When I first began blogging about wine back in 1988, there wasn’t even an internet. The whole world was like North Korea, except with dogs. That didn’t stop me from...
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The perfect 8/10 vintage
Last week I opened a bottle of 2010 Bordeaux. Nothing fancy – Château La Tour de By, a reliable Cru Bourgeois from the Médoc. Nope; still not ready. It hardly...
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The HoseMaster of Wine’s Christmas wish list
Dear Santa, This Christmas, I don’t want anything for myself. I have everything I need, Santa. A cellar filled with the great wines of the world, and Oregon wines, too....
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Deluxe redux
Serendipity is part of the pleasure of owning a wine cellar. Unless you’re the kind of person who keeps a log of every bottle that’s down there – I’m as...
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Calm down, dear
And those who are beautiful,who can contain them?Rainer Maria Rilke Remember this! No amount of Bacchic revelling can corrupt an honest women.Euripides, The Bacchae Last week a wine trade colleague...
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Blind Review of Jon Bonné’s “The New Wine Rules”
I wanted to read Jon Bonné’s latest wine book, “The New Wine Rules,” but I have a new rule myself. I don’t read books about wine rules. Books about wine...
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What the Clos de Tart sale means for the future of Burgundy
Remind me never to play poker against Frédéric Engerer. On Thursday evening last week, I was tasting at Domaine d’Eugénie in Vosne-Romanée with the CEO of Artémis Domaines and asked...
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Wine clubs: what’s your tribe?
“I have a mind to join a club, and beat you over the head with it.” Groucho Marx As a child, I was often at my nan’s for the Methodist...
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Has the sun set on UK wine blogging?
What does success look like for the UK’s best wine bloggers? Gaining ever more readers? An endless stream of free samples? Or perhaps earning money from advertising? It’s different for...
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Semillon: the naked grape
When I was younger, fitter and considerably trimmer than I am now, I took part (twice) in a wine trade version of The Full Monty for charity. The name of...
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Wine is Just So Depressing
It’s just so hard to learn about wine. I try and I try, but, frankly, it’s depressing. Really depressing. I guess that’s just the way of the world right now....
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Lidl takes the low road
It was a familiar scenario. Offer Brits what seems like a bargain and they’ll form orderly queues at 6.30am on a Bank Holiday Monday. To be fair to those early...
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