Doug Decants: Vale da Capucha Wines, Portugal

November 25, 2019

Pedro Marques’ Vale da Capucha wines are from organically farmed vines situated in the Lisbon region around eight km from the Atlantic Ocean on limestone soils rich with fossils. The precept is simple: maximum human work in the vineyard and minimum intervention in the winery. The resulting terroir-driven wines come from a medley of Portuguese […]

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A Georgian Supra in England

November 24, 2019

In our culture, we treat wine as a distinctive product, something with a labelled bottle that may engender expectations of a certain quality, something that may be pored over and talked about. In traditional wine countries, however, wine is a kind of nourishing food, always on the table, always part of the meal. Georgians are […]

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What’s New?!

November 13, 2019

A roll call of what’s rocked in over the last few weeks. German Weiss Squad Young Martin Woerner is probably tired of people calling him young Martin Woerner. He, and his small operation called Marto Wine, is based in Rheinhessen with organically-farmed vines on sandstone soils. Martin previously staged with Tom Lubbe at Matassa and […]

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Review of 2019: The Calm Before The Anti-Climax

November 9, 2019

Apparently, if I don’t complete this blog by some completely arbitrary date, I should find a convenient ditch and perish histrionically therein. This has been a year where we’ve always had one eye cocked on an (un)certain event taking place. In one sense, in or out would never make a huge amount of difference to […]

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Doug Decants: Urogallo Wines, Northwest Spain

November 8, 2019

Life Beyond Fabada Asturiana Snappers-up of unconsidered trifles might be vaguely aware of the existence of the wines of remote Asturias in northwest Spain, where the vineyards are carved into the canyon-like valley walls. The tradition of grape growing and winemaking in Asturias dates back to the 9th century. Unfortunately, the current century has not […]

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What ever happened to… Wine Controversies?

October 29, 2019

Once upon a time I only had to open my mouth or take to my keyboard to ruffle feathers– I had Larry David’s effortless knack for causing offence. Asked to write the occasional article for trade magazines, my moment of glory eventually arrived when I was given a brief to investigate and comment upon wine […]

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Focus On: Recaredo (Cava not Cava anymore) and Celler Credo

October 28, 2019

The other week Ton Mata was in town to show some new wines from Celler Credo and to reinforce the message that the Recaredo sparkling wines had seceded from the generic Cava DO. Both Recaredo and Celler Credo are dedicated to making wines that show the very best of their region. For almost a century, […]

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Celebrating the Autochthonous

October 28, 2019

I recently tasted a Georgian wine that had over 400 grape varieties blended into it. If ever there was a declaration of the symbolic desire to preserve a multi-faceted grape patrimony this was it. Our list has over 250 different varieties ranging from the classic noble varieties – as some wine writers would characterise them […]

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Doug Decants: Franz Weninger’s Furmint vom Kalk

October 28, 2019

Franz Weninger and his father switched to BD farming in 2006. They originally planted Furmint in Austria over a decade ago, but the vines were hit by frost – so 2018 is the first vintage of this wine. Franz views Furmint as the white equivalent to Blaufrankisch, a wine built on the backbone of high […]

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Doug decants: Camillo Donati’s Lambrusco Frizzante

October 15, 2019

Slow food pilgrims who take their hunger, scrip and staff to Bologna and environs know that it’s possible to find interesting, well-balanced Lambrusco from artisanal producers and go-ahead co-operatives. We are talking frothy and refreshing wines that one can sip on the piazza or enjoy with a pizza. Little of the quality Lambrusco escapes Emilia-Romagna, […]

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