The Autobiography of Les Caves de Pyrene. Chapter Six: Of the Psychology of Tasting, Wine Fairs and Feelings – Part One.

February 28, 2019

Read Chapter One Parts One, Two and Three Chapter Two Parts One, Two and Three Chapter Three Part One and Two and Three Chapter Four Part One and Two Chapter Five Part One and Two Homer: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just remember if your mother asks, I took you to a wine tasting. Lisa: But that’s a terrible thing for a father to do! Homer: That’s why she’ll believe it. Generic tastings – RIP? […]

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The Natural Wine ABCs

February 22, 2019

A is for additives such as acidification. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it and if it is broke it’s the fault of the way the wine is made in the vineyard. Also for adulteration. Also for amphora, autochthonous grapes, ancestral method (sparkling wines), aldehydes, artisan and ambient (ferment). A is for alcohol level which […]

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Doug Decants: Weingut Knauss, Germany

February 19, 2019

Andi Knauss, who now is in his early thirties, started to work together with his father at their family estate in the Remstal region, east of Stuttgart, in 2004 as the fourth generation. Vineyard land here is expensive, but Andi has slowly built up the estate parcel-by-parcel, sometimes just a row, and today he works 15 […]

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The Wild Pacific North West: US Wines Back In The Saddle

February 14, 2019

Ovum Wines: A Critique of Pure Riesling John House and Ksenija Kostic both have day jobs so they’re able to take risks with Ovum Wines. For example, they focus solely on whites rather than more lucrative reds. “They are unveiled, so raw,” explains House. “You can’t hide anything. I think whites are a better conduit for […]

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Doug Decants: The Wines of Valter & Klemen Mlecnik, Slovenia

February 5, 2019

The Mlecnik 9ha farm, situated in Bukovica at the western end of the Vipava valley near the Italian border, is planted to a mix of Chardonnay, Rebula, Sauvignonasse (ex-Tocai Friulano), Istrian Malvasia, Pinela and Merlot, all of which produces a mere average total of 12.000 bottles a year. All the grapes for their wines come […]

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What is a value for money wine?

January 28, 2019

If beauty lies in the eye of the beholder so does value for money. We are more likely to appreciate that a hand-crafted wine might represent value, if we know that the wine is singular and might never be replicated. Produced in small quantities, such artisan wine is the living record of the vintage and […]

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Chapter Five: Of Natural Wine Bars. Part Two

January 25, 2019

Read Chapter One Parts One, Two and Three Chapter Two Parts One, Two and Three Chapter Three Part One and Two and Three Chapter Four Part One and Two Chapter Five Part One Wine diamonds What’s that in the bottle? It looks like slivers of glass. More like a disco glitterball light show! It’s like diamonds dancing in a cloud of purple smoke!! Tartrates are a normal by-product of wine as […]

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Doug Decants: New Single Vineyard Frappatos from Arianna Occhipinti

January 22, 2019

Arianna Occhipinti works in the vineyards, finding an endless source of inspiration through observation. In particular, during the last few years, she has not only been focused on the splendid varieties of Frappato di Vittoria and Nero d’Avola, but also on the soil and on the potential of the various districts or contrade of Vittoria […]

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A Tribute to Gerard Basset OBE

January 17, 2019

From Gerrard’s website: Gerard Basset, one of the world’s greatest wine professionals, passed away yesterday morning surrounded by his family. He had fought a brave battle against cancer of the oesophagus since 2017. Gerard was the first and remains the only individual to have held the excruciatingly challenging Master of Wine qualification simultaneously with the […]

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Chatting with: Ben Walgate, Tillingham Wines

January 14, 2019

2018 was an incredibly busy year for Ben Walgate, winemaker and co-founder of Tillingham. They launched their first wines onto the UK market, planted 10,000 vines by hand at their farm in Peasmarsh near Rye in E. Sussex (the fruits of which will see the light of day in 2021), took part in the biggest and […]

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