No wine snobs here, just enthusiastic drinkers of all wines
The other night I went on our monthly girly night out to check out a new Italian restaurant in the barrio. My body had already informed me that it was in the mood for 'mafia Italian'. I.e plates piled high with steaming hot pasta in spicy tomato sauce washed down by copious quantities of red … Continue reading Varvaglione Moi 2017
Talk about setting the cat amongst the pigeons. Master of Wine Tim Hanni's comments on food and wine pairing have caused a bit of upset in the world of wine and have been published in much of the general press that even my non wine following friends have picked up on it.(To read Tim Hanni's … Continue reading Tim Hanni MW: Food and Wine Pairing is Bullshit
Yep! You can actually go glamping in an old wine barrel. Who knew they were that big? They look pretty impressive to be honest so I may have to check it out.
On a recent visit to Bodegas Gomez Cruzado we discovered these funky looking things aptly known as eggs. Apparently this is the winemaking equivalent of a big wooden spoon used to stir the grape juice and yeast during the fermentation. You need to stir the mix to ensure that all the juice is equally exposed … Continue reading The Egg
This is the second Riojan White I tasted in Haro. it is an entirely different kettle of fish to the previous one.First the Viura grape (85%) is blended with Tempranillo Blanco (15%). This is a relatively new grape variety found by accident in Rioja in the 1980s and added to the Riojan Whites DOCa in … Continue reading GOMEZ CRUZADO RIOJA BLANCO
You may recall that in a recent wine tasting (click here for the link) I discussed how I used to avoid Riojan whites because I had a bad history with them. Then at that tasting I was given one that I loved and decided that maybe I should look into them some more. I did … Continue reading Monopole Blanco 2017
According to recent industry statistics, as imparted to me by my WSET 2 instructor Jeni, only 4% of wine consumers are wine experts. Some 80% to 90% are wine drinkers, happy to drink quantities of the same style of wine with no interest in knowing more about what they're drinking. They are the backbone of … Continue reading Where to Start
This is the Church of St Tomas in Haro in Rioja, the heart of Spanish wine production. Where they, aptly enough, have the most amazing collection of sacramental wine from all over the world.
I started drinking wine back in the 1980s and for years I was a white wine drinker. Back then I was happy to follow the wine fashions of the UK. So like many of my age I started with medium sweet Rieslings (actually I think some of them were Reisling knock offs using cheaper grapes), … Continue reading My Own Journey of Wine Education
As we've had a couple of South African wines recently, I felt it was time to dig out the winefolly.com map of the South African wine districts, so I know where this stuff is coming from.
The Honest Wine Drinker 