The Morning Claret

Simon J Woolf & Friends on Wild and Wonderful Wines

Year: 2011

dimitri brecevic
4 minute read

Hotel du Teran

Winemakers can be a tricksy bunch. There are the natural showmen and marketeers, keen to show you their “icon” wines and boast about how much new oak is used for the premium cuvees. Then there are the quiet taciturn types Read more

Colourful labels on the Hagymasi Pinceszet stand
8 minute read

Smoke on the water – Hungarian Wine House tasting

Any bon-viveur worth their salt will be familiar with Hungary’s most famous vinuous export – Tokaji Aszu. This luscious yet refreshing nectar has assured Hungary’s place on the international wine map for the last 400 years. Additionally, those of a Read more

skerk pinot grigio barrel sample
9 minute read

Rock the Carso (Friuli Part 1)

Friuli-Venezia Giulia is Italy’s most North-Easterly region. Like many European border areas, Friuli has a composite identity made up of Italian, Slovenian and Teutonic cultures. Those borders, which can seem so trivial now (on our visit, we drifted into Slovenia Read more

Morning in Brescia, over the Duomo roof
5 minute read

Bubbling up in Brescia

Tucked away in a quiet corner of Lombardy is an attractive, stately city, untouched by major tourism and unhyped by the guide books. Brescia is the de facto capital of Franciacorta, a sub-region specialising in the production of sparkling wine. Read more

Sherry Maestro No.22

Sherry seems to be going through a mini-renaissance right now, after decades of being banished to the backwater of granny’s christmas cupboard. It is after all one of the few real bargains of the wine world – complex, characterful, consistent Read more

Pošip grapes passing through selection
5 minute read

Dalmatia Part 3: Korta Katarina

In my previous post I wrote about a family wine-producing micro-enterprise. The Bura winery produces only around 2,000 bottles each of their key wines, Bura Dingač and Mare Postup. I visited Boris Mrgdić and the Bura family in the morning. Read more

3 minute read

Exotic Agiorgitiko

The Greek wine industry could have done without the nation having a financial crisis, it was hardly having an easy ride as things were. This is a shame, because there is much high quality wine-making on both the mainland and Read more

Tilia estate viparska dolina 2008
2 minute read

Slovenia-les-Beaune?

Wine labels can tell you a lot about what’s in the bottle – and by that, I don’t mean alcohol percentages or the grape variety. The visual style of the label often drops a few clues about the target market, Read more