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...
Author: Tim Atkin
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...
The Atkins. My wines of the year for 2009
by Tim Atkin
First, the good news. Not since 1990 has the world enjoyed such a consistently promising vintage as it did in 2009. The châteaux owners of Bordeaux may be leading the...
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...
Matt Skinner and a difference of vintages
by Tim Atkin
How much store do you set by tasting notes? Would a fulsome description of a Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc — combine mouth watering, zingy, tangy, nettley, gooseberryish, minerally, etc in the...
King of the hill
by Tim Atkin
A visitor to Angelo Gaja’s winery in Barbaresco fell to his knees on a recent tasting tour and tried to kiss the great man’s hands. “Please get up,” Gaja told...