Articles

A book review of “The Cocktail Dictionary”

by  |  14-09-2020

Lord knows we’re not suffering from a short supply of cocktail books these days. While “The Savoy Cocktail Book” from forever and ago was one of the main references in this field, we’re now amidst... more »

Finding Clímax in Can Ràfols dels Caus

by  |  11-09-2020

In tasting samples for articles about the Penedès region, the wines from one winery would continually appear in the top. For an article about the white wines in Penedès, “La Calma” was one of the... more »

Telti Kuruk, tasting native Ukrainian grapes

by  |  09-09-2020

“What on earth is that?” is my most favorite phrase in wine. Often I’m saying it to myself when browsing list of wild, wonderful new varieties I’ve never heard of while judging. But in this... more »
Photo by Vinarium

Wine judging by remote control

by  |  07-09-2020

Time, has been on my side these last few months and as I was spending far too much of it on Instagram one morning, a photo popped up by Beth Willard. Australian by passport but... more »

A book review of “English Wine”

by  |  01-09-2020

Four years ago, during the International Cool Climate Wine Symposium in Brighton, England, I attended an English still wine tasting led by Oz Clarke. It was fascinating to see the state of the increasingly-popular English... more »

Harvest is here. 2020’s continued winning streak

by  |  31-08-2020

Once the boxes appear, you always know that harvest is imminent. This year, harvest is of course different and not just because of our modern-day plague but because of another plague that arrived in the... more »

Talking about Spain around the internets

by  |  28-08-2020

August is usually a pretty slow month of spending a few days at the beach, dinners of cold dishes, and trying to get in dog walks before walking in the sun scorches you to a... more »

Searching for Cinsault… in France

by  |  26-08-2020

Trying to grasp the world of wine is all about drawing parallels which is why I contend that the Southern French grape, Cinsault is the up-and-coming Malbec for a new age of wine drinking. What... more »

In The Glass: Jack Winery – Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

by  |  24-08-2020

My last trip to Napa Valley was for a wine writing symposium which meant staying in the valley for an entire week. For someone from San Francisco used to day trips up there, it was... more »

WSET vs CMS

by  |  20-08-2020 ~ 29 Comments

Wine education is something not to be undertaken lightly. There's the investment of time and, well, a great deal of money. There's also the issue of choosing the right direction which can be hard to... more »