A Taste of Tuscany: First of the 2020 Extra Virgin Olive Oils
Normally the Conti Contini Bonacossi family get through about 70 litres of their own organic extra virgin olive oil a year, but this year...
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Nov 18, 2020
Festive Fizz 2020: Anything But Champagne
It may be a festive season unlike any other, but we'll still need wine of all sorts –perhaps more than ever. The first of my 2020...
Nov 10, 2020
Connecting with Wine Growers the PICA Way
Before lockdown I visited the Cavit co-operative group in Trentino to see how it applies cutting edge technology to improve its wines and...
Oct 28, 2020
Sipping Siepi with the Best of 'Em
Gnocchi with girolles, chanterelles and black truffle paired with the 2011 vintage of Castello di Fonterutoli's super-Tuscan Siepi, at a...
Sep 16, 2020
A Sneak Preview of the 2017 Vintage of One of the World's Great Sweet Wines
Excelling again: the just released 2017 vintage of Vin de Constance, still in the traditional asymmetrical 50cl bottle, but now with a...
Sep 2, 2020
More than Skin-Deep: Never Mind the Look, Feel the Eco Credentials
New generation, sustainable, reusable, ice-bucket resistant, bottle-hugging paper case instead of the usual gift box for Ruinart...
Aug 18, 2020
The Phoenix Rises: Château de Pommard chez Carabello-Baum
Cork talk: is it an instruction? The strikingly branded corks used for all Château de Pommard and Carabello-Baum Burgundies However...
Aug 4, 2020
Prime Time for Pink: Summer Rosé Round-up
Another summer, another round-up of delicious dry rosés, plus a featherweight, lightly sparkling sweet wine from Italy and a pink...
Jul 22, 2020
Circus Trick: How a Wine from Saint Mont Overcame the Authorities
The first four vintages of Plaimont's single vintage Cirque Nord Saint Mont – 2014, 2016, 2017 and the yet to be bottled 2019 I was...
Jul 2, 2020
Wine from the Edge: New Zealand and Oregon Pinot Noir
Ready for the off – sample bottles of New Zealand and Oregon Pinot Noir lined up in order for the tasting This tasting, which replaced...
Jun 24, 2020
Two Exciting White Wine Rarities – And They Won't Break The Bank
These two singular and rare dry white wines, one from France and one from Italy, could hardly be more different in style – a textbook...
Jun 16, 2020
Heavenly Champagne from a Hellish Year: Charles Heidsieck Brut Millésimé 2012
The 2012 vintage in Champagne was expected to be a disaster – as bad as 1984, and that's saying something. There was winter frost, spring...
Jun 1, 2020
Dom Pérignon Rosé 2006 and Moët Grand Vintage Collection 2002
I was going to call this A Taste of Dom Pérignon Rosé 2006 and Moët Grand Vintage Collection 2002 but, reader, I drank them, not by...
Jun 1, 2020
Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 2006 vs 2007
Caroline Fiot at Ruinart HQ in Reims, one of Ruinart's team of three winemakers The text of this article was first published in The World...
May 13, 2020
A Pit Stop with Pedro Parra in Chile
The genie in the pit: Pedro Parra in one of thousands of soil pits (calicatas) he has dug, but this one is special: it's amid vines in...
Apr 7, 2020
The New Order at Luce: New Wine, Winemaker and Winery and a Retrospective Tasting
Looking across the Luce vineyards to Frescobaldi's Tenuta di Castelgiocondo in southwest Montalcino in the November sunshine The text of...
Dec 19, 2019
The Festive Sweet, Sticky and Fortified Guide 2019
‘Tis the season for sweet and fortified wines, for entertaining, for communing with quietly, or giving as presents. Fortifieds, in...
Dec 13, 2019
The Festive Champagne Guide 2019
Writing my annual Festive Champagne Guide is, as you can imagine, no hardship, not least because I have tasted everything in it recently....
Dec 11, 2019
The Festive White Wine Guide 2019
My round-up of white wines from around the globe to cover Christmas and all the other festivities from simple supper to a big splash that...
Dec 2, 2019
The Festive Red Wine Guide 2019
My round up of red wines to take you through all kinds of festivities - major, minor and in some cases festivities for years to come....
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