Oh to have been in Rioja when Spain clinched the World Cup on Sunday. The spot I would have chosen is Los Caños, one of my favourite tapas bars, which...
Read MoreHow fine is Tesco’s Finest*?
Tesco’s Finest, or rather Finest*, wine range is celebrating its tenth birthday at the moment, complete with a press tasting, some corporate chest beating and a Finest Limited Edition 2000...
Read MoreReds to help you chill out this summer
The sommelier’s eyebrows arched like circumflex accents as he spat the words back at me, Gallic steam hissing from his ears. “Vous voulez un seau à glace?” he demanded incredulously,...
Read MoreEating out? Please bring a bottle
How do you spend $47,221.09 on lunch for six people? Assuming your credit card company will authorise the transaction, it’s surprisingly easy if you’re a billionaire. To paraphrase Withnail in...
Read MoreAu revoir, Chamarré?
“Made in France, enjoyed everywhere,” runs the tag line on Chamarré’s appropriately colourful website. At the time of writing, both parts of this statement remain true, but for how much...
Read MoreThe trouble with Australia
Australians don’t do pessimism. They’re generally such a chipper, stop-moaning-and-get on with-it nation that they’d rather share a hot tub with a great white shark than be accused of whingeing...
Read MoreGrenache and Woody Allen’s Zelig
Some grapes are born great, some achieve greatness, while others have greatness thrust upon them. But what about the supporting actors: the spear carriers, the chorus, the walk-on parts? There...
Read MoreWorld Cup Wines
Here we go. Or rather ‘ere we go, ‘ere we go, ‘ere we go. Unless you’ve been in solitary confinement for the last year, you’ll be aware that the World...
Read MoreWhat’s great about Grenache
Delegates at the first ever conference dedicated to Grenache were handed a bag celebrating “G-Day” upon arrival, a tongue-in-cheek allusion to the Normandy landings in June sixty-six years earlier. To...
Read MoreA taste of English fizz
How do you define Englishness? To some, it’s village greens, warm beer, stiff upper lips, pinstriped suits and the changing of the guard. To others, it’s a little less idealised...
Read MoreBeaujolais – more than nouveau
Talking about Beaujolais in May feels weird, like donning thermals in the height of summer. This vibrant, juicy red is so closely associated with Beaujolais nouveau day, a worldwide celebration...
Read MoreLIWF: what does the future hold?
How was it for you? As the spittoons were emptied at the end of the 2010 London International Wine Fair, it was the question on the lips of many of...
Read More