In praise of natural wine
by Tim Atkin
The wine style I want to promote doesn’t come from a specific region, although most of its exponents are French and Italian. More frustratingly still, it has no legal definition...
Country: France
Reds to help you chill out this summer
by Tim Atkin
The sommelier’s eyebrows arched like circumflex accents as he spat the words back at me, Gallic steam hissing from his ears. “Vous voulez un seau à glace?” he demanded incredulously,...
Eating out? Please bring a bottle
by Tim Atkin
How do you spend $47,221.09 on lunch for six people? Assuming your credit card company will authorise the transaction, it’s surprisingly easy if you’re a billionaire. To paraphrase Withnail in...
Au revoir, Chamarré?
by Tim Atkin
“Made in France, enjoyed everywhere,” runs the tag line on Chamarré’s appropriately colourful website. At the time of writing, both parts of this statement remain true, but for how much...
Grenache and Woody Allen’s Zelig
by Tim Atkin
Some grapes are born great, some achieve greatness, while others have greatness thrust upon them. But what about the supporting actors: the spear carriers, the chorus, the walk-on parts? There...
What’s great about Grenache
by Tim Atkin
Delegates at the first ever conference dedicated to Grenache were handed a bag celebrating “G-Day” upon arrival, a tongue-in-cheek allusion to the Normandy landings in June sixty-six years earlier. To...
World Cup Wines
by Tim Atkin
Here we go. Or rather ‘ere we go, ‘ere we go, ‘ere we go. Unless you’ve been in solitary confinement for the last year, you’ll be aware that the World...
Beaujolais – more than nouveau
by Tim Atkin
Talking about Beaujolais in May feels weird, like donning thermals in the height of summer. This vibrant, juicy red is so closely associated with Beaujolais nouveau day, a worldwide celebration...
Wine and the spirit of co-operation
by Tim Atkin
Co-operation may be fashionable in political circles at the moment, but in the wine business it’s increasingly regarded as the equivalent of a tweed skirt: frumpy, moth-eaten and distinctly old-fashioned....
A cloud with a silver lining: natural wines
by Tim Atkin
Walk into any wine shop and you can see the bottles that sell, placed strategically in the fridge or in attention-grabbing piles close to the till. The wall flowers are...
What to drink on election night
by Tim Atkin
If his diaries are to be believed, the late Alan Clark always went to bed early on New Year’s Eve, avoiding noisy parties to get a good night’s kip in...
What makes a great sommelier?
by Tim Atkin
It’s been a mixed month for Gallic gastronomy. If the French were insulted by the fact that their country didn’t feature once in Restaurant Magazine’s list of the top 10...