How conservative is the wine business? Less than it once was is the obvious answer, at least in the UK. When I started writing about the subject in the mid-1980s,...
Read MoreRawfair steals the show
It’s the third Monday in May. I’m in East London, in a barn of a building, buzzing with wine producers, press and trade. There’s a palpable sense of excitement throughout...
Read MoreIn a parallel universe
In a parallel universe 1 (in which there is an Empress of Wine.) The most influential voice in the parallel wine world is Roberta Parker who regularly appears on television demonstrating...
Read MoreThe London Wine Fair: time to move
When the London International Wine Fair closes its doors at ExCel next Wednesday evening it will mark the end of a short and not particularly distinguished era in the show’s...
Read More
The Wine Snob: an endangered species?
The snob may look just like you and me, but it is a parasite in disguise. It leaves its victim poisoned. When the snob discovered wine, like a facehugger, it...
Read MoreBetter Off Dead—New Wine Books!
Lately, my mailbox has been filling up with new books about wine and the wine business. It’s a seemingly inexhaustible subject, and the flurry of new books represents a wide...
Read More
Music and wine: classically trained
Stroll through the vineyards at Il Paradiso di Frassina in Montalcino and the sound of Mozart soothes your ears. If you like Beethoven, Bach or Boulez, not to mention Miles...
Read More2003 Bordeaux: tales from the strip club
“You don’t go to a strip joint looking for a relationship”, says the young man defending the merits of 2003 at BI’s annual “10 Years on Bordeaux Tasting”. This is...
Read More
Bucking the trend: Natural wines at Gut Oggau
Somewhere, out there on the internet, the discussion rages on about natural wines. To true believers, it’s the one and only righteous path, to sceptics, nothing more than a farcical...
Read More
Getting warmer: wine and climate change
Moaning about the weather is practically a national sport in England. There’s a bit of me that thinks that we enjoy being grumpy, “coveting disappointment” as the comedian Bill Bailey...
Read MoreWhat’s that got to do with the price of eggs?
Once upon a time, in the little village of Arse-Ende-of-Knowhere, in the county of Generallydullbutlovelyinpartshire, there was an elderly farmer called McDonald whose hens laid unusually tasty eggs. These eggs...
Read MoreIn praise of real wine journalism
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore once did a very funny sketch about what they considered the worst job in the world. From memory, their choice involved working for Jayne Mansfield...
Read More