Torrontés: a singular white grape … When it comes to wine, Argentina is best known for reds and Malbec in particular. But the country is no one trick pony. If you dig a bit deeper you will discover other good red wines, especially red blends, while the best whites in my view are those made from […]
Category Archives: wine
English wines: sparkling, rosé and white
English wines: five good wines to try I have visited quite a few wine producers on my home turf this year including Rathfinny Estate in Sussex, where I saw the estate’s first vines being planted back in the spring. We’ll have to wait until 2016 to taste the first sparkling wines from this newcomer, but […]
Horse power: Mas Amiel and Maury
I find it rather therapeutic when I occasionally see horses being used in the vineyard, particularly in Europe where machine power has long been the norm. Some producers are reverting to using horses (or mules) in Priorat in Spain and other regions where steep terraces makes the use of machines almost impossible. Horses have also been […]
Galicia: the new Spain
The wine regions of Galicia in north-west Spain are well worth exploring for an increasingly diverse range of whites led by Albariño and Godello while the region’s red wines made almost exclusively from local grapes such as Mencía are also coming to the fore. My feature in the May issue of The Drinks Business titled ‘Oceans of Promise’ […]
Sherry is a hit at the AKT tasting
I love Sherry! These were not my words although I am very fond of Sherry. This was a phrase that I kept hearing during a Spanish wine tasting that I gave in London last week in aid of the Albert Kennedy Trust (www.akt.org.uk) *. The conversation turned to Sherry as we were setting up: I looked down […]
Spanish wines for spring: Cavas and whites
I’ve tasted some impressive Spanish wines lately, some made from grapes that I haven’t previously heard of. Here are the ones that have most impressed me together with a few other favourites… Cavas: 1. Conde de Haro NV, Bodegas Muga, Rioja, £15 A delicious sparkling wine based on the Viura and Malvasía grapes, the classic […]
A fine glass for the New Year
I’m becoming far more selective about the kind of glass that I use or like to be offered, especially for particularly good wines. Elegant glasses with no frills and fine lines tend to catch my eye and, although my personal selection is far from extensive, I try to use a glass to suit a wine style […]
My Christmas wines
I love Christmas Eve: the hard work is over, the family is about to arrive, the fridge is well stocked, the Champagne is chilling and it’s time to start cooking. This morning the smell of chocolate wafted through the house – we’re having chocolate pot (see below for the recipe) to go with the fantastic dessert wine […]
Magnums make a great gift
A few years ago I started to give magnums (the equivalent of two standard bottles of wine/1.5litre) to my family and friends at Christmas and other times of the year. I’ll be doing the same this year for the following reasons: 1. The magnum bottle is often described as the ideal size for wine maturation […]
2011 harvest report for Spain
My extensive report on this year’s harvest in Spain can be seen at: www.winesfromspainuk.com I collected comment from producers and regional representatives in both well known and up-and-coming regions to find out about the challenges that they faced and their early predictions for the wines of 2011. We will start to see the first wines next […]