Had a nice lunch in the garden with Robin and Nikolai. I brought Champagne, and they stepped things up a notch with two famous Italians. Champagne Bruno Paillard Assemblage 2009…
Bibi Graetz Testamatta: superb Tuscan Sangiovese
Bibi Gratetz is an arts graduate (he does his own label art) with Norweigan/Israeli parentage. His family owned Castello di Vincigliata in Tuscany, in Fiesole, just north of Florence, and…
Monsanto Il Poggio Chianti Classico Riserva 2009
Chianti. I’ve struggled a bit with it. It can be great, but often it’s a bit difficult and surly. It’s like a moody friend: you have to wait for the…
Don’t spit great wine!
In the wine trade, we taste. And then we spit. Have to, really, otherwise we’d all be permanently drunk and would die young. Sometimes, though, a wine is too good…
Wine & Culinary forum: the Primum Familiae Vini tasting
The Primum Familiae Vini are an association of top European wine domaines, and we were treated to a tasting of some of their wines, presented by Christophe Brunet, wine ambassador…
Some great wines at lunch, including Cristal, Faiveley Corton and Schlumberger GC Saering
After judging the Roederer Awards on Tuesday, we repaired to Chez Buce, where – naturally – we popped a couple of bottles of Roederer’s Cristal. This was followed up with…
Insoglio del Cinghiale, an impressive Tuscan red blend
I’m not usually a huge super-Tuscan fan, but this is really good. There’s a purity and focus here that I don’t often get from Tuscany. Tasted blind, I reckon I’d…
Some amazing fine wines at The Sampler
Each Christmas The Sampler puts some rather special wines on its sampling machines, and this year is no exception. I popped into the South Kensington shop to try them; Islington…
A pair from Tenuta di Trinoro
These are remarkable wines that are very hard to pigeonhole. On paper, they aren’t really my thing: we are looking at Bordeaux grape varieties, grown in Tuscany, and weighing in…