As Janet and I had been in Piemonte but not got to the Gavi area, we made a bee-line for the home of the Cortese grape at Vinitaly 2010. This massive wine fair allows you to taste some of the real specialities (and peculiarities) of Italy and that includes some little known sparkling wines. Here
Vinitaly 2: mainly bubbles Read More »
It’s not often that you have the privilege of welcoming a leading wine producer to your own home. But here’s a picture of Dennis Canute opening bottles in our little conservatory, know affectionately as the lean-to. Dennis co-founded the Rusden estate in the Barossa Valley, Australia, some years ago, initially as a hobby farm. He
Dennis Canute presents Rusden wines Read More »
I suppose it is inevitable that the wine trade will live on the hype about certain vintages. It was 1982 which made Robert Parker’s name when he declared it, early and correctly, to be a great vintage. 2000 was much promoted because it was the millennium and fortunately turned out pretty well and 2005 was
Something to celebrate: 1990 Read More »
Tasting in situ is a dangerous business. Wines can taste so much better when you are in the winery, the sun is shining or if the proprietor is particularly persuasive. So, it is good to have the chance to re-taste wines in a more neutral setting, with a bit of distance and with the comparison
Campania in the glass in England Read More »
Wine in restaurants is a whole subject in itself. The obvious gripes are mark-ups and uninspiring choice. Some mark up is entirely reasonable – a restaurant rightly charges for the cost of holding stock, providing clean glasses, service and, sometimes, a knowledgeable and trained person. On the other hand, there is nothing more off-putting than
How to do wine in restaurants Read More »
A generation ago ordinary wine drinkers did not know the names of the grapes from which their wines were made. Now a days, that’s probably the main thing that they do know. Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Merlot and Cabernet all have their mass of followers, they have become brands in their own right. And of these,
The world’s Chardonnay Read More »
English cricket and the wines of Burgundy – especially the somewhat elusive reds – do share some things in common. After a summer of England beating Australia and taking a leading position after three winter Tests against South Africa, it was entirely in character that this Burgundy trade tasting should take place at the home
Burgundy at the home of cricket Read More »
Taking a break from writing the pages for my website on the Tuscan Maremma, it’s time to feature two Maremman wines, available in the UK and models of good (drinking) practice. The first is Podere 414’s Morellino di Scansano 2007 (Wine Society, £11.50). A little translation is required here: Podere is simply a farm or
Old style Chianti probably conjures up wicker baskets (in Italian – fiasco, which seems a little harsh) and thin, sharp wines. In truth much of the cheap, commercial wines of previous decades was pretty awful. Today’s wines are vastly better – quality wine making, vibrant if still sharp fruit, well judged use of oak-ageing in the
Port undoubtedly has an image problem. Like sherry and madeira, its success in previous generations has left it pigeon-holed in the officers’ mess or the Oxbridge high table. The vintage variety needs decades of cellaring – and who today has either decades or a cellar? High in alcohol, the slightly improbable combination of sweet and
Rediscovering Port Read More »