I have only recently come to realise how much I love Syrah as a wine. It has now joined my personal pantheon of Nebbiolo, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese (and quite a few other tannic Italian varieties) and the very best examples of Chardonnay, roughly in that order. These are the varieties I want to cellar
Syrah spectacular Read More »
We all know that the best wines today have to be ‘chalky’, ‘slatey’ or ‘gravelly’ – that is a major thing that distinguishes them from everyday, merely fruity wines. It would be interesting to do a research project on how this situation came about (MW research project anyone?) But that is not for now. Andover
‘Minerality’: in brief Read More »
In my last post Mineral muddle, I wrote about Alex Maltman’s new book on geology, soils and the vine. His main concerns are geology and soils. But along the way, he explains how a vine gets the nutrients it needs. Reading this book reminded me that these basic processes are rarely explained outside of scientific circles.
How does a vine gets the nutrients it needs? Read More »
Alex Maltman, Vineyards, Rocks, and Soils. the wine lover’s guide to geology, Oxford, 2018. My question is: can this book begin to clear up the mineral muddle that wine commentators have got into? In John Szabo MS’ otherwise excellent book, Volcanic Wines (2016), there is a particularly alarming example of poor logic. It comes when
I recently held a small tasting of Tuscan reds, mostly Sangiovese-based which raised intriguing questions about how much we like a wine. The occasion was the opportunity to taste the glossy wines of Podere Forte (which I review at length here) alongside some Tuscan classics. The rest of the group tasted the three Podere Forte
Like, admire or love? Read More »
Ruffino is a large wine company with an annual turnover of €100m. It was founded in Pontassieve, the gateway to the Chianti sub-region of Rúfina, in 1877 and has since gone from strength to strength. The Riserva Ducale (‘reserved for the Duke’) line is named in honour of the Duke of Aosta. Back in 1890
Ruffino’s top wines Read More »
Lovers of red Burgundy will be all too familiar with wines which fail to live up to expectation. Too many wines – especially in the past – were pale, feeble or lack the heady perfume that Pinot Noir can deliver in the Côte d’Or. But when they do deliver, they are – without qualification –
Red Burgundy outperforms expectation … Read More »
Last night’s tasting with Andover Wine Friends reviewed Italy’s sparkling wines – the everyday bottles (basically tank-fermented) and the special occasion bottles (traditional method with classic varieties). Here is the line up for tank fermented: Passerina (example of a local variety, here from the Marche), Lambrusco, top quality Prosecco Superiore and delightful, inexpensive Asti.
My second week in South Africa’s Western Cape was a mixture of visits to Elgin and Hermanus plus some wonderful holiday days in Franschhoek and finally Cape Town. I cover a few more wines here, to complement my last post about the top wines of the visit. My photo essay of the area around Cape
Sauvignon, Pinot, Chardonnay and gastronomy in the Western Cape Read More »
In the course of fifteen days in the Western Cape, more than half of them on a formal visit organised by Wines of South Africa, I think I received a pretty good snapshot of the current state of the wine lands. As elsewhere in the world, the emphasis was on fruit freshness, balancing acidity and
Best wines of the S Africa trip Read More »