Posted by peter | March 24th, 2010 (Author: Peter)
I have received many messages from Chile in the wake of the massive earthquake that stunned the country before dawn on Saturday 27th February 2010. (Click here for my earlier report.)
Of all of them, one stood out for its vivid, intensely personal, very moving and ultimately thought-provoking nature.
It was from Andrés Sánchez. Andrés is a respected winemaker in Chile, albeit still young and also something of an outspoken maverick. He married Daniela Gillmore, daughter of
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Posted by peter | March 10th, 2010 (by peter)
Our Kiwi odyssey came to an end in Nelson, with the obligatory visit to local vinous heavyweight Neudorf.
We were hosted by the delightful Judy Finn, wife of Tim, in their bright yet breezy Upper Moutere base, where they have been since first setting up in 1978. (They had an option to buy the plot or go sailing round the world with friends; the yachting world’s loss was the wine world’s gain.)
Neudorf has around 35 hectares of vineyard, with production split between Brightwater
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Posted by peter | March 10th, 2010 (by peter)
The mobile road sign read “tsunami alert” as we drove towards the coast on a blazing hot Sunday morning in Marlborough.
We stopped, and turned the car around.
It was just one of the many sobering reminders of the Chilean earthquake that have been filtering through to us in recent days. Being on the road, we’ve been somewhat disconnected from the real world of late, and have not been able to be in touch with our many Chilean friends and colleagues as we would have liked.
As
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Posted by peter | February 28th, 2010 (by susie)
Driving into the wine country of Martinborough there was a subtle, almost imperceptible shift in atmosphere.
We had entered another world – a laid-back milieu of boutique wineries and small, sleepy towns that seemed to belong to a bygone age.
Our first stop in the region was Greytown. We’d been told to try The French Bakery. A white, wood-board building with smart grey signage: it looked promising from the outset and we weren’t to be disappointed.
Pete took one bite of
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Posted by peter | January 15th, 2010 (by peter)
Yesterday I met up with Santa Rita winemaking stalwart Andrés Ilabaca, one of Chile’s leading wine men, and Richard Leaver, who heads up UK operations for the Claro Group (which includes Santa Rita, Carmen, Terra Andina and Doña Paula in Argentina).
Ilabaca was in town having flown in from Denmark, where he had been leading a vertical tasting of the winery’s trademark Medalla Real Cabernet Sauvignon. (“There, it’s even chillier than here!” he shivered when I found him
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Posted by peter | November 11th, 2009 (by peter)
Paul Hobbs is tanned.
OK, so the sultry private dining room in Soho House was dimly lit, but to me he seemed to glow even in the atmospheric gloom. His honey-coated Californian vowels floated around the room with an authoritative ease. Here was a man seemingly content with life, and his wines.
And it’s no surprise. Hobbs has made a good name for himself in the vineyards of not just California (Robert Mondavi, Opus One, Simi) but Argentina (Catena, Pascual Toso), Chile
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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 18th, 2009 (by peter)
Chances are that the name MOVI won’t mean much to you. Just like it didn’t mean much to me a few weeks ago. That was before Sven sent me an email.
Sven Bruchfeld is a man who knows his mind. And, once he does, he’s not easily budged. This is a Chilean winemaker (though firmly of Teutonic countenance – see picture) who moved from MontGras to single-handedly heave the floundering giant that was Santa Carolina into the modern era. Fast forward a few years and now he’s
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