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Spring Drinking for Under a Tenner: a Dozen from The Wine Society
This is a selection from a tasting of 48 samples in mini bottles, as you can see above, hosted virtually by the eight Wine Society...
Mar 30, 2021


Tales of the Unexpected: Bollinger R.D. 2007
With the 2007 vintage the disgorgement date has returned to the front label If I'm ever asked who from history I would choose as my...
Mar 8, 2021


Riding His Luck in Brunello: Paolo Bianchini and the Rise of Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona
Paolo Bianchini, winemaker and former cycling pro, raising a glass of his Brunello di Montalcino at the tasting lunch in London in 2020...
Mar 2, 2021


Monterosola: Sitting Pretty Between Tuscany's Stars
Monterosola's stylishly labelled wines: two whites on the left, then four of the five reds I haven’t visited Monterosola in Tuscany, but...
Jan 5, 2021


The Festive Sweet, Sticky and Fortified Guide 2020
Sweet wines and fortified wines, dry as well as medium and sweet, are some of the wine world's greatest bargains. They're wonderfully...
Dec 18, 2020


The Festive Champagne Guide 2020
I hardly need say that the past year isn't going to go down in history as very celebratory and that 2021 is looking shaky, but I don't...
Dec 16, 2020


The Festive White & Rosé Wine Guide 2020
I've tasted far and wide to pick white wines and rosés from a dozen countries to fill your glasses with festive cheer during this...
Dec 11, 2020


A Meeting of Minds: Salcombe Distillery Gin and Château Climens Sauternes
When gin distiller Angus Lugsdin was visiting Château Climens in Barsac for the first time, the fog was so thick he couldn’t find it....
Dec 8, 2020


The Festive Red Wine Guide 2020
However different this Christmas turns out to be, wine is going to be at least as vital as usual. Here then is my round-up of red wines...
Dec 4, 2020


A Taste of Tuscany: First of the 2020 Extra Virgin Olive Oils
Normally the Conti Contini Bonacossi family get through about 70 litres of their own organic extra virgin olive oil a year, but this year...
Nov 24, 2020


Festive Fizz 2020: Anything But Champagne
It may be a festive season unlike any other, but we'll still need wine of all sorts –perhaps more than ever. The first of my 2020...
Nov 18, 2020


Connecting with Wine Growers the PICA Way
Before lockdown I visited the Cavit co-operative group in Trentino to see how it applies cutting edge technology to improve its wines and...
Nov 10, 2020


Sipping Siepi with the Best of 'Em
Gnocchi with girolles, chanterelles and black truffle paired with the 2011 vintage of Castello di Fonterutoli's super-Tuscan Siepi, at a...
Oct 28, 2020


A Sneak Preview of the 2017 Vintage of One of the World's Great Sweet Wines
Excelling again: the just released 2017 vintage of Vin de Constance, still in the traditional asymmetrical 50cl bottle, but now with a...
Sep 16, 2020


More than Skin-Deep: Never Mind the Look, Feel the Eco Credentials
New generation, sustainable, reusable, ice-bucket resistant, bottle-hugging paper case instead of the usual gift box for Ruinart...
Sep 2, 2020


The Phoenix Rises: Château de Pommard chez Carabello-Baum
Cork talk: is it an instruction? The strikingly branded corks used for all Château de Pommard and Carabello-Baum Burgundies However...
Aug 18, 2020


Prime Time for Pink: Summer Rosé Round-up
Another summer, another round-up of delicious dry rosés, plus a featherweight, lightly sparkling sweet wine from Italy and a pink...
Aug 4, 2020


Circus Trick: How a Wine from Saint Mont Overcame the Authorities
The first four vintages of Plaimont's single vintage Cirque Nord Saint Mont – 2014, 2016, 2017 and the yet to be bottled 2019 I was...
Jul 22, 2020


Wine from the Edge: New Zealand and Oregon Pinot Noir
Ready for the off – sample bottles of New Zealand and Oregon Pinot Noir lined up in order for the tasting This tasting, which replaced...
Jul 2, 2020


Two Exciting White Wine Rarities – And They Won't Break The Bank
These two singular and rare dry white wines, one from France and one from Italy, could hardly be more different in style – a textbook...
Jun 24, 2020
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