We all get some random perks from our parents, and for me it was family friends in Mykonos. I don’t mean friends with a house in Mykonos, you understand; there...
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The Colour and Clarity of Wine
Wine as a metaphor has a long history. In the 8th century BC, Homer wrote that “flashing-eyed Athena sent them a favourable wind, a strong-blowing West wind that sang over...
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The Desert Island Wine
Thirassiá covers nine square kilometres and is the Siamese twin of Santorini. The two islands were separated by a catastrophic volcanic eruption in the 17th century BC. Thirassiá looks exactly...
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The Low-Down on Bordeaux 2022
The 2022 vintage in Bordeaux, as across all of France and most of the rest of Europe, was very hot. Regular news stories about daily temperatures exceeding 40°C were prominent....
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How Natural Should We Go?
‘Everybody has Botox,’ says my much younger friend who thinks she’s old because she’s in her late thirties. I don’t but, having researched the subject, I was almost relieved to...
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Knowing When To Stop
The other week Domaine de Chevalier brought over samples of the 19 components of its 2022 red grand vin, plus a sample of the final blend. I’ve always thought blending...
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Wine Chatbots
Sometime in the next couple of years Robert Joseph will buy me a bottle of wine. I believe the erstwhile wine correspondent of the Daily Telegraph to be a man...
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Mental Geography
It felt mildly embarrassing. A member of the team from Black Chalk was trying to explain to me exactly where their Hampshire vineyard was as we sipped the fine, precise...
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Lessons In Internationalism
“How many of you here tonight were born in London?” In a room of 400 people, no more than 20 of us put up our hands. (In case you’re wondering,...
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Do It The Hard Way
“You should never be comfortable, man. Being comfortable fouled up a lot of musicians”. Miles Davis The story feels good. The noble vine, eking out its existence on an...
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Do We Need Smart Wines?
I overheard the comment at one of my favourite spring wine tastings, and it set my teeth on edge. “Yes, it’s a really smart wine,” said a young man, who...
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A Brief Australian Fling
I love Australia, because it shows you what California would look like if the South had won the Civil War. You get so few good counterfactuals in history. And I love...
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