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Hopes are riding on an alcohol duty freeze in next week’s budget
On 27 October, Chancellor Rishi Sunak will deliver his Budget and Spending Review to the House of Commons as he seeks to rebalance the books after borrowing billions in order to protect the economy during the Covid pandemic. However, there is concern that the Chancellor – who is teetotal – will raise alcohol duty in his upcoming
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Autumn wines to savour
As summer gradually drifts into autumn and leaves start to turn from green into a dazzling array of reds, oranges and golds, we tend to crave more textural, weightier wines with a little more spice. Rather than reaching for a light, thirst-quenching white or rosé that was just the ticket on a hot summer’s day, autumn is a great time to
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Cortes de Cima: The Portuguese wines that started life outside the law
The quote “To live outside the law, you must be honest” resonated so much with the founders of the Cortes de Cima winery in the Alentejo region of Portugal that they decided to print it on the labels of the first wine they produced. This is because when Hans and Carrie Jorgensen began producing wine from Syrah grapes, the variety was not
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The Garage Wine Company: Bringing a Breath of Fresh Air to the Chilean Wine Scene
There has been much discussion in wine circles in recent years about authenticity and sustainability in winemaking. As these values are becoming increasingly important to wine drinkers, many producers are quick to claim that their wines are ‘authentic’ and/or ‘sustainable’ but sadly this is often just lip service. However, the
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The Wines of Eastern Europe: A Voyage of Discovery
When you think of wine producing countries in Europe, Romania, Macedonia, Slovenia and Croatia don’t necessarily spring to mind. However, some of the nations that were once at the heart of the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War are now producing a dizzying array of great value, top quality wines which are steadily gaining recognition on the
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Everything’s Coming Up Rosé: Our Top Ten Best-Selling Pinks this Summer
Ranging from the palest pastel pink through to a light cherry red tone, there are probably as many varying shades of rosé wine produced as there are colours on a Farrow & Ball paint colour chart – with a whole spectrum of different flavour profiles! And while there is a lot of choice available depending on whether you prefer a chic, delicate
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The heavy cost of severe spring frosts
As we edge towards summer, it is all too easy to forget that much of Northern Europe suffered devastating spring frosts only a matter of weeks ago. A lack of cloud cover over many of Europe’s vineyards on several consecutive nights in early April allowed Jack Frost to wreak havoc on vines, freezing and killing a significant amount of young
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The Judgement of Paris: The contest that put California on the wine map
45 years ago – on 24 May 1976 – wine history was made. A high-powered panel of nine French wine experts took their seats at a blind wine tasting in Paris where some of France’s finest wines, from the hallowed cellars of Bordeaux and Burgundy, were pitted against relatively unknown Californian offerings. What followed has since become
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Hello Darkness, my Old Friend…
There are some occasions when only a deep, dark brooding wine will suffice. And one of the darkest (almost inky-black) wines is made from the thick-skinned Tannat grape. Its thick skins mean that the resulting wines can have very high tannin levels. So high that, in the grape’s Southern French birthplace of Madiran, they use the
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How to open a bottle of fizz with finesse
Is there anything more satisfying than the pop of a Champagne cork to signal that your favourite fizz is about to be served? However, cracking open a bottle of sparkling wine can be a dangerous affair. This is because built up pressure can force the cork out of bottle at a speed of almost 25 miles per hour!
Be honest: Have
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