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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…