English sparkling wine coming soon(ish) from the Isle of Sark

Jan 06, 12 English sparkling wine coming soon(ish) from the Isle of Sark

Posted by in England, Sparkling Wine, Travel

To be the first outside of the winemakers to try an experimental wine made by a well known Bordelais vigneron (with said winemaker standing right next to me) can be a bit nerve wracking. What if I hate it? What if it’s rubbish? What if I’m wrong and everyone else loves it? Well, none of those things happened when I...

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L’espirit de Bordeaux – affordable,quality French wine, what more could you ask for?

Jan 03, 12 L’espirit de Bordeaux – affordable,quality French wine, what more could you ask for?

Posted by in Food and Wine, France

Affordable, quality French wine from Bordeaux? Does it exist anymore? Back in the day, say before investment wine-ing came into fashion and back when the Chinese were still Communist, Bordeaux was a wine that one could buy at reasonable prices. Fast forward to the 2010’s and it may seem like you have to be a gazillionaire to...

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New Wine Society launching at 1 Lombard St in the City

Aug 10, 11 New Wine Society launching at 1 Lombard St in the City

Posted by in Food and Wine

Charles Dickens used to work in a bank at 1 Lombard St. That bank has since been turned into the restaurant 1 Lombard St and I was there the other night for the launch of their new Wine Society. The restaurant’s sommelier Matthew Mawtus is going to be conducting winetastings in the bank’s former vault featuring not only...

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Claret gets to London the old fashioned way – by boat

May 23, 11 Claret gets to London the old fashioned way – by boat

Posted by in France

What better way to end the London International Wine Fair then on a boat on the Thames, sipping claret (how the English used to and sometimes still do, refer to red Bordeaux) at the foot of Tower Bridge. Tony Laithwaite of Laithwaites thought that was as good a way as any and so we stepped onto a water taxi at Canary Wharf for the...

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Ch. Clauzet, good Bordeaux that doesn’t break the bank…

May 16, 11 Ch. Clauzet, good Bordeaux that doesn’t break the bank…

Posted by in France

I do like my claret. Until I moved to England I had no idea what claret was (it’s what the English call Bordeaux red wines) and even then I didn’t think would have much of a chance to drink it. “Oh, I don’t have enough money to even contemplate buying a bottle, let alone a case!” However, once you look...

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