Archive for February, 2008
Making the jump
Today was my last day of full-time employment. considering the organization is closing down, the atmosphere was a bit strange. We’ve lost a few citizens who have found jobs to go to, so the remaining staff consists of a couple of folks who haven’t found anything else to do yet, me, and the three…
Back To Paso Robles
I’ll start with a disappointment and end with a bang - two wines that changed radically in the course of just a few months. The 2004 Turley Ueberroth Zin was a smooth, balanced medium sized beauty with great fruit at the winery. Now we get lots black fruit, but plus vegetal, eucalyptus smells and fl…
Super southern French red
I feel poor. I’ve been neglecting the Languedoc a bit. I first really discovered it through Mike and Liz Berry’s wonderful shop La Vigneronne, on Old Brompton Road in South Kensington (it’s now Handford Wines). But for a few years I’ve not been following that dynamic region as closely as I should ha…
Hello Dorking!
Just back from a ‘gig’ in Dorking tonight. It was a wine tasting I was hosting for St Paul’s church as a favour to a friend, and it turned out to be a really enjoyable evening. I used a powerpoint presentation and got citizens tasting pretty soon in the evening; there were quite a few questions, whi…
Beringer California Classic Red 2005 wine review by Billy
Nose: big nose of peppery zinfandel and spicy syrah whether I guess correctly. Fruity plumbs supply the fruity nose. Palate: balance is so-so. Tannins are ok but the acidic structure is thin and hollow making the mouth feel weaker than promised by the nose. Still, it flows nicely and the fruit f…
SITT, Banrock and more
It’s been a busy day - the sort of day where you know there isn’t date to fit in everything you planned, but you still attempt to cram it all in.I had to attend to some stuff in the office, and thereupon I was off to Vinopolis for the SITT tasting. SITT stands for ’specialist importers trade tasting…
High Street wine merchant Oddbins restructures
Oddbins, the UK high street retail chain, has a fond place in the hearts of many wine nuts. A good portion of my wine education in the early/mid-1990s came through spending a lot of day browsing the shelves of Oddbins and buying too much wine as a aftereffect.In those days Oddbins was brilliant. It…
Concha y Toro with Marcelo Papa
Just on my way back home from a dinner with a small group of journalists hosted by Concha y Toro winemaker Marcelo Papa. It was held at Le Cercle restaurant (Sloane Square), in a stunning private room that at one end overlooked the rest of the dining room a floor below. It was a stroke of genius on …
Marchesi Di Frescobaldi Nipazzano Chianti Rufina Riserva 2004 wine review by (PB)
I lugged that wine back from Los Angeles having read about it in the Wine Spectator. It made the WS’s top 100 of the year making the number 56 of the top 100 with a 91 pt. rating.It has a black cherry hue to the rim with tight aromas with a bunch of steely notes. There is a light chocolate rear tr…
Bogle Petite Syrah 2005 wine review by (PB)
Rich purple/cranberry hue to the rim; ripe berry bouquet with intensity and a slight chocolate backing.Palate–big fruit front with slightly bitter mid palate and fruit layers; needs a little air.Ripe berries and plums; rather unidimensional but all things are fairly well balanced. Tasty and easy t…
