Halloween is just round the corner but Fine Wines Direct already have Christmas in mind and invited me to participate in an online tasting earlier this week. They choose 10 wines that they think will be great for this holiday season. Fine Wines Direct are a small, independent wine importer based in Cardiff. They have a huge...
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Champagne Castlenau is a growers collective with vineyards scattered around Reims in the Champagne region. The collective was founded in 1916 and the name originates from a famous WWI hero, General de Curieres de Castelnau. That may explain its popularity amongst the diplomatic and military corps from the 1920’s onwards....
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I’ve visited many vineyards in northern Croatia over the years (read about Istrian winemakers here and here) but Stina winery was the first one in the south, off the coast of Dalmatia. Stina is located on the island of Brac, about a 50 minute ferry ride from Split. Brac Harbour I sell Stina’s white Cuvee in Dalston so I...
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I’m always on the lookout for wines from relatively unknown regions or varieties that have almost been forgotten. Red Misket is one of those grapes. It comes from Bulgaria and is enjoying a bit of a revival from two young Bulgarian winemakers. The Winemakers Petar Georgiev and Radostin Milkov have worked around the world; in...
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I met Alfredo right before all wine trade events, and everything else, was cancelled due to the Covid-19 lockdown, at a new wave Spanish winetasting here in London. What drew my eye to Alfredo’s stand was one bottle in particular, El Marciano. Now Alfredo himself is quite a character, very passionate about his wines and an...
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A few years ago, I started to hear the phrase ‘Pet-Nats’ making the rounds in the wine trade. As we have loads of natural wines here in London, I soon found out that Pet-Nat is short for ‘petillant natural’, a French term for wines that are naturally sparkling. It’s also known as the Ancestral Method....
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