The kingdom of the blind
February 18, 2019
Most wine professionals have a story of when they aced a blind tasting, a well-worn tale of olfactory deduction that would have Sherlock Holmes slack-jawed in amazement. It inevitably concludes with a self-deprecating comment along the lines of ‘normally I get it completely wrong of course’ in the hope that the taster can both impress and not come across as a shameless show-off. Blind tasting is…
Images of Vinsobres, Feburary 2019
February 15, 2019
Vinsobres, the most northerly Cru of the Southern Rhône In the village of Vinsobres L-R: Laurent Reinteau, Cellier des Dauphins; Anais Vallot, Domaine Vallot; Philippe Chaume-Arnaud, Domaine Chaume-Arnaud; Pascal Jaume, Domaine Jaume; Mickaël Jaume, Cave La Vinsobraise (standing far right). Lieu-dit Les Préaux, on the Plateau Cédric Guillaume-Corbin of 6-ha Domaine La Péquélette - 'the smallest'…
Images of Séguret, February 2019
February 6, 2019
Séguret Different terroirs: mountain, première terrasse, vin de pays at the bottom On the slope near the village, Domaine de Cabasse A view of the Dentelles from the top of the mountain Domaine Jean David, co-owner and winemaker Jean-Luc Auffrut in the background Christian Voeux, Domaine de l'Amauve From the mountain All images © Matt Walls
Images of Beaumes de Venise, January 2019
February 6, 2019
Beaumes de Venise Beaumes de Venise terroir, near Lafare Rocalinaud The view from Rocalinaud Romain and Elisabeth Hall, Domaine des Bernardins Romain Hall, Domaine des Bernardins Sabine and Isabelle de Menthon, Chateau Redortier All images © Matt Walls
Crab brains and Cabernet
January 24, 2019
The last twenty metres of road aren’t yet tarmacked on the way to He Jin Zun winery in Ningxia, northern China, so we get out and crunch over the gravel on foot. Consultant winemaker David Tyney bounds out to greet us and walks us through the building site past rows of gleaming steel tanks into the noisy winery. He’s from New Zealand but most other employees are locals. A dozen women in…
2017 Rhône Report – results now live
January 16, 2019
Is 2017 a great Rhône vintage? The shortest answer is 'sometimes'. No vintage is 100% consistent but 2017 is particularly variable, oscillating from the phenomenal to the undrinkable. It was a very warm and exceedingly dry year, yielding a small crop of powerful wines, the best of which will last for decades. My take on the vintage and a selection of the Top 300 most notable wines (from over…
Decanter article on sweetness in wine
December 20, 2018
The Mosel Valley in Germany - home of some of the finest sweet wines in the world Here's a recent article that I wrote for Decanter on sweetness in wine - how do you know how sweet your wine will be before you pop the cork? I spent a few weeks tasting loads of different wines of various sweetness levels from all over the world, and it delivered some of the most memorable drinking experiences of…
Eccentric current
November 30, 2018
English sparkling wine producers collectively present a terribly well-to-do appearance, all smart chinos and glasses of fizz on the lawn. But Pythonesque tendrils are creeping through the cracks in the patio… From Sussex Pinotage, to Tooting rosé, all the way to orange wine from Surrey, the irrepressible English sense of eccentricity is alive and kicking in its increasingly peculiar and wonderful…
I’ve made a wine documentary for BBC’s Inside Out!
October 24, 2018
Despite the fact so many of us regularly drink and enjoy it, wine rarely features on UK television. So I’m really pleased to be part of a 10-minute documentary on the historic 2018 vintage in England and the advent of London’s urban wineries for BBC London’s Inside Out. Watch the video here. As a nation, we can still view wine with suspicion, like it’s some kind of ‘elitist’ drink compared to…
Undeniable class
September 7, 2018
Imagine trying to buy a bottle of Burgundy if appellations didn’t exist. You’d have the producer, the vintage, maybe a brand name. But with no agreed village boundaries, let alone Premiers or Grands Crus, how well could you really get to know the region? Wine classifications may not be the sexiest topic, but admit it – you’d be lost without them. Not long ago there seemed to be as many different…