Burgundy 2012
I called to see Michel Lafarge in Volnay on 26th July last, with only one question that I really wanted to ask: Had he ever seen a year like this before? ...Wednesday 1st August was a lovely day on the...
View ArticleBurgundy Harvest 2012
In all, about 50mm fell in 24 hours and, in the darkness of the early morning, it was accompanied by crashing thunder and sweeping flashes of lightning. There were not many grapes picked that day,...
View ArticleOh No - Nouveau!
It is upon us again, one of the greatest marketing scourges ever visited on the wine drinking public, though I believe it has backfired on the producers in a way they would never care to admit. ......
View ArticleThe Douro Valley
Pop across the river to Vila Nova da Gaia to visit one of the Port Lodges, perhaps Sandeman where, in the small museum, an advertisement from The Irish Times of Saturday, 6th March 1909 reads: “There...
View ArticleForget Sherry!
Hence I use the generic term as little as possible and try instead to talk of a glass of fino or oloroso when referring to the famous wine of Jerez, way down in the south west corner of Spain....
View ArticleShow Stoppers
Never before have I had such a wide range of wines from which to choose my matches for the dishes being cooked by a host of Ireland’s leading chefs on the Chefs’ Stage. ...Prior to it I was...
View ArticleGo West
When the dark days of January finally show some signs of brightening into spring, and a month of prayer and fasting draws to a close, it is time to go west for some much needed indulgence… Earlier this...
View ArticleNatural Wine
The wine world always needs a fiery debate to sink its teeth into; under-garments were once tied in knots when the use, or overuse, of new oak was discussed; then came the cork v screwcap debate, which...
View ArticleWine Diploma
It has been some time in the pipeline but I am delighted to announce that this day four weeks the Diploma in Wine and Wine Culture at Independent College, Dublin kicks off for a 12-week ‘run’....
View ArticleBurgundy 2012
I called to see Michel Lafarge in Volnay on 26th July last, with only one question that I really wanted to ask: Had he ever seen a year like this before? ...Wednesday 1st August was a lovely day on the...
View ArticleBurgundy Harvest 2012
In all, about 50mm fell in 24 hours and, in the darkness of the early morning, it was accompanied by crashing thunder and sweeping flashes of lightning. There were not many grapes picked that day,...
View ArticleOz Shiraz
It was late afternoon in Australia’s Barossa Valley and I had arrived at the St Hallett winery for my final visit of the day. After a day-long assault from massively concentrated wines, gums and jowls...
View ArticleScrewcap - Cork's Saviour?
With no serious alternative, cork had the market to itself and, despite rigorous efforts by conscientious winemakers to ensure that they were using the best quality corks, some rogues always slipped...
View ArticleWine Fraud!
Call them what you will but the bottles of Domaine Ponsot wines consigned for sale at an Acker, Merrall & Condit auction in New York on 25th April 2008 were definitely not genuine. ...Given the...
View ArticleBordeaux En Primeur
It might not have made headlines on Sky or CNN but within the cosy little world of fine wine the news last year that Château Latour, one of the superstar names of Bordeaux, was withdrawing from the...
View ArticleBarbeito Madeira
So there was no way I was going to miss the Barbeito tasting, hosted in Pearl Brasserie, Dublin yesterday by Ricardo Diogo V Freitas and organised by Ally Alpine of Wines on the Green. ...It was...
View ArticleANZAC Dinner
What better way to celebrate ANZAC Day than by organising a themed wine dinner with wines from Australia and New Zealand, and the food giving at least a nod to the Antipodes? ... The committed...
View ArticleThe Road to Burgundy
But you couldn’t miss him: tall, slim and Ray-Banned, he cut an impressive figure, looking for all the world like a younger version of the great boxer Sugar Ray Leonard. ... Afterwards, Rosalind,...
View ArticleBrilliant Reputation - Woeful Image
I believe they got that idea from us here in Ireland where St Patrick's Day can last for 10 and, when the Celtic Tiger was roaring loudest, Christmas Day stretched towards three weeks on occasion. ...I...
View ArticlePeter Lehmann RIP
Lehmann was the champion of the little guys and was ambitious on their behalf and it is barely an exaggeration to say that the Barossa Valley wine industry of today would not exist were it not for his...
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