by Tim Atkin

A toast to Grenache

TS Eliot got it wrong in my view: October, not April, is the cruellest month. Once the clocks go back you know you’re in for a winter of sniffles, short...

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by Tim Atkin

Go wild with The Bunch

Attending a tasting run by The Bunch, a group of Britain’s leading independent wine merchants, is like watching The Magnificent Seven. Every time the posse reassembles, it seems to have...

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by Tim Atkin

Sparkling form

Help! I fear I’m turning into a Prosecco snob. You might think this is slightly silly – like favouring one daytime soap over another – but I’m serious. There are...

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by Tim Atkin

Majestic’s six bottle switch

Economic necessity or swift-footed tactical shimmy? Majestic’s decision to reduce its minimum in-store purchase from 12 to six bottles – as predicted here on 2 August – is arguably both...

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by Tim Atkin

A Fruity Number

I know we’ve just come through the silly season, when tales of killer chipmunks and dolphin sign language deputise for what’s normally classed as news in the British media, but...

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by Tim Atkin

Aussie wines and The Ashes

How good was that? For an Englishman who’s passionate about sport, nothing compares with beating the Aussies at cricket, not even a win on penalties against the Germans or a...

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by Tim Atkin

Wolf Blass and his wines

There are so many stories about Wolf Blass that it’s hard to know when fact shades into fiction. Did he really page himself at airports so that other people would...

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by Tim Atkin

Sideways look

The Hitching Post in Buellton has got used to the attention by now. Five years after the hit movie Sideways featured two scenes filmed at its friendly, no frills bar,...

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by Tim Atkin

Youngest First

I’ve never been to a Tupperware party, let alone an Ann Summers get-together, but I have a feeling that’s where the people behind i-wine (i-wine.tv) found their inspiration. Billed as...

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