Sad news that week that two of the wine world’s more interesting winemakers have died. Didier Dagueneau, the wild man who took Pouilly Fumé to another dimension, was killed in a microlight, while Bailey Carrodus, the quiet but passionate founder of Yarra Yering, also passed away. A couple of years […]
Yearly Archives: 2008
One of the definitions in my Concise Oxford Dictionary of the word ‘premium’ is ‘of best quality. This seems to have escaped those who sell wine. Today, wines touted as ‘premium’ products are usually bog-standard, entry-level fodder. So what’s above premium? First there was super-premium. Then ultra-premium. Then Icon. This […]
When the best isn’t good enough
A lovely story has broken of how the US magazine Wine Spectator has paraised a restaurant that doesn’t exist. American author Robin Goldstein invented sent details of the fictitious Osterio L’Intrepido in Milan to the magazine, along with a fee of $250 and wasn’t surprised to receive one of the […]
Château N’Existe Pas
First things first. Don’t try this at home. On the assumption that you follow the Huckleberry Finn principle and do the opposite of what I suggest, let’s proceed. Am off to Spain tomorrow for a trip around Galicia – I’m expecting a version of Catalonia but with more in-breeding and […]
Blend your way out of a corner
Brazil, or for those of a Latino bent Brasil. Land of carnival, poetic football and strange body hair arrangements. Winewise, it’s so far not made the same degree of splash as its fellow South Americans Chile and Argentina. Even Uruguayan wines are easier to track down. But Pele’s homeland offers […]
Brazil – promising wine, shame about the name…
‘Would your mum like this?’ Jill’s mum is lovely, but where wine is concerned, she doesn’t stray too far beyond the safe haven of cheap new World Chardonnay. But New World Chardonnay isn’t what it was. Where once it could be caricatured as the juice from tinned fruit cocktail (the […]