Adnams Riesling 9% (£9.99, Adnams) ‘Seriously, what’s the point of wine with no alcohol in it?!’ Such was the reaction of a good friend when we told her we’d been doing a tasting of low-and-no-alcohol drinks. (The category is known in the industry as ‘low-and-no’.) On one level, the...
‘May you be in heaven a half hour – before the devil knows you’re dead!’ So runs the famous Irish toast, which I quoted at a gathering of Britain’s finest retailing talent at the Decanter Retailer Awards on 20th September 2018. My chairman's speech was a similar...
Cà dei Frati Rosa dei Frati 2017, Lombary, Italy, 13% (c. £15, independents) I gave a bottle of rosé to a friend recently. He took one look and almost gave it straight back. ‘That’s not real wine, is it?!’ he exclaimed. ‘I mean, it looks like it’s a...
Was this the worst Decanter panel tasting ever? Maybe that's over-stating things a bit. It certainly was heroically underwhelming. Dispiriting, even. Of 62 Chilean Sauvignon Blancs from £8-30, only 10 wines broached the 90-point threshold. More than half scored a lacklustre 85 points or less. No 'Exceptional' wines....
Màquina y Tabla Páramos de Nicosia Clarete 2017, Toro, Spain, 13.5% (from £13.95, Lea & Sandeman) We’re both big fans of Màquina&Tabla’s characterful, energetic Spanish wines, which dare to be different. It’s an operation based out of Valladolid and a lot of the fruit comes from the nearby...
'A viticultural paradise.' That was how some people used to refer to Chile. A country whose vineyards were refreshed by pure Andean melt-water, free from pests and diseases that afflicted other less wholesome nations, and where all vintages were bountiful and even. These days, reality is catching...
Chateau de Bel Franc de Bel NV, Bordeaux, France £23.90-29, Jaded Palates, Queen's Park Wines or via Wine Searcher This is Bordeaux, but not as we know it. Olivier Cazenave has a broad smile and big ambitions. He's going against the grain in Bordeaux, one of the most...
'My friend Steve Anderson died earlier this year. Car crash, southern Chile. A journalist, campaigner and all-round cranky man, he gave me my first proper job. His main role in life was to be a pain in the backside. Mainly to those in positions of...
Morandé Gran Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2016, Casablanca, Chile £13-14, The Drink Shop, Corking Wines or via Wine Searcher Earlier this year I had the misfortune to participate in one of the most depressing Decanter panel tastings ever. We had 62 Chilean Sauvignon Blancs. The overall standard was thoroughly...
Back in February, following a whistle-stop tour around Chile's wine heartlands, I was sat down for an interview by Alvaro Peralta Sáinz for Vida & Estilos. The resulting piece is in Spanish, accompanied by a somewhat sombre photo portrait (I plead weariness). To paraphrase, though, I was...