A quick guide to New Zealand wine
New Zealand is a relative newcomer in the roll call of significant wine-producing countries. It wasn’t until the mid-1980s that
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Regions
Tablas Creek and Château Beaucastel: a Wine Society tasting telling the story of how a leading Rhône domaine fell in love with California
Jason Haas of Tablas Creek and Andrew Bayley (GM of Beaucastel’s UK operation) presented this really interesting tasting, telling the
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Highlights: Sadie Family Wines Twiswind 2024 & Sonvang 2024
These two newest Sadie Family wines are 20+ years in the making. Eben Sadie started the project back in 2002,
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Highlights: Graham Beck Cuvée Clive 2018 Western Cape, South Africa
Website: https://grahambeck.com/ Tried this tonight, and was really impressed. I’ve tried previous vintages, but this was quite striking in its
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Crafted in BC Wines Extended through 2025 Vintage
Earlier this week Wine Growers British Columbia announced that the Government of British Columbia is extending the temporary Crafted in
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Champagne Salon and Delamotte: the 2015 Salon release, and a look at the current Delamotte range
Champagne Delamotte is based in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, a grand cru village in the Côte des Blancs. It was founded back
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Highlights: Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2014
Website: https://www.taittinger.com/en The new release of this classic! And it’s really good. Champagne Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs
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Icelandic pharma-titan, Robert Wessman of Maison Wessman in Bergerac and his Wine Director, Lise Sadirac, fight for a new Issigeac micro-appellation with musical backing from Nora Jones
Wessman seeks vinous validation for Issigeac and Conne-de-Labarde, which lie on a clearly defined limestone plateau and merit their own micro-appellation according to Vineyard Director Lise Sadirac, who is working hard to convince the INAO. The layered limestone plateau of D’Issigeac took 1.5 million years to form. Vines take a decade to root in the fissured rock, where soil is a mere 20cm deep. Bergerac has 13 appellations and no distinct identity. Fine wine would benefit from a perceptible point of difference and a dose of celebrity stardust.
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Some impressive wines at Gamay, Athens, a wine bar with a brilliant list
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gamay_winebar/reels/?hl=en This was my second visit to Gamay, a really excellent wine bar in Athens. I popped in last
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The Judgement of Cape Town
Earlier this month I was invited to contribute to The Judgement of Cape Town, a blind tasting of premium Chardonnay
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