As humans, we are all mixed. Most of us want to be good, but occasionally we aren’t, even though we may be trying our best to do the right thing….
A night of very fine bottles
Had a lovely evening with friends old and new last night. Wine geeks one and all. And the bottles came fast and furious. No time to take notes. We tasted…
Penfolds Max’s Chardonnay and Cabernet
These are two of three wines under the relatively new Penfolds label ‘Max’s’, which pays tribute to former chief winemaker and creator of Grange, Max Schubert. There’s a third wine…
Blind tasting exam, MW style: what’s it like?
Yesterday. I joined in a tasting session with two MW students who were doing a test practical paper. I’ve never done a tasting like this before, and to be honest,…
Choosing a red wine list for Ramada hotels
Towards the end of last year, one of the fun jobs I had was working with the Ramada hotel chain to produce a red wine list. The idea was to…
Interesting wines tasted blind
Did some blind tasting with friends last night, followed by drinking. Some interesting bottles. Angiolino Maule Masieri 2017 Veneto, Italy This is Garganega from volcanic soil, wild fermented. Very low…
Two interesting South Africans: Reyneke Reserve 2012 and Hanneli R 2013
Two very interesting South African wines to report on here. The first is from one of my favourite producers, Reyneke. They are one of just three biodynamic wineries in the…
Privileged access
Last week I was in Bordeaux with a small group, and as well as tasting through most of the top 2017s, we visited a couple of prestigious Châteaux, and got…
Reflections on smell and life
Saturday was a gorgeous day. That sort of spring day that offers lots of hope – a secret glimpse of summer to come. On Friday night I headed up to…