If you are of a certain age you will have a very clear memory of German wines – inexpensive, sweet brands (Blue Nun, Black Tower). And then suddenly these wines became deeply unfashionable – our tastes moved South to the sunshine of Spain, Italy and the New World. Liebfraumilch became the least cool drink on
Rediscovering German wines Read More »
I can remember being told years ago that there are basically two schools of thought about the importance of the right glass for individual wines. There are those who think that reaching for the right glass – the size and shape, the quality of glassware and the feel of the stem – is part of
Art of the (Riedel) glass Read More »
Grant Phelps, chief winemaker of Casas del Bosque, Chile, summarizes the amazing list of advantages which that country enjoys. He himself is not in the best of shapes, having flown in from the other side of the world and picked up some sort of bug on the way. But he quickly warms to his task
Cool climate Chile Read More »
Rather like the first cuckoo of the spring or the changing of leaf colour in the autumn, the spring tastings of the new wines are a marker of the time of year. Caviste’s Burgundy festival is an opportunity to taste the latest offerings, in this case from the 2008 vintage. Eight growers, nearly all there
Christian Moreau at Caviste Read More »
As Janet and I had been in Piemonte but not got to the Gavi area, we made a bee-line for the home of the Cortese grape at Vinitaly 2010. This massive wine fair allows you to taste some of the real specialities (and peculiarities) of Italy and that includes some little known sparkling wines. Here
Vinitaly 2: mainly bubbles Read More »
Wine in restaurants is a whole subject in itself. The obvious gripes are mark-ups and uninspiring choice. Some mark up is entirely reasonable – a restaurant rightly charges for the cost of holding stock, providing clean glasses, service and, sometimes, a knowledgeable and trained person. On the other hand, there is nothing more off-putting than
How to do wine in restaurants Read More »
After the anticipation, the tasting. Ten members of Andover Wine Friends gathered to try two of Alsace’s great white grape varieties followed by a simple supper. We settled quickly to the task after a taste of Aureus, Cremant de Loire, a bottle-aged single vintage Chardonnay, 2002. Toasty, decent acidity if slightly milder than much Champagne,
Particularly Alsace Read More »
Half the fun of putting a tasting together is in the search. We will all have our favourite places to start – in your own cellar (under the stairs), your local supermarket, on the web or in a local shop. I had already put together a tasting of Gewurztraminer and Riesling from Alsace and could draw
Searching for older Alsace bottles Read More »