Recent Posts
I recently visited the Vinho Verde region of northern Portugal and got to know the wines and some of the producers of the region. One of the most interesting quintas (or estates) we visited was Quinta de Curvos. This quinta is located in Minho which is not far from Barcelos, one of the main cities on the pilgrimage to Campostelo de...
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Marcelo Papa, chief winemaker for Chilean brand, Concha y Toro, is a man on a mission to take Chilean wine back to it’s origins. Last night over a wine tasting and dinner, Marcelo told me, and a select group of wine writers, where he thinks the direction that Chilean wine should take into the future. What he told us was both...
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Last weekend I was invited to a London in the Sky pop-up dining event at Canary Wharf. The event is part of the global Dinner in the Sky series with events in 43 countries. The event in London took place over 10 days and featured 5 Michelin starred chefs cooking for guests high up in the sky. I was wondering how they were going to...
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Earlier this month, Perrier Jouet was in town to launch their 2005 Belle Epoque Rose Limited Edition bottle by Vik Muniz. The launch was at one of my favourite venues in London, The Gherkin. No matter how many times I’ve been to the top, it never fails to impress me. There may be taller buildings in London but the tip top of...
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The last days of summer are upon us but that doesn’t mean you have to automatically switch to red wine. As they say, it’s ok to drink white after Labor Day (well, that’s what they say in the States). Earlier this summer I visited the Vinho Verde region in the north east of Portugal where they make great wines,...
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I know a place just a few minutes walk from Earls Court tube station that is a quiet haven in this traffic chocked, pedestrian clogged part of London. It doesn’t seem to matter what time of day or even what day, but there always seems to be masses of people in and around Earls Court. Which is why it was such a surprise as...
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Recently I had lunch with Humberto Jardim, the managing director of Henriques & Henriques, one of the oldest producers of Madeira, the house being founded in 1850. Madeira has a long and distinguished history but nowadays consumers only consider it when they are cooking which is a shame as there is so much more to Madeira. Over...
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When one thinks of premium Bordeaux, the discount supermarket Lidl does not spring to mind. But Lidl is working hard to change that perception with the launch this Autumn of their ‘premium’ range of wines. The range will not only include Bordeaux wines but also wines from other prestigious French wine regions. Lidl are...
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You know the old saying, ‘I love cooking with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food’? Well, that was kinda what a recent cooking lesson with Babich Wines at the Underground Cookery School was like recently! It was great fun and I managed to leave the event with all my fingers intact despite the fact that I was...
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Champagne just seems to be coming out of my ears at the moment (not a bad thing in my opinion). Earlier this week I attended an informal tasting with Frederic Panaiotis, cellar master of the house. It was the first tasting of the 2004 Dom Ruinart Blanc de blanc in the UK so we all felt very priviledged. Fred came bounding into the...
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