Posts by Adrian

English Wine Week – good to see English wine doing so well

According to Harpers sales of English and Welsh wines increased by around 30% in 2020 over the previous year, according to the latest industry figures released by Wine GB.  Sales in the past year had not only been boosted by the increasing thirst among Brits for home-grown wines, but also by a “boom” in wine…

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Highlights of LWF 2021 – Huneeus Wines Leviathan 2018 Napa / Sonoma

This year’s London Wine Fair was held virtually and tasting samples were distributed in small test tube like bottles.  It worked really well and they arrived in perfect condition.  This was one of my favourites. This is a blend of merlot, cabernet franc, syrah and petit syrah.  Very deep colour with intense aromas of cherry,…

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Highlights of LWF 2021 – Diatomists Medium Single Bota aged 19 years

This year’s London Wine Fair was held virtually and tasting samples were distributed in small test tube like bottles.  It worked really well and they arrived in perfect condition.  This was one of my favourites. Sweetened sherries sometimes get a bad press; however this one had aromas of marmalade, Christmas cake and cooked fruits.  It…

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Highlights of LWF 2021 – Alpasion Grand Cabernet Franc 2018

This year’s London Wine Fair was held virtually and tasting samples were distributed in small test tube like bottles.  It worked really well and they arrived in perfect condition.  This was one of my favourites. From the Uco Valley in Argentina where some of their vineyards are located between 1,200 and 1,500 meters above sea…

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Extend your wine horizon beyond France

A lot of people in the UK buy French wine because they are familiar with the names and they are relatively easy to pronounce in restaurants (compared to, say Greek or German ones).  Because of this ready market much French wine can be rather over-priced, so here are some alternatives to try: Muscadet – a…

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Top Wine Shops

Congratulations to the following Sussex shops which were all in the top 25 of Harpers Top UK Independent Wine Merchants 2020: Butlers Wine Cellar South Downs Cellars Hennings Wine Merchants

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Winery Visit – Chapel Down

Had the pleasure of a small group visit to Chapel Down across the border in Kent who were joint winners of the best winery in the South East at the recent WineGB awards. Tom gave us an excellent tour of the winery followed by a tasting of some of their excellent wines: Bacchus 2018 (still…

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Vineyard Visit – Ashling Park

Had the pleasure of a small group visit to Ashling Park in Sussex who were joint winners of the best winery in the South East at the recent WineGB awards (which they also hosted). We saw the Chardonnay, Meunier and Pinot Noir grapes which will be harvested in the next few weeks and tasted the…

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