The Morning Claret

Simon J Woolf & Friends on Wild and Wonderful Wines

Opinion

avaline with angry mob
5 minute read

Sour grapes over clean wine

Hannah Fuellenkemper takes a look at the somewhat murky world of clean wine, and why it’s caused such a stir in natural wine circles

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.

7 minute read

Rage against the machine

Hannah outlines why vineyard work can be incredibly divorced from the end product, and has some suggestions on how it can be rehumanised

No, I'm not a lover of mousiness
17 minute read

Are natural winemakers in denial about mousiness?

This is an updated and significantly longer version of an article which originally appeared in Issue 2/2017 of Meininger’s Wine Business International with additional input from Joseph di Blasi, and Geoff Cowey. And yes, another outing for that photo…. Imagine a Read more

Hugh Johnson admires the colour and sheen that 6 months skin contact in an amphora brings
11 minute read

Tasting orange wines with Hugh Johnson

I’m not sure that I have heroes anymore – and those I once had were certainly not wine writers. That said, if I did, and if they were, Hugh Johnson OBE would be a candidate. Several of his books are on my Read more

People not enjoying orange wine at all
6 minute read

“Orange wines are a sideshow and a waste of time”

“What’s the point of experimenting? We know how to make really good wine. Why do we want to throw away the formula and do something different?” Hugh Johnson, interviewed in the Washington Post, October 2016. Recently I’ve been wondering whether the Read more

Slurp back label
6 minute read

When slurping isn’t natural

I looked at the bottle three times, picked it up, took a photo on my phone. Something didn’t feel quite right. “This is simply a fabulous French no-nonsense natural wine…” screamed the label. And then further down, there it was Read more

Musar fireworks

Chateau Musar is an utterly unique, beguiling wine from the Lebanon, which could be said to have a cult following in the UK and internationally. Its uniqueness stems, I think, from a perfect combination of old world finesse and restraint, Read more