The idea of the ‘second wine of an estate appears to have started in Bordeaux with its large estates and volumes of wine. The very best grapes (hopefully from a good majority of the estate’s vineyards) will go into the grand vin leaving the producer with a problem with the remnant. If this was put
More than a hint of greatness? Read More »
The much anticipated, much postponed BBC (‘bring a bottle club’) on the theme of sparkling wine finally took place in September, having been chosen as a theme for birthdays in July and August. It proved very instructive with one prejudice being confirmed and a couple of others weakened. In terms of blind tasting it does
Champagne still sparkles Read More »
A volume producer who makes interesting, even classy, wines is a real rarity. It is really difficult to be consistently good when handling large volumes of fruit from different locations with slightly varying picking dates and levels of maturity. Blending volumes tends to bring the quality down to the lowest common factor. Andover Wine Friends’
Cool coastal Californians Read More »
At the recent Rheingau Riesling 2012 launch in London, there were also tables dedicated to other regions with VDP status, the collection of wineries in Germany with the best sites and wines. Whereas Rheingau is basically dedicated to Riesling with Pinot Noir as a sideshow, other regions have completely different traditions. Weingut Dr Heger showed
Dipping a toe into Baden Read More »
The Rheingau preview in London once again gave the chance to evaluate the latest vintage – 2012 – and, by way of advertisement or just sheer joie de vivre (for which there must be a German equivalent), the celebration of old vintages, still in the prime of life. In the Rheingau, 2012 was light in
Riesling – 1-year, 30-year or 60-year old? Read More »
The wines of South Africa have a very mixed reputation in the UK. Ordinary consumers only rate them by price; wine lovers will buy the high-end wines as examples of mainly warm climate styles which can compete with the rest of the New World. But we rarely get the chance to explore that middle ground
Stony Brook–artisan quality in Franschhoek Read More »
For the second time in a row, we decided to postpone a planned blind tasting on the theme of sparkling wine. While last time the excuse was that it was late July and people were away, this time it was because it was late August. Most of us are so keen on the sparkling wine
Andover Wine Friends unusually had a fine wine supper in August … and also, atypically, indulged in a bit of blind tasting masochism. Speaking for myself I normally enjoy the considerable challenge of blind tasting, even though it is a very artificial exercise. This is not just for the rare moments of triumph when you
Blind tasting masochism? Read More »
Perhaps not surprisingly in mid-August, we had a rather reduced BBC 1 – just seven wines to try to identify and, more importantly, to enjoy. Looking back over the wines, of these seven only three were ‘should have got that’ wines. The others were impossibly difficult or just a bit odd as was one of
Janet and I have been meaning to go to L’Ortolan, the Michelin-starred restaurant near Reading, for longer than I can remember, a couple of decades perhaps. It sprang to fame as John Burton-Race’s place (long before celebrity beckoned) but today it is in the talented hands of Alan Murchison. Janet tried to book online for
Gravner’s orange wine at L’Ortolan Read More »
