Recent Posts

It’s been a lovely morning, and I’m just resting after lunch with a glass of Château Pontet Bagatelle La Rosée de Bagatelle 2008, Coteaux d’Aix en Provence (£9.99 from Great Northern Wine). Provence rose can be something of an overpriced disappointment, but this one, with its floral peach melba flavours […]

Provençal Rosé, Rochdale and Michael Jackson

by
At least that’s the theory of the way in which wineries should take you up their portfolio. It’s based on classic European wines – Bourgogne Rouge, village Gevrey, Les Cazetiers  and then Chambertin. Or QbA, Kabinett, Auslese, TBA. Or Rioja Crianza, Reserva, Gran Reserva. Historically it’s been true – move […]

Good, Better, Best?

by
No, it’s not the Association of Sad Drunk Winos, it’s the Association of Small Direct Wine Merchants. And if you want to quiz the members as to why the M for Merchants bit isn’t in the acronym, you’ll find some of them showing off their wines at Canons Ashby in […]

ASDW Tasting at Canons Ashby

by
Some people have been in touch since I transferred the blog to the new site saying that while they liked the content, there weren’t enough pictures. So here’s a picture to keep them happy. Yes, I know, it’s a picture of a piece of carpet, what’s that got to do […]

The Stains Massive

by
Just gathered together all the posts I did from last year’s experiment of tasting only major wine brands for a three-week period – was it the liquid form of a sound system that only plays Kenny G, or was it a pleasant surprise? To find out, follow the link on […]

The bland leading the bland

by
“It is currently not obvious to observers and managers caught up by the damage of change that Australia has just finished two decades of branded commodity wine growth to dominance and inevitable decline and is now entering the decades of Australian wine emergence. As the trauma recedes that will become […]

Australia down and out? Don’t you believe it…

by