All of our wine articles
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Tesco Finest Chianti Classico Riserva 2022 Review
Another sunny day in England during what feels like a never ending heatwave meant yet another BBQ. I picked up a bottle of Tesco Finest Chianti Classico Riserva 2022 to go with it. I wasn’t looking for anything overly serious. I just wanted something Italian, savoury and with enough acidity to stand up to everything…
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Monte Plogar Gran Reserva 2019 Review
There are some bottles I pick up because I know roughly what I am getting, and then there are bottles like this. At £7.99 in Lidl, a 2019 Gran Reserva from Cariñena made with Tempranillo, Garnacha and Cabernet Sauvignon was interesting enough that I couldn’t really leave it there. Tonight it was going alongside a…
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La Vieille Ferme Rosé 2025 Review
An Old School Campino in a Glass Some wines get opened because you have planned a meal around them. Others because you have been looking forward to trying the bottle for weeks. This wasn’t either of those. I’d just got back from a round of golf and had also had the thoroughly unwelcome news that…
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Barramundi Merlot 2018 Review:
What Happens When a £6.99 Merlot Gets Eight Years of Bottle Age? Every now and again you find a bottle that you buy more out of curiosity than expectation. This was definitely one of those. I found this 2018 Barramundi Merlot languishing at the back of Moss Delph Stores, one of those little independent shops…
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Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2025 Review
Marlborough, New Zealand Sometimes you don’t need a big food pairing or an excuse to open something special. This was a 10pm opener after a long day, no food planned, just fancied a glass of wine and this was what I had in. Oyster Bay is probably one of the most recognisable names in Marlborough…
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Hacienda López de Haro Reserva 2019 Review
Sometimes there doesn’t need to be a food pairing or any great occasion behind opening a bottle. England were playing, I fancied a Rioja, and that was pretty much the extent of the decision making. Tonight’s bottle was the Hacienda López de Haro Reserva 2019, a Rioja Reserva that on paper should be right up…
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Cepa Lebrel Reserva 2019 Rioja Review
There are some bottles where the price almost becomes part of the tasting experience!! This is definitely one of them. I picked up the Cepa Lebrel Reserva 2019 for £5.99 and opened it for a late September BBQ. Ribeye, Denver steak, minted lamb and sausages were all going over charcoal, so Rioja seemed a fairly…
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Bottles Worth Buying | Chardonnay | Food Pairing | France | White Wine Reviews | Wine Merchants | Wine Reviews
St Vincent de Bourgogne Montagny 1er Cru Les Millières 2023
A peachy, floral Burgundy that quietly got everything right I’ve been drinking a fair bit of Chardonnay recently, but this was a slightly different proposition. Montagny sits down in the Côte Chalonnaise and this particular bottle is a Premier Cru from Les Millières. I went into it hoping for some of that richer white Burgundy…
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Pikes Traditionale Riesling 2025 Review: A Father’s Day Seafood Boil Pairing
There are probably easier ways to spend Father’s Day than abandoning your wife and daughter in a seafood restaurant while you walk around Liverpool looking for the right bottle of Riesling. But apparently that’s where I’m at with wine now! Liv and Eden had taken me to Crabbish for Father’s Day, a seafood boil restaurant…
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Simpson’s Pinot Noir 2024 Review
Don’t Judge a Wine by Its Colour When I poured this into the glass my first thought was, Wow, that’s almost rosé! It’s one of the palest Pinot Noirs I’ve come across, almost translucent in the glass, but as we all know with Pinot, colour means very little. Tonight I paired it with haddock, goat’s…
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Bottles Worth Buying | Food Pairing | France | Supermarket Wines | White Wine Reviews | Wine Reviews
Paul Jaboulet Aîné Viognier 2024 Review: Building a Meal Around the Wine
Sometimes I choose the wine to go with dinner. This time I pretty much did the opposite. I was in Morrisons looking for something for the evening and found myself torn between two Viogniers. There was a Paul Mas 2025 at £8.50, which looked like an absolute steal, and this Paul Jaboulet Aîné Viognier 2024…
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The Champagne That Made Our Wedding Day Even More Special
There are some bottles you remember because they are exceptional, and there are others you remember because of the moment. This one happens to be both. After officially completing the legal part of our wedding, it was time to celebrate with family in the garden. We had already enjoyed a bottle of Piper Heidsieck to…
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Piper Heidsieck Cuvée Brut Review | The First Toast to Married Life
Some bottles are memorable because of what’s in the glass. Others are memorable because of the occasion. This Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Brut will always be one I’ll remember for both reasons. After officially completing the legal part of our wedding, it was time to celebrate with our closest family before the big celebrations in Ibiza. The…
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I Wasn’t Letting the Venue Choose My Wedding Wine!
Wine at a wedding probably isn’t something most people spend too much time worrying about. Red, white and rosé on the tables, keep everyone’s glass topped up and job done. Unfortunately, I am not most people when it comes to wine. We’re getting married in Ibiza on the 30th May, and with the wedding getting…
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Do Wine Glasses Matter
I went into Morrisons today and spotted something I absolutely didn’t need, but at this price there was no chance I was leaving them behind. A pair of Spiegelau Capri red wine glasses. £2.69. Admittedly, that was using 30 of the Morrisons stamps, but still. Two proper Spiegelau glasses for less than the price of…
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Campo Viejo Rioja Reserva 2019 Review: Sometimes Popular Wine Is Popular for a Reason
I’ll admit it, I picked this bottle up with a little bit of wine snobbery already creeping in. Campo Viejo is probably one of the most recognisable Rioja brands in the UK. It’s everywhere. Supermarkets, pubs, restaurants, pretty much anywhere selling a few bottles of red will usually have some form of Campo Viejo knocking…
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Siglo Special Selection Tempranillo Rioja Review – A Rioja That Could Be From Anywhere
I picked this bottle of Siglo Special Selection Tempranillo Rioja up today to go alongside some lamb steaks, and on paper it felt like a pretty safe bet. Rioja and lamb is hardly reinventing the wheel, and Rioja has slowly become one of those regions I find myself gravitating towards more and more. Particularly at…
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Bottles Worth Buying | Portugal | Red Wine Reviews | Supermarket Wines | Touriga Nacional | Wine Reviews
Ramos Family Selection Reserva Review: An £8.50 Portuguese Red That Deserves Some Cellar Time
Sometimes you walk down the wine aisle and something just catches your eye. I was in Morrisons when I spotted the Ramos Family Selection Reserva for £8.50. This isn’t actually a new wine to me. I’ve had it before and know it as a trusty midweek Portuguese red, so initially there wasn’t really any intention…
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Bottles Worth Buying | France | Grenache/Garnacha | Rosé Wine Reviews | Supermarket Wines | Syrah/Shiraz | Wine Reviews
Gérard Bertrand Côte des Roses Rosé Review – A Rosé That Genuinely Surprised Me
I’ll start this one by saying I’m not a massive rosé drinker. Neither is Liv. It’s not that I dislike it, there are just normally plenty of other wines I’d reach for first. Tonight though, we were having a pretty clean dinner of steamed salmon and vegetables and I wanted something light and fresh to…
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Aldi Specially Selected Rioja Gran Reserva 2019 Review
Aldi Specially Selected Rioja Gran Reserva 2019 Review Rioja Continues To Win Me Over Tonight’s wine was the Aldi Specially Selected Rioja Gran Reserva 2019, paired with minted lamb shanks, buttery mash, peas, tenderstem broccoli and cabbage finished with minted butter. I’ve got to be honest, coming into this bottle I was probably guilty of…
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Bottles Worth Buying | Food Pairing | Spain | Sparkling Wine Reviews | Supermarket Wines | Wine Reviews
Marques de los Ríos Cava Brut with Fish and Chips
A Proper Friday Night Pairing Fish and chips night called for something refreshing and after enjoying the red from Marques de los Ríos previously, I spotted their Cava in Morrisons for £8.50 and thought it was worth a go. Sometimes these supermarket sparkling wines can be a bit one dimensional, but this one immediately showed…
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Abruzzo Pecorino and Fish Monday Perfection
Sometimes the Best Pairings Don’t Need Explaining Monday in our house means fish night, and this week I opened a bottle of Pecorino Superiore from Abruzzo to go alongside hake, Jersey Royals, mushy peas and sweetcorn. Nothing fancy, just good ingredients and a family meal. Before food, the wine was showing beautifully. On the nose…
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Morrisons The Best Albariño Calamata 2024 | A Supermarket Surprise from Rías Baixas
A Wine That Punches Above Its Weight I opened this Morrisons The Best Albariño Calamata 2024 expecting a decent supermarket white wine. What I got was something that genuinely expressed where it came from. On the nose it was almost elderflower led with a muted peach note sitting underneath. Floral over fruit for me, which…
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Martini Asti DOCG NV Review: From Serious to Seriously Unserious
After a run of Rioja, Rhône and a few bottles that demanded a bit of thought, I found this lurking in the fridge and decided tonight was the night. Sometimes wine is about terroir, structure and complexity. Sometimes it’s about seeing what’s in the fridge. First Impressions The nose took me straight back to childhood….
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Bottles Worth Buying | Food Pairing | France | Sparkling Wine Reviews | Supermarket Wines | Wine Reviews
Veuve Monsigny Champagne Brut No III Review
Sometimes the Best Bottles Are the Unexpected Ones This bottle was a birthday gift from my best man and Fantasy Golf Hub partner, Dan. I wasn’t planning a pairing, wasn’t looking to analyse every detail and wasn’t expecting to be writing a review. The plan was simply to enjoy a glass and see where it…
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Bottles Worth Buying | Food Pairing | France | Red Wine Reviews | Syrah/Shiraz | Wine Experiences | Wine Merchants
Domaine de Thalabert Crozes Hermitage – The Rhône Redemption
A Wine That Needed Patience Tonight’s bottle was Domaine de Thalabert Crozes-Hermitage from Paul Jaboulet Aîné, and from the moment I pulled the cork I knew this wasn’t going to be a wine that gave everything away immediately. I recieved this wine as a present from my mother in law! Straight out of the bottle…
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Artusi Pecorino Terre di Chieti Review – The Perfect Barbecue White?
Sometimes Simplicity Wins This weekend’s wine wasn’t anything particularly expensive or highly rated. It was simply a bottle of Artusi Pecorino from Terre di Chieti picked up to accompany a barbecue of garlic marinated chicken and pork ribeye chops. As it turned out, it was exactly the right wine for the occasion. Pecorino is still…
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Piccini Collezione Privata Toscana IGT Review: When 99 Points Feels Like a Stretch
I recieved this bottle as a birthday present and it made its way into the glass tonight, and this one arrived carrying quite the claim. A shiny gold sticker proudly announces 99 points from Luca Maroni 🙂 Now, I’ll be honest, I have absolutely no idea how this wine gets anywhere near that number. Don’t…
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Viña Tondonia 2013, Picanha, Lamb Chops and an Unexpected Champagne
Some Bottles Are More Than Just Wine Every now and then a bottle comes along that reminds you why you fell in love with wine in the first place. This wasn’t supposed to be some grand tasting. It started with a barbecue at my mum and dad’s with Liv and Eden. The plan was simple…
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Cloudy Bay Pelorus Review: A Birthday Bottle That Kept Giving
Birthdays always seem to be a good excuse to open something a little different, and this year I found myself reaching for a bottle of Cloudy Bay Pelorus. Cloudy Bay is a producer that most wine drinkers will know for Sauvignon Blanc, but Pelorus is their traditional method sparkling wine from Marlborough, New Zealand. I…
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Terraza de los Andes Malbec 2023 Review
A Proper Midweek Steak Wine I picked this bottle up from Majestic for £17 and straight away felt like it might be in my lane. High altitude Argentinian Malbec, decent producer and a wine that looked like it wanted a bit more than just being a jammy fruit bomb. What I didn’t expect was just…
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Monte Antico Toscana 2021 Review
A New Wine Shop Find! I picked this bottle up from R&H Fine Wines in Liverpool after spending far too long staring at bottles I couldn’t quite justify buying this month. They had some proper gems on the shelves including the white Viña Tondonia and Wild Boy Chardonnay, both bottles I’ve wanted to try for…
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Ribolla Gialla Review
A Birthday Meal and a Bit of a Curveball It was my mum’s birthday, so we headed out to a local Italian called Quattros. One of those places where you already know you’re going to enjoy it before anything even arrives. I went all in. Ribs in a tangy BBQ sauce to start, lasagna al…
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Château de l’Orangerie Bordeaux Supérieur 2023 Review
A Tough one to Love! I opened this bottle of Château de l’Orangerie Bordeaux Supérieur 2023, with fairly neutral expectations. Bordeaux Supérieur can sometimes overdeliver for the price, especially in good vintages, so I was quietly hopeful. That didn’t last long. First Impressions – Brett Takes Over Straight out the bottle, the nose was dominated…
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Trimbach Pinot Blanc 2023
A Post Gig Treat There’s something about getting in after a gig, the house finally quiet, and opening a bottle just for yourself. No rush, no distractions, just seeing what’s in the glass. Tonight it was the Trimbach Pinot Blanc 2023, taken out of the fridge and left to come up slightly. Straight away it…
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Saint Émilion Grand Cru Review 2018: Close to Great but Not Quite Perfect
A Late Night Pour That Taught Me More Than Expected There’s something about getting in after a gig, adrenaline still there, house quiet, and knowing tomorrow is going to be a proper Sunday roast. Liv had already set the tone without even saying it. Corn fed chicken, potatoes prepped, veg ready to go. It felt…
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Santa Tresa Frapatto Rina Russa Review
A Light Red in the Sun That Delivered Sometimes you don’t want power. You don’t want depth or something to sit and analyse for an hour. You just want a wine that fits the moment. That was exactly the mood here. I picked up a bottle of Santa Tresa Rina Russa Frappato, stuck it in…
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Do You Have to Be Wired Differently to Become a Master of Wine?
I’ve become slightly obsessed with the Master of Wine qualification recently. There’s something about it that fascinates me. There are only a few hundred Masters of Wine in the world and, when you consider how many millions of people work with wine, drink wine and study wine, that is an absolutely tiny number. Naturally, this…
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Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva 2021 Review
There are some cracking wines out there, its just a shame that you have to look for so long to find them as is the amount of rubbish that the supermarkets have you wading through. Then there are wines like this, where the more time you spend with them, the more they reveal. The Antinori…
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The Moment I Understood What “High-End Wine” Actually Tastes Like
There’s been something I’ve been trying to describe for a while now. That high end wine flavour. I’ve mentioned it a few times, usually after trying something like Tignanello, where the wine just feels different. Not louder, not necessarily fruitier, just better. More complete. But I’ve never really been able to put my finger on…
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Vina Majestica Review
What a Collab this is! I went into Majestic in Birkdale which I do often and I picked this up because of one thing really. Its in the Definition by Majestic Range and its called Vina Majestica, The collaboration with La Rioja Alta, S.A.. I’ve had their wines before and I know exactly what they’re…
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Jam Shed Malbec Review
Why It Works (But Not For Me) Post gig, back home, and I fancied a glass of wine. Nothing planned, nothing serious, just something to switch off with. I didn’t have anything in, so I pulled into a garage and picked up a bottle of Jam Shed Malbec. Not something I’d usually go for, but…
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A £15 Cabernet, A Rack of Lamb, and a Proper Wine Moment
There are nights where you open a bottle and think, yeah this is nice. Then there are nights where everything just clicks. This was definitely the latter. I picked up a bottle of Jim Barry Cover Drive Cabernet Sauvignon as a bit of a midweek treat. Nothing too serious, around the £15 mark, but something…
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Orange Wine Assyrtiko Vidiano 2024 Review
Orange wine is one of those things you hear about before you really understand it. I’ve seen it mentioned more and more over the last couple of years in more of a fashion conscious sense, however when you look back at history and in particular read a book by someone like Oz Clarke, its a…
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Trimbach Riesling 2017, Thai Food and a Bit of a Realisation
I finally got my hands on a bottle of Trimbach Riesling 2017 and decided to do it properly. No rushing, no distractions, just a good bottle and some food that would actually give it a chance to show what it’s about. I’d already had a Riesling from Hugel Riesling recently and really enjoyed it, so…
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A Midweek Morrisons Rioja That Had Other Ideas – Marques de Los Rios Reserva Review
I picked this bottle up after seeing it mentioned by Tom Gilbey, who spoke highly of it and compared it to styles I’ve enjoyed before. That was enough to spark my interest, especially given how much I’ve liked wines like Viña Alberdi. What I got initially was exactly that. A pleasant nose, cherry pie and…
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What Thirsty by Tom Gilbey Taught Me About Wine
There’s a point in your wine journey where you realise you need a bit of direction. Not in a formal way. Not textbooks or exams. Just something to help you make sense of it all. That’s where I was when I picked up Thirsty by Tom Gilbey. I’d already had a few great wines at…
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Petaluma Chardonnay Adelaide Hills Review
This was one of those bottles that catches your eye in Tesco and feels like it should be a safe bet. Petaluma is a recognisable name, Adelaide Hills is a region you trust, and at around £16 it sits in that space where you expect something a little bit polished without overthinking it. I went…
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Domaine Begude Étoile Chardonnay 2023 – A Lesson in Letting Wine Breathe
I’ve been looking forward to opening this one. A Chardonnay from Limoux, a region that quietly produces some brilliant value wines, and one that came with a strong recommendation. Expectations were there, especially after hearing it described as creamy, layered and full of citrus. So naturally, I poured a glass straight from the fridge and…
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Walt Pinot Noir 2023 – A Step Up in the Journey
Tonight felt like one of those small but important moments in this whole wine journey. Not because the wine completely blew me away, but because it made me stop and rethink something I’d already scored. That’s when you know your palate is starting to sharpen. This was the Walt Pinot Noir 2023, picked up for…
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A Night with Saint-Joseph and a Realisation
I opened a bottle of E. Guigal Saint-Joseph the other night, one I’d been genuinely looking forward to. A proper Northern Rhône Syrah from the Saint-Joseph, and a chance to see what all the talk around peppery, savoury wines is really about. It went straight into the decanter. I had a burger planned for later…
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A Night That Started With a Cork… Well, a Screw Cap
Tonight’s bottle was a Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2019, and before I’d even poured a glass something strange happened. I cracked the screw cap and was met with a slight hiss, almost like opening a sparkling wine. A little puff escaped, almost like steam. Not something you expect from a red. Straight into the…
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Could You Build a Château in Lancashire?
The idea that wouldn’t leave me alone This all started with a thought that probably should have been left alone, but once it got in my head it wouldn’t go anywhere. What if I bought a bit of land near home, somewhere around Aughton, and built something that felt like a proper estate. Not just…
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Marqués de Riscal Rioja Reserva 2021 – When a Wine Wakes Up
There are some wines you enjoy, and then there are wines that make you stop mid sip and think hang on a minute, this is something else. That was exactly my experience with Marqués de Riscal Rioja Reserva 2021. I went into this one fairly open minded, paired it with a proper meal, and what…
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Brancaia Tre 2023 Review – Youthful Energy with a Promise of More
I’ve been looking for this bottle for a while, so there was no ceremony when I finally got my hands on it. It was open and in the decanter within minutes. Sometimes you just have to follow your instinct. This is a wine that had built a bit of anticipation for me, and it turned…
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A Mix Six That Turned Into a Lesson in Patience
I popped into Majestic without much of a plan and came out with one of those baskets that ends up teaching you more than you expected. There was a bottle I’d been looking for for months, a couple of classics, something new, and a familiar comfort pick. Five countries, five styles, and a bit of…
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Beaujolais, But Not As You Know It
I picked this bottle up without expecting too much, if I’m honest. Beaujolais still carries that reputation in the back of your mind, a bit light, a bit simple, something you don’t really sit and think about too much. But this felt like the right time to actually give it a proper go and see…
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When Mouton Doesn’t Mean What You Think
I picked up a bottle of Mouton Cadet from Tesco for £8, 2023 vintage, and I’ll be honest, I was excited to open it. You see the word Mouton and your brain immediately jumps to Château Mouton Rothschild. First Growth, Pauillac, history, prestige. You expect something with presence. What I got instead was a very…
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Why Some Wine Merchants Haven’t Changed… and Don’t Need To
Over the past few weeks I’ve come across a couple of wine merchants while searching for specific bottles. The kind you only really find when you start going a bit deeper, not just browsing the usual sites. What struck me wasn’t just the wines they stocked, but how they presented themselves. Some of these businesses…
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Beronia Reserva 2020 – A Rioja That Knows Exactly What It’s Doing
There’s something reassuring about picking up a bottle of Rioja Reserva. You sort of know where you’re going before you’ve even pulled the cork. And with Beronia 2020, that expectation is pretty much met but in a really tidy, well executed way. Straight away on the nose, this leans slightly savoury. Not in a heavy…
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Camigliano Brunello di Montalcino 2020 Review
There are bottles that quietly expose a fairly sizeable hole in your wine knowledge. The Camigliano Brunello di Montalcino 2020 was very much that. I’d been looking forward to opening this. Brunello is one of those names that carries a bit of weight before you’ve even pulled the cork, and with my experience of Tuscan…
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The £4.99 Pinot Noir That Shouldn’t Be This Good Pebble Lane Review
Sometimes a wine catches you off guard. Not because it’s rare or expensive, but because it quietly overdelivers in a way that is quite unbelievable given how much the producers are making on the wine to be able to produce. That’s exactly what’s happened here with a 2022 Pebble Lane Pinot Noir I picked up…
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The £19 Wine That Shouldn’t Exist – Petrolo Torrione Review
I set myself a bit of a mad challenge the other day. Find a red wine under £35 that ticks all three boxes. A 17+ from Jancis Robinson, a 95+ from Robert Parker and a 93+ from Wine Spectator. In my head, this was going to be one of those nice idea, doesn’t really happen…
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We’re Learning Wine at the Speed of Light
I had a bit of a moment the other day. I’ve now finished Thirsty by the fabulous Tom Gilbey four times. Not skimmed it, properly read it, gone back to it, picked bits up I missed the first time. Alongside that I’ve spent hours watching Konstantin Baum on YouTube, really trying to understand not just…
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Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2025 Review
A Benchmark Bottle With Something to Prove There’s always a bit of expectation when you open a bottle of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc. It’s one of those names that carries weight, especially with Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. You almost go into it thinking you already know what you’re going to get. I opened this alongside a…
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A Blind Tasting, a Curveball, and a Lesson in Trusting Your Palate
There’s something about opening a bottle like Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc that carries a bit of expectation with it. It’s one of those wines you feel like you should love. A proper benchmark. Crisp, refined, Marlborough at its most polished. I received a bottle for Christmas from my mother in law and was naturally excited,…
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Am I Ready for WSET Level 3? I Tested Myself
There comes a point in your wine journey where you stop just enjoying it and start asking a bigger question am I actually ready to take this seriously? For me, that question has been WSET Level 3. I’ve been drinking more, tasting more, thinking more about wine than ever before. Not just what I like,…
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Mark West Pinot Noir 2023 review
There are some wines you analyse, and there are some wines you just drink. This falls firmly into the second category. I came across the Mark West Pinot Noir when I fancied a bit of a change. I’d been leaning towards fuller, more structured reds recently, so dropping into Pinot Noir territory felt like a…
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Pleasure vs Power: Why I Chose Pinot Noir Over Zinfandel (and Got It Right)
There’s a moment when you’re choosing a bottle of wine on a restaurant menu where you just stop and hesitate. Not because you don’t know what you’re looking at, but because you know exactly what each option is going to give you. And the question becomes less about what’s “better” and more about what actually…
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When Wine Just Tastes Bad (And Why That’s Actually Progress)
There’s a point on this wine journey where something a bit strange happens. You open a bottle, not expecting anything amazing, just something decent to enjoy, and it’s horrible. Not just not great properly unpleasant. That was me this week. Two bottles, both gifts, both opened with fairly low expectations, and somehow they still managed…
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Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc: More Than Just a New Zealand Stereotype
First Impressions I’d been meaning to try Greywacke for a while. It’s one of those bottles you keep hearing about, especially when people talk about proper New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. As soon as it was poured, you could tell this wasn’t your average supermarket Sauvignon. It just jumped out of the glass. In the Glass…
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Christmas Eve Wines: When Tradition Meets Discovery
Christmas Eve always feels like the perfect excuse to open something a bit special. This year I had a rough plan in my head but as it turned out, the night went in a completely different direction. And honestly, that’s what made it. What started as a thought-out selection ended up being more of a…
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Nyetimber Classic Cuvée: The Wine That Changed the Night
First Impressions This was the moment I relaxed on Christmas Eve. After a slightly shaky start with a Solear sherry that didnt land, we opened the Nyetimber and straight away, you could feel the shift, it was an excellent sparkler. In the Glass It’s got that Champagne feel to it, and I don’t say that…
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Château Musar 2018 — When Depth Becomes the Obsession
There are some wines you drink and forget about. And then there are the ones where you stop mid sip and just thinkyep this is class. That’s exactly what happened when I opened Château Musar 2018. I’ve been chasing something for a while now, and I didn’t fully know how to describe it until this…
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From “Drinkable” to “Another Sip” – What Two Wines Taught Me About My Palate
There’s a moment when wine starts to click a bit. Not in a big, dramatic way, but more like you suddenly realise what you actually enjoy… and what you don’t. That’s exactly what happened to me this week. I opened two bottles, and they couldn’t have been more different. The Côtes du Rhône That Lost…
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From Carvery Merlot to Bordeaux Complexity: Finding My Wine Sweet Spot
From Carvery Merlot to Bordeaux: Finding My Sweet Spot A very unexpected start This wasn’t meant to be a “wine night”. We ended up in Toby Carvery, and I ordered a glass of Casillero del Diablo Merlot without thinking too much about it. And do you know what it was actually really good. Straight away…
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Hugel Riesling Review: The Bottle That Properly Opened My Eyes to Alsace
There are certain wines that don’t just taste good, they make something click in your head. That was this bottle of Hugel Riesling 2017 for me. I’ve had whites I’ve enjoyed before. Albariño, Chablis, even some Sauvignon Blancs that worked well with food, but this felt different. More complete somehow. More layered. The sort of…
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From Alsace to Lebanon: A Proper Wine Discovery Day
There’s something about walking into a good wine shop when you’re not really expecting anything… and then suddenly you’re surrounded by amazing bottles That was me this week. What started as a quick browse turned into one of those moments where you realise your taste in wine is starting to take shape. Todays Bottle Hugel…
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From Lidl Bargain to Ashtray Disaster: Why This Cabardès Wasn’t for Me
There’s something exciting about finding a bottle that looks like a hidden gem and this week, I thought I’d found one. Tucked away on the shelf in Lidl was a Cabardès AOP from Famille Beynaguet, priced at just £7.99. The label looked promising, the region intrigued me, and on paper, it seemed to tick every…