I visited the Union des Grands Crus tasting at the Opera House this morning. This is the first mass outing of this vintage since it was bottled earlier this year. This is the biggest tasting of the year in London, and is more than an opportunity to taste the wines; half the point of going…
If you do this wine thing for a living at some stage you will have to take notes. When I started I used to write notes on every bottle opened, everything tasted. This is tedious after a while, and you look like a geek in restaurants. And anywhere else to be honest. So after a…
Why do so many people drink and eat rubbish? Nuggets, that sort of thing. And lager. A lager at the end of the day is hard to beat, I concede. But drinking pints of tasteless chemical fizz in the pub is something I just don’t understand when decent ale is available. Pre-football on a Saturday,…
Italy: perhaps the toughest wine region to learn. And little incentive in everyday life. Do you really expect much from the winelist at Pizza Express or that nice little Pasta House on the High Street? The Italy question for my Diploma was a map question. At first I was pleased as I had been given…
For the third year on the trot I feel cheated of a Summer. Yes, we had a nice June, and September has been sunny so far, but does Summer exist anymore? Not in England. It’s to do with the moon: we’ve had thirteen this year (and last year, and the year before). We’re back to…