A large family gathering gave a very good reason to put my new Taylor’s Port Tongs to action.  We’d seen these used at Taylor’s Quinta de Vargellas a week earlier to worthy effect and Adrian Bridge had kindly given us each a pair to take home. The principal purpose of Port Tongs is to open a […]

The story goes that The Marquis de Ségur, who also owned Ch. Lafite and Ch. Latour, adorned the label of Ch. Calon-Ségur with a heart claiming “I make my wine at Lafite and Latour, but my heart is in Calon.” The most northerly of the châteaux we visit each spring, it’s also nearly always our […]

Recently returned from their trip to Piedmont, intrepid reporters, Joss Fowler, Chris Pollington and David Jones, update us on their findings. Read their reports: Joss Fowler’s report To say that my trip to Piedmont was a revelation might be taking things a little far, though to say that my eyes have been opened, and that […]

Last month I attended a tutored tasting of Vintage Ports at our St James’s Street Cellars, kindly hosted by Johnny and Paul Symington. The wines ranged from the still very youthful (1994, 1997, 2000, 2003) to the mature and very distinguished (1945, 1955, 1963, 1966 & 1970) via those vintages in between (1977, 1983 & […]