Merlot

Picked up whilst ‘exploring’ The VineYard in Dorking. My first Mallorcan wine, from more-or-less the only DO (Binissalem), and the only major producer. Modern, …

Napa Valley, the Big Daddy of California wines, is today world-famous for Big Cabs and Bold Chardonnays, landmark wineries and the Napa Valley Wine …

Paso Robles to the Santa Cruz Mountains – or ‘the rest of the Central Coast’, between Santa Barbara County and the city of San …

California wine is synonymous with US wine. For many it is US wine. Fortunately, the fine Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs of Oregon, the Bordeaux …

A poorly-regarded vintage. A lesser commune of Bordeaux. And a wine rated 75-77 by Robert Parker. So what’s the point of drinking & describing …

I’ve taken an older Cantenac Brown label off and it was a mammoth and painful task… For the 2000 I just tore it too …

An unexpected, completely blind tasting courtesy of SJ – and the first I’d done for about a year. I think I got lucky, but …

This was an unexpected gift from the people we stayed with in Henley 2010, where the husband Andy explained that a friend had established …

Anne-Marie, SJ and I had a roast lamb dinner together, so I served this ‘almost’ good wine from my Hors Concours case (good / …

My first wine from Waiheke Island, north of Auckland. An interesting balance between Old and New Worlds: certainly a core of quite ripe black …