They’ve barely picked a grape in Bordeaux, but the region’s euphemism generator is already up and running. “A winemaker’s vintage”, as one château owner described the 2012, is another way...
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A ferment about Furmint
To be sung to the tune of ‘Start Wearing Purple’ by Gogol Bordello: “Start drinking Furmint drinking Furmint, Start drinking Furmint for me now, All your sanity – and wits...
Read MoreDefinitely Picking Time
the fucking sky looks fucking dim the fucking forecast’s fucking grim the fucking fruit won’t fucking set the fucking farm’s in fucking debt my fucking pay’s a fucking crime evidently...
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Argentina’s Malbec obsession
Is Argentina too dependent on Malbec? The question might seem absurd – few countries have managed to associate themselves so successfully with a single grape – but it’s beginning to...
Read MoreWine and the Olympic spirit
What a fortnight. Even if you have little or no interest in sports – be they sitting down, standing up or floating in a pool – you have to admit...
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Try before you buy: the future of wine?
Some 10 years ago, when I first started out as a wine, journalist I was commissioned (by a certain Tim Atkin) to write about why people bought the wines they...
Read MoreWhen bloggers become wine retailers
It used to be easy. Not so long ago, the UK wine landscape could be mapped on three points of a triangle: those who sold the wine (aka the industry...
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Too much bottle?
It’s the wine industry’s dirty little secret. The back label tells you about the wine producer’s respect for the environment, their commitment to preserving the terroir and farming sustainably. But...
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Carignan: Chile returns to its roots
Think of a word to describe the Chilean wine industry. Dependable? Consistent? Mass-produced? I’ve played this game with consumers and Chile generally elicits such responses. People in the wine trade...
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Pierre Mansour: Wine Society selector
It does not sell Armand de Brignac ‘Ace of Spades’ Champagne, nor does it sponsor the drinks at footballers’ weddings. The Wine Society doesn’t court the ‘glamour’ end of the...
Read MoreWine at the movies
“I like to drink wine more than I used to. Anyway, I’m drinking more.” Marlon Brando, ‘The Godfather’ With his proceeds from ‘The Godfather’ director Francis Ford Coppola bought himself...
Read MoreWhat’s the point of posh tastings?
A friend of mine who’s a barrister calls what I do for a living “the most un-job like job in the world”. It’s a common perception. “Need an unpaid assistant?”...
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