Posted by peter | October 29th, 2009 According to Patrick d’Aulan’s father, the best Champagne is always non-vintage. Why? Because it’s a blend. And the great art of Champagne is the skill of the blend. (Though I suppose the more cynical amongst us might argue that a champenois, brilliant salespeople that they are, will always champion what there’s most of to sell…)
And the d’Aulan family is most certainly champenois. For many years, Patrick’s family were owners of Champagne house Piper Heidsieck (until 1988
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Posted by peter | October 28th, 2009 (by peter)
Today we popped in to visit Iain Dalton (see picture) at Waitrose’s very own farm at Leckford Estate. Partly to check it out for potential Wine School visits. But also to have a snoop around, particularly in their newly planted 11-acre vineyard. And generally enjoy the surroundings.
It’s a beautiful place and made for a fascinating visit. So it was a shame I forgot to bring along my notebook…
But, from what I can recall Iain telling us, Leckford covers around 4,000 acres and
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Posted by susie | October 27th, 2009
(by susie)
At a gala dinner held last week in the candlelit cellars of Champagne Mumm in Reims, Richard Bampfield MW was crowned the 2009 European Champagne Ambassador.
I was a judge for both the UK and European finals of the competition, run by the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC), and I was lucky enough to be there on the night to see Richard win his award. It was certainly a proud moment for the UK representatives in the room.
The title ‘ambassador’
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Posted by susie | October 27th, 2009 (by peter)
Stone, Vine & Sun (SVS) is a small independent wine merchant based in Twyford, just a few minutes down the road from us. Note I say ‘is’ as opposed to ‘was’. With the economy as it is, merely to survive as a small merchant is quite an achievement. But I believe if anyone deserves to weather the storm it’s Stone, Vine & Sun and its owner, Simon Taylor.
If you’re wondering about the reference to Gandhi in the title, Simon had to cut a recent email to Pete short
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Posted by peter | October 22nd, 2009 (by peter)
Susie and I will be posting our bargain buys regularly on the site – so keep your eyes peeled. But if you want more of this kind of thing, be sure to sign up for our regular email bulletins by clicking here.
So without further ado, here’s our top bargain of the moment:
Vinalta Malbec 2008 (M&S, £3.99 down from £5.49, until 1st Nov 2009)
I had this juicy, peppery little number in mind as a contender to pair with Jason Atherton’s hanger steak on last week’s
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Posted by peter | October 22nd, 2009 (by peter)
There was a moment during the Tesco autumn tasting when a bottle of Champagne (Bollinger Grande Année, if you must know) exploded and showered all those in the vicinity with pretty expensive bubbles. For a brief moment, vintage Champagne was dripping from the roof of the Royal Festival Hall.
That was about as exciting as things got.
This is not to say the wines were dull. Far from it – there was decent variety on show, something for everyone, just the kind of solid performance
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Posted by peter | October 21st, 2009 (by peter)
Saturday Kitchen is on fire. These days, it regularly attracts up to 2.5 million viewers. And it has some pretty good wines on it, too…
Of course, I would say all this: I’m biased. But it’s been interesting talking to the buyers for the major supermarkets and wine merchants at tastings recently, all of whom report significant sales spikes for (in some cases, selling out of) the wines we recommend after the shows go out. One senior Majestic buyer said, “It used to be the
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Posted by peter | October 20th, 2009 (by peter)
It was Thursday. The big white room at the back of the Delfina gallery was filled with Sainsbury’s wines, beers and spirits. As well as a few strategically placed Kentia palms. (See photo, right, complete with Susie looking very serious and professional.)
Susie and I both agreed afterwards that the showing was good – not great, but definitely an improvement on recent performances that Sainsbury’s wines have put in. (Over the last few years, the showing has all too often been
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