What’s wrong with France? asked the distinguished journalist Christine Ockrent in a recent think piece in Prospect. Her analysis, which is worth reading in full, begins at the top. President...
Read MoreMaking Sense of Matt Kramer
Imagine for a moment that you are me. Yes, I know, that’s ridiculous. It’s like asking you to imagine that you’re Albert Einstein or Abraham Lincoln, but let’s just say...
Read MoreCornas: the sweet smell of success
Of all the red wines of the Rhône Valley, there is one that has an unfortunate reputation. Cornas has often been accused of having a rustic or ‘animal’ side to...
Read MoreIs the customer always right?
Relationships can be difficult, even at the best of times. It seems strange that we would select a partner of our own volition, and then proceed to argue and fight...
Read MoreChâteau Oublié and the fall of the 1855 Classification
To understand how, in 2014, one man with a grudge managed to bring down some of the highest and mightiest in Bordeaux, you have to know a little about the...
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RIP, two great men of wine
I’m not sure if Peter Lehmann and Tim Hamilton Russell ever met, but I like to think they would have got on, despite their very different personalities. One was a...
Read MoreWine Mosaic: Saving rare grapes from extinction
When was the last time you had a glass of Uvalino, Limniona or Österreichisch Weiss? Possibly not so recently, if ever – all three grape varieties are on the...
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The Swartland Revolution
Every revolution needs a spark, a catalyst that changes things forever. It might not compare with the storming of the Bastille or the fall of the Berlin Wall, but the...
Read MoreThe Pulitzer Prize for Wine Reviews
Though it has yet to gain the kind of attention its other prizes have achieved, the Pulitzer Prize for Wine Reviews was handed out for the first time in 2013....
Read MoreWine: you don’t have to be rich…
Ever felt like making your own wine? If you work in the business, whether as a retailer, sommelier, importer or impoverished hack, the chances are that you’ve entertained just such...
Read MoreGolden Burgundies and funny money
Chapter One It all began so simply. In London, one day in January 2014, the wine writers Tom Nutkin, Albert Joshua and the superstar German winemaker Dr Titan were having...
Read MoreLondon’s wine scene: a tale of two cities
Considering its total lack of vineyards, London’s long-established position in the wine world might seem surprising. But this has proved to be London’s strength; historically there has been no local...
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