![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/IMGP5172.jpg\" "\\"IMGP5172\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nJanuary saw the Sipnot tasting <\/a>– the Stonier International Pinot\u00a0Noir tasting, which compared new and old world\u00a0Pinot Noir in a blind-tasting format. The new world Pinots did pretty well.<\/p>\n January: the first of many good feeds, this time at La Trompette in Chiswick. This middlewhite\u00a0pork was\u00a0washed down<\/a> with Scali Pinotage. February: the 2009 DRC tasting at Corney & Barrow<\/a>.<\/p>\n February:\u00a0the Primum Familiae Vini\u00a0lunch <\/a>at the Square, London. Each family bought two wines to drink: one current and one old.<\/p>\n February: Paul Pointallier\u00a0conducts a tasting\u00a0and lecture on in-house research at Chateau\u00a0Margaux<\/a><\/p>\n March: off to the Loire to judge Sauvignon.<\/p>\n March: in Stellenbosch, South Africa<\/p>\n April: the International Wine Challenge – 2 weeks at a very rainy Lords<\/p>\n May: judging Hungarian wines at the Pannon Wine Challenge. This is Budapest.<\/p>\n May: at the\u00a0London wine trade fair, where I am chairing a discussion on how wines can stand out from the crowd.<\/p>\n May:\u00a0one of the highlights of the year was the Real Wine Fair.<\/p>\n May: my first trip\u00a0to Alsace was memorable. This is Colmar.<\/p>\n May: a dinner at the Square to honour Paul Symington<\/a>, with some great old Port.<\/p>\n June: how about a\u00a0vertical of Vega Sicilia<\/a>, back to the 1920s? Oh, go on then.<\/p>\n July: a great visit to Torres’ estates in Catalonia, including my first trip to Priorat.<\/p>\n September: back to Cape\u00a0Town, for Cape Wine.<\/p>\n September: a memorable lunch at Cafe Dijon in Cape Town. Not fine dining, just really great food, great wine, and great company.<\/p>\n September: in the Douro at vintage time to do some filming<\/a>. Magical place.<\/p>\n October: a brilliant Pol Roger Blanc de Blancs lunch, cooked by Brett Graham<\/p>\n October: off to Australia to judge the Royal\u00a0Melbourne Wine Show, including a great dinner with old Aussie wines<\/a>.<\/p>\n October:\u00a0memorable visit to Michaeal Dhillon’s Bindi in Australia’s Macedon Ranges. Great wines.<\/p>\n October: Back to Alsace again, for some great food and a few lovely visits. This dinner was at la Nouvelle Auberge<\/a>.<\/p>\n October: fun with wine trade peeps at the Cotes du Rhone\u00a0Halloween quiz night<\/p>\n November: Izmir, Turkey for the bloggers conference. It was great. Met lots of people and had a lot of fun.<\/p>\n November: at the IWSC dinner where I got blogger of the year award!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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