Austrian reds rock. That is, when they don’t pick them too late and dick around with too much oak. And, these days, after a period of excess, generally they don’t….
Tscheppe Green Dragonfly Sauvignon Blanc, amazing Austrian wine
This is quite special. It’s a Sauvignon Blanc from Sudsteiermark (south Styria) in Austria, made by Andreas Tscheppe. He’s one of a group of five producers working biodynamically in this…
Chenin Blanc and Grüner Veltliner
Two nice wines, from two of my favourite white varieties. The first is an own-label from Berry Bros & Rudd. It’s a sort of better class of own label: Nikolaihof…
Liebkind, a truly great Blaufränkisch
Last year Robert Parker had a little rant about things he doesn’t like in the wine world. It was quite funny, but also – in my opinion – misguided. In…
Four very fine Rieslings: Germany, Italy and New Zealand
It seems to be a bit of a season for Riesling. Here are notes from four bottles tried a while back which I have found in a notebook, and feel…
In Austria, up a mountain, and some wines
So for the last few days I have been up a mountain with a group of buddies in the lovely town of Zell am See in Austria. It has been…
Some highlights from the Waitrose Press Tasting
We wine journos are in the middle of press tasting season at the moment, with all the major supermarkets showing off their ranges. Buying standards for UK supermarkets are very…
A perfect day of football and wine
So it was off to Selhurst Park yesterday, the home of Crystal Palace FC. They were playing ‘my’ team, Manchester City, and I’d been kindly invited along by Palace co-chairman…
Seven great affordable Austrian wines
A selfie wine tasting of seven good value Austrian wines. This tasting reminded me how much I really like Austrian wine.