How, today, can a wine surprise us? And does that element of surprise come by accident, while both we and the wine are, as it were, looking elsewhere, or can...
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Under The Weather
Bordeaux needs a break. It was once regarded by the French themselves as the greatest of wine regions, but now youngsters are drinking less (and less wine) – just as...
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A Fair Deal
There are a few grapes still out there on the vines, but the verdict on the quality of the 2025 crop was harvested some time ago. After a run of...
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Tropical Boundaries
My first encounter with Indian wines left me unimpressed. They had a hint of two-stroke exhaust and DEET on the nose, reminiscent of the smell that hits you when the...
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Bulking Up
In the vast factory I’m surrounded by the clink of bottling lines. Despite the huge space, there aren’t many workers, and most of them are either adjusting robots or zipping...
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The Dilution of Terroir
First up, a trigger warning… I’m approaching this article from the premise that terroir exists. It’s a position to which I would hope most readers of this site would subscribe....
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Uncomfortable Truths
Champagne is one of the elegant extras in life. These words, borrowed from Dickens, capture some of the glamour and sparkle of Champagne, its decadence and luxury. It is a...
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The Truth About Myths
Contrary to popular belief, the Chinese don’t mix Bordeaux with Coke. Yet, between November 2017 and September 2018, I lost count of how many times I was told this, along...
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An Uncertain Road
I stood there watching Mark Zuckerberg welcome the new year with an announcement that Meta goes MAGA, and I knew that I should feel worried, angry or afraid, but a...
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Resuscitating The English Patient
Two decades ago, I gave a PowerPoint presentation on Champagne in Champagne. At the end, there was a ripple of applause that fell decibels short of ‘polite’ on the clapometer....
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The Need For A Story
When did winemakers become philosophers? Is it that if you charge more than a certain amount for a bottle of wine you have to justify it by some intellectual heft,...
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Aiming High
Where are the highest vineyards in Europe. Switzerland? The Alto Adige perhaps? Both have sites that are vertiginous when you compare them to most of the continent’s classic wine regions....
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