A Good Marriage

by Margaret Rand
Most wines are diminished by food. Discuss, writing on both sides of the paper at once, preferably in green ink. How could it not be so? Wines today are intended...

Resonant Rosé

by Margaret Rand
To be perfectly clear, I love rosé. On a hot summer’s day it’s all you want; on a cool drizzly summer’s day it reminds you that it is in fact...

The Bodega’s Scent

by Margaret Rand
What is your idea of charisma in a wine? And where does it come from? It’s entirely subjective, of course. Look at it too hard and it might vanish. But...

Knowing When To Stop

by Margaret Rand
The other week Domaine de Chevalier brought over samples of the 19 components of its 2022 red grand vin, plus a sample of the final blend. I’ve always thought blending...

The Stage And The Actor

by Margaret Rand
I had to buy some more wine glasses the other day. I’ve always used Spiegelau ones at home – good quality, but not so expensive that breaking them induces a...

On Complexity

by Margaret Rand
A wine, like a short story, should have a beginning, a middle and an end. Nobody would disagree with that. But how many do? How many start, toddle along for...

Mistreating Wine

by Margaret Rand
First of all, I should apologise to Lilian Barton. All I can say is that it wasn’t altogether my fault. A friend brought a bottle of Léoville-Barton 2014 to dinner...

A Dachshund’s Ear

by Margaret Rand
My school coat was made of Harris Tweed. This is not relevant to anything, except that the other day I came across a wine with Harris Tweed tannins. They were...

A Bag Of Tricks

by Margaret Rand
You can always rely on Olivier Bernard for a good quote. Olivier is the chatelain of Domaine de Chevalier, on which you can always rely for a good wine, and...

Back And Forth

by Margaret Rand
Which is easier, to persuade people to drink a wine young if they think they should age it, or to age a wine they thought they could drink young? You...

Beautiful Things

by Margaret Rand
When a wine costs north of £600 a bottle, what should you expect of it? What is it reasonable to expect of any wine? Is it reasonable to think of...

Pick and Mix

by Margaret Rand
A couple of things have struck me recently. One was Richard Geoffroy, ex-chef de cave of Dom Pérignon, saying casually that he blends everything, even his breakfast orange juice. The...