How does one gauge the success of an evening’s dinner, at Berrys’ in this case? By the level of decibels or (business) cards swapped at its close?  The number of empty glasses or perhaps more crudely, by the amount of orders taken? At Andre Ostertag‘s mercurial tasting recently, for example, I measured it by the time […]

Believe me, I’ve never witnessed a tasting room reduced to such stunned silence. The 30 guests attending André’s two-hour Alsace masterclass in Berrys’ Pickering Cellar on Thursday sat glued to their seats even for an extra ten minutes after the session finished, open-mouthed, as if begging for more. The Alchemist of Alsace, André Ostertag, had […]

Here in Basingstoke we are lucky enough to receive a host of prominent visitors and today was the turn of the amiable Nicolas Potel, who came to talk to us about his wines (some from Maison Potel – mainly the ’06s, and lots of ’07s from his private venture, Domaine Potel), as well as the […]

– your chance ‘ to be a buyer’, yet more Biodynamics and fresh from the market… Week nine of wine adventures in Piedmont I just heard that my six year old son Patrick (left) made the correct call when asked to judge which Champagne should be served at his cousin’s wedding this summer – that’s […]