonnay Colloquium, we did a blind tasting with 21 different wines, pitching Elgin’s finest against some international benchmarks. Michael Fridjhon and…
Elgin Chardonnay Colloquium: tasting 16 Chardonnays from 2016
This weekend is the second instalment of the Elgin Chardonnay Colloquium, and as part of yesterday’s proceedings, we tried 16 different wines from the 2016 vintage. This is a warmer,…
New releases from urban winery Ldn Cru, Gavin’s last
Yesterday afternoon I met with winemaker Gavin Monery, to taste through the new wines from urban winery Ldn Cru, plus the previous vintage. It was Gavin’s last tasting, but he…
Visiting the stunning monastery vineyard in Gualtallary, Mendoza, Argentina
Edgardo (Edy) del Popolo and Davi Bonomi took Paz Levinson and I out to see their Monasterio vineyard, high in Gualtallary, in the Uco Valley. Here, at 1500 metres…
Quinta de Baixo, Bairrada, with Dirk Niepoort
Dirk Niepoort has long been interested in the terroirs of Bairrada. He thinks that the combination of the chalky clay soils and the Baga grape variety makes this potentially the…
Dinner at Neo Bistro with chums: an exciting new west end restaurant
It’s always nice to find a really good new London restaurant that also takes wine seriously. Neo Bistro, a stone’s throw from Bond Street tube, is an absolute gem. I…
Loire adventure: Nicolas and Virginie Joly, Coulée de Serrant, Savennières
La Coulée de Serrant (Chateau de la Roche aux Moines) is a domaine with a narrow focus. It’s just whites. Just Chenin Blanc. Just dry wines. But it is this…
Albariño series (1) – Eulogio Pomares Parcelarios (I) 2015, Rías Baixas
I’m beginning a series on Albariño, which is a white grape from north east Spain and Portugal (where it is known as Alvarinho). My mission over the next few months…
Lagar de Cervera 2016, a classic Albariño
Lagar de Cervera is owned by La Rioja Alta. Back in the 1980s they realized that their white Riojas weren’t the best ever wines, and began searching for a companion…