Because You’re Worth It, Mate
POSTED ON 23/08/2014My co-chair of the Australian panel at this year’s Decanter awards, Michael Hill Smith MW, made three telling observations after the event. First that Australia puts its best foot forward while producers in Europe’s ‘classic’ regions are more cagey about entering. Secondly, that Australia is increasingly showing not just top quality but distinct regional personality. Finally, he supports the late, great Len Evans’ Theory of Capacity: given that a person’s wine consumption is finite, drinking an inferior bottle is like smashing a superior bottle against the wall.
Koshu, The Japanese Grape
POSTED ON 16/08/2014The Japan Wine Competition which takes place every year in Yamanashi within sight of Mount Fuji grows bigger each year along with the number of Japanese wines and wineries. This year there were close on 800 Japanese wines to be judged by five panels of tasters, with cooler regions such as Nagano, Yamagata and the northerly island of Hokkaido becoming ‘hot’, as it were, for burgundian varieties such as chardonnay and pinot noir, and sparkling wines.
Portugal beyond Port
POSTED ON 09/08/2014One of the more pleasurable tasks undertaken this year was as a guest judge at the Concurso Vinhos de Portugal in Lisbon. Portugal is still widely associated in older British minds with Port and Madeira, so it would be no exaggeration to say that the tasting was a revelation for two reasons. From a country with a reputation as a producer of blended wines, it was interesting to follow the trend towards single grape varieties, even if in part a marketing ploy.
Summer Fizz
POSTED ON 02/08/2014According to a June report in a.n. other newspaper, thrifty Britons are not just opting for cheap fizz but claiming that ‘prosecco’s just as good as champers’. It’s true that prosecco sales are bursting through the roof but does that mean it’s ‘nearly twice as popular as champagne’ as the paper claims? Take the hype with a large pinch of salt bearing in mind that most prosecco sells on price.
Wine and Handbags
POSTED ON 01/08/2014Taylor's Port is currently bottling its two casks of Single Harvest 1863 into 1,600 crystal decanters for will worldwide release. It is expected to retail for around £3,000. It follows the release of a limited edition imperial of 2010 Penfolds Bin 170 Kalimna Shiraz in a bespoke case with a compass designed by cabinet maker David Linley at £33,000 for the imperial (six-litre bottle).
