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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by Tim Atkin

Europe’s new legislative dawn

The European wine sector took a step into the 21st century earlier this month. Given that many of its practices were mired in the 1930s, it was a stride that...

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by Tim Atkin

Off licences in a recession

One of my favourite websites is worst-jobs.com. Whenever friends moan about their lot, I show them what others have to do to earn a stale crust: worm taster, porn theatre...

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by Tim Atkin

California dreaming in the UK

If location, location, location is the key to the property market, explaining why a sock drawer in Knightsbridge costs more than a palace in Kabul, it also tells you a...

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by Tim Atkin

With this wine…

Pressure, what pressure? I’m getting married this week and I’ve been agonising over the wines for the wedding lunch and party for months. If you write about booze for a...

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by Tim Atkin

Wine, science and, er, sperm

It was enough to make me splutter into my muesli. The news that scientists at the North East England Stem Cell Institute claim to have created “fully mature, functional” human...

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by Tim Atkin

Coming of Age

Heaven knows who came up with the statistic, but the word in the booze business is that 9 out of 10 wines are drunk within 48 hours of purchase. Do...

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by Tim Atkin

Affordable wines to lay down

Heaven knows who came up with the statistic, but the word in the booze business is that 9 out of 10 wines are drunk within 48 hours of purchase. Do...

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by Tim Atkin

The Big Chill

“An ice bucket?” asked the waiter in a tapas bar I visited in Barcelona recently. “For a red wine, señor?” I swear I saw steam barrelling out of his ears...

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