by Tim Atkin

A Hedonist’s Paradise

No one needs an excuse to go to Wellington, New Zealand’s most cosmopolitan, food-loving city, when it’s central heating and thermals time back in Europe. But throw in the chance...

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by Tim Atkin

Happy Birthday, Cloudy Bay

Happy birthday, Cloudy Bay. As the first grapes of 2010 are picked in Marlborough, New Zealand’s largest wine region, the country’s most famous winery is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Who...

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by Tim Atkin

A beginner’s guide to Champagne

THE WINE BOX Become an instant expert — this month: Champagne Dom Pérignon didn’t invent bubbles; we did. Christopher Merret presented a paper to the Royal Society about sparkling wine...

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by Tim Atkin

The cheat’s guide to wine

There must be some very long faces on the other side of the Channel at the moment. The French have always suspected we were a treacherous bunch, but they’ve just...

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by Tim Atkin

Beware of floods, fires and locusts

If “Sex change bishop in mercy dash to Palace” is the funniest fictitious headline ever written, then “Small earthquake in Chile: not many dead” is surely the dullest. Claud Cockburn’s...

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by Tim Atkin

French wines and Charles Aznavour

“Fall in love with France again” sounds like a Charles Aznavour song — imagine it crooned in a soft-toned Gallic accent — but it’s actually the title that one importer...

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by Tim Atkin

Wine: Is it the real thing?

How could they tell? The recent kerfuffle about fake pinot noir in the Languedoc reminded me of Dorothy Parker’s quip about the death of President Calvin Coolidge. If you missed...

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by Tim Atkin

The Fine Wine Game

The hype in Bordeaux began before a single grape had been crushed. The 2009 harvest, according to several château owners, was one of the finest they’d ever seen. Seasoned Bordeaux...

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by Tim Atkin

Interview with Pedro Parra

Pedro Parra is crouching in a hole with a small hammer in his hand, chipping away at the soil like a demented sculptor. “Granitic, pure grantic,” he says, lifting a...

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by Tim Atkin

All NZ’s grapes in one basket?

Let’s start this column with something interactive. I’d like you to find a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. On the left hand side please list...

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