The rather uneven vintage of 2004 in Burgundy nonetheless has some good associations for me. The very first fine wine supper that Janet and I hosted for Andover Wine Friends in July 2009 was a blind tasting of red Burgundy at ‘village’ level, comparing six wines from that vintage. ‘Village’ sounds a bit prosaic but
2004 Red Burgundy again Read More »
Through the generosity of friends on New Year’s Eve, we got to taste a rather grander Claret, Clos du Marquis. Those of us who live in North Hampshire will immediately feel positively disposed to this wine as its name graces the very good French restaurant in the former pub on the Stockbridge road which all
and a third Claret Read More »
Relaxed Christmas drinking presented a chance to compare two red wines from Bordeaux from the same year (the very hot year of 2003), at the same sort of price level, but from different sides of the Gironde river. I opened these two to see how marked the difference was between a Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend as
Tale of two clarets Read More »
The organic movement is well-established in France with strong connections to the markets of Northern Europe. German, Dutch or Danish consumers may well know their organic from their biodynamic but it’s more of a struggle in England. The term ‘organic’ does mean something in the supermarket or on the wine list – if for most
Organic Sud de France Read More »
Sancerre, Chablis and Champagne – the top glasses At the end of a wine tour, it’s good to stand back, review the experience as a whole and pick a few favourite glasses. There were 89 to choose from by my count. Of course one wouldn’t want to give the impression it was all tasting and
Coach travel is all very well. Within northern France from the UK, it is tolerable – quite fast, better ecologically than flying short distances, secure, uneventful. But it still takes quite a while to get from London (7.45 am) to Sancerre (6 pm French time), central France. The specialist wine travel company, Arblaster and Clarke,
Arriving at Sancerre Read More »
Masters of Wine probably don’t often buy wine in a supermarket, not even a rather well-stocked branch of LeClerc in France. But that’s exactly what Martin Hudson did to demonstrate the remarkable range of wines which are made along the length of the Loire valley. So while his last tasting for Andover Wine Friends featured
Whistle stop tour of the Loire Read More »
In a blind tasting, there is the occasional moment when you put your nose in the glass and know what the wine is. When I say ‘occasional moment’ that’s what it is. The rest is the application of experience to the aromas, flavours and styles of wine – and most of us just don’t have
Corked bottles continue to be a real problem. Some years ago I visited a fine new winery in Campania, Southern Italy, and over lunch in the spectacular winery restaurant had a corked bottle. I didn’t think about it anymore until at dinner we ordered the same wine in a local Naples trattoria and it was
To cork or not to cork … Read More »
Andover Wine Friend’s summer party was held in the garden of our house on a warm July evening. This being England we were lucky – if it was 24 hours later it probably would have been raining. As it was it was a perfect evening, warm without being oppressive. And, as I forgot to take
Tasting in the dark 2 Read More »
