Beaujolais – beau et joli

Take a gentle walk around the diminutive Beaujolais region in eastern France and you can’t fail to be struck by just how pretty it is. Neat villages are scattered over this jumble of green hills like freckles on youthful cheeks. The wine trail is 20 miles from top to tail, but it’s the northern half, sitting just underneath the southernmost part of Burgundy, that is most rewarding. It’s an easy…

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Champagne: where the party’s really at

Sometimes I feel very lucky to be living in the UK when it comes to getting hold of good wine. Since the UK has historically been an importer of other countries’ wines, rather than producer of its own, the UK wine industry has tended to be open-minded and meritocratic when it comes to the wines it sells. This has led to a diverse range of countries, regions, grapes, producers and vintages, giving…

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