Book 4

A little out of time-order, but this was served at a charity wine tasting at work before Easter. I’d remembered this as ‘a bit …

A good – if a touch simple (or maybe just youthful?) – sweet Vouvray. Served with South African-style apple pie pudding, which uses canned …

The final red – after Santa Duc Gigondas, 98 Beaucastel and Terram Priorat 06 – with venison. Perfectly mature, with silky tannins, but surprising …

Port and cheese on Easter Saturday after a red-wine-fuelled venison dinner in the Lake District. Overall, a very nice Port, reflecting the quality of …

Another rare varietal Rioja from Ijalba, and apparently there’s only a couple of Ha of this red variety left. Overall, I think Ijalba need …

A thank-you gift from Marketforce for speaking at their social media conference, and a handy opportunity to try a Langhe Nebbiolo – albeit in …

Medium-deep amber, with some olive in the broad, watery rim. Medium+ intensity nose of cinnamon, sweet caramel hints and gentle oak spice. Hint of …

The bit of my WineBear order that actually arrived on reasonably on time (the 6 bottles of Clos des Goisses was due 6 months …

Given producer and vintage, ultimately a little underwhelming. Pretty decent, but not outstanding. Pale-to-medium ruby with some garnet at the rim. Coal smoke, spice, …

Overall good, but missing something – some dimension of complexity, perhaps? Deep, nearly black core, with a medium, ruby rim. Intense ‘waxy’ vanilla nose …