When we think of Italian wine, we have established regions in mind – Valpolicella, Soave or Sicily if we are stood in front of a supermarket shelf, Barolo, Montalcino or Montepulciano, perhaps, if we are talking to a specialist wine merchant. In these contexts it is inevitably the regions which produce high volume at low
Saturday evening saw an opportunity to taste the wines of one of California’s most famous names: Jim Clenenden of Au Bon Climat, Santa Barbara. ‘Wild boy Jim’ – this is California after all – has been making wine for nearly 25 years, concentrating on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These two grape varieties tell you that
The BBC (‘Bring a bottle club’) had a change of format for its late September meeting. Normally the wines are tasted blind but, following our experience with Champagne, where there was not enough variety in the styles brought, we allocated or bid for Sherry styles. And after that, it seemed a bit pointless to try
Andover Wine Friends’ September tasting featured a comparison between two very different French wine regions: Sancerre very much in the middle of this large country in the aptly named ‘Central Vineyards’ and Roussillon, 600 kilometres further south and on Spain’s Mediterranean border. The contrasts between the two regions are marked: Sancerre Roussillon historic vineyard with
Sancerre meets Roussillon Read More »
The setting is a very generous dinner invitation, a tour around a ‘cellar’ – that is, a very fine collection of wines, many of them old, in a well-protected garage – and congenial wine-appreciating company. Ten wines were served with four splendid courses, enjoyed by eight people. The highlights included Duval-Leroy’s 2000 vintage champagne and
Ch. Palmer and Monprivato Read More »
Ok, sorry about the title! The Italian region, Friuli Venezia Giulia, to give it its full title and restore its dignity, is one of Italy’s politically semi-autonomous areas, in this case on the far northeast border. Its neighbour to the east is Slovenia, with Austria to the north. It suffered a great deal in the
Truly, madly, Friuli Read More »
The ‘Bring a Bottle Club’ on the theme of Champagne – chosen to honour Janet’s birthday – proved quite a challenge. As the wines are tasted blind, there are only a small number of possible factors to consider: colour – all the wines were all white, not a single rosé! there are a small number
Champagne challenge Read More »
You know you have got to a certain level of obsession about wine when you can get passionate about glasses. Most people can manage with a couple of shapes and leave it at that. Riedel, on the other hand, is populating the fine wine world with a new glass for every grape variety or so
We have been enjoying a number of parties to launch our new garden/tasting room at home. It replaces a plastic conservatory and is proving a real joy – opening up the entire ground floor of the house, giving lovely views into the garden and creating lots of space. And of course, we have an excuse
Twins and triplets Read More »
Occasionally the tastings and events come along so quickly that it is difficult to do justice to them. The August meeting of the Bring a Bottle Club was one of these … and my excuse is that the time available for writing has to go on my recent Tuscan trip. It’s tough, but someone has
Happy and bewildered Read More »