The secrets of Champagne Billecart-Salmon Billecart-Salmon is in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ in the Montagne de Reims, in the heart of the Champagne region. They make excellent Champagnes down on the rue Carnot and are most famous in the UK for their Rosé. As their labels proudly state, the House dates back to 1818, created by Nicolas-François Billecart. It’s still family owned, one …
The future of the wine industry will be Blockchain
The future of the wine industry will be Blockchain Disruption. A much-overused business word. Every new product, service and start-up we are assured, is disruptive. It’s the game-changer, the holy grail. Yeah, right. Well, the Blockchain probably is. A couple of years ago I studied a new technology called the Blockchain, on behalf of the Financial Services Industry. I was …
A fabulous visit to Domaine Orenga de Gaffory
A fabulous visit to Domaine Orenga de Gaffory Domaine Orenga de Gaffory covers 56 hectares in the appellation of Patrimonio in northern Corsica. This family-owned wine estate is also undergoing organic conversion. It owns many small plots in five different communes. It means they have a broad range of red, rosé and white AOC Patrimonio wines. They also make the nearby …
Etna terroir, the Burgundy of the Mediterranean – the Lava Lout Returns, Part 2 of 2
Etna terroir, the Burgundy of the Mediterranean – the Lava Lout Returns, Part 2 of 2 The Etna Terroir Part 1 of this article described how a Sicilian volcano bestows natural gifts to create the Etna terroir. But Etna isn’t one terroir; there are many variations. Welcome to the Burgundy of the Mediterranean. Etna’s volcanic soils are free draining, and low …
Etna, or why I’m a Lava Lout – Part 1 of 2
Etna, or why I’m a Lava Lout – Part 1 of 2 It’s how the Earth was made. At 3,343 metres (10,968 feet), Mount Etna (Mongibello) spits, snarls and smokes. All around is ash, black as death. Above us, the summit has four active craters, caked with yellow sulphur. Etna erupts almost continuously. As we climb to 3,050 metres, it’s …
Une Table Corse – authentic eating in Corsica
Une Table Corse – authentic eating in Corsica Une Table Corse is a restaurant perhaps like no other. In an ancient and isolated farmhouse, Pauline Julliard, its owner, provides one of the island’s most fabled dining experiences. You’ll eat authentic Corsican cuisine in small converted dining rooms. Pauline learned all the recipes from her mother and grandmother. She is now …
Rosé Champagne for summer drinking
Rosé Champagne for summer drinking In his book, The Pleasures of Life, Sir John Lubbock wrote this. “Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time”. To which I add, …
Corks Out! Diam Bouchage fight back
Corks Out! Diam Bouchage fight back Hands up who has had a bottle of corked wine? Ok, that’s most of you. And I don’t mean wine with a few bits of cork floating in it. It’s the awful smell and taste of musty or mouldy cardboard. The culprit is TCA, short for 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole. It forms when airborne bacteria and fungi …
100 AWEsome wines 2017 – get your copy free
100 AWEsome wines 2017 – get your copy free Each year, the Association of Wine Educators, (AWE) of which I am a member, publish a 16-page colour booklet called 100 AWEsome wines. AWEsome – geddit? The 2017 Edition is hot off the press and brand new. And it does what it says on the tin: Inside are 100 great wines …
Losing My Extra-Virginity in Corsica: Oltremonti Olive Oil
Losing My Extra-Virginity in Corsica: Oltremonti Olive Oil I love Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, (or EVOO for short). However, I knew little about making it and less about how to taste it. Losing my Extra-Virginity was overdue. Hence I visited Domaine Oltremonti recently. Oltremonti is near Bastia, in northern Corsica, between the wild high Maquis and the coast. The Domaine has 35 …