One thing we get asked for quite often is a wine that hasn’t been oaked in any way. Of course, we also get asked for wine that has been oaked, but Oak has many influences on the wine and can be used at many stages in the wine making process. Below is a basic summary of […]
One of the magical things about wine is that it is a living, breathing thing; once bottled, it doesn’t stay the same, but continues to change and evolve. Most wines are best drunk in their full flush of youth, when they still have all their exuberant fruit. Some, however, are made to improve as they […]
Look for a definition of a premium New World wine region and New Zealand will be your answer. Viticulture there dates back to 1836, when Scottish-born oenologist (and father of Australian Wine) James Busby started planting vines on his estate in Waitangi, but it was in the early 1970s that Brancott Estate (then Montana) first […]
We’ve got the 1980s and the Pina Colada song to thank for dragging this drink into the realms of the incredibly naff. It didn’t help (and still doesn’t) that in some bars, they arrive with all the fanfare of a circus act in a glass so big it may as well be a fishbowl. Pina […]
“But why’s the rum gone?” – Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Carribean Pirate references aside, rum is awesome. Here’s why. Rum was a favourite tipple of reknowned imbiber Ernest Hemingway, who enjoyed many a Mojito and Daiquiri. He even lent his name to the Hemingway Daiquiri, and once quipped, “My Mojito in La Bodeguita, […]
There is a phrase much bandied about the wine industry at the moment. It crops up in magazines, tasting notes and from the mouths of critics online and in print: Minerality. It seems to be the flavour du jour, but what exactly do people mean by that? It tends to be used as a positive descriptor […]
Whether you’re sitting on Murray Mound or watching from the comfort of your living room, Wimbledon is strawberry season so it’s the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon enjoying the tennis. Wines and fruit work well together, both possessing a balance of sugar and acidity that make them so refreshingly delicious – and strawberries are no […]
The 11th of June is quite literally one of my favourite days in the calendar. Better than birthdays, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. Why? Because it’s an entire day given over to the celebration of one of Britain’s favourite libations: Gin. Gin has a truly fascinating place in the British psyche – it’s intrinsically part […]
