Simon


TTH – it’s a term I often use in my tasting notes for wines that are Trying Too Hard to impress. Most of the time, they’re just too loud, with the excess volume coming through in either boisterous oak, overripe fruit or OTT extraction (and in some instances all three). […]

Asda price, jolly nice – Argie Malbec


I’m not going to direct you to the Decanter web site for the latest piffle about the St Emilion classification. You’re grown up, you have a computer, go and find it yourself. But I will print the list of ‘Related Stories’. Normally on the Decanter news stories, there are a […]

St Emilion classification – yawnus maximus


Raft of wines to get through this afternoon, some good, some not WHITESCavit Alta Italia Pinot Grigio 2008, Valdadige, ItalyThe label’s rather drab, but this actually smells of something beyond the bland, a good start for any PG. Gentle, peachy style, with a waxy, nutty core, it’s not earth-shattering, but […]

Tuesday afternoon selection



Lots of stuff in the news at the moment about how Brits are deserting Champagne for Prosecco, Cava and other cheaper fizzes. Not much of a surprise that, since most of us aren’t awash with cash at the mo. But Prosecco and Cava are for me rather different beasts. Bog-standard […]

Champagne Gaviscon


Cast your mind back 20 years, if you can (and if you can’t, sorry, indulge a sad old wine man for a few moments). Cheap Californian wine was just as disappointing as it was today, but in the midst of the gloom, one producer stood out like a beacon – […]

Bonterra Twins


Loved this comment on the weekend’s football from Yahoo’s Early Doors team – “Chelsea’s FA Cup sixth round win at Coventry was so completely lacking in drama that ITV would have been better off showing 90 minutes of Tic Tac adverts.” The gist of an entertaining article was that while […]

It’s a wine of two halves…