Category Archives: Sparkling Wine
Recent Wines (August 2018) #theglouthatbindsus
It seems a long time ago, August, days of thirty-degree plus temperatures, three meals a day taken out in the garden, and hardly a serious red wine drunk. Nothing here will be anything more than light red, although the Blank … Continue reading
Tillingham Update (Sept 2018)
I wrote about my visit to Ben Walgate’s Tillingham Wines back in June, here. Quite a lot of interest has been generated in what Ben Walgate is doing there, in the far east of Sussex. This is in part because he … Continue reading
New at Newcomer
I read recently, under the Decanter Magazine headline “Bordeaux becalmed”, that for the first time since Sotheby’s started selling wine in 1970 Bordeaux has dipped below 50% in sales. The decline in popularity of this once king of the wine … Continue reading
Recent Wines (June/July 2018) #theglouthatbindsus
Philippe Alliet is a mercurial vigneron who makes Chinon east of the town, in the back streets of Cravant-les-Côteaux. He is best known for his single vineyard Côteau de Noiré, but Chinon Vieilles Vignes 2008 comes from Cabernet Franc vines over fifty … Continue reading
Tillingham
Having got to know Ben Walgate and his wines over the past year I had been itching to make a visit to his Tillingham Vineyard, within sight of Rye in East Sussex. I finally got a chance just over a … Continue reading
London Wine Fair 2018 Part 2 – Drinks Britannia and the Trading Floor
In Part 1 of my review of the 2018 London Wine Fair I concentrated on the small importers in the Esoterica area, where you could find perhaps the real excitement of the event. If you haven’t already read Part 1, you can catch … Continue reading
Bursting Bubbles – Robert Walters, and Some Thoughts on the Grower Champagne Philosophy
You will recall that I made Champagne by Peter Liem my wine book of last year. That expertly written book which puts terroir at its heart was the outstanding work on wine, in my view, in the whole of 2017. Bursting Bubbles by Australian author Robert Walters follows a similar … Continue reading
Great Exhibition 2018 – with the emphasis on Great
Yesterday was the Winter 2018 Great Exhibition Tasting in the arches under Holborn Viaduct, this time featuring Winemakers Club and Carte Blanche Wines. These Tastings are always good, but there must have been something in the air yesterday, because there … Continue reading
Our House (Taittinger)
Many of you will know that I have something of a thing for Grower Champagne. It comes from an interest in wines which express “place”, terroir wines, I suppose. But that doesn’t mean I ignore the so-called Grandes Marques. For … Continue reading
Liem and Larmat – A Perfect Combination
Like most people, I imagine, I came to appreciate Champagne first as a celebratory drink. Most often it was the non-vintage wine of a well known Grande Marque, or occasionally a vintage wine, consumed several years too soon. But in … Continue reading
