Wolf Blass and his wines
by Tim Atkin
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...
Author: Tim Atkin
Aussie wines and The Ashes
by Tim Atkin
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...
Sideways look
by Tim Atkin
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,...
Youngest First
by Tim Atkin
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...
Europe’s new legislative dawn
by Tim Atkin
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...
Off licences in a recession
by Tim Atkin
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...
California dreaming in the UK
by Tim Atkin
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...
With this wine…
by Tim Atkin
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...
Wine, science and, er, sperm
by Tim Atkin
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...
Coming of Age
by Tim Atkin
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...
Affordable wines to lay down
by Tim Atkin
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...
The Big Chill
by Tim Atkin
“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...