Tag Archive | "wine"
Brokenwood 40th anniversary verticals Part 1: ILR Semillon 1992-2010
Last October I attended Brokenwood’s 40th anniversary party. Founded in 1970 by three Sydney solicitors, Tony Albert, John Beeston and James Halliday, the winery got off to an unconventional start as the self-professed hobby winemakers “carted” (or should that be cartiered?!?!?) their first harvest back to the winery in buckets in the back seat of Len Evans’ Bentley! The iconic Hunter [...]
Continue reading...The Douro, dynamic, diverse, red, white & pink!
Posted Friday 4th June 2010
Ask anyone why the Douro Valley is famous and they’ll say Port – most likely vintage port, which accounts for a measly 1-2% of all Port wine. At London Wine Fair I was delighted to be asked to talk about the Douro by the Instituto do Vinho do Porto. It’s one of my favourite wine [...]
Continue reading...Best of Vinho Verde 2010 Awards
Posted Thursday 3rd June 2010
You may have noticed that I’m a big Vinho Verde fan so I was sorry to turn down judging at this year’s annual awards hosted by the local Comissão de Viticulture da Região dos Vinhos Verdes on account of other commitments. Judging is always a great opportunity to discover some names you didn’t know and, [...]
Continue reading...Symington Family Estates: first taste 2008 ports & wines
Posted Wednesday 2nd June 2010
Symington Family Estates are easily the Douro’s largest landowners with no less than 25 quintas (estates) totalling 1,769 hectares, of which 940 are under vine. It reinforced what miniscule amounts of even Single Quinta Vintage Port (SQVP) are released when, several weeks ago, they announced that they’d decided to bottle 600 cases of 2008 Quinta [...]
Continue reading...Aussie Chardy: this way please
Posted Monday 31st May 2010
In the last week, I’ve presented a couple of blind tastings focused on Chardonnay and regionality in Australia. My line up, the first two unoaked, comprised: Mount Adam Chardonnay 2008 (Barossa, South Australia) Cumulus Rolling Chardonnay 2008 (Central Ranges, New South Wales) Kooyong Estate Chardonnay 2006 (Mornington Peninsula, Victoria) De Bortoli Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2006 [...]
Continue reading...Le Haut Chesneau, a thoroughly modern Loire Sauv Blanc
Posted Sunday 30th May 2010
From (screwcap) top to toe, Jean-Marc Villemaine’s Le Chesneau Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 2009 is a thoroughly modern wine. The front label loudly proclaims the variety, as does its expressive nose and palate of fresh cut grass, blackcurrant bud and ripe apple with attractively ripe, juicy acidity. It comes from Thesée, which is famous for its [...]
Continue reading...Venice: wine & vine
Posted Saturday 29th May 2010
If you could create your own list of seven wonders of the world, what would you include? For me, with not a nanosecond of hesitation, Venice would be on it. Come to think of it, I’d describe the city as other-worldly, so maybe it doesn’t qualify….Anyway, maybe you’ll understand why I had mixed feelings when [...]
Continue reading...A game of two halves: Pewsey Vale Riesling –v- Jim Barry Riesling
Posted Tuesday 25th May 2010
Robert Hill Smith and Peter Barry dug deep into their reserves to show some older wines at a well over-subscribed Riesling masterclass at last week’s London International Wine Fair, also the latest releases of flagships Pewsey Vale The Contours (2004) and Jim Barry The Florita (2009). Joking he wasn’t sure there’d be a waiting list [...]
Continue reading...Flying the flag for Western Australia: a celebratory tasting at the Australian High Commission
Posted Saturday 22nd May 2010
If you’ve drooled over my reports on Western Australian wines, come join me at a tasting at the Australian High Commission, Strand, London to celebrate WA Foundation Day. I’ll be on hand to provide an insight into a range of Western Australia’s finest wines, including some personal favourites – Alkoomi, Cape Mentelle, Clairault, Cullen, Ferngrove, [...]
Continue reading...Fladgate first taste: 2008 Single Quinta Vintage port cask samples
Posted Monday 17th May 2010
In my blog announcing the St George’s Day release of Fladgate’s 2008 SQVPs (see here), I’d mentioned that Guimeraens reckoned Quinta do Panascal 2008 is among the finest yet. Members of the trade will be able to form their own view when cask samples of Fladgate’s 2008 Single Quinta Vintage Ports (SQVPs) are shown this [...]
Continue reading...Awesome, & I use that word judiciously…vertical tastings, Australia’s First Families of Wine
Posted Friday 14th May 2010
Attending a tasting is a guerilla attack-like affair – it’s all about focus, prioritising, what to cover so you can get back to your desk to actually produce the fruits of your labour – research, writing, prepare for a tasting etc…. Today did not go according to plan. I’d booked into the Australia’s First Families [...]
Continue reading...Majestic: summer deals on Aussie kit, including some favourite Rieslings
Posted Friday 14th May 2010
This Sunday I savoured a wonderful bottle of Wynns Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 1997, all the sweeter because I bought it on deal several years ago for around £7. What a steal for such a great expression of Coonawarra or, for that matter, Cabernet Sauvignon with its terrific purity of elegant, mint-edged blackcurrant fruit and [...]
Continue reading...My kind of progressive alliance: Australia’s First Families of Wine
Posted Thursday 13th May 2010
Volcanic ash got in the way of judging in Portugal this week, but there was a silver lining to this particular cloud. It meant I could make it to dinner last night with members of Australia’s First Families of Wine (AFFW): Brown Brothers (Victoria) Campbells (Victoria) D’Arenberg (South Australia) De Bortoli (NSW) Henschke (South Australia) [...]
Continue reading...Taylor’s: a tawny blending masterclass & a very special pre-phylloxera wine
Posted Monday 10th May 2010
Taylor’s (owned by Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman), is the brand leader for aged tawnies, so I grabbed the chance to participate in a hands-on 20 Year Old Tawny blending masterclass with Chief Blender, Natasha Bridge (pictured with blending material) last week. She is the eldest daughter of Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman’s chairman, Alistair Robertson, who [...]
Continue reading...Penfolds Icon & Luxury Release Tasting Part 1– make way for some serious Chardonnay!
Posted Wednesday 5th May 2010
Last week, though a judging day, wild horses would not have kept me away from Penfolds’ Icon & Luxury Release Tasting. Penfolds house style famously emerged from the constraints of a fortified wine culture when the iconic flagship, Penfolds Grange, was created by Max Schubert in the 1950s. And Schubert’s philosophy “true excellence is a [...]
Continue reading...Play it again Sam: Casablanca’s Casas del Bosque Pinot Noir revisited
Posted Monday 3rd May 2010
After judging the 2008 Annual Chile Wine Awards, I visited Casas del Bosque in the Casablanca Valley. Their barrel samples of Pinot Noir showed great potential (see here). Now wine importers Awin Barratt Seigel have added the winery to their portfolio, I got the chance to check out the finished article. It didn’t disappoint: Casas [...]
Continue reading...Vinho Verde, variety and variety
Posted Sunday 2nd May 2010
Most Vinho Verde is a blend of several varieties, but if there’s a stand out grape, it’s got to be Alvarinho (known over the border in Galicia, Spain, as Albarino). The variety is spreading its wings outside Vinho Verde and fast assuming the mantle of Portugal’s flagship white grape variety. Take Poeira Pó de Poeira [...]
Continue reading...Delibrett…Herdade do Arrepiado Brett Edition Syrah 2007 – making a virtue out of brettanomyces
Posted Wednesday 28th April 2010
I’m heading towards the end of 3 weeks judging wine and, if there’s a fault that continues to provoke lively debate, it’s brett, full name Brettanomyces (also known as Dekkera). Brett is a naturally occurring yeast which can impart a bandaid or animal quality (from barnyard to horse sweat) to wine. For some, it’s a [...]
Continue reading...The Big Fortified Tasting – Australian highlights, including that 100 pointer!
Posted Friday 23rd April 2010
Crammed with the esoteric, rare and downright gorgeous, The Big Fortified Tasting was equally packed with very satisfied looking members of the trade. Wouldn’t it be great if we could persuade consumers that a fortified is not just for Christmas but a year round delicious treat? I mean aren’t they the perfect solution for this [...]
Continue reading...Portugal Annual tasting 2010 – close encounters of a new kind
Posted Wednesday 21st April 2010
I’ve now posted highlights from the Annual Portugal Trade Tasting, plus samples I’ve recently tasted here, on my Portugal Regional Report page. The focus is on producers and products new to me like Luis Pato’s innovative Abafado “cyroextraction” sweeties pictured left – very Dr Who! You will also find details of the themes of my [...]
Continue reading...
Posted Friday 25th March 2011
0 Comments