by Dan Coward
I spluttered my proverbial cornflakes all over my computer screen when I caught up with Neal Martin’s latest Wine Journal exploits this morning. He was reporting on the worst tasting ever…rather proudly I might add, for such an inauspicious occasion!
As well as being the masterminds behind London’s best wine shop tasting experience, The Sampler in Islington, …
By Nick Askew
Village of Theizé in Beaujolais
The alternative Beaujolais Nouveau evening kicked off on Thursday night, November 19th at The Finch’s Arms on the shores of Rutland Water. With strategic barricades placed at all key points to seal off Hambleton peninsula from the rest of mainland UK the Leicestershire police were adamant that not …
By Ceretto, http://www.ceretto.com/
Il Cubo
Over recent years, the wine-art connection has been so exploited that it has become over-inflated: countless literary tastings, concerts and banquets organized in the name of Bacchus. In this confused chorus of ostensible links, the Ceretto family has demonstrated that it has its very own voice by promoting original projects and innovative ideas. Convinced that enological research and the …
by Omar Raafat
Calera vineyards
It all started at last year’s Bibendum annual tasting. I’d always wanted to work a harvest but had never had the chance and with none of my European languages being good enough, doing so in France or Italy had never felt like an option. I wanted to be able to ask lots of questions, really find out how …
By Gal Zohar
The real star
The world of wine is constantly expanding and always in search for new wine and the other pairings. New concepts are invented and Sommeliers then try to execute the bizarre task of matching wine to art, music or the colour of the walls. But this is not always …
By Charles Sidney
Although it’s still a wee bit early for a complete vintage report (strange, but I do like to taste the wines as well as watch the grapes coming in!), I’d guess it’s safe to say that 2009 is going to be a great vintage for us in the Loire.
The grapes are healthy and have come in with nicely balanced acidity and the …
By The Winesleuth http://winesleuth.wordpress.com/
The Brunello from Banfi
My infatuation with Italian wine continues. A is for Amarone. B is forBrunello di Montelcino, bodalicious, complex, tasty, lipsmackingly satisfying (ok,so I’m skipping around the alphabet and making up words) you get the point, I do love those Italians. Growing up with only the familiar wicker covered funnily shaped bottles of Chianti, that was my only …
By Rachel Thompson,
A whirlwind tour of some of the most idyllic tourist spots in Tuscany was the basis for our June buying trip. Side-stepping the trainer clad and camera wielding coach trips of Florence (where even the mosquitos wear bum bags) first on our target list was Castellani, a short hop from Pisa airport, for a mammoth tasting. There followed by a tour of …
By Ben Collins
One of the most harrowing experiences (for the unitiated) in the world’s flashest wine region is turning up at Latour for the first time. There is not really a sign – they assume you know where it is on the road to Pauillac before Lalande. You drive the car off the highway through a not very wide gate. …
By Bodegas Castro Martin, http://castromartin.blogspot.com/
Now, I have been tasting wine for much longer than I care to remember, and at the peak of my wine buying career I would easily sample 100+ wines a day. Today the demand on my tastebuds is much more restrained, and often limited to tasting a couple of dozen tanks in our own cellar (which I do with Angela on a pretty regular …
