“Take my hand, tenez, trust me, leap, I won’t let go.” A favourite memory in rain-soaked Chablis, flood waters rising, taking a supplier’s outstretched hand as his courtyard began to...
At 5pm on the 25thof April 2008, Peter Hellman received a phone call from Geoffrey Troy of New York Wine Warehouse. The wine merchant had heard that “something unusual” was...
“Excellent!”, tweeted Donald J. Trump. That is all that it took for many in the US wine business to begin spewing soundbites like, “Disaster Averted” and “Panic Over”. Such nonsensical...
I write in a time of ashes. Not only have certain political dreams and projects recently gone up in smoke; the destructive fires have been raging more literally, all across...
Though the “ABC”, or “Anything But Chardonnay” campaign continues to rail against it, Chardonnay remains the favourite white grape of USA wine drinkers. It is also the planet’s most planted,...
You can find the original review here. In a world where feedback is quantifiable, instant, and direct, there is no worse sensation for a writer, even one as frivolous as...
“If only there could be an invention that bottled up a memory, like scent. And it never faded, and it never got stale. And then, when one wanted it, the...
When London’s first urban winery opened in 2013, I was cynical. But London Cru is still going strong, having since won multiple awards for its wines and gained listings in...
Managing England’s perennially underachieving football team is sometimes described as “the impossible job”. A delusional fan base, a fickle and vicious tabloid press and a set of players who, whatever...
What is it with you people that you want to know what I think about wine all the time? When I became the new Emperor of Wine, and, really, I’m...
This is a serious Pinot Noir verging on a dry red, but still showing enough varietal character to keep Pinotphiles happy. Rich and savoury, but with underlying brightness and finesse, it’s spicy and complex, showing flavours of fennel, red and black fruits and sweet vanilla oak. Promising.
Drinking window: 2014-18Similar Wines: £20-£30, 91-95, United States, Red, Pinot Noir
It was a crude but effective way of making a wine buying decision: Old World vs. New World. You had savoury, medium-bodied classic styles from Europe on the one hand;...