The story of Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne does not need to be retold here. It is a text book case of excellent marketing (the Feuillatte name) allied to a huge union of cooperatives who are are the number 1 producer by volume of Champagne both in France and the UK. Under expert guidance they produce a
Champagne Feuillatte: big numbers, quality bottles Read More »
With a theme as big as North Italy, the Overton blind tasting group, where each member brings one or more bottles without much conferring, could have been very wide-ranging. We had a fairly representative sample, though no sparkling wine (Prosecco, Franciacorta, Asti) and one obvious classic missing – Amarone della Valpolicella. The selection was stronger
North Italian tour Read More »
For the past two months on this website, six top producers from Tuscany have been giving a day by day account of their harvest. We have now got to the end of the grape picking and there are some great pictures of the celebrations with the workers – the full moon over Southern Tuscany, whole
Hampshire harvest watch – picking grapes Read More »
Veuve Clicquot launched their two 2004 vintages wines – white and rosé – with an interesting comparison. What is the effect of bottling these wines in a normal bottle size, a magnum and a jeroboam? Apart from making a very pretty picture, the answer in a wine of this quality is that there is a
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 »
Two Champagne events on a Tuesday – the unveiling of L’Académie de Lanson, an internet-based resource to promote a better understanding of their product and then Moët & Chandon launching a new product, Ice Imperial. The sun joined in too with a glorious bright day, if windy. The highlight of the Lanson event was the
Tuesday is Champagne day Read More »
Champagne is the quintessential wine of love, celebration and hedonism. It matches (and fuels) the soaring spirits associated with romantic encounters, business or sporting success and more. In these circumstances, the wine writer can be forgiven for a small indulgence and simply praising a few outstanding bottles. Not that Champagne is uniformly good or enjoyable,
Sheer Champagne indulgence Read More »
Many trade tastings are rather orderly affairs with a bit of elbow room, an atmosphere in which you can talk to producers or suppliers and often rather good catering thrown in. Some are in very fine settings with a lot of attention being paid to the whole environment. After all – let’s be straightforward about
Last Saturday’s Decanter Spain tasting in London featured good wines mainly from well-known regions – Rioja, Priorat, and, perhaps most interestingly, whites from Rueda. By contrast, Andover Wine Friends’ monthly tasting took us on a vinous tour of Spain. Nine wines from nine different quality areas showed both what some local grapes can do and
Off the beaten track Spain Read More »
Grape Expectations’ Christmas Fair had to be rescheduled because of very wintery conditions back on 2nd December but the line up duly appeared at The Lights Theatre, Andover, on Monday 13th. It became the event for what would have been Andover Wine Friends’ regular monthly tasting – the new date was a happy accident and
Grape Expectations: 10 wines to try this Christmas Read More »