“Vinho Verde. Like no other wine in the world” Well, that’s their tagline and they’re sticking to it. But is is like no other? Castas, in conjunction with the Comissao de Viticultura de Regiao dos Vinhos Verdes, put on an intimate tasting of the regions wines at the Royal Exchange in the City to show us. I...
read moreWell, if you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know that I’m a big fan of Balfour Brut Sparkling Rose from Hush Heath Estate and I’ve written about it numerous times. I even took a couple of bottles to the American winebloggers conference last summer where it was a big hit. Last week, Penny from the Wine Cellar...
read moreHuxelrebe, Siegerrebe, Regner, Schönburger. The ill-fated cast of characters from an little known Wagnerian opera? “Reichensteiner and Würzer are dead” -The original title? Rondo, Ortega, and Phoenix. The Mexican villains from a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western? Madeleine Angevine. Latest X-Factor winner? Triomphe. A...
read moreI always forget how much I love Elvis Presley’s music until I hear it, then it instantly transports me back to my childhood. My parents weren’t huge Elvis fans but my dad did like to pop in a cassette tape every now and then on road trips. Well, Elvis is back and here in the UK! Well, not entirely true, Elvis wines are...
read moreThere seems to be a lot of debate in the twitterverse at the moment about free samples and whether or not we bloggers seem to “owe” it to the wineries (or PR flacks) positive reviews. And how objective are our reviews if they’re free? I don’t think I “owe” anyone a good review because...
read moreA couple of weeks ago I went to the annual California wine trade tasting in Victoria to see what my fellow Californians were bringing over to the UK. I was expecting lots of Gallo and Echo Falls but actually, there was some great stuff on show. Cakebread Vineyards, Parraduxx, Shafer, Grgich,Hills, Boony Doon, just to name a very...
read more