The Haynes Hanson and Clark 2001 red Burgundy tasting was another enjoyable and thought provoking event. I didn’t try as many reds here as I did whites, but those I did try showed high quality and generally extreme drinkability across the range. HHandC have a great portfolio of producers and there is something here for [...]
Howard Ripley’s 2011 red Burgundy tasting was an excellent event. A broad range of producers covering a good assortment of appellations were show, allowing one to get a feeling for the vintage across the Cote d’Or. The impression it gave me was that the vintage is very good at best, but sadly quite inconsistent with [...]
Clark Foyster Wines 2011 red Burgundy tasting was my favourite event of the London 2011 Burgundy en primeur week. They have a focussed range of extremely good producers, some of whom made it to the tasting to discuss their wines, and Riedel Burgundy glasses were provided for tasting. Good glasses make such a difference to [...]
Before I publish my individual tasting notes from the tastings I attended in London’s 2011 Burgundy en primeur week I will give you an overview of the 2011 red Burgundy vintage. In this post I will also suggest a top pick from each of the tastings I attended of something that, at this early stage, [...]
My first report from en primeur week is on 2011 white Burgundy and Chablis. As ever we can cut straight to the chase and I’ll tell you it’s a very good to excellent vintage. Perhaps not of the supreme quality of 2010, but that doesn’t take away from the class, undoubted fun-value and extreme drinkability of 2011 [...]
It’s still two days before my third birthday, but I’m in the mood to celebrate all ready. To be honest, it’s been a lousy couple of days, and my mood is barely holding up. What I need to support it is quality fizz and the Wine Society have provided the excellent Lilbert Perle; that should [...]
Last time I was on vast quantities of codeine I wrote this hilarious article about cheap wine. Well, as those who’ve followed my whining on Twitter will know, I’ve knackered my back and I’m on vast quantities of codeine again. Consequently, I’m writing about cheap wine again. There are some differences. Firstly, I got these [...]
Howard Ripley’s 2011 German tasting was one of the most pleasurable things I’ve ever done in public. The wines were incredible, showing this to be a very high class vintage. I warn you: a lot of colourful superlatives will follow. A few producers were back to historic form and some were the best I’d ever [...]
A couple of weeks ago I went to the Germany Unplugged tasting; an event featuring up-and-coming producers of largely dry and red wines. Much to my intense annoyance, I loved it and had a whale of a time. I’d planned loads of brilliant jokes like ‘the most loathsome collection of Germans assembled since the Nuremberg [...]
I visited the Specialist Importers Trade Tasting (SITT) a few days ago. It was a large event with far too many wines on show to taste the lot, but a lovely Gevrey-Chambertin from Domaine Henri Jouan really stood out as being marvellous. Henri-Jouan is a new domaine to me. He is based in Morey-Saint-Denis and [...]
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