Orange Wines & Tasting in 3-D

by blog on June 21, 2021

If amber wines were music, they would be as live performances, fuzzy, rough-edged and unpredictable. Their tactility means that you can touch them at the same time as they touch you. And like the best live music, they may give one a peculiar frisson. Symbolic Significance of Orange *Orange combines the energy of red and […]

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Sustain & Sustainability

by blog on June 9, 2021

I was one of the guests at a brilliantly-organised Zoom presentation arranged by The Pig at Harlyn Bay. The presentation itself centred around ideas of sustainability and organic farming, developing into a basic understanding of biodynamic and natural wines, focusing on the ethos behind these buzzwords. But what do they actually mean – and what […]

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An appreciation of Dominique Belluard

June 8, 2021

It is with enormous sadness that we have learned that Dominique Belluard of Domaine Belluard has passed away. We would like to remember him as the brilliant vigneron he was, a cheerful soul, always smiling with more than a touch of irreverence. His wines were so compelling, original and thrilling, inspiring many of the growers […]

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Spotlight on: Mas Foulaquier

June 7, 2021

Pierre Jéquier was an architect, but his passion for wine and the desire to work close to nature led him to the life of the vigneron. After a lot of research in the South of France, it was love at first sight when he discovered Mas Foulaquier in 1998. With its old stone farmhouse built […]

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Farewell, Terroirs! (2008 – 2021)

June 3, 2021

A personal reminiscence It has been officially announced that Terroirs, born in 2008 at the height of the recession in William IV Street WC2, is to close its doors and hang up its wine decanters. It may be a cliché to say that we have enjoyed the rollercoaster ride. But we definitely have. Terroirs was, […]

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Natural Enjoyment

May 26, 2021

The beautiful contractions of inconsistency One of my memories of 2020 is how many good wines I drank over the twelvemonth. I would classify all of those as naturally-made, notwithstanding the full spectrum of styles within that category ranging from serious amber wines to glouglou reds. My abiding impression was of wine after wine that […]

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The Long Read: “I smell red”

May 26, 2021

Check out or previous Long Read, ‘I See Red’! Smell, or olfaction to give its scientific appellation, is so important when we are talking about associations, memories and epiphanies. Smell is often our first response to stimuli.  It seems to invade our consciousness unawares. It alerts us to danger before we see it. It warns […]

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Decanting: Vigneti Tardis “Giovedi”

May 25, 2021

Vigneti Tardis is a collaboration between Jack Lewens (former sommelier and now co-owner of Leroy in Shoreditch) and his long-time friend, Bruno de Conciliis of Viticoltori de Conciliis, the master of the Aglianico grape. They farm organically and biodynamically, producing wines with a hands-off approach from 3.6 hectares of vines in Cilento, Campania. The focus […]

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Spotlight on: Domaine Saint Nicolas

May 25, 2021

Domaine Saint Nicolas works toward protecting a unique maritime area where an exceptional microclimate exists for wine production. In 2011, with the creation of the AOC, the domaine became entitled to the “Fiefs-Vendéens Brem” appellation. The 40-hectares of land surrounded by the ocean, forests and salt marshes are composed of clay, schist & quartz. Enhanced by biodynamic methods and polyculture, the vineyards create […]

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The Long Read: “I see red”

May 12, 2021

Many dozens of books have fully explored the mechanics of taste, its fixities and definites, and there are numerous systems to codify or judge these. Sometimes I wonder if this is not a case of “we murder to dissect”. I would like to propose an alternative romantic notion that wine is a liquid vessel of […]

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