The iPhone 6. I remember when it first came out. I was at an event and a tech journalist had one, before its general release, for review purposes. I had…
Cabernet Franc: Domaine Filliatreau Saumur Champigny 2014
Cabernet Franc is a grape variety that has been growing on me. It’s often thought of as in the shadow of its talented son, Cabernet Sauvignon. But in some ways,…
Video: the Franschhoek wine valley, South Africa
Today I began a report on a visit to Franschhoek. It’s a wine region that is often misunderstood: the narrative is, that as the leading gastronomic destination in the Cape,…
‘Eating sugar’: why old sweet wines often taste drier
There’s a well known phenomenon in the world of wine that so far has been unexplained. It’s the way that as sweet wines age, they taste less sweet. If you…
Thörle Spätbrugunder 2013 Rheinhessen, Germany
I’m a big Pinot Noir fan. I just love it when it is good, and increasingly it’s becoming much easier to find decent Pinot from around the world, and not…
If you were a wine… wines as people
If you were a wine, what wine would you be? It’s an immensely silly question, but a fun one. It’s actually even more fun to ask a friend: what wine…
The new releases from Delaire Graff, a leading South African winery
On my recent trip to South Africa, I had dinner at the lovely, super-luxurious Delaire Graff, preceded by a tasting with winemaker Morne Vrey and marketing manager Katherine Harris. Morne’s…
Gamay focus, 10 – Puy de Dôme Gamay 2013 from the Auvergne
I recently wrote about the wines from Caves Saint Vernay in France’s Auvergne, a volcanic terroir in the south of the Loire. Well, next stop on my Gamay journey is…
Matrot Meursault 2012
When white Burgundy is good, it is peerless. Well, almost, as the recent Kumeu River tasting showed. This is a good one. It’s from Thierry and Pascale Matrot, and it’s…