Category Archives: Wine

J’ai Soif et J’ai Faim

Around ten minutes walk south of Clapham Junction runs Battersea Rise, a busy main road in what just about counts as Outer London down here. Much like hundreds of others of its kind it possesses a string of cafés and … Continue reading

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Dirty Dozen at the Vinyl Factory

There are a dozen wine merchants in this group, who were showing wines at The Vinyl Factory in Soho on Tuesday last week. How dirty they are, I’ll leave you to assess, but the dirt in question is terroir (presumably). … Continue reading

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Gut Oggau Family Reunion

Many family reunions are fraught with tension, petty jealousies and conflict under the surface. This particular family reunion was the happiest I have ever attended. Gut Oggau is probably known to many who will read this article, but for those … Continue reading

Posted in Austria, Austrian Wine, biodynamic wine, Natural Wine, Neusiedlersee, Wine, Wine Tastings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Secret Garden and The Pig

Tim Phillips isn’t a name many of you will have come across. Tim has several winemaking strings to his bow, with projects in South Africa and in Italy, but Tim’s current focus is very different. Clos du Paradis is not … Continue reading

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Japan Part 2 – Mountain Air and Vineyards

It is likely to be a very small minority of my readership that is not now aware that Japan makes wine, and some of it pretty tasty too. Even customers of our upmarket UK supermarket, Marks & Spencer, have been … Continue reading

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Japan Part 1 – Tokyo, the Wedding and a ’88 d’Yquem

Much as I love visiting any country where there are vineyards, two of my favourite places, Japan and Norway, are not well known for their wines. This is not strictly true, of course. Japan is slowly gaining at least a … Continue reading

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Recent Wines, Summer ’17, Pt 2

A forlorn attempt to catch up with recent wines before I take a summer break. What to leave out is so difficult, but after a bit of reluctant pruning, here are the most exciting and interesting wines I’ve drunk at … Continue reading

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One More Cup of Coffee (‘fore I go)

Well, not quite, but in about a week’s time I will be on a break for a month. Fingers crossed I might be able to catch up on recent wines before then, but meanwhile, in today’s article, there’s a bit … Continue reading

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Wimps! (Champagne & Chardonnay)

Wimps is a wine lunch. It was one of the early examples of what people who inhabit internet forums call an offline, where people who meet online actually get together, flesh and blood. “Wimps” isn’t an acronym. It was coined by its … Continue reading

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Recent Wines, Summer ’17 Pt1

As usual, I’m way behind in describing the best I’ve been drinking at home, but I hope that the selection below will make interesting reading. But first I do want to mention Solent Cellar‘s Sicilian Evening last Friday. It’s because … Continue reading

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