It was raining when we woke in the Mosel, and the rain continued most of the way on our journey to the Ahr Valley. It had mostly cleared by the…
From the road in Germany
Just the briefest of blog posts this morning from what is turning into a truly enlightening but also incredibly fast-paced trip. The only downtime we have had so far is…
Travelling again, off to Germany
About to get on a plane. The destination? Germany. A wine country that I visit all too rarely, but which I always enjoy. My most recent visit was to the…
Garnacha not Guerra 2015
This is a new wine. Naturally made Garnacha (deliberately chosen as the name to indicate a style difference, rather than the local Cannonau), just 360 bottles produced! It’s such an…
Asda’s £10 Champagne Louvel Fontaine is actually pretty good
Oh, I know I shouldn’t say this. But Asda’s £10 Louvel Fontaine Champagne is actually quite nice. I’s so much safer to slate cheap fizz, but I can tell you…
In Beaujolais: Julien Sunier, Antoine Sunier and Domaine de la Combe Aux Loup
Since I first tried his wines a couple of years ago, Julien Sunier (above) had been on my hit-list of must-see Bojo producers. And then, a while later, I tried…
Video: Gorging on pāua, lobster and wine on the Wairarapa coast
This is an old film from 2010 that I initially uploaded on another platform, which has since disappeared, and I had requests (well, one actually) to resurrect it. So here…
ICCWS: Gary Pickering on managing green flavours in wine (what do to about ladybug taint)
Gary Pickering, of Brock University presented a talk at the ICCWS (International Cool Climate Wine Symposium) on managing green flavours in wine. These are largely (but not exclusively) caused by…
ICCWS 2016: Alistair Nesbitt’s model for identifying suitable vineyard sites in the UK
Alistair Nesbitt, from the University of East Anglia, has created a model that maps spatial climate variability in the UK, showing the suitability of various areas for viticulture in England…