Juan Gil 2008 Jumilla

This wine breaks two of my wine-drinking rules. Firstly, it's 15% abv - usually too hot for me to enjoy. Secondly, it's sold in a hefty, if stylish, bottle. Now usually I don't like wine in extra-heavy bottles. Sometimes all the effort and money has gone into the packaging and not into the wine, or the wines themselves are heavy-handed, built to impress with hefty oak and alcohol but hard to really enjoy a whole bottle of. In this case however, none of this is true.   more »

Bodegas Gutiérrez de la Vega

I am trying to fathom why this one was of my best visits to a winery ever, up there with a visit years ago to Valdespino in Jerez. Was it because it was so difficult to find and only by a little act of serendipity did we get there? Was it because of the natural modesty and unforced hospitality of the winemaker/owner Felipe or was it the very individual and powerfully characterful nature of the wines? Or perhaps it was the poetic nature in which the wines were named after great works of literature – Ulysses, The Red and the Black - and famous arias - Una Furtiva Lagrima, all of which touched a chord in me. These are wines of passion and soul, something a little rarer than marketeers would have you think.   more »

Alpha Estate

After three days tasting at the very well organised 11th Thessaloniki International Wine Competition I was keen to get outside the hotel, albeit the very comfortable and smart Hyatt Regency, to see some landscapes, some vineyards and even some wineries. I had been invited to visit the Alpha Estate winery in Northern Greece. Alpha Estate is in Florio, in Macedonia to be more precise, up near the border with Albania, Macedonia (FYROM) and Bulgaria and it is a mountainous, high-altitude area so we were told to expect snow. In fact the previous Monday it had been minus 3o C! Snow was not something I had planned for when I imagined my trip to Greece in early spring.   more »

Kluge Estate Winery & Vineyard

Kluge Estate must be one of the most well-connected and well-heeled of the wineries we visited in Virginia; it has deservedly a big reputation for sparkling wine - both the Kluge NV Sparkling and Kluge rosé were drunk at this year's Clinton wedding. Patricia Kluge had been married to MetroMedia billionaire John Kluge, (at one time the richest man in America) and was granted this estate as part of their divorce settlement.   more »

In Vino Veritas

Growing Sauvignon Blanc in Virginia? We’d been told it was impossible because of the climate but here was a winery not only doing it but doing it very well. Here it seems vintages can be swelteringly hot and early (as 2010 was turning out to be), or cold, wet and late (and all else in between).   more »

5th Cyprus Wine Competition

I was pleased to be invited to take part in the 5th Cyprus Wine Competition earlier this year, as one of two international UK judges. I didn’t have to think too hard about this one as I’d never been to Cyprus and I was curious to learn more about and taste the native grape varieties. Besides, May sounded like the perfect time to go. The competition took place over three days culminating with a big awards ceremony at a gala dinner on the Saturday evening.   more »

Postcard from Niagara

Niagara has at least two sides. One is the mass-tourism attraction of the majestic Niagara Falls. The other is the lively, authentic core of a real town, based around the local businesses in downtown Queen Street. The tourist side is fun once you get over the cheap tacky side of large-scale tourism - a bit like the neon glitz of a run down Las Vegas crossed with The London Dungeon. more »

Wines of Turkey Press Trip - March 2010

A press trip to visit the wine regions of Turkey in spring sounded like an exciting idea back in the middle of a bleak December and I still felt excited as we were about to depart on the last day of February 2010. I’d even done some homework and tasted a bottle of Kavaklidere Öküzgözü from a local Turkish restaurant/deli.

The five day trip was organised by Wines of Turkey, an organisation set up only in the last 3 years by Taner Öğütoğlu and his wife and funded by a small monthly contribution from five of the main wineries. Their first initiative was two years ago when they hired a stand at the LIWSTF and several of the producers came over to represent their wines. more »

Charles Philipponnat Champagne tasting in London, 8th October 2009

Philipponnat is one of the very few family-run Champagne companies left and they have been in Champagne since 1532 when their family moved to Aÿ. In 1910 they moved 10km down the road to Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and in 1935 they acquired the prestigious ‘Clos de Goisses’ single vineyard. This is the jewel in the crown for them as a single vineyard producing ripe Pinot Noir grapes is very rare in Champagne.

They are a medium sized company with an annual production of 600,000 bottles, so they are medium sized by Champagne standards. They manage to supply one third of their own grapes which in Champagne where wine grape prices are the highest in the world is also quite a rare thing and gives them a degree of independence.  more »

Veneziana

Sometimes you need to drink something other than wine. While staying up in Bardolino alongside Italy’s beautiful Lake Garda I was captivated to see someone drinking a bright orange-gold coloured drink as an aperitif. I asked the owner of the lakeside trattoria what it was and he said ‘A Veneziana' (A Venetian). As I was off to visit Venice for the first time the following day I was intrigued by this moment of serendipity and accepted the owner’s offer to try one.

It is a cocktail of sorts made from Aperol, Prosecco and soda water. Aperol is a bitter orange-based liqueur (also containing rhubarb and gentian) which is quite low in alcohol. I was delighted with my new find as it was light and refreshing with a sparkle, and with a lingering finish of bitter orange and orange peel. more »

The Food and Wine Guide to Naples and Campania by Carla Capalbo

To many people, Italians included, the south of Italy is largely unknown, ignored in favour of the wealthier and more fashionable central and northern regions, with their rich artistic and musical heritage and their historical importance; Rome, Venice, Genoa, Florence - all have played significant roles in the development of Italy, the region and the world beyond. 

Yet Naples has played a major part in the growth of Italian culture. Initially founded by the Greeks (who brought with them grapes) in the 8th Century BC, the city, with its key location on the Mediterranean, was subject to a succession of invasions (friendly and otherwise) over the centuries, all the while assimilating different cultures and foods while remaining uniquely Neapolitan.  more »