Welsh Vineyard wines sparkling award

A new welsh vineyard , Ancre Hill in Monmouth has won recognition for its first production of a still white [...]

The Yapp App!

Good to see the wine business keeping up with the latest trends – such as independent wine merchants Yapp Brothers who have developed an App (application) for the iPhone and iPod Touch – so you can browse their list of French regional wines in your hand.
And they are not alone – traditional merchants Berry Bros [...]

Wine Show 2010 moves to Olympia

[ November 12, 2010 to November 14, 2010. ] Now in it’s 6th year The Wine Show from 12-14 November 2010 will be at London’s Olympia, co-located with MasterChef Live (previously known as BBC’s London Good Food Show! and cunningly timed to enable you to start detailed planning for Christmas!!
Your ticket will give you entrance to both Shows. That’s two Shows for the price [...]

Last chance before Budget rises!

The 2010 budget on Wednesday 24 March is widely expected to increase duty on wines and spirits AGAIN!
Whilst the increases will only apply to new imports and withdrawals from bonded warehouses after the budget, many merchants will be holding some duty-paid stocks so you should have a week or so to grab a few bottles [...]

Life’s too short to drink bad wine!

Columnist Simon Hoggart has a new book out with a title to match a strongly shared sentiment : Life’s Too Short to Drink Bad Wine: 100 wines for the discerning drinker. Simon who is a political writer for the Guardian and wine columnist for the Specator magazine, is perhaps more of a wine-lover than a [...]

A new Gluck Book – Great Wine Swindle

Acerbic, consumer-friendly wine critic Malcolm Gluck publishes a new book – “The Great Wine Swindle” on 18 November 2009. Malcolm Gluck is one of the nation’s best known wine critics and a voice of authority on all things concerning wine. His new book is intended to reveal the snobbery associated with wine today and how [...]

Beaujolais Tasting in Saffron Walden

[ April 11, 2009; ] Fleurie Tasting This Saturday! (11 April 2009)

[caption id="attachment_975" align="alignright" width="124" caption="Fleurie from Ch Raousset"][/caption]

Joseph Barnes Wines has a tasting of Fleurie – one of the best Beaujolais Cru wines from France – a great opportunity to taste proper Beaujolais rather than the gimmicky “Nouveau” – a different wine in all respects in my opinion.

Having visited [...]

Sending Bordeaux back

An interesting reflection on the times, this time in the Financial Times (23 March 2009)
British wine merchants are selling fine wine back to merchants in Bordeaux and exporting it to Asia as domestic demand for the most expensive wine slumps and sterling weakens against the euro.
Tom Hudson, a director at Farr Vintners, the biggest Bordeaux [...]

Galician wines and food

Galicia in northern Spain is a little known area with its wines and food even less known. But now independent wine and food merchant  Flavours of Spain has extended its range of fine wines with two UK exclusives from Galicia :-
With spectacular landscapes, clean air and a sweeping coastline, Galicia has an array of culinary [...]

From novice to connoisseur with POTG

[ April 14, 2009; 7:00 pm; ]

From 15 April 2009 London independent wine merchant Planet of the Grapes is launching an enticing 6 week wine course at their shop in Holborn.
Each week you will taste wines from all over the world in all different styles and giving you the broadest range…..

14th April / Week 1 – How to taste: sweetness, acidity, [...]

BBC4 goes behind the scenes of the International Wine Challenge

The last episode of BBC4′s “Wine” series goes behind the scenes of the International Wine Challenge (IWC)  “the most comprehensive and influential blind tasting in the world”
The chairmen of the IWC, Tim Atkin, Charles Metcalfe and Derek Smedley will be tasting the wine produced by two unlikely South African winemakers at the end of their [...]

Chateau Margaux 2008 on BBC 4 TV

[ February 23, 2009; 9:00 pm; ] The second episode of BBC4′s series “Wine” takes a look at the making of the 2008 vintage at Chateau Margaux in Bordeaux. The episode entitled “The Faith” refers to the necessary belief and the next vintage will retain the almost magical qualities that make this first growth wine so special. The film reportedly focuses on [...]

Is all OK at Oddbins?

Writing on his blog Jim’s Loire, Jim Budd mentioned the number of ‘out of stocks’ in the Loire section and finished the post with
“Looking further at the Oddbins site, the number of wines that are ‘currently unavailable’ is rather alarming, unless the company has just had a very successful weekend.
Of the 72 Champagnes listed – [...]

New wine series on BBC4 TV

[ February 16, 2009; 9:00 pm; ] The BBC is running a short series, innovatively entitled “Wine”,  although it is as much about people as wine. This documentary series of 3 episodes goes behind the scenes in the wine industry and is narrated by Matthew Macfadyen, starting on BBC4 TV on Monday 16 February 2008 at 9pm (with various re-transmissions) .

The first [...]

Comic Relief wines 2009

In support of Comic Relief the wine business makes its own contribution through “Wine Relief”. Many outlets will be making their own arrangements, but from 29 January 2009 Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Tesco, Somerfield, Waitrose and Booths will be offering a Big Red Nose red and white for just £4.99 each, with at least £1 of each [...]

Event Calendar

September 2010
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930EC