Lockdown I was the surprise hit of Summer 2020. It was of course followed up by Lockdowns II and III; arguably the worst sequels since The Matrix debacle. Suddenly, wine tastings came to a halt. It was uncertain that wine merchants themselves would be able to open for physical trade, instead having to rely on … Continue reading Originality In A Time Of Sequels
https://youtu.be/5FplnztKO2A Well here it is. The moment you've all been waiting for. This vinous highlight of 2020 has been units of time in the making. Richard Kelley MW passed the fabled and fiendish exam in 1995 and almost immediately settled in South Africa. Building up not only in depth knowledge of the country, but an … Continue reading #PourDecisions: Richard Kelley MW & The Liberator
“This is an ungodly hour to go to war.” I said to myself as the alarm went off at 5am. It’s a good job then that I wasn’t going to war but instead to Bristol. I know that these two things have often been confused and once led to the USA invading the city to … Continue reading The IEWA Team Love It When A Plan Comes Together
Normally the first full week of January is relatively quiet for a wine merchant. Dry January kicks in, we’re all on the Christmas come down, no one has any money…all culminate into nobody really drinking much grape juice. Apart from wine merchants themselves of course…January for me is extraordinarily busy. Yes dear readers (both of … Continue reading Work? In January…
Let’s get something straight: bees are cool. Yes they are. I say this mainly as I am a big fan of the concept of ongoing life on Earth. Did you know there are 16,000 species of bee? I know. Awesome right? Did you also know that if you stacked up all the vinyl records ever … Continue reading Oh Beehive It With These Terrible Puns
Social media has long been fascinating to me and has in fact played a very important role in my life. It is through the world of social media that I met my wife. In fact, I’ve met many people who have gone on to become important to me through Facebooks, Twitters and The Gram. It … Continue reading An Interview With Jasmin Swan; The Mosel’s Latest Young Winemaker
The strangest thing just happened: I opened this bottle and suddenly my room was filled with societally approved attractive women, all scantily clad and seemingly attracted to me despite their better judgement. I had a sudden urge to wear ridiculously tight white t shirts and behave like a complete pr…wait. I know what’s happened here. … Continue reading Wild Cats & Fictional Dogs
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…
