Punk Rock wines
by Henry Jeffreys
I was watching a program about Irish rock music on BBC 4 the other night. The problem with these compilation shows is that in order to get to the Pogues...
Author: Tim Atkin
Bordeaux’s Stonehenge moment
by Tim Atkin
There’s a scene in This is Spinal Tap, Rob Reiner’s spoof rockumentary about an English heavy metal band, that features a live performance of a song called Stonehenge. Keen to...
Ask Dr. Pinny! The Simpleton’s Guide to Wine
by Ron Washam
Wine might be the most difficult beverage on Earth to enjoy properly. Coffee is easy. No matter what coffee “experts” tell you, coffee is all the same. It’s roasted beans,...
What went wrong at Vinopolis?
by Tim Atkin
Is it really 16 years since Vinopolis opened its doors to the public? I can clearly remember the hoopla and sense of anticipation that accompanied the launch of London’s self-styled...
The six people you want to avoid in the wine business
by Ron Washam
Everyone has advice for whom you should know in the wine business. Article after article on the subject have appeared in online publications. And each one is self-serving crap, a...
Farewell, Dave West and Serge Hochar
by Tim Atkin
It’s highly unlikely that Dave West, the former barrow boy who created Eastenders in Calais, and Serge Hochar of Lebanon’s Château Musar ever met. The former didn’t strike me as...
Who are you calling an alcoholic?
by Henry Jeffreys
I’m sure you’ve already had your fill of writers telling you that they’re giving up drink for January or that they’re not giving up anything for January because they’re different....
What not to publish on your wine blog in 2015
by Ron Washam
Shut up about alcohol levels, for Christ’s sake. You don’t know what you’re talking about. And what ABV (Alcohol By Verisimilitude) is it that you’re referring to, the number listed...
Mad Frankie Fraser and the price of wine
by Tim Atkin
Mad Frankie Fraser, the notorious gangster who died last week, was famous for using pliers to extract his victims’ teeth under torture. One hesitates to say that the wine trade...
Blank de Blanc
by Simon Woolf
Browsing the wine selection at Bordeaux airport is revealing. Unsurprisingly, the grand vins of the Médoc, St. Emilion and Pomerol take up most of the shelf space, with some more...
The adventures of Brett Bung
by Ron Washam
Given his normal upbringing on the outskirts of a great metropolitan city, no one would have been able to anticipate that humble Brett Bung would one day emerge as the...
Whatever happened to wine journalism?
by Jamie Goode
In his play No Exit, Jean-Paul Sartre outlines a vision of hell. It consists of three people who don’t like each other confined together for eternity. Mine? It’s that I’ll...