A week at the International Wine Challenge hasn’t diminished my enthusiasm for decent juice. However, a final day of first round judging that saw our panel bin a number of bland, boring wines – fault-free but character-free too – left me craving something decidedly left-field (when did I start using […]
Monthly Archives: April 2008
The relief of finally being back on proper wines after my session with the brands is immense. Rather than reach for magnums (magna?) of numerous grands crus, I’ve eased myself back into the groove gently, with wines in the £10-£15 bracket. Star of these has been the Château de Fosse […]
Challenged
As I finally sit down to some wine I’d choose to drink, here’s a final verdict on the UK’s top wine brands based on my experience with them over the past three weeks. So counting down from the – let’s be polite – least good to the least bad…(numbers in […]
Day Twenty-Two – The Verdict
Am I older and wiser at the end of my three weeks on Big Brands? I think I’ll save the summing up for tomorrow, but I have a final pair of wines, both from Constellation and both with – in best-selling brand terms at least – sizeable price tags. Kumala […]
Day Twenty-One – Here we go, here we go, here ...
Not much time for writing on this, my penultimate evening of Big Brand-dom, so I’ll get straight down to business and a pair of Aussie Shirazes. Lindemans Bin 50 Shiraz 2007, South Eastern AustraliaI enjoyed Lindemans Bin 65 Chardonnay but I’ve found the reds (see Days 15 and 17) just […]
Day Twenty – giddy kipper time
‘Bored with Shiraz? Why not try [fill in grape of the moment].’ I really wish there weren’t articles that began in such fashion. Chardonnay is probably the grape that attracts the most flak, but when you question those who pronounce themselves members of the ABC – Anything But Chardonnay – […]