Of the many irritating things my parents used to say on repeat, the one that springs most to mind now is ‘youth is wasted on the young’. (A close second...
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Ageing Gracefully
In an interview for 60 Minutes in 2004, the journalist Ed Bradley asked Bob Dylan if there was anything in his early work that surprised him. Hi Bobness looked pensive...
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The Tyranny Of The Label
One of my abiding memories from my days editing Decanter magazine comes from the panel tastings we used to hold in the 10th-floor executive suite overlooking the Tate Modern. Twice...
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Simplicity
I worry that we have forgotten to feel wine. We live a colorful wine life – in white, red, orange, and pink. Wine has possibly never been so restless, so...
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Is Wine’s Future Doomed?
Last week on the eve of my 19 year-old daughter’s departure for university, the last of our three children to leave, we shared wine over Korean barbecue. To hear some...
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Mediterranean Sundance
Ah, the joys of localism. The provincial dialects. The regional quirks. The local produce. Like most of its Mediterranean neighbours, Greece is no stranger to those – a 200-year old...
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Tailoring Terroir
In London, if you want your friends to hate you, give their dog a squeaky toy. In Ireland, or at least in the house on the West Coast where I’m...
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The Ladder Of Quality
The bucolic opening sequence to The Hunger Games makes the dystopic Panem State seem homely; a place where you can stitch a quilt, or share a venison kill with your...
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Understanding Mouthfeel
Mouthfeel is tribology! What makes a Barolo so different from a Spätburgunder? What about distinguishing between a Tannat and a Beaujolais? First and foremost, it’s the mouthfeel — the sensations...
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Is There Any Justification For Wine?
The anti-wine forces are massing and strengthening in a way I haven’t experienced in my lifetime. Until very recently, seeing a seminar advertised on “The Future of Wine” I would...
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Au Revoir, Fiona
Writing a weekly column about wine for a national newspaper isn’t easy. I’ve been there done that – for 21 years. Keeping each article fresh is challenging. Some journalists don’t...
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Falling In Love With Baga
If you enjoy Barolo or Burgundy, I would recommend trying Bairrada, the Portuguese region most known for the red grape, Baga. These are lofty comparators, but justified: Baga retains high...
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