Although my very first vineyard visit was to Portugal 30 years ago, my work does not often give me a chance to taste Vintage Port so, when an opportunity presents itself, I am delighted.  Consequently I found myself attending a tasting hosted by Joao Nicolau d’Almeida and Dirk Niepoort, representing the houses of Ramos Pinto […]

Every year in April, the great and the good of the wine world descend on Bordeaux to taste the new vintage.  The sort of wine pilgrimage that other wine producing regions of the world can only dream of.  French wine producers are often accused of being poor marketers, but they have certainly hit the jackpot […]

Sometimes the wine world is sceptical and cynical, distrustful and suspicious; it whinges about the climate, the press, the supermarkets, the promotions, other wine producers/appellations /regions/countries/bloggers/writers and sometimes even the consumers, the very people who allow it to make a living from wine. But to be fair it is rare and most of the time […]

In retrospect, we didn’t pick the ideal time of year to hold an English Wine Tasting. The second day of spring seemed perfect back in September when we planned it – new life, new hope springing eternal? Sadly not. As it turned out, it was a freezing evening complete with a flurry of snow, depicting […]