Festive Fizz 2019: anything but Champagne
The first of the season's round-ups of recommendations is sparkling wines, from far and near but not Champagne – that gets its own show...
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Oct 25, 2019
Down in a deep, dark sea... Drappier Champagnes
Encrusted sea-aged Grande Sendrée 2008 and a pristine bottle conventionally matured in Drappier's Champagne cellars in the Aube Why age...
Aug 2, 2019
Round the world in rosés in 2019
I've never seen so many good rosé wines and so much variety of style, origin and grape variety (never mind colour) as I've seen this...
Jul 15, 2019
Zeroing in on Zweigelt - the wine behind Bin #002
The second in The Wine Society’s new Bin Series is an Austrian red made from Zweigelt by Familie Mantler in the Weinviertel region, who...
Jul 3, 2019
Bruno Paillard's zero-dosage Champagne comes of age
D : Z is one of two new launches for Champagne Bruno Paillard. The other is the 2009 Assemblage, a vintage that Alice Paillard admits...
Jun 24, 2019
A new Tuscan superstar?
After a career steering many of Tuscany's top wines into the limelight, Carlo Ferrini, the consultant to so many glittering Italian...
May 20, 2019
Bowled over by a Bobal, Spain’s other red grape
A new wine range makes its debut with a stunning Spanish Bobal. Bin #001 Altolandon Bobal 2017, from vineyards farmed organically at...
Apr 17, 2019
Natural wines from a garage in Catalonia
I’m not going to get into a discussion about so-called natural wine or raw wine, except to say that I'm not a cheerleader for them. That...
Apr 5, 2019
English sparkling wine taste-off
You wait ages for a new vintage of an English sparkling Blanc de Blancs, then two come along at once: Nyetimber 2013 and Gusbourne 2014....
Mar 1, 2019
4 top Italian reds – from Tuscany, Trentino and Lombardy
Tasting notes on another four impressive Italian recent releases, following on from my Caiarossa blog The four wines – San Leonardo from...
Feb 15, 2019
Caiarossa – fusing complexity with approachability in Tuscany
The past six months have been particularly rich in tastings of top Tuscan wines. Two of them, Luce and Siepi, I’ve written about in...
Feb 5, 2019
Affordable Italians from the south and Tuscany
My latest Wine of the Week was one of six Italian wines I tasted from Tanners. I could happily have chosen any of the other five, so I'm...
Jan 29, 2019
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2016, a helluva vintage
A hell of a vintage in both senses: a vintage of beautiful wines, or, as Aubert de Villaine, the domaine's co-owner and director puts it,...
Jan 21, 2019
6 ready to drink white Burgundies from The Wine Society
Eyes and palates have been focused on the 2017 white Burgundies being offered en primeur this month, and it's an excellent vintage in...
Jan 16, 2019
Gérard Basset - a memory
Like so many people in the wine world, and I do mean the world, I am deeply saddened to hear of the untimely death earlier today of...
Dec 19, 2018
The Festive Champagne Guide 2018
We're there: my Champagne picks for Christmas, New Year and every other kind of festivity, whittled down with difficulty to what I hope...
Dec 18, 2018
The Festive Sweet, Sticky and Fortified Guide 2018
SWEET WINE Domaine Cady Coteaux du Layon Saint-Aubin Les Varennes 2015, France Old-vine Chenin made from botrytis (aka noble rot)...
Dec 18, 2018
The Festive White Wine Guide 2018
Dry and off-dry whites from around the globe to cover the festivities and all eventualities at prices from £6 upwards and from the ...
Dec 17, 2018
Festive fizz for 2018: anything except Champagne
17 December: I've updated this post (first published on 3 December) with the addition of two more English wines: Denbies Cubitt Blanc de...
Dec 14, 2018
The Festive Red Wine Guide 2018
Red wines from all around the world to take you through all kinds of festivities and in some cases festivities for years to come. As...
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