There are many avenues down which one can learn about wine. WSET, the internet, tastings…I learned a lot from Captain Picard. Starfleet operates the Prime Directive; minimal intervention of primitive yeast cultures. Every week the valiant crew of the USS Enterprise carry out First Contact; skins would be macerated at length to create wines of … Continue reading To Boldly Go Where No Skin Contact Has Gone Before
No one really knows the origins of the Masters of Wine. Mythos suggests that it was in medieval Scotland. Their ranks have included Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez; an Egyptian with a Spanish name and thick Scottish accent and a Scotsman played by a Frenchman. The wine trade is nothing if not inclusive. MW’s famously engage … Continue reading There Can Be Only One
“What do you mean I’m intensely spicy?”“You’re spicy, you know? You’re an intense wine.”“What do you mean, you mean the way I taste?”“It’s just, you know, you’re just deep and intense and structured. The way you taste…”“Taste how? What’s tasty about me? I make tasty wine? Like I’m here to f***ing be tasty for you? … Continue reading As Far Back As I Can Remember…
Learning about wine is all about going on a journey. My own wine journey started on the Australian Express; Platform 7 to Shiraz Town with a quick stop at Chardsville (there’s a subtle joke here for snooker fans). How one gets into wine is irrelevant really, it’s about remaining open minded and taking delight in … Continue reading Dante’s Timetable
We have a saying in the wine trade about only ever hosting a tasting at the same venue twice in your career. Once on the way up, and once on the way…well, you get the idea. Not sure what it says about my career trajectory then that I am for the second time hosting a … Continue reading Harry Potter And The Bordeaux Wise Guys
1983 was a tough vintage in Burgundy. It was a bad year in the Lake District too; indeed it was, for 36 years ago today I was hatched into the world. As was foretold in the prophecies ‘For shall appear a man from the north; pale of skin and thirsty of tongue. Around the globe … Continue reading A Blog Entry 36 Years In The Making
It’s a grave situation when one can’t decide what to drink on Friday 13th. Choosing what to listen to is easy: Black Sabbath (50 years young this month), but what to drink…it’s making me Paranoid. I often look into my cellar…space under the stairs…and see the delicious wines tempting me but then foolishly find excuses … Continue reading Dead Winemakers Sabbath Society
I have, on occasion, found myself stranded. Usually on the wrong side of town. The sensible things would be to ask for directions but being male, I am genetically prevented from doing so. Tonight, not on the wrong side of town but instead at home, I find myself not so much stranded as Strandveld(ed). Strandveld … Continue reading Stranded With A Beach Potato
The time has finally come. Many said it would never happen, that it was not possible. NASA commissioned a feasibility study and the results were not promising. Yet here we are, that once thought impossible has been made possible. Yes, I am posting about a bottle of wine that is not from Argentina. Hold your … Continue reading Even Soil Needs Rehab Sometimes.
Argentine Buyers Trip – September 2012It’s the penultimate day of a buyer’s trip around Argentina. 6 UK wine merchants and an Argentine guide thrown together in a mini bus to visit various bodegas around the country. After 7 days of endless Malbec and far too much steak we were all starting to feel a little … Continue reading Wine Makes A Nice Moment
