More Rayas Than Raisin
by Rod Smith MW
For many people in the UK getting into wine in the 1990s Australia was new and vibrant. The ‘sunshine in a glass’ mantra, coupled with labels in English, often with...
Rod Smith MW
Rod Smith MW lives and works near Nice in the South of France. He is an educator, consultant, writer, marketer and wine tour leader. A master of wine since 2006, Rod has worked in the UK, Hong Kong and France and travelled widely throughout the wine world and the Far East. He has worked with the leading wine supplier to the superyacht industry in the South of France, and before that in the UK for a variety of fine w
Articles by Rod Smith MW
Bordeaux En Primeurs 2022
£15.00I am pleased to present my Bordeaux 2022 En Primeur report. After two separate packed trips to the region in April and May, tasting well over 450 wines, I am...
Add to basketThe Low-Down on Bordeaux 2022
by Rod Smith MW
The 2022 vintage in Bordeaux, as across all of France and most of the rest of Europe, was very hot. Regular news stories about daily temperatures exceeding 40°C were prominent....
Bordeaux 2019 bottled mini report
£5.00The Grands Crus Classés of the left bank and Sauternes (and a few others) As the En Primeur circus gears up for the first taste of the 2021 wines next...
Add to basketWhite Stone and Sun
by Rod Smith MW
Brač is the largest island in the Croatian archipelago on the Dalmatian coast, and just eight kilometres (around an hour by catamaran) from the easily accessible and beautiful city of...
2020 Bordeaux En Primeur Report
£15.00Just how visionary is 2020? Rod Smith MW tasted through over 600 wines in situ in Bordeaux at the end of April and this report has complete notes and scores...
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Bordeaux 2019 mini report
FREEFor free (because of its incompleteness), download an assessment of the 135 samples of Bordeaux 2019 that I was sent, without having the opportunity to taste in situ. With just...
Add to basketWhither Bordeaux 2019?
by Rod Smith MW
Why on earth would anyone spend €370 for a bottle of Cheval Blanc when you can buy Figeac for €120? Both seem likely to score around the 98-100 point range...
Treasure Island
by Rod Smith MW
As the tragedy of Australia’s 2019/20 bushfires continues to unfold, the most significant impact on the wine industry has been tragedy in the Adelaide Hills. So far, Tasmania has largely...
2018 Bordeaux En Primeur Report
£15.00Modern technology has made many things possible, but it still hasn’t enabled us to be in two places simultaneously. My duties as co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge meant that...
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2017 Bordeaux En Primeur Report
FREEI didn't make it to Bordeaux this year for the En Primeur tastings, but my friend and fellow Master of Wine, Rod Smith, did and has kindly allowed me to...
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