By Camilla Bowler
2009 was a rather good vintage in a certain south west corner of France. Rumour has it that it has been pretty good in other French wine-growing regions too! We were therefore more than usually excited this year to be off to the Rhone to taste the 2009s.
First stop was Cote Rotie. At Domaine Jamet, Jean-Paul was on good form, as he …
By Rob Pickard
Leading on from my recent post on sustainable winemaking methods at SAAM, here is a look at Mitchelton, from central Victoria, Australia – another producer putting investment into environmental issues within the vineyard, and leading the way down under. One area in particular in which the winery is investing heavily is its use of water, attempting to recycle and reduce …
By Rob Pickard
Commitments to environmental and ethical issues have come to the forefront of business strategy over the last few years, with Corporate Social Responsibility a key area for company investment. Whether you feel these issues are important in the wine industry, or indeed whether eco-friendly wine production would influence the average consumer’s next wine purchase – many wine producers around the world believe in its …
By Dan Coward
They say that a day is a long time in politics. Well imagine thirty long days of politics and you’ll get an idea of how ready Australia has been to vote in the general election. Not just because people want to do their democratic duty, but also so that we are spared any more negative political advertising. Both of the major parties have been …
by Gareth Groves
This is a fabulous book: original, witty, insightful and useful. Writer Niki Segnit has taken 99 ingredients, divided into 16 sections. You’ll find horseradish and caper under ‘Mustardy’ and cucumber and anise under ‘Green and Grassy’. Segnit then takes these ingedients one by one and cross-references it to the other 98. Opening the book randomly, I find ‘Potato and beetroot’ – nothing to scare …
by Gareth Groves
I am on record as not being the biggest fan of live twitter tastings. I have been involved in a few and too often social media has turned into anti-social media as participants ignore the people around them and stare exclusively at their smart phones. Meanwhile the virtual chat doesn’t really catch fire and the whole thing falls a bit flat.
With something as social …
by Bibendum Times
We arrived into work yesterday to the sad news that Graham Beck, the man behind the brand had passed away. Our thoughts are with his wife of 50 years, Rhona, and all the Beck family.
Graham was a pioneer of the modern South African wine industry and a pivotal figure in its resurgence in the years following the end of …
by Ben Turner
Now I’m sure I’m not the only one who holds his passion for fine and interesting wines as high up as his love for heavy rock music but I do find I am a rare breed. Consider then my almost as equal love for cinema, and you have to say that getting the chance to go and see the UK’s premiere screening of Maynard …
By Andrew McCarthy, Bodegas Castro Martin, http://castromartin.blogspot.com/
We last heard from Andrew back in June when he reported that proto-grapes had started to appear on the Albarino vines. Here’s the lastest update from Galicia:
I imagine that today’s blog title might have grabbed your attention! Harvest? In July? What on earth is he talking about? Green harvest?
OK, so I confess, I don’t actually mean …
by Gareth Groves
It is a bitter rivalry: the serious sommeliers versus the flair-happy bartenders. The latter like to think they are the coolest kids in town – after all, Tom Cruise never played a wine waiter in a hit Hollywood film. But those of us who prefer the grape to the grain know that sommeliers are the consummate professionals when it comes to serving …
