Down and Dirty - thoughts on the 2012 dirty dozen tasting

Olly Bartlett from Indigo wines, mid-pour

The UK may be one of the toughest, most price conscious wine retail markets in the world, yet somewhat miraculously the independent and on-trade sectors are developing a real love of the small, the quirky and the characterful. Exhibit A: The Dirty Dozen is a conglomerate of twelve passionate and free spirited UK wine importers, who pulled off one of last year's most talked about tastings. I wondered if this year could live up to the hype?

It's becoming quite the fashion to have a statement for your tasting event - a manifesto if you will - and the dirtsters have certainly captured the zeitgeist with theirs:

"We are committed to wine of integrity and authenticity.

We believe in wines that speak of their terroir.

We select winemakers that cherish their vineyards and the environment.

We choose small over large and real before synthetic.

We import wines for people that care, made by people that care."

Notice how they've managed to avoid the "n" word? Cle…