Great day today. Met up with Joe Wadsack and Stuart Bowman-Hood for our annual Man City v Fulham lunch and football game. Replacing Will Willis was Andrew Thomas, who was…
A couple of decent Bordeaux wines
Bordeaux, when it is good, is usually very good indeed. Here are two wines that are drinking very well now. Indeed, this seems to be the skill with Bordeaux: catching…
Seven lessons that other wine regions can learn from Bordeaux
Following up on my somewhat controversial post on the coming wine war last week, here are some thoughts about what the wine world can learn from the current success of…
At the Berry Bros press tasting today
It’s always fun at the Berry Bros & Rudd press tastings, because they show such good wines. Today’s tasting, in the cellars below their shop in St James’ St, was…
Bordeaux: past performance cannot be used to predict future performance
It’s the time of year when, once again, the attention of the wine world is focused firmly on Bordeaux, the world’s most important fine wine region. There are a number…
Verniotte Castillon 2008
This is a substantial Bordeaux from a lesser appellation, made by Henry Laithwaite, son of Tony Laithwaite. It’s the first wine to be produced fron this new estate, which has…
Chateau Brown 2007: good, affordable Bordeaux
Back in September 2007 I visited Chateau Brown in Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux, just before the harvest was about to begin (see my photo gallery here). This week, I’ve finally had a…
Batailley vertical at The Sampler
Just on my way back from a brilliant vertical tasting of Château Batailley, the fourth-growth Pauillac producer with a reputation for making elegant, typical wines. It was held at The…
A couple of new year reds: Lynch Bages and Robert Arnoux
Happy new year, dear readers! I feel quite bemused by the fact that it is now 2011. Two reds from last night, as well as a lot of Champagnes that…