Le Pupille – delicious summer drinking For many lovers of Italian wine, the Fattoria Le Pupille winery and founder/owner Elisabetta Geppetti will need little introduction. The name Le Pupille derives from the two farmhouses, (the Pupils), located on the top of the hills near the village of Pereta, in the deep south of coastal Tuscany. We are in the Maremma, in …
Herbert Hall English Sparkling Brut Rosé 2016
Herbert Hall English Sparkling Brut Rosé 2016 My first encounter with Herbert Hall wines was in 2016 with their Traditional Method Brut. That’s from Kent, and it proved to be one of the outstanding wines in a line up of high-quality Britfizz. You can read about that here. However, Herbert Hall also makes a Brut Rosé of a similar calibre. Herbert …
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Gvino: the wines of Georgia, Part Two
Gvino – the wines of Georgia, Part Two Following on from Part 1, about the wines of Georgia, Gvino is the word for wine in Georgian. This Part 2 has a baker’s dozen, selected from those available in the UK. I’ve grouped these firstly into those Gvino made “conventionally” and then those made in traditional Qvevri. With white, rosé, orange/amber …
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Georgia Gvino – a brief introduction to wines of Georgia
Georgia Gvino – a brief introduction to wines of Georgia In this Part I, we journey to the Black Sea and the Caucasus, to the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Georgia is an ancient country that’s been a melting pot of cultures. It also lays claim to being the origin of winegrowing. It has an 8,000-year wine history evidenced by …
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Mas Llossanes, Côtes Catalanes, Southern France
Mas Llossanes Solenn and Dominique Génot own and run the small biodynamic estate of Mas Llossanes. It’s about 40km / one hour west of Perpignan, in the Roussillon region of deepest Southern France. For over ten years they managed the Caiarossa Estate in Tuscany, whose superb biodynamic wines I have followed closely and written about here. Having decided to create a domain …
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Mirabeau: Rosé from the Côtes de Provence
Mirabeau: Rosé from the Côtes de Provence This article is about Provençal rosé and the wines from one of its leading companies, Mirabeau. Mention the word “Provence” to virtually anyone, and that will invoke an immediate response, accompanied by a smile. Such is its resonance. The images and memories it conjures might be of chi-chi glam locations; of Aix-en-Provence or the …
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Pretty in Pink: Rosé wines for summer drinking
Pretty in Pink: Rosé wines for summer drinking Rosé wines were thought irredeemably naff by past generations of wine drinkers. Only in this century have rosé wines come back into fashion after years of neglect. Now we can’t get enough of them, especially on sunny summer days. Indeed, rosé wines are so in vogue they are part of the basket …
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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, …
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English Fizz comes of age
English Fizz comes of age For English Fizz, this is the year that a step change happened. In years to come, we’ll look back at 2016 as the year that everything seemed to come together. Climate change, professional winemaking, maturing vines, grape varieties, site selection, business and investment skills, media recognition, coveted awards and sheer self-confidence mean that English Sparkling …
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What’s your Champagne Style?
What’s your Champagne Style? While there is but one way of making Champagne, not all Champagnes are the same. Champagne is a blend of three essential ingredients: grape varieties, vineyards and vintages. In combination, they can create a particular Champagne style. Champagne is a protected word, meaning it can only come from the Champagne region. Most Champagne is a blend …
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