I had begun to think I would never write anything again. No harm done other than to my inner peace. My word inertia has felt a little like chronic jetlag,...
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Can AI Break The Mystique Of Connoisseurship?
Another day, another outlandish claim about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) will transform our lives. Last week the BBC News website claimed breathlessly that “AI… is now increasingly helping people buy...
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The Bodega’s Scent
What is your idea of charisma in a wine? And where does it come from? It’s entirely subjective, of course. Look at it too hard and it might vanish. But...
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The Convivial Human Flow
I’m in awe of the dexterity and organisational skills of those who tap tasting notes directly into laptops at wine tastings. I count some of these individuals among my friends,...
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Why AI Matters
My friend Matt likes to confuse algorithms. “Every now and then, I type the first thing that comes into my head into Google, Facebook or Instagram” he told me. “Emperor...
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Harnessing Heritage
Forbes recently revealed that the richest man and woman on earth – Bernard Arnault and Françoise Bettencourt Meyers – are French. And that both came from the world of luxury. As we...
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The Greek Exception
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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