Writing about the wines of Piemonte, Italy and France
The wines of Chile
The noble Riesling grape variety is probably German in origin. According to Wine grapes, the name has many German synonyms and may be mentioned as far back as 1435. Certainly the variety is suited to Germany’s cold winters, hot summers and long dry early autumns. With its hard wood and late budding, it is equipped
Review of Benjamin Lewin MW, In search of Pinot Noir, Vendange Press, Dover, 2011 I picked up this book with real excitement on two counts. First, as a self confessed Pinotfile (both Noir and Gris, happy with Blanc too) I was thrilled to find a full length, substantial treatment of this great grape variety. Second,
Finding the holy grail? Benjamin Lewin’s In search of Pinot Noir Read More »
The Overton-based blind tasting group took a new step into the dark last Tuesday. I encouraged it to break the remaining link which can give you some clue as to the identity of the wine – the person who brought it. In the past this has led to some useful clues and some wrong deductions:
What happens when you start with a classic Bordeaux red wine, deconstruct its component grape varieties via new world examples and then put them all back together again? That was the idea which underlay November’s Fine Wine Supper. Take a fine Claret and use it as a benchmark, taste wine made mainly from single varietals
Bordeaux grapes in search of sunshine Read More »
The relative merits of buying everyday wines from the supermarket or from an independent wine merchant in the UK are worth rehearsing. As I see it, they are: Supermarket Strengths Weaknesses Huge buying power Little or no knowledgeable service at the point of sale Can offer good value obsessed with 2-for-1 offers, many of which
Supermarket v. Independent Read More »
In his introduction to a tasting for Andover Wine Friends, Martin Hudson, Master of Wine, summarises the key points about Cabernet Sauvignon with masterly (of course) clarity: Cabernet Sauvignon only became significant in Bordeaux at the end of the eighteen century, i.e., despite its worldwide fame it is a very young variety it is the
Around the world in eight Cabernets Read More »
The May meeting of the blind tasting group was a great evening out … if more chaotic than usual. It wasn’t obvious why. We had the same format: everyone brings a good/interesting bottle, we taste them blind, we get the wrong answer (mainly), we have a fine meal courtesy of the Red Lion, Overton, everyone
Some wine occasions really stand out. Obviously you need top quality wines or, at least, wines of exceptional interest. Hopefully, there is really good food to go with it. And you certainly want congenial, knowledgeable and appreciative company. Saturday night’s dinner more than met all these criteria. People had clearly searched their cellars for precious
British wine lovers have become very used to the appeal of the wines of Chile – excellent value, well made, fruit-driven wines. They are the products of a country which, with modern irrigation, has become a viticultural paradise and of large companies making wine in a highly professional manner. However, we rarely try Chile’s higher
Grant Phelps, chief winemaker of Casas del Bosque, Chile, summarizes the amazing list of advantages which that country enjoys. He himself is not in the best of shapes, having flown in from the other side of the world and picked up some sort of bug on the way. But he quickly warms to his task
Cool climate Chile Read More »