Wines from Spain

By Adrian | 10/03/2019

I had the pleasure of attending the annual Wines of Spain tasting this week and it reminded me what a fantastic range of wines come out of that country.  Thank you to the organisers and exhibitors for putting on such an interesting tasting – I got plenty of ideas for wines to offer clients that…

Hentley Farm “The Marl” Shiraz 2017 – Wine of the Month February 2019

By Adrian | 03/02/2019

Wine Australia held an excellent tasting on 22 January.  There was a huge choice so nobody could try them all but this was the pick of the bunch from those I tasted.  A classic Shiraz from the Barossa Valley – soft tannins, cherry fruit, dark chocolate and distinct black pepper.  Shown by Carson Wines.

Kayra Kalecik Karasi – Wine of the Month January 2019

By Adrian | 19/01/2019

I make no apologies for my second Turkish WOTM.  I served this at a recent tasting and everybody thought it was pinot noir.  It’s very light coloured with cherry and plum fruit and a slight smokiness on the finish, very soft tannins.  Available from several importers, All About Wine currently sell it for £11.89.

Ramos Pinto RP10 – Wine of the Month December 2018

By Adrian | 18/01/2019

This was my favourite tasted over Christmas.  This tawny is a blend with an average age of 10 years. Brick-red, with body and its richness of flavour, it’s great with cheese or on its own.  Personally I find the 20 and 30 year tawnies lack fruit for my taste so this is ideal. Grapes varieties: Touriga…

Rocco del Dragone Aglianico – Wine of the Month November 2018

By Adrian | 02/12/2018

I tried this at a recent tasting and found aglianico to be a pleasant surprise.  Deep ruby-red colour, with aromas and flavours of black cherry, blackberry, dark chocolate and coffee. Fruity, full bodied yet smooth and elegant. £9.99 from Quaff in Hove.

Harvey’s Old Ale – Beer of the Month October 2018

By Adrian | 02/11/2018

Yes, we love beer too, especially this one.  A dark, warming brew, burnt sugars and roasted malts compliment the premium Maris Otter barley, supplanting the light bitterness of aroma hops. With hints of dried fruit and dates, this rich ale has been likened to the oak: steadfast throughout the year, regardless of the season.  It…

Mira la Mar Moscatel – Wine of the Month September 2018

By Adrian | 26/09/2018

Reflecting my enthusiasm for Sherry I was lucky enough to try this at the Great Sherry Tasting.  It’s late harvest giving a more approachable, less cloying, style of sweet sherry compared to PX.  I have to confess I’ve tended to ignore Moscatel up to now but will be including it in a future tasting. RRP…

Enrique Mendoza Petit Verdot – Wine of the Month August 2018

By Adrian | 06/09/2018

I recently had the pleasure of taking a tour to this Bodega near Alicante and meeting the founder Señor Mendoza himself.  This wine is 100% Petit Verdot with aromas and flavours of blackberry, blueberry, strawberry and some smoke hint from the time in barrel.  Unfortunately I can only find it available from Amazon in the UK at…

Blind Tasting – Why?

By Adrian | 19/08/2018

The wine world seems to have something of an obsession with blind tasting – surely this is a fairly pointless skill.  In the real world when do you ever need to identify a wine blind?  The bottles have a nice helpful label on the front.  Sure, I can see the need to describe a wine…

Sherry tasting

By Adrian | 19/08/2018

Sherry is one of my passions so I recently organised a tasting of the main styles – Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado, Oloroso, Cream and PX. It’s great when people who say sherry is either to dry or too sweet see the range of wines available and go away prepared to give it a try.