Month: October, 2008

Cloudy Bay’s Kevin Judd visits Berrys

  Friday night saw Chief Winemaker Kevin Judd make his inaugural visit to Berrys, hosting a dinner for 39 devotees. Who would have thought that this Hampshire lad (born Totton, Southampton), whose parents emigrated to Adelaide on a £10 (air) ticket would have such a profound impact on the world of wine.  The story goes that founder […]

No starch in my boxers thanks

One of the numerous upsides of working in this great industry is that every now and again you get invited to places that are impossible to get into. A case in point was a few weeks ago being asked to the fabled French Laundry in Napa, California. Always in the top three restaurants of the […]

Visit to Au Bon Climat and Qupé

On a recent trip to California, my colleague (Mark Ross) and I had the opportunity to visit the famed joint winery of Au Bon Climat and Qupé in the Santa Maria Valley. I’ll be honest and say that I hadn’t tasted their wines too many times and was expecting the stereotypical big, brash style with […]

Italian Update

Recently back from a ten day buying trip to Piedmont, briefly to Tuscany and a first visit to Umbria. More precisely I spent two days in and around the village of Serralunga d’Alba, the third largest Barolo commune at 311ha (behind La Morra & Monforte d’Alba), ex 1786ha for all Barolo. As with Burgundy I […]