Notes on the 2017 Vintage – Worst Year Ever?
by Ron Washam
I traveled and tasted widely for this review of the wines of 2017. I think, in general, the vintage can be summed up as miserable. The wise consumer should give...
Topic: Column
The 12 wines of Christmas
by Natasha Hughes MW
December has barely begun, but if you’re anything like me 2016 has made you somewhat disinclined to feel much in the way of goodwill to all men, and you’re probably...
Faith in wine fakes?
by Tim Atkin
Investigative journalism is a dangerous business. Indeed, you could argue that in its purest form it’s often fatal. Find out something that rich and powerful people don’t want you to...
Ask Sid Heil, Your White Supremacist Sommelier!
by Ron Washam
As a young boy, Sid Heil decided he wanted to make wine his career. “My Dad taught me that white people had invented wine, and that it was an industry...
Rioja embraces singularity
by Tim Atkin
The poster in Vivanco’s Museum of Wine Culture said it all. It was first published in 2001, but it looked much older than that. Over 300 Rioja labels were crammed...
Tips for enoying natural wines at home
by Ron Washam
You have finally come to the realization that the only wines worth drinking are Natural Wines, but what’s the best way to enjoy those Natural Wines at home? Many people...
What next for Château Miraval?
by Tim Atkin
You can always rely on the wine trade to show a sense of perspective. As Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie prepare to eviscerate one another in the divorce courts, damaging...
Larry Anosmia MS, Frontier Sommelier
by Ron Washam
Episode 1: “By-the-Glass at the O.K. Corral” A famous Tombstone watering hole hires Larry Anosmia MS to increase sales and keep an eye on the Clanton gang. Doc Holliday takes...
Love among The Somms
by Ron Washam
The Somms are a strange people, only recently discovered by Westerners. Little is known about where they originated, though most anthropologists agree that it was very early in the 21st...
Rudy Kurniawan: last man standing?
by Henry Jeffreys
Before watching the documentary Sour Grapes, I had a mental image of American wine collectors as like the effete Crane brothers in Frasier. What I did not expect was what...
Selling California: the Impossible job?
by Tim Atkin
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...
Rethinking wine: back to the future?
by Henry Jeffreys
It might surprise you to learn that London had a fleet of electric taxis in the late 19th century. They were known as hummingbirds because of the noise they made....