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Described by Jancis Robinson MW in her Wine Grapes book as Burgundy’s tart ‘other’ white wine grape With global warming Aligoté is less ‘tart’, more ‘tempting’. Five years ago we had just one Aligote on our list. This year we...

*This blog is a step away from the norm; Abstract, some could say erring on the arty..! Early October 2022, from a steep slope in the Mosel Valley.. The light shimmers thought the vines on the precipitous slopes catching bunches...

In a restaurant the other day, I heard someone ask what reds were available by the glass. The stock answer came back from the helpful waitress. “Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz…” When are we going to move away from the ‘International’...

Following on from the very successful Wine Club event of October 2016 where Simon Tyrrell took us through the then new Swiss wines on the shelves. (You can watch his talk on the whites of Favre here). A revelating and...

Looking for a new buzzword singing from the wine trade this month? Look no further; biodynamics and anything slightly left of centre has migrated to Ireland from the hipster streets of London. Wine fairs focussing on natural and sustainable practices...

What’s black and yellow, stings and transports yeast around the vineyard? A wasp. Sustainable, natural and part of our fragile ecosystem, but also an important part of pest management in vineyards. What do they do? Mission A: Transporter; an effective,...

‘Whole bunch’, ‘freshness’, ‘12.5%’, ‘old oak’, ‘basket press’, ‘savoury’; all words forming part of the everyday language of today’s winemakers in Australia. We all know that trends come and go, it seems that down-under these trends have a habit of...

So you’re toying with the idea of going to a wine tasting. The imagined room filled with wine, a chance of canapés and the possibility that you’ll meet the winemaker equivalent of Jon Bon Jovi or Michelle Pfeiffer (OK so...

MARGAUX In our view, Margaux failed to live up to expectations. The feminine floral tones were marred by extraction errors in many wines. Ripeness masked the finer points and clumsy tannins brought scores down. Ferrière showed beautifully however with generous...