I was utterly bewildered when I sat down to see Robert Parker’s scores the other night!  If you’ve been following our progress in Bordeaux then you will know that we were genuinely surprised by the ’08s – some of the wines we tasted were excellent and many surpassed our expectations.  But the blunt fact of […]

The sad news this month is that Nicolas Potel has parted company from the negociant house which bears his name, owned by the Cottin brothers of Maison Labouré-Roi. Nicolas, son of the late Gérard Potel of Domaine de la Pousse d’Or in Volnay, is one of Burgundy’s most dynamic figures – not just in terms […]

Week four of wine adventures in Piedmont The only crunch the Ferrero chocolate factory in Alba can surely have endured came as a result of the pre-Pasqua surge for its Kinder eggs, a fine selection of which were on display at the altar on Easter Sunday. Whoever said the Church is out of touch should […]

Recently I had my first chance to taste Olivier Merlin’s 2008s, including his terrific range of Pouilly Fuisses. He makes three of them in all, one from Fuisse itself, one from the Clos des Quarts, and my regular favourite which comes from the village of Vergisson. Here is Olivier talking about it as he draws […]