So what does a week as a wine writer consist of? It’s hard to say. Every week is different. There’s travel. Attending tastings. Writing articles to deadlines. Lunches. Dinners. It all depends.

This week? It began on Monday with a day clear to write, and then dinner with Ryan and Michael at The Remedy, which I have reported on in this week’s blog posts.

Tuesday was another clear day f0r writing (I have a few pressing deadlines, including a project writing a monograph on screwcaps, and a commission to write about new world sparkling wine). But I had to head into town late afternoon for a tasting with Tim French of Fortnum and Mason, He’s a super-talented wine buyer, and he has put together an epic list of own-label wines. Some real stunners.

On Wednesday I headed down to Hush Heath Estate, a serious producer of English sparkling wine based in Kent. It’s a lovely place and the wines are really good. Then, early evening, I met with Felipe Tosso of Vina Ventisquero to taste some of the new-wave Chilean wines they are making, including impressive bottles from Attacama, in the far north.

On Thursday, I worked at home in the morning and then headed into town in the afternoon. I had a meeting with Katie and Dean of Nomacorc, which we held in the Tate Modern espresso bar, followed by a meeting with the fabulously smart and engaging Laura Catena to discuss the science project I am doing with them, after my visit to Argentina last week. Then early evening I took part in a Google hangout with Helena Nicklin, Robert McKintosh and Brancott winemaker Patrick Materman. It was my first Google hangout, and I liked it a lot, although bandwith issues crept in a bit.

And today? I headed down to Hambledon Vineyard in Hampshire, to check out what they are doing. I was really impressed by the vision of Ian Kellett, who is making some stunning wines and has the vision to propel English sparkling wine into the mainstream. A seriously impressive operation.

That’s my week.