The Morning Claret

Simon J Woolf & Friends on Wild and Wonderful Wines

Features

Wine glass and clouds. Illustration by Paul Blow. Reproduced from Noble Rot issue 32 with permission.
10 minute read

Natural wine shouldn’t be a style

Natural wine was supposed to be about ideals, but did it just became a style equated with cloudy, funky wines?

Originally published in Noble Rot issue 32.

Oronce de Beler with his Percheron draft horse in 2009 (he ceased this activity in 2015). Photo courtesy La Maison Romane.
26 minute read

Uncomfortable bedfellows? Burgundy and natural wine

Why is it so difficult to talk about natural wine in Burgundy? Simon explores the increasingly blurred line between classical and natural techniques in the region.

Originally published February 2023 in Issue 3 of Fondata magazine.

Philip Cox atop some of the many stainless steel tanks at his giant Cramele Recas winery in Romania. Photo (C) Simon J Woolf.
18 minute read

Tasting Romanian natural wine with Philip Cox

Tasting Romanian natural wines with the owner of one of the largest wineries in Romania – Philip Cox – might seem like an odd choice for Simon. But this meeting of two very different minds ended up being enjoyable and educational for both of us.

Giulio Armani (Denavolo) pours a glass. Photo (C) Simon J Woolf
9 minute read

Orange couture – a Denavolo vertical

The story of an incredible and unexpected lunch which took in a complete summary of Guilio Armani’s Denavolo wines.
Originally published as “Dina is served” in Noble Rot issue 29.

System of a Dão - illustration by Dennis Eriksson. (C) Noble Rot
11 minute read

I Come from Nowhere (Wine Classification is an Ass)

Wine classifications guarantee provenance, but why have many of their controlling institutions become de facto style police?
Originally published as “System of a Dão” in Noble Rot issue 28.

food wine matching photo by Simon J Woolf
10 minute read

Is food and wine pairing irrelevant?

Simon gets grumpy about the state of food and wine pairing in restaurants, outlines some of the most deadly sins and ponders if this fussed over topic is even still relevant.

Pét-nat illustration No 1, by Zebediah Keneally. (C) Noble Rot, reproduced with permission.
8 minute read

Auf Wiedersehen Pét

Simon gets ranty about pét nat, natural wine’s ubiquitous fizz. This article was originally published in Noble Rot Magazine, issue 27.