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Southern Tasmania – a photo diary
The International Cool Climate Conference in Hobart wrapped up yesterday and I head up Tasmania’s east coast today. I’m told it’s gorgeous but, I must say, the south has been a feast for the eyes! And of course the palate. Here’s a photo diary to give you a feel for my week. [...]
Continue reading...Interviewing Tasmania’s biggest Shiraz producer, Jimmy Watson Trophy Winner Nick Glaetzer
Posted Thursday 2nd February 2012
Drier and warmer than the rest of Tasmania, the southerly Coal River Valley has form when it comes to vinous surprises. Who would have believed Zinfandel could be grown on this cool climate island, less still that Stoney Vineyard’s 1982 Zin (pictured below) would still be in the game. In the 90s, Stoney Vineyard’s then new owners, [...]
Continue reading...February Wines of the Month: Clos Clare Watervale Riesling 2011 & Filipa Pato Nossa Calcario Branco 2010
Posted Wednesday 1st February 2012
There’s a common thread between my February Wines of the Month. Both are made by producers from famous winemaking stock. Clos Clare is made by Sam, Tom and Olivia Barry whose dad is Peter Barry of Jim Barry (their grandfather), while Filipa Pato is Luis Pato’s daughter. Here are my notes on the wines: Clos [...]
Continue reading...Tasmania: toying with perceptions
Posted Tuesday 31st January 2012
Two days in and Tasmania is already toying with my perceptions. On Sunday, Hobart, the capital of this cool climate region hit 31 degrees. And so far, with the notable exception of Pressing Matters (who make four Rieslings ranging from bone dry to fully sweet, pictured), local Rieslings have been bone dry. Most surprising of all, there’s no great [...]
Continue reading...First taste: Clos Clare & Shobbrook 2011 Rieslings, plus other cracking Aussie Rieslings
Posted Monday 30th January 2012
I arrived in Tasmania yesterday, my first visit since 2004. Really looking forward to exploring this great natural beauty over the next week in and amongst sessions at the International Cool Climate Conference. This week I’m based in Hobart (harbour pictured), so visiting southern producers, yesterday, Craigow, today Pressing Matters among others. Jeffrey Grosset selected [...]
Continue reading...Celebrating International Port Day with some new releases & fair maidens
Posted Friday 27th January 2012
It’s International Port Day today (click here for details). Ironically, I’m in the throes of packing my bags for the International Cool Climate Conference in Tasmania! But I didn’t want the day to pass without a word on Port, a unique wine style from one of the most exciting wine regions in the world, the Douro, [...]
Continue reading...Nick Dobson clearance at massive discounts: includes top Portuguese wines & the UK’s widest range of Swiss wines
Posted Thursday 26th January 2012
I was really sorry to receive a press release this morning about the closure of Nick Dobson Wines due to ill-health. Nick is a member of the Association of Small Direct Wine Merchants and a great example of what the independent trade do so well, selling otherwise hard to come by wines, including wines from [...]
Continue reading...Filipa Pato: 10 years of experiments, time to go 100% Bairrada
Posted Wednesday 25th January 2012
Filipa Pato is cut from the same cloth as her father, Luis Pato, Bairrada’s leading winemaker. She’s a restless winemaking soul, all to our benefit, or so I thought until she told me she’d no longer be making Silex! The 2008 vintage was a stand out wine of my selection of 50 Great Portuguese Wines [...]
Continue reading...The new cabinet: wine of course!
Posted Monday 23rd January 2012
I’ve been on the look out for a freestanding, capacious wine cabinet for ages, especially after a puny pine rack collapsed, adding 1970s style swirl to the carpet! There are plenty of temperature cooled cabinets, but they were too expensive given my budget, unnecessary for short-term storage and not wildy eco-friendly all things considered. My [...]
Continue reading...Ageing very well: New Douro older vintages & maiden wines
Posted Friday 20th January 2012
Wednesday’s New Douro tasting threw up some delightful surprises. Though focused on the latest (red) releases from the 2009 vintage (which I’d already tasted in December), museum stocks had been generously raided, providing an opportunity to taste among the very first New Douro table wines. And they were thrilling, reinforcing what a very prodigious and precocious talent this traditional Port [...]
Continue reading...Beat the clock: Eben Sadie, a man on a mission
Posted Thursday 19th January 2012
You only have to turn the clock back a dozen years to date the Sadie Family’s first wine, Columella 2000, yet Eben Sadie has the air of the wise old man of the Swartland. As well he might. In his quest to identify the best terroir and do it full justice, the man works double-time, [...]
Continue reading...Stonier International Pinot Noir Tasting 2011 comes to London, & stirs it up again
Posted Tuesday 17th January 2012
1997 was the year wine got under my skin. And, after my first wine tasting course had finished if you’d asked me my favourite grape variety, without hesitation or deviation, I’d have shot back Pinot Noir. Ask that question now and you’ll be waiting a long time for an answer, if you get one at all. At [...]
Continue reading...Cool climate Syrah, Riesling and Pais on winning form at the 9th Annual Wines of Chile Awards
Posted Monday 16th January 2012
The results of the 9th Annual Wines of Chile Awards were announced on Friday. Syrah from the now not so new northern cool climate regions of Limarí, Elqui are continuing to make waves as they did when I judged in 2008. Viña Tamaya’s Winemaker’s Selection Syrah 2010 (Limarí Valley) landed the Best in Show trophy and Viña [...]
Continue reading...Cellar Gascon: off sale wines prices continue during January
Posted Saturday 14th January 2012
Following on from my December post, City wine lovers take note. Cellar Gascon at 59 West Smithfield London, EC1A 9DS is keeping its wines at “Take-Away prices” on Mondays and Tuesdays throughout January, subject to availability. Here are some examples of their take away menu (to have in): Cahors, Domaine Cosse Maisonneuve, Le Sid, 2002, £26 Côtes [...]
Continue reading...First taste: Maritávora – very superior Douro Superior wines from Jorge Serôdio Borges
Posted Friday 13th January 2012
Next Wednesday it’s the New Douro trade tasting at the Portuguese Embassy, London. I had a sneak preview in Oporto last month and the standard of the wines was very high – lots to like (click here for my brief report). Subsequently, I headed down to Lisbon for a 3 day generic tasting. Though the Douro wines I tasted there were [...]
Continue reading...January sales heads up: including a couple of my 2011 high fives & rare Madeira
Posted Thursday 12th January 2012
Yesterday Jamie Goode gave the heads up on some rather tasty deals in Noble Green’s January sale. Jamie bought some top Portuguese wines and I snapped up 6 bottles of Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2010 – one of my Top Five Australian Wines of 2011 (click here for my review). It’s reduced from £19.69 to £12.99/bottle. Click here for details [...]
Continue reading...First taste: Coriole Fiano 2011, ‘Best White Wine in Show,’ McLaren Vale Wine Show
Posted Wednesday 11th January 2012
Say what you like about the 2011 vintage in Australia, but the whites I’ve tasted have been terrific. Coriole Fiano 2011, which recently scooped ’Best White Wine in Show’ at McLaren Vale Wine Show, is no exception. And before I sing the praises of the Fiano, for an insight into the strengths and weaknesses of this atypical vintage, [...]
Continue reading...Dishing up the dirt: a focus on the Barossa’s rich and diverse terroirs
Posted Tuesday 10th January 2012
Following on from yesterday’s blog focusing on St Hallett’s single vineyard Shiraz range, here’s a hot off the press link to my Barossa Shiraz feature, “A Broad Church,” for Imbibe magazine. Thanks to all who contributed, mentioned or not. It was an eye-opening visit! If you’d like to find out more about the Barossa, check out [...]
Continue reading...St Hallett’s latest releases, including five taste the difference single vineyard Barossa Shiraz
Posted Monday 9th January 2012
This month’s Imbibe magazine will feature my in depth look at Barossa Shiraz following up on my visit last July to this iconic South Australian region. It really opened my eyes to the region’s diversity, which is finding vivid expression in a growing raft of single vineyard wines. When these form part of a range, it’s [...]
Continue reading...Set your course for Greenwich Maritime Museum’s new brasserie, 16” West
Posted Sunday 8th January 2012
A Spanish themed holiday reunion last night reminded me to share with you a visit to Greenwich Maritime Museum’s new brasserie, 16” West , where I was impressed by a couple of Spanish whites – Cuatro Rayas Verdejo 2010 (Rueda) and A Coroa Godello 2009 (Valdeorras). I like Verdejo’s green edge and bite. This modestly priced white (£21.50) proved a perfect [...]
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Posted Saturday 4th February 2012
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