German Syrah: Some like it cool
At the first wine course I ever took the tutor explained that Syrah and Shiraz are actually the same grape but under different names. It…
Chapoutier 2015 Sélections Parcellaires: the best vintage since 1990?
Every spring, Rhône ringleader Michel Chapoutier comes to London to unveil the new vintage of his top single vineyard wines, the Sélections…
Beefed-up beef
For those of you reading who have children, just consider this fact for a moment. Some parents of young children don't drink wine. Hard to believe isn't it - who are they, and how do…
In your glass in sixty minutes
Whizzing home in my driverless car, I zip past yet another boarded-up wine shop. I suspected this one wouldn’t last much past 2020. You couldn’t sample the wines or buy food, and they didn’t have any wines you couldn’t find elsewhere. Some small…
The shock of the new
When tasting my way through a large number of unfamiliar wines, there are a few tell-tale signs that I’ve encountered something special. Firstly, an involuntary smile creeps over my face. Secondly, I find myself hurriedly writing a long note. But I know that I’ve come across something truly…
The wine trade’s annual health check
Every year, after an overindulgent Christmas, the wine trade books an appointment with me for its annual health check. Though most of its vital signs are entirely typical for a…
English wine: too much of a good thing?
Sitting in the October sunshine, chewing on the corner of my baguette, I wonder how many others have witnessed this timeless scene: pickers working their way up rows of vines, loading their baskets with…
Breathable drinks
Like most kids of my generation, I was obsessed with Star Wars. My favourite scene was the Mos Eisley Cantina, where Luke Skywalker meets Han Solo in a violent dive bar teeming with various rubber-headed aliens drinking bubbling concoctions and inhaling noxious…