Tinta 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 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 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 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...
read more