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Recent From Australia

Wirra Wirra ‘s Trebuchet, Lost Wat...

Wirra Wirra ‘s Trebuchet, Lost Watches and Church Blocks Posted by on Apr 5, 2013

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Champagne cellar snapshot

Champagne cellar snapshot Posted by on May 14, 2013

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Lunching with Concha y Toro at Novikov

Lunching with Concha y Toro at Novikov Posted by on May 18, 2013

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Langlois-Chateau, Loire Valley wines

Langlois-Chateau, Loire Valley wines Posted by on May 13, 2013

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Negozio Classica, boutique Italian wine ...

Negozio Classica, boutique Italian wine (and food) Posted by on May 15, 2013

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Iittala’s Essence Plus wine glasse...

Iittala’s Essence Plus wine glasses, does size matter? Posted by on Mar 25, 2013

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Brancott Estate 2010 Choosen Rows Sauvig...

Brancott Estate 2010 Choosen Rows Sauvignon Blanc debut Posted by on Feb 15, 2013

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Wine cruising with Vinopolis and Celebri...

Wine cruising with Vinopolis and Celebrity Cruises Posted by on Jan 22, 2013

Recent From restaurants

Lunching with Concha y Toro at Novikov

Lunching with Concha y Toro at Novikov Posted by on May 18, 2013

Recent From South Africa

Saturday Snapshot -Kleine Zalze Shiraz M...

Saturday Snapshot -Kleine Zalze Shiraz Mourvedre Viognier 2011 Posted by on Feb 2, 2013

Recent From Spain

Sherry “en rama”, tasting wi...

Sherry “en rama”, tasting with Beltran Domecq, president of the Sherry Institute Posted by on Mar 21, 2013

Recent From Travel

Champagne cellar snapshot

Champagne cellar snapshot Posted by on May 14, 2013
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Recent Posts

Billecart Salmon Brut Reserve for New Year’s (or anytime, really)

Dec 28, 12 Billecart Salmon Brut Reserve for New Year’s (or anytime, really)

Posted by in Champagne

Going on three weeks now here in Thailand with no champagne, not sure if I’m going to be able to hold out until New Year’s Eve for a glass  of bubbly.  That is something that no New Year’s Eve celebration would complete without at the very least  something sparkly to toast in the coming year. One of the champagnes...

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Christmas dinner SOS, affordable wines for about a tenner – video

I know I’m not really known for my budget friendly wines, what with all that Krug I’ve been guzzling lately, but I do keep up with what’s going on in the supermarkets and when vouchercodes.co.uk asked me to do a video with my recommendations for value for money wines this holiday season, it wasn’t too...

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A few suggestions for champers next week

Dec 21, 12 A few suggestions for champers next week

Posted by in Champagne

I ran away to Thailand for the holidays this season and not missing the cold, wet, soggy weather at all but one thing I am missing is champagne! Sadly, champagne is prohibitively expensive in Thailand due to taxes so I’m missing my favourite drink. Before I left, though, I managed to get in a few drinks. Perrier Jouet sent me...

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Sherry at La Tasca

Dec 10, 12 Sherry at La Tasca

Posted by in restaurants, Spain

It’s that time of year when Gran brings out the sherry. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. I was invited to La Tasca recently in Covent Garden to taste their sherry matching menu. I’m a big fan of sherry and food matching already but I wanted to see what they had put together. Manuel, our waiter, hails from...

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Voyager Estate 2005 cabernet/merlot, a tasting note

Dec 06, 12 Voyager Estate 2005 cabernet/merlot, a tasting note

Posted by in Australia

Voyager Estate cab/merlot 2005 Winesleuth note: I write wine reviews for redwine.co.uk and from time to time, I will re-post them here on ‘Sleuth. Here’s a post about a great Australian cab/merlot from Voyager Estate…. I was recently at a wine tasting of Voyager Estate Wines at Vinoteca here in London and it was a...

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Montes “M” vertical 2001-2010 tasting with Aurelio Montes

Dec 04, 12 Montes “M” vertical 2001-2010 tasting with Aurelio Montes

Posted by in Chile

Chilean winery owner Aurelio Montes was in town the other day on a quick visit to promote his wines. Montes is a Chilean winery, that even with a production of 7 million bottles a year, is considered a small to medium sized winery in South America. Aurelio brought along a vertical of their iconic wine, Montes Alpha M 2001 –...

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A flying visit to the Sicilian winery Donnafugata

Nov 21, 12 A flying visit to the Sicilian winery Donnafugata

Posted by in Italy, Travel

Donnafugata literally means “woman in flight” and it is inspired by the flight of Queen Maria Carolina, who fled Naples ahead of Napolean’s troops in the early 1800′s. She sought refuge in Sicily where Donnafugata’s vineyards now sit, and that is how the image of a woman with windblown hair became...

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Friday night flight – Taittinger’s Comtes de Champagne 2000, 2002 & introducing the 2004

Nov 18, 12 Friday night flight – Taittinger’s Comtes de Champagne 2000, 2002 & introducing the 2004

Posted by in Champagne

There are plenty of things to do on a Friday night in Soho but I couldn’t think of a better way to spend last Friday then in the company of Vitalie Taittinger going through a flight of vintages of her family’s prestige Comtes de Champagne at the Groucho Club. Taittinger is one of the few big houses that is still owned...

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Decanter Fine Wine Encounter, this weekend, Nov. 17-18

It’s that time of year again, yes, time for the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter! I went to the last one in the Spring which was the Italian Fine Wine Encounter so I can tell you that they are fantastic events. The last one was at the gorgeous Landmark Hotel in Marylebone and this weekend’s event will also be held there....

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Cigars and red wine, they may not be a classic pairing but…

Nov 07, 12 Cigars and red wine, they may not be a classic pairing but…

Posted by in Argentina, California, Chile, Lifestyle

I recently took part in a cigar and red wine matching exercise with Alvaro Marcos Garcia of Concha y Tora and two lovely fellows, Jimmy and Dan, from Hunters & Frankau, a major cigar importer and distributor here in the UK. Alvaro is an ex-sommelier and he often noticed that diners would often have a cigar after lunch or dinner...

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