In The Pink
POSTED ON 21/08/2010Though the very thought of thirstquenching rosé may be tempting fate, summer of 2010 to date has been kind to those of us whose rosé-tinted glasses are always half full. Late August is the moment when the weather could go either way, a downhill slide towards a gloomy autumn or the glorious afterglow of an Indian summer. The latter, let’s hope, as do England’s winemakers, who are hoping for a great vintage for English wines with one eye on the 2012 Olympics.
Age Shall Not Wither Her
POSTED ON 14/08/2010Just about everywhere we buy our wine, we are presented with the nubile attractions of youth in wine as if there were no alternative. For obvious commercial reasons, both retailers and producers have a vested interest in wine as fmcg (fast moving consumer goods). While 87.46 per cent of all statistics may be made up on the spot, the fact that 92 per cent of all wine purchased is consumed within 48 hours of purchase has been confirmed by research by Fosters, or Treasury Wine Estates as it's now called.
Good to be Sud
POSTED ON 07/08/2010According to the folk who run the marketing, the wines of the Languedoc-Roussillon now come from the Sud de France, a place ‘where creativity meets diversity’. I was given the chance to find out if the expectation lived up to the hype when I was asked to join a panel judging 150 wines from the region. Although it does perhaps make it clearer where the wines come from, you might think it a little surprising that Sud de France excludes Provence, given that Provence in many minds is the South of France.
