Spanish Wines

A book review of “The wines of northern Spain”

by  |  05-11-2019

Despite Spain’s rubbing shoulders with France and Italy in terms of total wine produced, the number of texts about the country has always paled in comparison to these other two behemoths. It’s so dire in... more »

A book review of “Darjeeling: A History of the World’s Greatest Tea”

by  |  06-07-2019

Unlike when you see a retro laundromat façade and then walk inside to discover a hipster coffee shop with $15 avocado toast, Jeff Koehler’s “Darjeeling: A History of the World’s Greatest Tea” is not an... more »

A book review of “Root Cause”

by  |  15-04-2019

For anyone involved in wine, it’s almost always the case that “pleasure reading” is some kind of dense tome from which a rare beast called, “fact” is derived. Fiction based upon wine is perhaps an... more »

A book review of “Wine Folly: Magnum edition”

by  |  21-01-2019

In the later part of 2018, a new printing of the Wine Folly series by Madeline Puckette and Justin Hammack came to market but instead of being the self-published affair that was the previous book,... more »

A book review of “43 Wine Regions”

by  |  15-08-2018

Author, Michael Biddick sets out with an interesting proposal to analyze the world’s wine regions and essentially generate a group of 43 that encapsulate what is wine in the world, thus the title, “43 Wine... more »

A book review of “The 24-Hour Wine Expert”

by  |  02-08-2018

“The 24-Hour Wine Expert” by Jancis Robinson MW came out over two years ago so one would ask as to why I’d bother reviewing it now? Quite simply that in a time of fake news,... more »

A book review of “The Concise Guide to Wine & Blind Tasting 2nd Ed.”

by  |  11-07-2018

There’s not much point in beating around the proverbial bush as, if you want to gain a massive leg up on tasting wines blind, run out now and pick up a copy of Dr. Neel... more »

A book review of “Supra – A feast of Georgian cooking”

by  |  16-12-2017

In my house, the recipes that reign supreme are those of Ottolenghi. They’re insanely intimidating at first given the ingredient list, but they’re not actually that hard to make. Once you’ve sourced the ingredients (Yotam... more »

A book review of “Essi Avellan’s Champagne”

by  |  16-08-2017

What I know of Champagne is purely by obligation. In sommelier studies and other wine courses, given its dominance in the sparkling wine world, Champagne is required knowledge and I know as much as it... more »

A book review of “In Vino Duplicitas”

by  |  08-08-2017

The entire Rudy Kurniawan affair was sordid and I’ve read countless articles about the story since it broke years and years ago. Despite this, Peter Hellman’s new book, “In Vino Duplicitas” brought out many bits... more »