Preview: the Soon-to-be-Released Vin de Constance 2020
The 2020 Vin de Constance in its trademarked, distinctive asymmetrical 500ml bottle that resembles the early hand-blown Constantia...
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- Jul 19
Prime Time for Pink: Rosés for Summer 2023
Update, August 3 I've just added two more southern French rosés: Alaina, which is new to me, although its producer, Laurent Miquel,...
- Jun 16
Going Beyond Sparkling Wine: England's New Still Wines
Chardonnay vines in The King's Vineyard, Rochester, Kent, planted on the site of the vineyard of the medieval priory. Simpsons Wine...
- Mar 22
Doing Things the Daou Way in Paso Robles
Soul of a Lion, the flagship wine, named in memory of the Daou brothers' father It was hard to get a word in edgeways but, when I did, I...
- Mar 20
2020, Another Extraordinary Vintage at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
The magnificent La Tâche 2020 is conspicuous by its absence in this line-up of empty bottles, but it was definitely in the tasting (see...
- Feb 14
Ornellaia 2020: Proof That There's No Recipe
Same lighter weight bottle as its predecessor, but the 2020 is embossed at shoulder level with the Ornellaia logo. An invitation to...
- Jan 12
Vérité and Cardinale: Towering California Wines from Mountains and Micro-Crus
Winemaker Pierre Seillan, who created Vérité for Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke in 1998, and his daughter Hélène who is now assistant...
- Nov 22, 2022
So Much More than a Pretty Bottle: Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque 2013
The seminal Belle Epoque bottle decorated with the Japanese anemone motif designed for Perrier-Jouët by Émile Gallé, one of the pioneers...
- Sep 22, 2022
The Legendary Vin de Constance – a Wine Worth Ageing
The strikingly different colours of the 10 vintages of Klein Constantia Vin de Constance spanning the years 1987 to 2015. The oldest...
- Aug 23, 2022
Rare, Unbearably Expensive and Unlike Anything Else: Royal Tokaji Essencia 2009
A five-centilitre sample may sound miserly but, when we’re talking about Tokaji Essencia, it’s lavish. To make the wine in this miniature...
- Aug 10, 2022
Prime Time for Pink: Summer Rosé Round-up 2022 Part 2: Provence and the South
This second rosé round-up of the summer is devoted to Provence, plus five wines from the south of France. Why hive off Provence from the...
- Aug 3, 2022
Penfolds French-ish Launches, the New Grange, the Fabled Bin 60A and More
When Penfolds launches its 2022 collection tomorrow, Thursday 4 August, it will include two French, or French-ish, still wines for the...
- Jul 19, 2022
Prime Time for Pink: Summer 2022 Rosé Round-up Part 1
Update, August 12 I've just added two more wines to this, so it's now 12 appetite-whetting rosés. The additions, Ramón Bilbao Rosado and...
- Jun 24, 2022
Celebrating English Wines
My picks for the second weekend of English Wine Week celebrations. Not that they're only for English Wine Week. English wines are for...
- May 11, 2022
Moët's Luxury Cuvée MCIII and the Enigmatic Non-Appearance of its Successor
The text of this article was first published in The World of Fine Wine issue 68 (June 2020) LATEST, April 12, 2022: I asked Moët to give...
- Feb 14, 2022
Ornellaia Ups the Cabernet Sauvignon in its Newly Released 2019, 'Il Vigore'
Each year the estate director of Ornellaia in Bolgheri chooses a single word to describe the character of the wine and reveals it at the...
- Feb 8, 2022
You Have to Go Back to 1865 at Domaine de la Romanée Conti to Meet a Vintage Like 2019...
Perrine Fenal and Aubert de Villaine, co-directors of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, at Corney & Barrow's offices in London. The photo of...
- Feb 2, 2022
The Essence of Cristal Through the Prism of the 2014 Vintage
"If I don't make mistakes, I never learn." Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon's words are hardly original but still they took me by surprise. I...
- Jan 28, 2022
New Year, New Wines, New approach: the Blind Spot Australian range gets a makeover
Wines made by Mac Forbes with grapes paid for upfront by The Wine Society. The one-off exception is the Dolcetto, which was made with a...
- Dec 21, 2021
The Festive Sweet, Sticky and Fortified Wine Guide 2021
As ever, my annual sweet and fortified wine guide is the place to rummage for many of the wine world's greatest bargains. More than that,...
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