As someone who cut their wine teeth in Australia, and whose sister, uncle, aunt, cousins and various other rellies live there, I’m favourably disposed to Down Under. My first wine trade job was picking grapes in the Yarra Valley, while my second was working in a Melbourne bottle shop (our […]
Yearly Archives: 2008
‘They all taste the same to me…’ I’ve heard such a line trotted out by two quite different groups of people. Firstly, by people like my mum, a wise, funny woman, whose generous nature is only sometimes undermined by her acerbic wit. I’ve given up trying to appeal to her […]
Day Fourteen – don’t they all taste the same?
Rumour has it that teetotaller Nicolas Sarkozy is at this very moment sitting there not drinking the Chateau Margaux 1961 that is being served at Windsor Castle in his honour. Stupid, stupid homme. Me? I’m on more Big blands. The thing that depresses me most about having to drink my […]
Day Thirteen – Unlucky for some
In case you hadn’t noticed, two things have changed with Stowells of Chelsea. First of all, it’s now called just Stowells – maybe Roman Abramovich was threatening a law suit (the thought of a head-to-head between the Russian oligarch and the world’s largest wine company – Constellation now owns Stowells […]
Day Twelve – Boxing Clever
What is it with Californian wine in the UK? I had a bit of a moan on Day Two about the dearth of decent affordable Cabernet from the Golden State, but to be honest I could extend my whinge to the entire gamut of wine. The annual Californian wine tasting […]
Day Eleven – tell me why (I don’t like Mondays)
Have been out at the in-laws for tea this evening, and just to show I’m taking the task in hand seriously, I opted to take some of my Big Brands rather than something a little more esoteric (OK, tastier). He’s an Aussie Shiraz fan, she likes Chardonnay, so the following […]