Wine competitions are the worst way to identify the world’s best wines. Apart from all the others that have been tried. I make no excuse for mangling Churchill’s famous quote...
Read MoreChapoutier’s class of 2013
If the majority of the press surrounding the 2013 vintage in Bordeaux is to be believed, most en primeur samples should have been gathered up, put in a sack and...
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Tokaj’s silver lining
The Tokaj wine region organised its second wine auction recently. Modelled on the Hospices de Beaune, it featured unique lots of dry and sweet wines offered by the 136-litre barrel,...
Read MoreWine’s Forbidden Love
I’m not sure how I’m going to get through this confession. And, to be perfectly honest, I know that after reading it, you’re going to think differently about me, think...
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The rain in Spain
It’s probably scant consolation to château owners struggling to sell their wines en primeur right now, but Bordeaux wasn’t the only European region that had a difficult vintage in 2013....
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Museum pieces
There aren’t many wine writers, I imagine, who have been accused of communicating with the dead, but way back in the 1990s, The Sunday Times did describe me as a...
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Madeira quake
I always find it strange how fortified wines – Sherry, Port and Madeira – are so often portrayed as drinks for vicars and old ladies. The reality is these are...
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Bordeaux 2004: the indefinite article
This write-up is late, but then so was the vintage. It was interrupted by a visit to Georgia for the International Wine Tourism conference. (Georgia demands much, but gives more....
Read MoreWhy en primeur Bordeaux isn’t like a Louis Vuitton handbag
‘If you don’t believe in the Bordeaux Primeurs, or think the system is flawed, then don’t take part in it!! You can’t have it both ways. Nothing has changed about...
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How to choose a white wine: a beginner’s guide
Choosing a white wine can be summed up in a single word: Don’t. People will tell you that white wine is every bit as interesting as red wine. These are...
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Why Bordeaux en primeur isn’t working
Setting the price of en primeur Bordeaux has always been something of a poker game, but Château Pontet-Canet’s decision to release its 2013 at €60 ex-négociant, before almost anyone had...
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Keep the red trousers flying
When authors or publishers get to a certain age, roughly 37, they are issued with a shapeless blue linen jacket. They then fill the pockets with books, papers, tobacco and...
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