Kendall-Jackson's Vintners Reserve Chardonnay, 2018 optimistic toast to our American friends this 4th July
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- Published: 04 July 2020 04 July 2020
Inhaling the soft enticing aromas of this Californian Vinters Reserve Chardonnay, produced by Kendall-Jackson, I can’t help reflecting that this is possibly the most surreal year of my life.
Carbon neutral Welsh Pinot? Ancre Hill Estates, Wales, Pinot Noir, 2018
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- Published: 28 June 2020 28 June 2020
This Welsh wine producer ticks a few boxes. Much love and care is lavished on the vineyards and production of the wines. They are also certified biodynamic.
Wine Fiction: Felix Hart is back in Stafford-Bow’s Firing Blancs
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- Published: 28 June 2020 28 June 2020
Honey-traps, blackmail, embezzlement and fine wine? It can only be Felix Hart emerging in what now counts as a trilogy of semi-fictional adventures by pseudonymously named Peter Stafford-Bow.
Tongue feelers for sun dreamers: rosé wine tips with suavity
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- Published: 16 June 2020 16 June 2020
The wines in this selection all fit neatly into a category of rosé that this year, somewhat ironically, seems more desirable than ever before. The irony is that I should be basking in a landscape, such as the one the bottles are set against above (location: Collioure in Roussillon, where the Pyrenees run into the Mediterranean Sea), however, I find these wines are part of a set of ingredients, evoking summery thoughts, that keep the wolves of longing from the door.
If you are seeking a rosé to enjoy then here you will find a range of contemporary styles from the rich thirst-quenching mineralogy of Mount Etna, to a palate-cleansing Bordeaux Rosé and the benchmark-setting of vins de Provence, meandering back through southern France to Catalunya for some bubbly pink Cava.
Christian Seely interview: ungrafted vines, 2018 vintage, Douro styles + more
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- Published: 08 June 2020 08 June 2020
This podcast interview with AXA wine estates Managing Director, Christian Seely, was not originally intended to be released as a podcast, however, the insights and enthusiasm with which he discusses the years of discovery in winemaking at the historic Quinta do Noval make this a very enjoyable listen.
Christian speaks on subjects ranging from the characteristics of ungrafted vines at Noval that are used to make the famous Nacional Vintage Port, the recent declaration of the 2018 vintage, as well as drinking young vintages and why the Douro's growing reputation for dry wines is all about learning and experimentation. What makes Syrah or Petit Verdot prosper while Cabernet Sauvignon is abandoned? Plenty to contemplate over a glass or two of any of Noval's many fine beverages.
Cellier des Dauphins, taking 'modern-style' to scale in the Rhone Valley
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- Published: 18 May 2020 18 May 2020
The heady days of pre-lockdown have become a fuddled misty memory of a bygone time as many of us adapt to life through a lens. Wine lovers the world over are making great efforts to support the winemakers that they love and appreciate.
Yet sometimes the wine we love and appreciate comes in the form of a brand where the scale of production extends beyond what could be meaningfully called personal, however, not all brands are cast in the same mould. Cellier des Dauphins is a case in point.
Bruce Jack's Journal, Lockdown, Yum Yum Wine & Igniting Personal Mythologies
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- Published: 10 May 2020 10 May 2020
In preparing to speak to Bruce Jack for this interview there were very apparently too many avenues to explore. Thankfully, Bruce doesn’t shy away from engaging and digging deep on subjects that one might not expect to cover in a wine orientated interview.
Instead of transcribing, that would take me forever, I have tidied up the interview for Youtube and as an inaugural podcast for the SecretSommelier podcast channel (I will not be waxing lyrical about anything on the channel but will be adding interviews with wine pro’s to the channel).
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An aperitif by the coliseum
As COVID-19 conspires with the grimmest of winds and rain to force a societal retreat behind our own front doors, the word ennui springs to mind. The muddle of displeasure is pierced when Natalia hands me a large bulbous glass of a liquid I do not recognise.
Artichoke pasta and very fine Pigato
Britain’s lamentable exit
On the eve of Britain’s official departure from the EU, my partner and I decided to explore a small town on the Italian Riviera where thewintry cold doesn’t feel so much like cold war bite.
I had warned my significant other that I would be having an inverse departure party, a release of the sanity valve if you like!
Soave: volcanic wines with elegance and longevity
Sitting inside the ancient castle walls inside the town of Soave, a short drive from Verona in northern Italy, the unique slightly almond aroma of the indigenous grape, Garganega, rises gently from my glass. The castle sprawls up the side of an extinct volcano that gives the region its variant soil structures that mark out the better quality of Soave wines.
An American In Paris; Tanisha Townsend (@GirlMeetsGlass) discusses podcasts, Paris wine bars, & what she's drinking at the moment
Tanisha Townsend decided to move to Paris 4 years ago after regularly passing through the city en route to the world’s most famous vineyards. In fact, it was about 2 years ago at the Printemps de Champagne Bouzy Rouge tasting in Reims that I saw (who we shall now refer to as) GirlMeetsGlass chirpily speaking to her web followers on Snapchat.
Wine tasting in Galicia: The pilgrims search for Albarino
The cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, the final resting place of Saint James, rises out of the landscape, infested with antiquity. The rambling steep streets give way to shafts of dramatic light, emblazoned chapels, and tightly packed tapas bars, dusty, as old novels pressed together in antiquarian bookshops.
Interview: (Re)Defining the Entre-Deux-Mers, climate change & tasting with Stephane Dupuch
Driving into the Entre-Deux-Mers region from the north, the vineyards roll out like a bright green deep-pile carpet across the undulating land. It’s hard not to be excited about tasting wines with so much heritage, as we head to Chateau-Sainte-Marie to meet with 5th generation owner, Stéphane Dupuch.
