OK, a real-time, as it is drunk, straight to blog tasting note, typed as I sit here in the garden on a lovely warm Sunday evening. I’ve just finished dinner…
Northern Rhone series 3, 1967 Hermitage
So after two white Hermitage wines, we’re heading to Syrah, but sticking with the Hermitage hill. This wine is very interesting. It was a gift from Richard Kelley MW, who’d…
At the tennis, celeb spotting and a 1947 tawny
Just come back from a great day at Wimbledon, courtesy of Pernod Ricard, owners of Jacob’s Creek. A merry band was gathered, including Decanter editor Guy Woodward, Harpers editor Richard…
Why I love the wine trade
I feel privileged to be part of the wine trade. You meet so many great people. This picture captures one of the reasons I love my job. It was taken…
Gibbston Valley Pinot Noir 2009
I do like Kiwi Pinot Noir quite a bit. Here’s a really good one from Gibbston Valley, who I visited a while back. Christopher Keys, the winemaker there, is doing…
Northern Rhone series 2, Chapoutier Chante Alouette Hermitage Blanc 2007
Continuing my exploration of the Northern Rhone, wine number two is also a white Hermitage. It may seem an odd choice. Shouldn’t I have gone to Syrah? But I want…
The coming wine war
There’s a clash of cultures in the world of fine wine, and before too long it could become a war. On the one hand, we have the fine wine establishment,…
Northern Rhone series 1, Cave de Tain Hermitage Blanc Au Coeur des Siecles 2007
I have decided to start a short series of posts on the wines of the northern Rhone, a splendid and unique place for growing wine grapes. Not only is it…
Down in Somerset
So we spent today down in Somerset. It was elder son’s school’s summer fare. Because he’s at an agricultural school, there was a distinctly rural feel to events. As well…