The Sweet Smell of Success
by Robert Joseph
“When that limey writer Tim Atkin said my S.O.S. Winemaker’s Red Blend was the ‘Coca Cola of wine’ I could’a hugged the guy. He probably thought he was bein’ critical,...
Author: Tim Atkin
All I want for Christmas
by Ron Washam
Dear Santa, I don’t really want much for myself this Christmas. Oh, I guess there are a lot of material things that part of me craves. I was thinking I...
The 2013 harvest in France: un millésime du vigneron
by Tessa Segal
Earlier this month the French Ministry of Agriculture published its current estimate of the country’s wine production this year. At 42.3 million hectolitres, it looks like 2013 will narrowly surpass...
Wine, minerals and bull schist
by Robert Joseph
“I go with the flow.” Lubricated by six serious Mojitos – his favourite drink – Danny Makeabiggabuck is surprisingly loquacious about the approach he takes to the wine business. The...
The Official 2013 Bordeaux Vintage Report
by Ron Washam
Here in Bordeaux, we’re Singin’ in the Rain over the wonderful 2013 Harvest. Many might compare 2013 to the magical vintage of 1984, a vintage memorialized by the great George...
A spoonful of sugar
by Tim Atkin
There’s nothing like delivering a speech about the UK wine market to make you focus on its strengths and weaknesses. I was asked to talk to a group of Spanish...
Wine and the Académie Française
by Robert Joseph
The arrival of President Jean Suis-Convaincu at the Elysée Palace in 2017 changed everything – but only briefly after Tea Party Republicans drove the world into a second financial crisis...
What it takes to make great wine
by Tim Atkin
What does it take to make a great wine? An amazing vineyard is the most obvious answer, preferably but not necessarily planted with old vines. You can’t put lipstick on...
The Wisdom of Age
by Tim Atkin
“A vineyard planted at the gates of hell”, doesn’t sound like the most promising source of fine wine. You’d expect it to make a pruney, full-bodied red or a fiery...
The Sommeliers’ Last Wish Foundation
by Ron Washam
Dear Friend of Wine, Hello, you’ve probably heard of me. My name is Larry Anosmia, and I’m the best Master Sommelier in America. Yes, that Larry Anosmia, star of the...
The Beautiful South
by Tim Atkin
Welcome! Bienvenidos! Thobela! Using a modern day riff on Joel Grey’s famous song in Cabaret, The Beautiful South held its first, keenly-awaited tasting in London last week. If you’ve not...
Wine terrorism: meet the CRAV
by Mark Andrew
The year is 1973. A dark cloud has gathered over Europe. Troubled governments are scrambling to get to grips with revolutionary organisations across a continent riven with economic hardship and...