Of course I can say it now but it was only a matter of time before something happened. The continued pressure on Jay Miller as Robert Parker’s man on Spain (don’t forget South America and the Pacific Northwest too) had to end in tears for someone. It began several years ago (the old Sierra Carche [...]
It’s quite fashionable to be dogmatic these days. I’m exceptionally guilty of it, whether for or against Natural wines; against the way Bordeaux is cynically marketed; against the idea that a high price should trigger a response in our brains that says ‘this wine must be good’; and so on. A lot of the time, [...]
How much is a wine critic worth?
Today I wrote a post for the soon-to-be-gone catavino.net, stating at one point that the regional wine body of Murcia would have been better off spending a fraction of the €29,000 cost of inviting Jay Miller (Robert Parker’s taster for Spain) to their region on a bunch of Social Media incentives and blogging aids. I [...]
Wine writers: the future is unwritten
If we accept the statement, made by many veteran wine tasters, that wines today are significantly better than they were several decades ago, I have to wonder what the purpose of our ‘greatest’ wines is (other, obviously, than to relieve very well-off people of a healthy dose of cash). This is no rant against expensive [...]
Wine fraud: why no one talks about it
Luckily, for the reputation of certain highly praised wine regions, we have relatively short memories. But let me remind of the 2008 Brunello di Montalcino Scandal (commonly known as Brunellopoli) in which several Brunello wineries were investigated by the authorities under suspicion of having used grapes, juice, or must, from outside the Brunello DOCG in [...]
Vintage 2011: Malvasia
Before I bring you the latest ‘news’ on my 2011 production, I feel it would be wrong of me to gloss over my Vendange Hative Malvasia and the Blood of the Abandoned. Firstly, the Vendanges Hatives: after stopping the fermentation (with the addition of Sulphur) and then bottling, the resultant juice was relatively sweet and [...]
In praise of Natural Wines
Yes, you read the headline correctly. But, before you all start the malicious ‘Benedict Arnold’, ‘Italian Army WWII’-style comments, let me set a few things straight by saying that I maintain deep misgivings about the Natural Wine fad and about its meaningfulness (or lack thereof). Indeed, Andrew Jefford wrote a relatively decent piece recently saying [...]
[This post comes partly as a response to Simon O'Hare's comments on my previous post, partly as an update of thoughts. I want to challenge the notion that En Primeur ratings do not need to include a price and to ask readers to take action with the critics if they feel (as I do) that [...]
