Christmas wines – which wine for which roast

I wonder what Scrooge’s idea of the perfect Christmas lunch would be? Roast pauper with all the trimmings I suspect, washed down with a few bottles of claret. Well if you can’t treat yourself on Christmas Day, when can you? If you’re opting for a more traditional roast this year, different types of meat taste their best with different types of wine. The general rule of thumb is the more intense…

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The young tearaway of the south

Named after the local Occitan dialect (langue d’oc), the Languedoc is a huge swathe of land running from Narbonne in the west to Nimes in the East, stretching 70km inland from the coast. Every type of terrain imaginable is represented, from grassy plains to jagged mountains, dense forests to swaying palms. But much of it is rocky, rugged and rough. Some of the winemakers are too. Broadly speaking…

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A sketch of four German wine regions

I went over to Germany a few weeks ago to get a feel for the different regions and what was happening over there. Although they are mostly bunched together around the border with France, each region has a very different identity. Rheinhessen Rolling low green hills and golden fields of wheat. Fertile arable land, with various crops planted amongst the vines. Pretty villages amongst lush pastures,…

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Northern Whites: wine in a cold climate

Inspiration can come in many forms. For Anders Selmer, his lightbulb moment was at a café in Copenhagen, and it was shaped like a turnip: “I was served a…

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