Sarah Ahmed The Wine DetectiveIf you thought the world of wine was elitist or exclusive, check out Catavino. Unafraid to prick the balloon of pomposity and refreshingly open to comments and contributions, the dynamic duo have very successfully broadened the appeal of wine by placing it in its wider social and cultural context.
Near the 14th of February, there is always the temptation to crack open a bottle of pink Champagne as inspiration for a post – but that’s all been done before, so I was keen to write about something different. My wife, a modern-day Barbara Cartland, suggested something romantic about wines with 14% alcohol. This was […] Continue Reading →
OK, if you’re wondering about the title, then that’s what they call Old Pulteney, and if you’re still wondering, keep reading. On a trip to Scotland last week to meet my new nephew I could not pass up on a visit to a whisky distillery. Scotch and Sherry have strong connections on two levels going […] Continue Reading →
There’s a new-ish (born November 2006) kid on the London independent wine merchant block. A couple of weeks before Christmas, I went to check it all out. The unique thing about The Sampler is their array of 10 Enomatic machines, each holding eight bottles – so 80 wines available to try. The machines work with […] Continue Reading →
Things have been pretty chilly here in Jerez, with record low temperatures in recent days. There has been snow all over Spain, even in places that don’t often get it. One way I like to fight the cold is with a little nip of something strong. I used to be quite fond of a shot […] Continue Reading →
Hello, Justin here. Recently I took part in a sherry tasting where the subject of bottle-aged sherries came up. Now the dogma is Fino and Manzanilla do not age and should be drunk as soon after bottling as possible. At the tasting, one of the wines we tried was a Manzanilla, Bailaora, which had spent […] Continue Reading →
Jerez de la Frontera is not only about sherry and white wine. There are actually some pretty good reds produced in the area, for the moment designated “Vinos de la Tierra de Cádiz”. These red wines tend to be made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Tempranillo but there is even an local red variety […] Continue Reading →
Hello, Justin here. I’m quite excited; this is the first time I’m posting for Wine Blogging Wednesday. This was originally started by Lenn Thompson and is now in its 51st edition, hosted by Joe Roberts at 1WineDude. The theme is “Baked Goods and Madeirized wines”. Allow me to digress a bit. In the early seventies, […] Continue Reading →
In recent weeks, I have visited the Emilio Hidalgo bodega twice, and since their wines are so good, a post has become just about unavoidable. This is a small, truly independent, family-owned bodega. It was started by the Hidalgo family in the mid 1800s and is run by decedents of the founders brothers Fernando and […] Continue Reading →
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