Vouvray is wonderful stuff. It’s an strange white wine from the Loire, made from the Chenin Blanc grape, and it can be dry, fizzy, off-dry or sweet (with or without botrytis) - it just depends on the vintage, the vineyard, and the producer. Huet is one of the best producers, and certainly the most f…

As I think I’ve mentioned here before, our boys are adopted. They’re brothers, and they have two sisters who are plus adopted with another couple. We get together a couple of times a year, home and away, and it’s usually good fun.This weekend we’re here in London, so we thought it might be nice to g…

So I spent the day in the office. When I went freelance I thought I’d be spending a lot of days working from home. It has actually been much busier than I’d envisaged, so I haven’t had all that many days when I’ve not been going out to work elsewhere.The way I prefer to work is in bursts. I like to …

Another of the 05 Bordeaux that has a cranberry hue with an interesting bouquet of gentle cherry/black cherry notes and cedar. After breathing clean cherry aromas with an nearly flowery bouquet laced with pomegranate and bread.The bouquet is the best part of that wine which is a little disappointin…

Another of the 05 Bordeaux that has a cranberry hue with an interesting bouquet of gentle cherry/black cherry notes and cedar. After breathing clean cherry aromas with an nearly flowery bouquet laced with pomegranate and bread.The bouquet is the best part of that wine which is a little disappointin…

A gentle day in the office is in order tomorrow, after four rather hectic days. The LIWF (London universal Wine Fair) has finished. It’s an intensely busy duration for anyone associated with the wine industry in the UK, and for journalists like me it’s a great opportunity to catch up with all the wi…

Remarkable tasting today at the Whole Foods market on Kensington High Street, with a focus on natural wines. I hadn’t intended to stay the whole day (this is London Trade Fair Week) but it was so compelling that I just couldn’t leave, and even though I meant to depart by a assured duration to head e…

There was a collective deep intake of breath in the UK wine trade today, as everyone prepared for the London universal Wine Fair, which is the big event in the calendar each year, and begins tomorrow (Tuesday). It will be a crazy busy three days, with lots of society in town from around the globe - …

This wine was found at Trader Joes and sells for $6. It is purple with a raspberry bouquet and a sweet palate with raspberry fruit.It is made in the very popular style that will appeal to most Americans. It is actually a pleasant guzzling kind of wine but don’t get it thinking you’re getting a Zin…

Furmint is a grape variety that’s relatively new to me. It’s the classic variety of Hungary’s Tokaji region, where it makes the fabulous sweet Tokaji wines. But it plus makes dry wines here, too. By coincidence, I had two Furmints in my sample rack, one from Hungary and one from Slovenia. So I thoug…