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First taste: Loire 2011 vintage whites
It’s the Loire Salon this week which I’m sorry to miss, though looks like I’ve had a lucky escape from a logistical nightmare given the snow. And fortunately, just before I headed down under, Charles & Philippa Sydney’s London Loire roadshow gave me a chance to take a look at the vintage they’ve nick-named ‘Le Grand Ecart’/‘The [...]
Continue reading...England: venue for the next International Cool Climate Symposium
Posted Monday 6th February 2012
I leave Tasmania today after a week of travels. My timing could not have been better - a reference to last week’s International Cool Climate Symposium, not the snow back home! The symposium has given Australia’s only 100% cool climate state a chance to strut its stuff, buoying spirits. With good reason. I’m looking forward to reporting on some fantastic wines [...]
Continue reading...Southern Tasmania – a photo diary
Posted Saturday 4th February 2012
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...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...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...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...Three top London restaurants, including a bling, bling a bling bling Vintage Champagne list
Posted Tuesday 3rd January 2012
Thinking about your next plate of food may be the last thing on your mind right now. But, as and when, you get back in the saddle, here’s a trio of great London restaurants for you to check out. Personally “vetted” by me this last fortnight, all three also made the cut for Fay Maschler’s Evening Standard Restaurants of the Year [...]
Continue reading...My Top 5 Wines of the Year: South Africa
Posted Saturday 31st December 2011
They say that life’s too short to drink bad wine, less still to write about it too! With the exception of lesser vintages in vertical reports, I rate highly every wine which makes its way onto my website, so it’s no easy task to select my top wines of the year. Here’s my top five [...]
Continue reading...My Top 5 Wines of the Year: Portugal
Posted Friday 30th December 2011
They say that life’s too short to drink bad wine, less still to write about it too! With the exception of lesser vintages in vertical reports, I rate highly every wine which makes its way onto my website, so it’s no easy task to select my top wines of the year. Here’s my top five [...]
Continue reading...My Top Five Wines of the Year: the Loire
Posted Thursday 29th December 2011
They say that life’s too short to drink bad wine, still less write about it too! With the exception of lesser vintages in vertical reports, I rate highly every wine which makes its way onto my website, so it’s no easy task to select my top wines of the year. Here’s my top five for [...]
Continue reading...My Top 5 Wines of the Year: Australia
Posted Wednesday 28th December 2011
They say that life’s too short to drink bad wine and, in my case, it’s most certainly too short to taste bad wine and write about it! With the exception of lesser vintages in vertical reports, I rate highly every wine which makes its way onto my website, so it’s no easy task to select [...]
Continue reading...Forget the claret: squeals on great Cabernet deals
Posted Wednesday 21st December 2011
I swung by Majestic in the week and they’ve got some pretty smart Cabernets/Cab blends from Australia and South Africa on deal for around a tenner (as part of the usual case purchase, which can be mixed). These polished, elegant wines seriously over deliver: Vasse Felix Cabernet Merlot 2009 (Margaret River, W. Australia) Virginia Willcock puts [...]
Continue reading...Best of English: Meet the Winemaker dinners 2012
Posted Monday 19th December 2011
On Saturday I posted a blog about Plumpton College’s appeal for donations for the UK’s first dedicated Viticulture and Oenology Research Centre (click here to find out more). Sticking with the English wine theme, if you fancy meeting some of English wines’ movers and shakers, London wine bar and bistro Artisan & Vine and DrinkBritain.com are teaming up [...]
Continue reading...Add your penny’s worth (preferably £s) to the future of English wine: Plumpton Viticulture and Oenology Research Centre
Posted Saturday 17th December 2011
English wine has hit the headlines many, many times this year and for all the right reasons. It’s on the up! Just dipping my toe in the water or, I should say wine, I’ve been really excited especially, but not exclusively, by fizz at a Camel Valley tasting hosted by Artisan & Wine and a Riedel [...]
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Posted Wednesday 8th February 2012
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