I’ve been an admirer of the wines of Hervé Souhaut for a while. I remember taking his Syrah as one of my three wines when I was taking part in…
Interesting Marlborough: Fromm, single-vineyard pioneers
Fromm is an important winery for Marlborough, because they were one of the first to champion single vineyards in the region. They are also unusual in that in a white…
Novum, an exciting new producer from Marlborough
Scratch below the surface and there’s lots of interesting stuff going on in Marlborough. Here’s an example. Will and Rachel Hoare have just launched their new label, Novum, which focuses…
A couple from Hawke’s Bay: Craggy Range and Sacred Hill
These impressed the other evening. Craggy Range Te Kahu 2014 Gimblett Gravels, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand 13.5% alcohol. 68% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Malbec, 6% Cabernet Franc. This is…
Quinta do Monte d’Oiro, Lisboa, Portugal
Monte d’Oiro translates as mountain of gold, and it refers to the golden colour taken in early evening by the hill on which many of the vineyards are planted. The…
New Zealand Syrah masterclass, with four imposters
These are my notes from the first tasting At the Hawke’s Bay Symposium on Classic Reds, held at Trinity Hill, Hawke’s Bay, 4 February 2017. This flight looked at New…
Arnoux & Fils Petites Collines Crozes-Hermitage 2014
This is another lovely wine in the Roberson Wine Christmas sale. It’s just lovely: benchmark Crozes from a negotiant working traditionally in the south. Arnoux & Fils Crozes-Hermitage ‘Petites Collines’…
Washington wines on the world stage: a seminar looking at Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon
This was an interesting tasting that attempted to put Washington State’s wines in context by blind tasting them with some stiff international competition. We tasted double blind, although in each…
Stolpman Vineyards: Syrah and Roussanne from limestone soils in California
Website: Stolpman Vineyards Back in the 1970s, Tom Stolpman, who was then in his late teens, was running a valet car parking service in the Hollywood Hills to help him…