Two strangers, a man and woman meet at a cocktail party. The man turns to the woman and says, I’ve got a hypothetical question for you. The woman, whose curiosity...
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Horsemeat, bullshit and wine
How hungry would you have to be to eat a spaniel? What about a monkey, a camel or a rat? During the siege of their city in 1870, starving Parisians...
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Sir George hits 50
Is there such a thing as the New Zealand dream, a Kiwi equivalent of America’s fabled journey from poverty to prosperity? If so, Sir George Fistonich is surely its personification....
Read MoreFrank Buck: natural wine hunter
They’re out there, natural wines, you can smell them. You just have to hope that they can’t smell you first, smell your fear. I hunt them. Someone has to. I...
Read MoreEveryday value?
Lined up against the wall in my hallway, they stood quietly like forlorn commuters queuing for a bus. These were not bottles to make a taster salivate. Why didn’t I...
Read More2008 Bordeaux revisited
Bordeaux is the most confident and comfortable of fine wines. Great Burgundy is like riding a runaway horse, bareback. Diving into a top Bordeaux is like being chauffeur driven in...
Read MoreThe meaning of Joseph’s Law
First things first. Before getting to the meat of my first contribution to Tim’s site, perhaps I should say a little about who I am and how I came to...
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South Africa seizes the day
Is 2013 going to be South Africa’s year? Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa (WOSA), certainly seems to think so, judging by an upbeat press release earlier this...
Read MoreThe Secret Official Sommelier Manual
When I officially became a sommelier, I had to swear on a stack of Karen MacNeil Wine Bibles purchased from the remainder table at Border’s, piled right next to Whole...
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Georgian qvevri wine: if it’s good enough for God . . .
For Father Gerasim, whether to treat his wines with sulphur or any other additive isn’t a matter of choice. The imperative is simple. Any impurities in the finished product would...
Read MoreCrystal ball: the wine world in 2013
Moaning about the weather is second nature to us Brits. However stoical we may claim to be, upper lips stiffened against the wind and rain, we have had a lot...
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Gaillac the Tortoise
Say the word ‘Gaillac’ and what does it conjure up? Not a lot. Florent Plageoles of leading estate Domaine Plageoles confirms “we have a big image problem”. It’s not that...
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