Recent Posts
Late last year I attended the Krug Institute of Happiness and left a very happy camper indeed. I do enjoy a glass or 3 of Krug so you can imagine my delight when I was invited to participate in the Krug Celebration. A 3 day event of all things Krug at the house in Reims. Spring time in Champagne is lovely. However, this year...
read more
Spring has finally sprung and this week I was in Champagne again to visit the house of Billecart-Salmon. While I was there, we were fortunate to be the first outside of the maison to taste the 2004 brut Blanc de blancs. It hasn’t been released yet as Billecart-Salmon is one of the last champagne houses to release their 2004....
read more
Quick! Off the top of your head,do you know what a trebuchet is? Unless you’re a fan of Australian winery Wirra Wirra or a Medievelist, you probably wouldn’t know it’s another word for “catapult”. That was one nifty bit of trivia I picked up while having lunch with Sam Temme, International Sales...
read more
Rhodium sounds like a precious metal and it is, it’s found alongside platinum and 90% of it is in South Africa. It’s also the name of Oldenburg’s newest release. I think we know where they got the inspiration for the name of the wine. It’s always exciting to be at the launch of a new wine and last Thursday...
read more
Although Australia is the ‘New World,’ I was surprised when I visited recently to see how, at least in the Barossa Valley, they like to make wine the old fashioned way. It seems like many of the boutique producers there put a lot of effort into using grapes and making wines that both have a history in the region and in...
read more
When we arrived at Alain Geoffroy’s tasting room,it was the end of a long day of tasting in Chablis and while it had been an illuminating day of tasting, I must admit by this time my teeth and palate were ready for a small break. When Alain’s daughter, Nathalie, came out to greet us and asked if we wanted to tour the...
read more
The Enchanting Tree lives up to it’s name, that’s for sure. The invitation promised an “enchanting champagne moment” and I have to say I was immediately charmed by the tree dripping with full champagne glasses as I walked into one of the darkened gallery rooms of the Saatchi Gallery. Set in the middle of the...
read more
Does the size of a wineglass make a difference in your enjoyment of it? I think so but as a trained wine professional, I get paid to pick out the subtle differences in wine so anything that will help me when I’m tasting a wine is always welcome. But what about the average consumer who just wants to enjoy their glass of wine?...
read more
Yesterday I had a masterclass of sherry with the recently appointed president of the Sherry Institute (or Consejo Regulador as it’s known in Spanish), Beltran Domecq. Beltran’s family has been involved in sherry for literally centuries, his father is from the Gonzalez family of Gonzalez Byass fame. Beltran was in town...
read more
Shooting up to the top of the Burj Khalifa, it takes less then a minute to go from sea level to the 124th observatory floor of the building. That’s about 10 metres a second but the ride is so smooth, the only thing you notice is a slight popping of your ears. When you think about it, it is a bit scary, I mean that is a...
read more
