If you are relatively smart, then the world can be an unhappy place, particularly during the teenage years. Smart people stick out. Many people are suspicious of smartness, if indeed…
Consistency is desirable, but at what cost?
I had a conversation with a beer brewer recently. I asked him whether size was an advantage in brewing, in that having lots of shiny new kit might help you…
Clayver: a new ceramic vessel for elevage
I have just written up the wines of Candialle, a Chianti producer run by ex-pat Finnish winegrower Jarkko Peränen. He has been experimenting with a new vessel for fermenting and ageing…
Young wine writers: be as brilliant as you can be
Earlier today I wrote a deeply ironic blog post encouraging young wine writers not to be too smart, because this would upset potentially helpful established writers. Some people have interpreted…
Young wine writers: don’t be too smart
One thing I have noticed, coming into wine writing from the outside, is that there’s generally a warm welcome for newcomers. Established wine writers are, in my experience, generally quite…
On cycling
I have discovered cycling. Don’t worry: I’m not about to don lycra, spend thousands of pounds on a racing bike, and start posting (boasting?) my Strava stats on social media….
Single critic opinions or panel tastings? Which is the best?
Yesterday Tim Atkin released his South African wine report. It’s created quite a bit of discussion, and it’s also raised once again for me the question of single critics versus…
Lunch at Greg with Neal and Gareth, including some nice wines
Lunch at Greg Sherwood’s place (christening his new kitchen!). So it was Sunday, and we were off to Greg Sherwood’s gaff in St Margarets for some food and wine. It…
Napue, a superb Finnish gin
Tried this superb gin in Finland. It’s a small-batch rye gin from the Kyrö Distillery Company in Isokyrö. This was set up by a group of five friends (Miika, Miko, Mikka, Kalle…