Call it the shock of the mediocre. Earlier this month in a West Country pub, I scanned the wine list out of idle interest. It offered just two wines under...
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Wine’s Next Price Shock
Wines To Drink On A Date
On a cold, bright Saturday afternoon in January, a student couple entered my Cambridge wine shop-bar, Amphora. It was early and the venue was empty. After glancing at the extensive...
Make Albania Great Again
Albania and Sussex have a lot in common. Similar population, with most young people moving to London. Pronunciation incomprehensible to outsiders. 150 miles of gorgeous limestone coastline. And of course,...
Can AI Break The Mystique Of...
Another day, another outlandish claim about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) will transform our lives. Last week the BBC News website claimed breathlessly that “AI… is now increasingly helping people buy...
Back to the future
Fine wines are timeless – that elusive combination of elegance, complexity and gravitas, plus ageing potential in spades. Their prices unfortunately are not. Top rank Bordeaux, Burgundy or mature Barolos...
Beards, wine and biodynamism
Pierre Weindel of Domaine de la Tour des Vidaux I was keeping my eyes out for deer’s bladders in the rafters or even the odd cow horn, but it was...
Anosmia Dogs and other failed Master...
One of the requirements for becoming a Master of Wine is an original and rigorous research paper of between 6,000 and 10,000 words. The words must be placed in sentences,...
A Sensorial Symphony
Vibrant. Rich. Exciting. Layered. Powerful. Complex. These words describe the third movement of Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D Major. They also describe a vintage Champagne of excellent quality. In...
Don’t Over Think It, Just Drink...
My mum is a gardener and sometimes works with a friend and fellow gardener called Don who takes care of hard landscaping, hedges and tree felling. As you’d expect given...