Does somewhereness matter in wine?
by Tim Atkin
I’ve never been to the Phantom River in New Zealand’s South Island, but a quick search on line shows that it rises in the Ben McLeod Range and joins the...
Author: Tim Atkin
A day at the Napa Valley Old Wine Critics Home
by Ron Washam
“You want to know what really drives me nuts?” Sam Euthanasia, World’s Oldest Wine Critic, tells me, “The whole place smells like pee. It’s like spending the day judging goddam...
What have wine critics ever done for us?
by Peter Pharos
Wine is a many-maligned thing. The punters are snobs and bores; the servers are sycophants or stuck-up; the vendors dress the emperor in the finest invisible silk. None, however, is...
Wine’s race to the bottom
by Tim Atkin
Does anyone remember Safeway? In its day, it had one of the best supermarket wine ranges in the UK: diverse, daring and invariably well selected. When the chain was taken...
Erotica for the Natural Wine Lover
by Ron Washam
He was the most handsome man in the bar. I knew he was the one when he walked over to the jukebox and selected my favorite song — The Police’s...
Wine and Opera: Traveling Down Parallel Roads?
by Christy Canterbury MW
The opening text incensed me. It was The New York Times review of The Metropolitan Opera’s Elektra by Anthony Tommasini. “The Metropolitan Opera is struggling right now, facing longstanding challenges...
Protecting the global spirit of wine
by Tim Atkin
Anyone who thinks that wine and politics inhabit different worlds might like to have a word with some Californian producers right now. As part of the escalating trade war between...
The NRA Wine Club – Locked and Loaded
by Ron Washam
Hello, I’m Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association inviting you to become a member of the NRA Wine Club. At the NRA, we believe that nothing goes better with...
The Lismore Sauvignon Blanc Tasting
by Tim Atkin
The fourth annual Lismore tasting, pitching South Africa against the rest of the world, focused on wooded Sauvignon Blanc and white Bordeaux blends. In previous editions we have looked at...
English wine and the Union Flag
by Tim Atkin
What does the Union Jack symbolise to you? Pride? Shame? Sovereignty? Populism? Peace? Colonialism? All are possible responses and have been almost since the flag was designed in 1800 to...
The Rollercoaster of the US Wine Landscape
by Christy Canterbury MW
The US wine industry is perched precipitously atop a rollercoaster – on one of those tummy-turning peaks where you can’t see over the front to anticipate which way you’re lurching...
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc: too much of a good thing?
by Tim Atkin
In the recent history of wine, it’s hard to think of a bigger success story than New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. People famously complain that the fastest way to earn a...