In Cork Dork (Penguin, 2017) Bianca Bosker writes engagingly about her 18-month journey from normal social wine drinker to Certified Sommelier, a first step towards the prestigious Master Sommelier (MS) title. A year and a half may not seem a very long time for this. However, on this account she packed in far more experience,
Cork Dork – fast track to sommelier Read More »
I recently had the opportunity to taste six Sangiovese wines in very good circumstances. They were mostly high-quality examples, bought from reputable merchants and stored in good conditions. They all came from the excellent 2010 vintage and, therefore, vintage variation was taken out of the equation. The aim was to see whether I and a
Sangiovese in 5 Tuscan regions and … Corsica Read More »
Monday’s nights can be special nights. This last Monday Janet and I joined eight others in a ‘Michelin madness’ dinner at which we all provided the wines while enjoying the very good cooking – and arresting artwork – at La Trompette in Chiswick. Five fine courses, four groups of wines – Champagne, whites, reds and
Five courses, four groups of wines at La Trompette Read More »
The Josmeyer name is well-loved and enjoys huge respect among wine lovers Рfor good reasons. Founded in 1854 by Aloyse Meyer as an extension of the family restaurant business, the company became a very important n̩gociant. It was renamed Josemeyer to honour the second generation, Joseph Meyer, in 1963, by which time the name
Josmeyer – star of Alsace Read More »
In general wine tasters and especially wine drinkers spend little time thinking about how we generate the taste of wine. Normal drinkers just decided whether they like the wine or not, obsessed wine tasters have one hundred and one other questions but rarely this one. But at least for curious, how human beings can make
After the excitements of the last year – great work trips, organising a tour to Friuli and Veneto, missing most of this due to me being in hospital in Italy, MW study and exams, and more – Janet and I decided we would look for a summer break organised by someone else. I believe this
Holidaying in Croatia – the Stina winery Read More »
Photoblog – Spectacular Cortina d’Ampezzo VinoVIP 2017 was held at Cortina d’Ampezzo high in the Dolomites in northeast Italy. I have written about the conference but one of the real draws is the spectacular location. Let’s get in the mood with a photo gallery and, below, a video of the panorama. Video of the panorama
Spectacular Cortina d’Ampezzo Read More »
When do you drink those special bottles? Once you have built up a bit of a wine collection, the issue becomes when do you drink those special bottles? You may only have one of each. Or a bottle you have stored may have become become ridiculously expensive in the meantime. Or a bottle represents a
Taking the temperature of Italian wine: VinoVIP July 2017 Recently I was a guest of the Italian wine magazine, Civiltà del Bere (English website here), at VinoVIP 2017, held in spectacular Cortina d’Ampezzo, high in the Dolomites. You can see my pictures of Cortina here. I contributed to a session on Communicating Complexity (of
Taking the temperature of Italian wine Read More »
It is often said that wine is best shared with friends. In the light of this when I was sent sample bottles of wines from Viticcio I decided to hold a tasting with a small group of wine lovers, experienced tasters, to exchange views on the wines. Here is what we thought. By way of
Viticcio in Chianti Classico and Maremma Read More »
