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Champagne Tour: G.H.Martel & Veuve Clicquot - Part 3
Continuing on from day 2s events at Lanson and Pommery Champagne houses in Reims, the first port of call of the day was a slightly less early tasting at G.H Martel & Co for 11:30 followed by Veuve Clicquot later on. These guys are a slightly smaller house in the UK, although fairly big in the US. Their main production has now moved entirely to Epernay, where the house started in 1869, as they outgrew their Reims cellars and needed more space again to mature and produce their Champagne. Despite…
Award Winning Wines At Naked
We’ve always said that Naked make good, authentic wines thanks to their business model that invests in winemakers and puts them first. And the proof really is in the pudding. Naked’s Angels have helped catapult their winemakers to glory, bagging 4 Gold, 40 Silver and 74 Bronze medals at the International Wine Challenge, Decanter World Wine Awards and International Wine & Spirit Competition. These competitions put their wines directly up against some of the world’s most expensive too, so you know…
Sake
Sake is, contrary to popular belief, neither a wine nor a spirit in the technical sense, nor even a beer - it is it's very own category of fermented alcohol. It is made by fermenting polished rice, turning the starches into sugars which in turn then ferment into alcohol. In wine, the sugars in the grapes are already there without the starch into sugar process. In beer, the starch to sugar and sugar to alcohol processes happen in two steps whereas they occur at the same time in sake. Spirits are…
Wine52 Case Review: California
This month’s Wine52 case explores the sunny coast of California, a region that I personally love when looking for something big and juicy. But, there is far more to Californian wine than just this. Cold coastal breezes and morning fog temper certain growing areas in the region, allowing for cool climate, aromatic grape varieties and wine styles to be made too. This case is a perfect example of just that, with an interesting Alsace-style Gewurztraminer and Albarino exemplifying the more…
Champagne Tour: Lanson & Vranken-Pommery - Part 2
I thought that the Lanson tour was genuinely excellent. It really covered every base and allowed you to see far more than other tours we went on. You of course visit the cellars, but they go beyond this with a little bit of everything. Kicking off with a little bit of history dating back to 1760, through to Napolean, Queen Victoria’s granting of the Royal Warrant (now sadly gone) and Wimbledon, you get a good overview of the history of Lanson and the vineyards it owns all over the region. This…
Wine52 Case Review: Italian South
This month’s Wine52 case covers the Italian South, from Puglia to Sicily and more. The wines here are characterised by a warm climate and signature native grapes that give the wines a unique point of difference compared to the rest of Italy. This is the land of Primitivo, Sangiovese, Negroamaro, Aglianico and more. A selection of bold red grape varieties that reflect the intense sunlight right back into the glass. The rugged terrain of Sicily is even more dramatic, with plantings of local…
Champagne Tour: Taittinger and Mumm - Part 1
Usually, most people who go to Champagne spend a leisurely long weekend. They may have forgotten to book their cellar tours in advance, but you can still probably get on a few, even if it isn’t your choice Champagne house. Others from across Europe tend to drive around the Cru villages and visit grower houses to stock up on cheaper stuff without a brand name. But, if you’re anything like me, you’ll book a week off and cram 10 tours along with countless other stops in Champagne houses to try as…
La Maison Pommery
You'll know Pommery by it's royal blue label, but you may not know the huge mark the house has left on the region thanks to the legendary Madame Pommery. She created the first brut Champagne to meet with commercial success in 1874 which shifted the way we now drink Champagne today. Champagne was once pretty much only sweet, and whilst demi-sec and doux styles do still exist, brut and drier are the drinks of today, all thanks to one lady. Madame Pommery took over what was mainly a wool trading…
Paul Jaboulet Wines
Domaines Paul Jaboulet Aîné was founded in The Rhone Valley in 1834 in the town of Tain L'Hermitage by Antoine Jaboulet and his sons, Paul and Henry. In 1919 they acquired the very famous Saint-Christophe chapel at the top of the renowned Hermitage vineyard. You'll have likely seen this crop up in pictures of Rhone vineyards without realising it! With the death of Gerard Jaboulet in 1997, the house saw its fortunes fall as the family business fell into disarray and the wine went downhill. It was…
Dark Horse Wines
Dark Horse is an award-winning Californian wine brand with a reputation that matches up to its wines. Their combination of traditional winemaking techniques with the latest winery equipment helps make their wine so good, and so popular. Behind the wines is winemaker Beth Liston, who set out to make an affordable wine that could acheive genuine quality. In a market full of mass-produced wines, this is an impressive feat to undertake. And one that they have managed. Dark Horse boasts enough medals…
A Rhone Valley Wine Tour
This has been a remarkably long time coming but the time to reminisce about two of the excellent Rhone Valley producers I visited in May 2024 has come. It was partly spurred by finding the Ferraton La Matinière Crozes-Hermitage on a restaurant menu recently, which was unfortunately out of stock! Still, at least you can get hold of it for a good price from retailers. But, the real thing you are here for, presumably, is the tour exploring Ferraton and Domaine Farge, the famous hills of Hermitage…
Chapoutier Wines
Chapoutier is a long-established Rhone Valley wine producer with roots going back to 1808, where it was first established as 'Calvet et Compagnie'. In 1883 it was bought by Rodolphe Delepine, and Marius Chapoutier joined the venture in 1897, where it became known as 'Delepine et Chapoutier'. Delepine retired in 1922 and Chapoutier took the reigns, creating a new winery at the foot of the famous Hermitage hill. Since then it has remained in family hands, with Michel Chapoutier at the helm who has…
Laithwaites Vineyard Partners Tasting
Recently, I had the good fortune to taste a case of wines made by the Laithwaites Vineyard Partners thanks to their generosity and, frankly, well-warranted desire to show off how good their partners are. Their direct relationship with these winemakers makes all the difference and has allowed Laithwaites to create phenomenal, exclusive wines that you can help support too. The Laithwaites Wine Club is your opportunity to try popular parcels from their Vineyard partners. Simply sign up through our…
What ever happened to Cava?
Do you remember when Cava was all the rage? The heady years before the public got a sweet tooth for cheaper, albeit less impressive Prosecco. Well, the days when it was top of the charts for bargain sparkling are long over – sales have in fact really plateaued since 2010. If you do a bit of digging beyond the few big brand labels out there (Freixenet I’m looking at you), you can get stuff that beats out the Prosecco by miles and is a much closer alternative to Champagne’s taste. But how did we…
Sustainability focus: Naked Wines
As we are all aware, sustainability is one issue that will simply not go away. The first things that come to mind when you think sustainable range from reusing pots, recycling plastic and cutting down on car journeys, but the wine world actually plays quite a role itself. Not just in leading the way in logistics and distribution sustainability, but also farming techniques helping reduce harmful chemicals, wastewater and even using drones. Check out my article on sustainability in Bordeaux for…
Jim Barry – An Aussie icon
When you hear about Australian wines there are a few names that should come to mind: Penfolds, Yellow Tail, Wolf Blass, Peter Lehmann and Jim Barry. Jim Barry helped shape the world-famous Clare Valley as a Riesling powerhouse and one of Australia’s greatest wine regions. He was in fact the first qualified winemaker to work in the entire region, taking a job as winemaker and chemist at Clarevale Cooperative soon after graduating in 1946. It wasn’t until 1959 that Jim and his wife bought their…
Apothic – Wines with history
As a Classicist and wine aficionado, this brand appeals for two reasons. Firstly, the Classicist in me likes the name for its Greek origin (Everywhere I saw seems to think it's Latin, which isn't wrong, but go back further). "Apothece", meaning warehouse, harks to the origin and rustic nature of winemaking. Picture barrels upon barrels in large, dark storehouses where early winemakers began tinkering with blends and maturation. It’s also linked to apothecaries, again evoking this image of…
Weddings & Wine: The Key Events
These days, much like everything, weddings have a habit of racking up a nasty bill. Many will be wondering how you can keep wedding costs down, but, the simple truth is that it can be tricky, particularly where food and drink are concerned. I’ve spent a bit of time discussing and leading wine tastings during my days at Majestic Wine so have a good idea of how to manage wine choices, food pairings and head count to bottle ratios on a budget (half a bottle per person is about right). Not to…
Riding around the Hunter Valley
Keen Aussie wine drinkers might know a thing or two about (*Australian outback accent*) “The Hunter”. By which I of course mean the Hunter Valley! Just over a year ago to date I was out in Sydney, and being a wine man if I do say so myself, felt it was the ideal opportunity to go and visit one of Australia’s most renowned regions. It helped it was also the closest region of any note. The Hunter lies just North of Sydney and is Australia’s oldest wine region. It accounts for something like only…
Grapes and libations: Bacchus
Bacchus is perhaps one of the best named grapes out there. An homage to the Greek god of wine and, for some I'm sure, the Bacchanal excess that goes with it! Although perhaps not to the same extent as some of the more lurid tales of the Greeks. Bacchus is in fact a feat of human engineering, a crossing between Muller-Thurgau and a Silvaner-Riesling crossing. These are all German wine mainstays in the grape world and explains why Bacchus has proved so effective in the UK. Our climate is not…
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