Cramele Recas is a large winery in Romania well known for its astutely made commercial wines. Last year they began making an affordable orange wine, and this, the second vintage,…
Two natural Italian wines from The English Winemaker
These two wines are made by Matt Gregory, wine merchant turned winemaker who has adopted the name ‘The English Winemaker’. I met him in Christchurch last year when I was…
A clichéd natural wine producer review
I love natural wine (well, whatever that is…), but as with any style of wine there’s good and there’s bad and then there’s some stuff in the middle. So, here…
The First Date natural wine bar pop-up at Cupple Coffee, Hastings, NZ
On Saturday night, travelling companions Mel Brown, David Brookes and I popped into a natural wine bar pop-up First Date at Cupple Coffee in Hastings, Hawkes Bay. This was billed…
Werlitsch Ex Vero, an amazing wine from Styria, Austria
Had this delicious wine from southern Styria winery Werlitsch at Newcomer Wines in Dalston. Newcomer has a brilliant selection of wine, focusing on Austria but taking in interesting natural/authentic wines…
Two lovely Syrahs from Dard & Ribo
Dard & Ribo are one of the top producers of the Northern Rhône, but unless you hang in natural wine circles you probably won’t have heard of them. The hallmark…
Some natural wines with the Grape Witches
A few weeks ago I was invited to host a tasting of natural/authentic wine in Toronto with Nicole and Krysta, the Grape Witches. It was for local somms and trade…
A lovely orange wine from Vermont: Iapetus Tectonic
I met Ethan Joseph of Iapetus Wine in Nova Scotia last year, and recently again with Nathan Kendall in the Finger Lakes. He gave me a bottle of his orange…
Brian Croser on natural (or ‘accidental’) wines
[I recently contacted celebrated Australian winemaker and consultant Brian Croser to get a few quotes on the topic of natural wine in Australia, and its sometimes uneasy relationship with the…