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Paul Jaboulet Wines
Domaines Paul Jaboulet Aîné was founded in The Rhone Valley in 1834 in the town of Tain L'Hermitage by Antoine Jaboulet and his sons, Paul and Henry. In 1919 they acquired the very famous Saint-Christophe chapel at the top of the renowned Hermitage vineyard. You'll have likely seen this crop up in pictures of Rhone vineyards without realising it! With the death of Gerard Jaboulet in 1997, the house saw its fortunes fall as the family business fell into disarray and the wine went downhill. It was…
Waitrose Easter Pairing 2025
Now with the bank holiday stretch on the horizon, Easter should be firmly in your sights. Not only is it the next holiday, but it’s also your excuse to crack open good wine and share it with the family. Oh, and a rather good chance to gorge on some chocolate. I’ll of course be focused on the vino at Waitrose that I recommend for your Easter feasts, but don’t overlook their exciting Easter eggs either! Have a look below at my picks for your wine pairings from Waitrose. They have an excellent…
Dark Horse Wines
Dark Horse is an award-winning Californian wine brand with a reputation that matches up to its wines. Their combination of traditional winemaking techniques with the latest winery equipment helps make their wine so good, and so popular. Behind the wines is winemaker Beth Liston, who set out to make an affordable wine that could acheive genuine quality. In a market full of mass-produced wines, this is an impressive feat to undertake. And one that they have managed. Dark Horse boasts enough medals…
A Rhone Valley Wine Tour
This has been a remarkably long time coming but the time to reminisce about two of the excellent Rhone Valley producers I visited in May 2024 has come. It was partly spurred by finding the Ferraton La Matinière Crozes-Hermitage on a restaurant menu recently, which was unfortunately out of stock! Still, at least you can get hold of it for a good price from retailers. But, the real thing you are here for, presumably, is the tour exploring Ferraton and Domaine Farge, the famous hills of Hermitage…
Chapoutier Wines
Chapoutier is a long-established Rhone Valley wine producer with roots going back to 1808, where it was first established as 'Calvet et Compagnie'. In 1883 it was bought by Rodolphe Delepine, and Marius Chapoutier joined the venture in 1897, where it became known as 'Delepine et Chapoutier'. Delepine retired in 1922 and Chapoutier took the reigns, creating a new winery at the foot of the famous Hermitage hill. Since then it has remained in family hands, with Michel Chapoutier at the helm who has…
Laithwaites Vineyard Partners Tasting
Recently, I had the good fortune to taste a case of wines made by the Laithwaites Vineyard Partners thanks to their generosity and, frankly, well-warranted desire to show off how good their partners are. Their direct relationship with these winemakers makes all the difference and has allowed Laithwaites to create phenomenal, exclusive wines that you can help support too. The Laithwaites Wine Club is your opportunity to try popular parcels from their Vineyard partners. Simply sign up through our…
What ever happened to Cava?
Do you remember when Cava was all the rage? The heady years before the public got a sweet tooth for cheaper, albeit less impressive Prosecco. Well, the days when it was top of the charts for bargain sparkling are long over – sales have in fact really plateaued since 2010. If you do a bit of digging beyond the few big brand labels out there (Freixenet I’m looking at you), you can get stuff that beats out the Prosecco by miles and is a much closer alternative to Champagne’s taste. But how did we…
Sustainability focus: Naked Wines
As we are all aware, sustainability is one issue that will simply not go away. The first things that come to mind when you think sustainable range from reusing pots, recycling plastic and cutting down on car journeys, but the wine world actually plays quite a role itself. Not just in leading the way in logistics and distribution sustainability, but also farming techniques helping reduce harmful chemicals, wastewater and even using drones. Check out my article on sustainability in Bordeaux for…
Jim Barry – An Aussie icon
When you hear about Australian wines there are a few names that should come to mind: Penfolds, Yellow Tail, Wolf Blass, Peter Lehmann and Jim Barry. Jim Barry helped shape the world-famous Clare Valley as a Riesling powerhouse and one of Australia’s greatest wine regions. He was in fact the first qualified winemaker to work in the entire region, taking a job as winemaker and chemist at Clarevale Cooperative soon after graduating in 1946. It wasn’t until 1959 that Jim and his wife bought their…
Apothic – Wines with history
As a Classicist and wine aficionado, this brand appeals for two reasons. Firstly, the Classicist in me likes the name for its Greek origin (Everywhere I saw seems to think it's Latin, which isn't wrong, but go back further). "Apothece", meaning warehouse, harks to the origin and rustic nature of winemaking. Picture barrels upon barrels in large, dark storehouses where early winemakers began tinkering with blends and maturation. It’s also linked to apothecaries, again evoking this image of…
Weddings & Wine: The Key Events
These days, much like everything, weddings have a habit of racking up a nasty bill. Many will be wondering how you can keep wedding costs down, but, the simple truth is that it can be tricky, particularly where food and drink are concerned. I’ve spent a bit of time discussing and leading wine tastings during my days at Majestic Wine so have a good idea of how to manage wine choices, food pairings and head count to bottle ratios on a budget (half a bottle per person is about right). Not to…
Riding around the Hunter Valley
Keen Aussie wine drinkers might know a thing or two about (*Australian outback accent*) “The Hunter”. By which I of course mean the Hunter Valley! Just over a year ago to date I was out in Sydney, and being a wine man if I do say so myself, felt it was the ideal opportunity to go and visit one of Australia’s most renowned regions. It helped it was also the closest region of any note. The Hunter lies just North of Sydney and is Australia’s oldest wine region. It accounts for something like only…
Grapes and libations: Bacchus
Bacchus is perhaps one of the best named grapes out there. An homage to the Greek god of wine and, for some I'm sure, the Bacchanal excess that goes with it! Although perhaps not to the same extent as some of the more lurid tales of the Greeks. Bacchus is in fact a feat of human engineering, a crossing between Muller-Thurgau and a Silvaner-Riesling crossing. These are all German wine mainstays in the grape world and explains why Bacchus has proved so effective in the UK. Our climate is not…
Greasy Fingers - The Ultimate Food pairing
When you hear someone talk knowingly about wine, the declaration of what fine food to pair it with is never far from their lips. Enter Greasy Fingers, the brand designed to remove the pomp of wine and food matching and admit that pairing wine with burgers, pizza or any kind of takeaway is what you actually want. Sometimes something greasy is hard to resist, and you should treat yourself to a wine that deserves it too. It is true that an aged Rioja or Montrachet probably wouldn’t pair so well…
Sustainability focus: Bordeaux
This blog might well be for the real enthusiasts as it is based off my research essay I submitted for my Diploma qualification recently. So, all I have to say is, good luck! But, in all truth, this topic is very prevalent in the wine world and gives a real insight into changing vineyard and winemaking practices. Environmental impacts are fast becoming a key concern for consumer and producer alike as the effects of climate change have increased over the past few decades, if you couldn’t tell (how…
Balfour – An English Wine Leader
Balfour plantings began in 2002 on the Hush Heath Estate and within a few years had picked up their first award for the 2004 Vintage Balfour Brut Rosé. This was produced in just 10,000 bottles but had given Balfour all the prestige it needed to become what it is today. Not only did it strike gold at the International Wine Challenge, but it was also the first English Sparkling to be served on British Airways First Class and the only English Wine at the London Olympics 2012. As you can see it’s…
World Champagne Day 2023
World Champagne Day is celebrated yearly on the 4th Friday in October, and conveniently a Friday too, where you ought to pop a cork in celebration of Champagne and all the good memories that come with it. Champagne is the absolute staple of celebrations and deserving of its very own day to commemorate the skill, passion and joyous occasion that these winemakers bring us. Across the industry there is a range of Champagne at some eye-bogglingly low prices and equally bogglingly high. They are…
Barbados – The birthplace of Rum: Tour of St Nicholas Abbey
As we draw towards Winter, you may find yourself looking for comforting spirits to put some fire in you and keep the frost at bay. Why not think of the Caribbean as you do it too, to maintain that mental warming image. It was around this time last October that this very thought occurred to me as I sat on a Barbadian beach dreading the return to the UK. Time for a rum tour to get stocks for the chilly homecoming! Now, Barbados is spoilt for choice on rum tours with Mount Gay being the most…
Trivento – The success of Argentinian Winemaking
Trivento is a wine you have probably heard of, after all, it’s the UK’s leading Argentinian wine brand on the market. And that is saying something since Malbec from Argentina is huge at the moment and has been for some time. The wine comes from the famous Mendoza region which lies at the base of the Andes range in the valley of the river Mendoza. Vineyards here can exceed 1,500 metres! The center of Mendoza is known as the ‘Primera Zona’ as it has the longest history of quality wine in…
What's the fuss about Jam Shed wines?
Jam shed wines hit the wine scene in 2017 and have since become the 7th largest Australian wine brand in the UK and are amassing popularity over the World too. That is huge. Australian wine producers have risen in the ranks in recent years, consistently being the most bought on the market, and it is easy to see why Jam Shed are amongst the best. Jam Shed gives away its inspiration very quickly. Quite simply, the founders came across a jam shed on a vineyard which produced both delicious jam and…
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