New world takes on Old world classics 2!
NEW VENUE! NEW NIGHT! A winelover's face-off! Back by popular request with another three sets! Where is this 'new world'? Is new always best? Are the originals worth the money? What is even the difference? Are the new and exciting wines worth the hype? Can traditional...
Albarino! Alvarinho! Why we love it!
Albarino or Alvarinho? Well, it depends on where you come from really it does. Same grape, different accent! Albarino in Spain and when it crosses the border into neighbouring Portugal, it likes to be called Alvarinho. It is the star white wine grape...
Pazo Senorans Albarino
Who makes it? Pazo Senorans is yet another Albarino specialist. For those unyet familiar with the grape, this is a Spanish/Portuguese native white grape variety. The grape Alvarinho is the Portguese version. Pazo Senorans has quite the range, including two spirits...
Bodegas del Palacio Albarino de Fefiñanes
Who makes it? The makers of Albarino de Fefiñanes, Palacio of Fefiñanes, is one of the world's Albarino specialists. It is therefore unsurprising that this is just one of four wines produced with this Spanish/Portuguese native white grape variety. Of...
Chateau Ksara Gris de Gris
Who makes it? Chateau Ksara has been making wine in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon since 1857. This is remarkable given the politics of making wine in Lebanon, but the Jesuit monks who planted the vineyards, and created one of Lebanon’s oldest wineries had great wine in...
d’Arenberg Peppermint Paddock
Who makes it? D’Arenberg Peppermint Paddock is one of those wine that fits the very definition of ‘moreish’! It goes without saying that the Osborn family make quite a few wines that rate very highly on that scale. They do have a very wide and eclectic range of wines...
Yes, you CAN chill red wines! Here are six you will love…
Meet the chilled red!.... I recently held a Masterclass on Wines for Summer. As part of that night, I featured red wines that you can chill during the heat of summer. That is right, chilled red! As well as making sure that everyone knew how to keep their red wines in...
Villa Blanche Piquepoul Noir
Who makes it? Villa Blanche is one of the brands produced by Domaine Calmel & Joseph from the Languedoc. Many of the wines under the Domaine’s name, are organically produced as well. The Villa Blanche range is not as yet. The range contains not just a...
Waitrose ‘Lost and Found’ Frappato
Who makes it? Waitrose ‘Lost and Found’ Frappato is a Waitrose own label wine. Frappato is one of Sicily’s native red wine grapes. It is known for maker lighter bodied red wines. Of course, lovers of Cerasuolo di Vittoria may know it as a component of that wine when...
Pizzini Round up 2022 – Part 2!
Two of the red grapes that Pizzini are well known for is Sangiovese and Nebbiolo. The family were amongst the first vineyards, after McLaren Vale’s Coriole, to plant Sangiovese in the 1980s. To read more about the background of both the Pizzini family and their...
Louis Jadot Macon Rouge
Who makes it? Louis Jadot is a Burgundy based producer with a long history on the world’s stage. It is a producer renowned for making high quality wines that happen to be quite affordable. Maconnais as a region also extends into Moulin-A-Vent, one of the well regarded...
Champagne Brimoncourt Brut Régence
Who makes it? Champagne Brimoncourt is still a relatively new Champagne maker with a history. You can read more about its history here in Brimoncourt, France's new Champagne House has its roots in history. However, the brand is one that is not ‘new’ but newly...
Latest videos:
Winery Spotlight: Rathfinny Wine Estate
Click here to watch this video. or click here to read about Rathfinny Wine Estate
Winemaker Series: Colette Bonnet Champagne
click here to watch video click here to read about Colette Bonnet Champagne
What to drink: Bordeaux wines for Christmas
Please click to watch video Note: First published 24th November, 2018
Winemaker Series: Gavin Monery, Vagabond
Click here to watch video click here to read about Vagabond Winery
Winemaker Series: Henry Connell, The Uncommon
click here to watch video click here to read about The Uncommon Wines and Henry Connell.
Winery Spotlight: Piggs Peake
click here to watch this video click here to read about Piggs Peake
Albarino! Alvarinho! Why we love it!
Albarino or Alvarinho? Well, it depends on where you come from really it does. Same grape, different accent! Albarino in Spain and when it crosses the border into neighbouring Portugal, it likes to be called Alvarinho. It is the star white wine grape...
Yes, you CAN chill red wines! Here are six you will love…
Meet the chilled red!.... I recently held a Masterclass on Wines for Summer. As part of that night, I featured red wines that you can chill during the heat of summer. That is right, chilled red! As well as making sure that everyone knew how to keep their red wines in...
Beaujolais! It is not at all new-vo {new though…. }
Ok… that was a very poor joke. But it is all a gam’, ay? Beaujolais! It is no laughing matter really. I have been very keen to turn my attention to it after noticing that it was gaining popularity amongst wine experts. There were even articles written...
Tahbilk – A bottled history in Marsanne
The Tahbilk range of marsanne tells a rich story steeped in the pioneering spirit of Australian winemaking and the Purbrick family. Nowhere else in Australia, to my knowledge, has the breadth of choice of straight marsanne wine on offer. The first vines The...
Langmeil, the Lindner family preserving Barossa history
Langmeil, one of the gems of the Barrossa Valley.... Australia’s Barossa Valley has a well-deserved reputation for some of the world’s finest wines. Amongst the producers that focus on delivering powerful red wines that tell a story of alcohol and dried fruit, there...
Winery Spotlight: Getting to know Rathfinny Estate
I had no idea what to expect when I visited Rathfinny Wine Estate by chance last Summer. It was a spur of the moment idea. The vineyard I had initially decided to visit had no time slots left and did not accept visitors without bookings. Fair enough. It was a smaller...
Women in Wine:
Cote Bonneville Chardonnay
Who makes it? Cote Bonneville is a family run winery in the Yakima Valley, Washington State. The Shiels family expanded the vineyard back in the early 1990s when they purchased it and daughter, Kerry Shiels, is now the winemaker. The oldest block in their DuBrul...
Jane Eyre Wines Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir
Who makes it? Jane Eyre is an Australian winemaker that also puts her stamp on French wine, including this Beaujolais wine from Chenas. She is now well known for her expertise in Pinot Noir after vintages at Cullen in Margaret River, Felton Road, Central Otago and Ata...
Santa Julia Organic Torrontes
Who makes it? Santa Julia is one of the Zuccardi family’s estates, with Julia Zuccardi at the head. The Torrontes grapes for this wines come from Mendoza vineyards at the foot of the Andes, from 600 metres above sea level. This simply means that the grapes are ripened...