All NZ’s grapes in one basket?

by Tim Atkin
Let’s start this column with something interactive. I’d like you to find a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. On the left hand side please list...

Why wine writing matters

by Tim Atkin
It’s open season on wine writers at the moment. If you believe people like Oliver Thring and Tim Hanni, we are misguided elitists talking to one another rather than consumers,...

Batting for Australia

by Tim Atkin
You know things are bad when the Aussies, normally the most chipper of nations, start grouching about their lot. “We’re stuffed, mate,” one of their number told me recently, having...

Tasting notes

by Tim Atkin
Stroll through the vineyards of the De Morgenzon farm in Stellenbosch and the sound that surrounds you is literally music to your ears. It may have to compete with the...

Doctor’s Orders

by Tim Atkin
Clohars-Carnoët or Collioure? That’s the decision the French television channel TF1 has to make over the next month or so, according to a recent article in Le Parisien. These two...

Time to call in the ombudsman

by Tim Atkin
Gordon Brown’s government may be running out of time as well as ideas, but before it turns its attention to the forthcoming election has it belatedly decided to curb the...

The Perfect Dozen

by Tim Atkin
If you gave up booze for a month on 1 January, as several of my friends did, you may have reached the point, two weeks later, when you’ve locked away...

My predictions for 2010

by Tim Atkin
Hands up anyone who can remember a more depressing year than the one that has just ended? I thought so. Even for those of us who are positive, glass half...

Beyond the Big Six grape varieties

by Tim Atkin
“I love Chablis, but I can’t stand Chardonnay.” “I hate Sancerre, but I adore Sauvignon Blanc.” You used to hear such comments all the time, even from people who claimed...

Christmas Day chez Atkin

by Tim Atkin
Forget about turkey, stuffing and brandy butter: the Atkin family Christmas will have a Spanish flavour this year. There are two reasons for this, neither related to the London location...

Best fizz of 2009

by Tim Atkin
With 12 days to go until Christmas, I’d like to propose a yuletide toast to Professor Gérard Liger-Belair of the University of Reims. He it was who proved earlier this...

Will this end cheap alcohol deals?

by Tim Atkin
It was a neat, if unfortunate coincidence that on the day the Scottish government published its alcohol bill, a small brewery in Fraserburgh released a head banger beer called Tactical...