Simon Woods

Drinking Outside The Box

SWSW

…isn’t it ironic. Isn’t it ironic that I got an award for this site last week yet haven’t managed to post much in the last month or so. The truth is life is currently (and pleasantly) rather frantic. I have lots of video material that just needs that couple of […]

As Alanis said…. (oh, and some stuff about underpants)

September 22, 2010 by Simon

It’s exactly a year since simonwoods.com went from being a passive ‘click here if you want to go to a half-hearted blog’ entity to being a fully-fledged website. What prompted the move? There wasn’t one single major event, just a series of disappointing episodes over the course of three or […]

Happy Anniversary – www.simonwoods.com one year on…

June 23, 2010 by Simon

Saw that Tilar Mazzeo had done a post called 5 Huge Misconceptions About Visiting Wineries. Here’s my take on the subject. If you’re lucky, you may have wineries near where you live. If not, you may at least find yourself on holiday in a wine region. But whichever, I have […]

Grape Grazing – 10 tips on how to behave when ...

March 29, 2010 by Simon

Did a post last year (here) about etiquette at tastings for those both behind and in front of the tables. Clearly not enough people read it – table hoggers and restaurants hunting in packs were in evidence at a number of the events I’ve been to this week. But their […]

Catalogue of disasters – the in’s and out’s of tasting ...

February 12, 2010 by Simon

Saw on Facebook that Jamie Goode is currently staying at Quinta do Noval. Hope he’s having a great time, I have fond memories of being there at roughly the same point for the 1998 vintage, which was, not to mince words, one of the crapper years in recent memory. It […]

Quinta do Noval, Swedes and Morris Dancing

September 24, 2009 by Simon

On the train on the way to London for yet more sniffing and spitting. Tomorrow, there’s the annual Argentine bash plus the autumn tastings of two of the UK’s top importers, Boutinot and Liberty Wines. Overload on one day surely? Maybe for those who live in London, but for those […]

Tasting etiquette from both sides of the table

September 14, 2009 by Simon