Seven reasons why I love Moscato d’Asti
Look, I’m not after anything serious. Let’s just flirt and enjoy each other’s company – we don’t have to be relationship material do we? We both know it feels good . . . oh but it does feel good. I Read more
The red badge of honour
Lukas Plöckinger picks me up in Eisenstadt at 6.30am prompt, on a chilly October morning. Lukas is the winemaker and vineyard manager at Weingut Tinhof, in Austria’s red wine heartland Burgenland, and he’s my teacher today as I pop my Read more
Seafood Grillo, Barraco style
It’s a gorgeous late summer evening on Sicily’s west coast. But instead of admiring the sea, our group of wine writers and bloggers are looking slightly perplexedly at what appears to be a patch of weeds. Actually this is Antonino Read more
Seven reasons why I love Beaujolais
Gamay, you are a charmer. That deceptively simple yet elegant perfume, your lightness of touch, and supple texture. Yes, you went a bit girly during your “nouveau” phase (circa 1980s), but that’s all water under the bridge now. Now you’re Read more
Wine Society whitewash – evil plot or careless journalism?
It’s no surprise that wine writers and journalists almost unanimously sing the Wine Society‘s praises. After all, here is a retailer which does not have profit as its primary motive, is entirely owned by its members and exists purely “to Read more
Does Riesling need a revolution?
Despite being the darling of the wine trade for what seems like decades, German Riesling still has an image problem in the UK. Why is it that we can’t get the abominations of Liebfraumilch, Blue Nun and Black Tower out Read more
Great places to buy wine: Park and Bridge
“I would never have done this if I hadn’t started writing a wine blog”. So says Paola Tich, ex-journalist, blogger, communications supremo – and now owner of Acton’s newest independent wine merchant, Park and Bridge. Paola’s blog Sip Swoosh Spit is well Read more
Great places to buy wine: Dvine Cellars
Something rather wonderful is happening with wine retailing in the UK. It didn’t begin well: Over the last 20 years, we’ve seen virtually all our mainstream wine merchants go bust – something catalogued by Tim Atkin in his recent article Read more
Seven reasons why I love orange wines
I’m drawn to outsiders – people who dare to be different, who stand out proudly from the crowd. That makes orange wines – and the winemakers who produce them – an easy sell. This is a style that can shock, Read more
Mosel museum: Old vintages from Staffelter Hof
I admit to a bit of a thrill when the cork’s popped on a properly ancient bottle of wine. The sense of expectation is palpable – will the cork make it out in one piece, is the liquid even still Read more