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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
There are moments in this wine journey where something just clicks. Not in a technical way. Not in a “I think I understand this now” kind of way. Jus wow. What is that? That’s exactly what happened when I opened a bottle of 2025 Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc.. A Proper Flavour Bomb From the first…