I like to start Christmas with a glass of Champagne and the refined elegance of Billecart Salmon  fits the bill perfectly. Moving on to white wine to serve with oysters I would select a Chablis, and the biting, mouth-watering minerality of Billaud Simon ‘s wines has no peer in my book. With turkey I eschew […]

On Sunday morning I did something I never thought 1) I would ever do 2) Would ever have the balls to do! When my alarm rang at half six it dawned on me that I would be starring on LIVE BLOOMIN TV, appearing on a Wine Segment on Something for the Weekend (BBC 2), in […]

Speaking to The Times , distinguished UK Wine Writer, Hugh Johnson, recently remarked that innovations created by wine growers to protect their crops from the elements have reduced vintage variations, making any year a good year for wine aficionados. Johnson also noted that vintage-specific demand & wine snobbery were intrinsically linked, sparking a debate within the wine world – are […]

I recently joined our Rhône Buyer, Simon Field MW, to taste the Rhône 2006s and fermenting examples of the freshly-harvested 2007s. Years in the trade have taught me that it is unwise to be dogmatic about the quality of a vintage when the fermentations are still to be completed, but it was revealing to see […]