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Chablis: Ice queen

April 30, 2013

A brief introduction to the wines of Chablis... You’d have trouble making drinkable wine further north than Chablis. Every year the local winegrowers sleep fitfully during spring, keeping one eye on the thermometer. Frost is a tireless threat, and can decimate a crop. But if the delicate buds make it through the spring, and the grapes soak up enough sun during the growing season, they can produce…

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2011 Rhône: the George Harrison vintage

April 16, 2013

The Faravel brothers at Domaine de la BouïssièreThe Faravel brothers at Domaine de la Bouïssière © Søren Gudiksen Who was…

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Gevrey-Chambertin: Deep Burgundy

April 6, 2013

A brief introduction to the wines of Gevrey-Chambertin in Burgundy… With over 600 vineyards across 100 appellations, Burgundy can be a daunting region to explore. Especially when most vineyards are split between numerous producers – some lazy, some gifted. There’s no easy way in. Just choose one village at a time and taste a handful of its wines; then move on to the next. It will take a lifetime…

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Communion wine: forbidden fruit

March 21, 2013

If Jesus had chosen something other than the fruit of the vine for his followers to worship him with, today’s wine lovers might have a harder time indulging…

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Bottles of paradise

March 5, 2013

A brief introduction to the wines of Corsica... In Corsica, the regional wine is designated ‘Vin de Pays d’Île de Beauté’. Now a level of provincial pride is to be expected in France, but naming your region the ‘Island of Beauty’ takes some beating. But in reality it’s actually an understatement; Corsica is jaw-droppingly, heart-stoppingly ravishing. Travelling the unhurried narrow gauge railway…

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Everyday value? The best and worst of supermarket own label wines

February 20, 2013

Lined up against the wall in my hallway, they stood quietly like forlorn commuters queuing for a bus. These were not bottles to make a taster salivate. Why didn't I…

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Hermitage: Hidden Dragon

February 7, 2013

A brief introduction to the wines of Hermitage... Some of the most eminent winemaking villages of France also turn out to be the most beautiful. Tain l’Hermitage sadly isn’t one of them. Far from ugly, but fairly unremarkable, it crouches at the bottom of an imposing hill of granite that forces a bulge in the east bank of the Rhône. It’s located in the steep valley of the northern Rhône, before…

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Gaillac the Tortoise

January 22, 2013

Say the word ‘Gaillac’ and what does it conjure up? Not a lot. Florent Plageoles of leading estate Domaine Plageoles confirms “we have a big image…

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Champagne: the smallest stars shine the brightest

January 15, 2013

A brief introduction to the wines of Champagne... Most of us have a favourite Champagne, the label that raises a subtle smile when spotted in the lilting hand of our host. Champagne has a special place in the hearts of the British: we imported more than 34 million bottles last year, way more than any other country. Quite right too – when at its best, Champagne is still the greatest sparkling wine…

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Eleven Shades of Nebbiolo

January 8, 2013

To begin with I didn’t get it. Drinking Nebbiolo seemed like trying to swallow a cube, cut from a tree. It was hard, it was sharp, it was dry; and sometimes it tasted of…

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