Whilst wandering around the London International Wine Fair, I took the second day to cross the hall to Distil which is the little brother event to the LIWF. Distil is a showcase for spirits- tequila, rum, whiskey, vodka, liquors, they were all there. The only problem with Distil is you can’t really spend a lot of time there...
read moreEnglish wine. English wine week. Do they make enough wine to support English wine week? Well, yeah, they do. There are over 250 vineyards in the British Isles and loads of them are winning awards and making fantastic wines. I’ve become a big fan lately, not only because I’m living here but also because I think that...
read moreTinta de Toro. Wine of the Bull? Is that like the Hungarian wine, Bull’s blood? The origins of the name may be lost in the mists of time but I can tell you that tinta de toro is a local varietal found in the western half of Spain, near the town of Zamora. It’s thought that the varietal is an adaptation of that...
read moreLast week was the London International Wine Fair and to say I had a great time would be an understatement. It was 3 perfect days of discovering, tasting and non-stop talking about wine, wine and more wine. I truly never get bored of talking about wine. This is the third year I’ve gone and even though it seemed to be familiar...
read moreLast weekend was beautiful, sunny and warm, I even managed to get a bit of a tan just sitting out in the backyard. When the sun comes out and it’s warm enough to bare my legs and arms, I like to pop open a couple of rosès. We also had a lovely brunch to go along with the wines. I had a French rosè, the Jules ’08 which I...
read moreLast year (2008) saw the launch of the Winebloggers Conferences. The European one (EWBC) was in Rioja, Spain and the North American (WBC) one in Sonoma, CA. The goal of the bloggers conferences is to enable all of us in the virtual world to get together and exchange ideas in the real world. I mean, even if we’re all...
read moreCloudy Bay=Sauvignon blanc=New Zealand’s iconic wine. The one that put it on the map.This was all I knew about NZ sauvignon blanc until I moved to London and had opportunity to try it. Cloudy Bay has been so iconic that consumers might not even know how it tastes but buy it on the name alone. Is it all it’s cracked up...
read more“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...
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