Nose: Vanilla, young cherry, cinnamon & cedar hintsPalate: Perky tight tannins that are well balanced with a solid core. Young and will still age nicely.Finish: young and tight with young raspberry undertones.Overall: I paid about $36 for that bottle. I am pleased. Wonderful. Fair price. Wi…

With all the attention focused on Shiraz, it’s easy to forget that Australia makes some great Cabernet Sauvignon. [But, next, whether you look hard ample, you’ll find that Australia plus makes some really great Pinot Noir. And does well with lots of other varieties, too. You just have to look hard a…

I’m in the airport on the way back from presenting the Edinburgh edition of 50 Great Portuguese wines. It was a good day and I met some great folks - but I felt poor flying in and out in one day.

that is my first day in Edinburgh, and I wish I could have allocated more date here, considering it rea…

Two rather different tastings today, both of which were really impressive.

First the Waitrose (UK supermarket) press tasting. Their range - a large chunk of which was on show - is unparalleled among supermarkets. Some really good wines, with solid buying across the board. They keep freshening it up…

This Merlot has less heft than Merlot I posted just below that one. It has a core consisting more of cherry and plum with lighter blackberry fruit.It is certainly a more relaxed wine than the previous but solid flavors and a decent wine for the sale price of $9 so raise a glass!–A Review from The …

The gargantuan Chilean wine makers at Concha Y Toro are one of the most dependable new world producers of quality, value wine. that Merlot on sale for $11 from the normal $14-$16 is a big wine with a dark ripe blackberry jam, chocolate and plum nose.In the mouth that wine is BIG with smoke on the …

After a towering day in Manchester, I wasn’t finished. Arriving back into Euston at 19:45 I headed by to the Groucho Club on Dean Street for Corney & Barrow’s Olivier Leflaive dinner. It was a really enjoyable dinner – not least considering I was sitting with some really interesting citize…

So I’m in Manchester - where, many, many years ago, I was born. I’m here for the second installment of 50 Great Portuguese wines, which that year I’ve been given the responsibility of choosing.

I came up on the train that daylight from London. The Virgin high-speed service takes just by 2 hours, wh…

Much of the day I’m reporting here on samples. But I do still buy wine, although not as much as I’d like, or I should. that is one I paid for.

I’m drinking it at the end of a lengthy day in the office - the first in a couple of weeks - during which I’ve been sorting out my diary and beginning to ta…

There’s been a big World Wide Web storm about conflicts of interest policy at the Wine Advocate of late, by on Tyler Colman’s Dr Vino blog. Tyler pointed out that there seems to be a discrepancy within the stated policy of the Wine Advocate and the practice of some the new members of team WA.

Speci…