My visit to Madeira for a week was holiday rather than work but it did allow me to visit three producers – and drink Madeira on every occasion that presented itself! Above all, it reminded me that there is nothing like visiting the source to gain a better appreciation of the product and to fire […]
The launch of a new, “clean” wine called Avaline by Cameron Diaz and Katherine Power has raised hackles amongst the wine fraternity who, understandably, resent the accompanying claim that most other wines must, by definition, be dirty. However, much though I envy those who see the world in terms of black and white, I seldom […]
Some musings following the recent MW visit to New Zealand in February 2019 Not intended to be exhaustive – simply a summary of some of the highlights, key learnings, wines/producers I will be looking out for in the future…….and general reflections. Climate change – it is more likely to be wetter in winter […]
The next Lidl Wine Tour comes round 28th March 2019 and features, in my humble opinion, some absolute beauties. So this could be a long missive…….. Dry Whites Tête à Tête Pinot Blanc Pinot Gris – £7.99 – A beautiful blend from Alsace, off-dry, lime-scented, satisfying and refreshing. Greco di Tufo – £6.99 – […]
Feeling thirsty? Help is at hand. On Monday, March 26th Lidl’s Spring Wine Tour will hit the shelves. Good wines, great prices and a few that particularly caught my eye…… Champagne Bissinger Brut Rosé – £14.99 – Relatively dry for a rosé, well balanced and surprisingly complex – clearly some development in bottle. I’ll […]
Dispelling a few myths…. Argentina is and always has been a red wine country, yes? Wrong. As recently as the 1980’s, 90% of the country’s wine was white. Argentina is all about Malbec, of course…… Wrong. Under 20% of the country’s current grape plantings are Malbec. Argentina is a hot country so […]
A recent family holiday to Crete provided a perfect opportunity to improve my knowledge of a part of the wine world that was totally new to me. Apparently phylloxera only reached Crete in the 1970’s so there has been considerable replanting since, much of it with international grapes. Not to put too fine a point […]
The annual VDP* Grosses Gewäches** tasting in Wiesbaden is a remarkable event – an unrivalled opportunity to try the latest vintage of Germany’s top dry wines, accompanied by levels of organisation and service that could probably only be encountered in Germany. This year, we were tasting whites from the 2016 vintage and reds from 2015 […]
The next Lidl Wine Cellar will be instore from Thursday, July 27th. All the Hungarian wines are worth trying, of course, which you can check out here but these are a few of my top suggestions: Dry Whites Pouilly-Fumé Les Grandes Chaumes – £9.99 – This well-known Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire is normally much more […]
Just in case the wine rack is looking a little empty, Lidl’s next Wine Cellar Collection will be in store from August 4th. I am sure you are more than capable of making your own choices but I cannot resist suggesting a few of my own anyway! White Wines Gruner Veltliner Terraces 2015, Austria – […]