MW exams loom. What does the MW student do in the final week before re-sitting the tasting exam? Three papers of two hours and 15 minutes each, 36 wines in total to be discussed in detail, all served blind. The task is to discuss their origin, the varieties they are made from, how they were made,
Final week before MW exams Read More »
On Saturday Janet and I went to The Harrow at Little Bedwyn to celebrate the end of MW exams week. Â As it was a special occasion we chose the set 8-course gourmet menu. Â For wine we started with glasses of Nyetimber (fabulous) and Hambledon (very tight, lean, refreshing) English sparkling; moved on to Pewsey Vale
Homage to the Harrow Read More »
In June 2016 Andover Wine Friends were treated to a great line up of single varietal Syrah wines. It was fairly comprehensive (with apologies to N America) and showed what good wines are being made a range of price levels. We finished the evening with two older wines, one of them truly outstanding. I tasted
Grand Syrah tasting Read More »
The world of wine contains many surprises for the unwary. One rule of thumb is that as vineyard altitude rises, the average temperatures drop (0.6º C per 100m is the standard figure) and the resulting wine styles become fresher and more acidic. But Napa is different in this regard. As any wine student will know the
Napa stands on its head Read More »
Sergio Mottura knows how to tell a yarn. Â His account of how he took the unregarded Grechetto grape variety and turned into into a prize-winning, oak-aged, ageable wine is laced with equal proportions of commitment to the variety, ambition for the wine and a certain disregard for precision when it comes to technical terms. Â His
Eating out in Verona during Vinitaly is a bit of a challenge. 50,000 visitors descend on a small city already quite full of young tourists, all wanting to eat out, all wanting to drink something special. Our solution is to cross the Adige river which encloses the historic centre and walk to Veronetta, just beyond the
Drinking Quintarelli’s legendary Valpolicella in Verona Read More »
It was great to see lots of happy tasters at yesterday’s ’12 reds tasting’ at Andover Wine Friends. Thanks for being so game with the blind tasting and for all the food that people brought, making for a good evening.  If you were at the tasting, you will remember that there were a number
Cabernet escapes its prison Read More »
This week has been Chardonnay week in our household with tastings on consecutive nights of 3-4 samples. Interestingly the ’round the world’ flights have proved easier than the Burgundian ones. Most challenging was Grand Cru Chablis v Premier Cru Chablis v Chablis v cool climate Australia: I would have believed you if you had said
Our visit to Yalumba, one of South Australia’s historic wineries, was very much a game of two halves. First a tasting in one of the cunningly reconditioned 175,000-litre fermentation tanks, itself something of a first, then a drive to Pewsey Vale. The tasting was a quick spin around the remarkable range of styles the company
Pewsey Vale: Riesling heaven Read More »
Felton Road, famous for its Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays and Rieslings, was the last stop on our Family of Twelve visit to New Zealand. They will be used to either being the first or last stop on any tour as they have the joy of being located in Bannockburn, Central Otago, the best part of 20,000
Postcard from Felton Road Read More »