Catalan Wines

Finding ’14 & La Festa de la Verema

by  |  04-11-2016

Two years back, I wrote an account of the 2014 harvest which is where the photo above was from. It was nasty. What wasn't desiccated was full of botrytis or then underripe and green. It... more »

Catalan Carignan & The “Best” Catalan Wine

by  |  10-10-2016 ~ 1 Comment

Last Friday the winners were announced for the 4th edition of the Vinari Awards. This is the main wine award for all of Catalonia and this year I participated as one of the judges. So,... more »

The UNWTO’s first Wine Tourism Conference & Georgia

by  |  17-09-2016

After finishing up the bulk of research for a new Georgian wine book, from September 7-9th I attended the first annual Wine Tourism Conference, organized by the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Georgia was chosen... more »

Never mind the grapes, here’s the yeast

by  |  18-07-2016 ~ 3 Comments

It seems I have a never-ending treasure trove of articles from the ICCWS 2016 held in Brighton this past May. There was one session that was particularly interesting (well, maybe really) and it was about... more »

The last freakin’ article on the 40th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris

by  |  12-07-2016

For anyone who follows wine news (and let's be honest, that's not a terribly large chunk of humanity) you'll have seen countless articles about the 40th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris, the seminal wine... more »

Trepat, Catalonia’s “Pinot Noir”?

by  |  28-06-2016

It's always a minefield to compare one wine grape to another, especially when styles around the world vary so much but in terms of Catalonia's Trepat grape and Pinot Noir, there are more aspects than... more »
Photo by Julia Claxton

English still wines, on the other hand

by  |  23-06-2016

Given that today is the so-called, "Brexit" vote, it's probably only fitting to talk a bit more about the wines of England that I tasted during the ICCWS 2016 in Brighton. After all, if the... more »

Tasting the newness of English Sparkling Wine

by  |  08-06-2016

If you were to go back in time 20 years ago and ask a much younger version of me what I thought about sparkling wines, my reaction wouldn’t have been amazing. If you were to... more »
Photo by Julia Claxton

ICCWS 2016, Wow!

by  |  31-05-2016

This past Saturday marked the end of the three day event called, the International Cool Climate Wine Symposium 2016. That lengthy title sums up the event very well as it was three intense days focused... more »
The tasting at Nuits St. George

The days of Grands Jours de Bourgogne 2016

by  |  11-05-2016

It may be different for others but I suppose due to the general price of the wines and the limited production, I've always thought of Burgundy as something of an enigma. Sure, wine is wine... more »