Picpoul de Pinet is undoubtedly becoming a fixture on restaurant lists and, increasingly, on our tables at home. Simon Field MW, our Wine Buyer for the region, writes on the merits of bringing PdP into your vinous repertoire. Picpoul de Pinet is rather like its Iberian cousin, Albariño, in that it is frighteningly modish and […]

Simon Field MW advocates Portugal’s flagship fortified wine as a sensational accompaniment to any chocolate-based indulgence this weekend may hold. Dark and bitter needs dark and sweet to temper its indulgent flavours: Port, of course, is wonderfully versatile, and Quinta do Noval’s superlative Late Bottle Vintage exemplar is a fantastic match for dark chocolate. Traditional […]

Continuing our foray into the cellars in pursuit of the best of what’s drinking now, Simon Field MW espouses the Rhône’s ripe and ready vintages. In the Rhône the quartet of fine years from 1998-2001 are all holding up, with 2001 primus inter pares as expected. The 2003 vintage, despite some fulsome praise from a […]

Much has changed since Simon Field MW, our Rhône buyer, first started to select the region’s wines for our list. Here he reports on 2012 – a vintage that’s more Audrey than Marilyn Monroe, he says. Our annual Autumnal pilgrimage to the Rhône Valley used to be quite a modest affair; we would arrive in […]