Two years ago One George Street was the setting for the annual Champagne tasting day in London. Now, for the second year running, English wine had taken over this prestigious venue to show off how “bloody good” English sparkling wine has become. Not only that, but Michelin-starred chef Roger Jones has had his head turned by a number of classy English still wines as well.
Globetrotting Michelin-starred chef, Roger Jones, leaves the ovens of his Wiltshire restaurant to experience the Moroccan cuisine – testing out a variety of white and red wine and seeing how well it matches with the food. The French legacy has shaped the Moroccan wine industry, into becoming the second largest in the Arabic world. With the likes of Alain Graillot and Bernard Magrez setting up shop, this will only increase.
Roger Jones, our Michelin-starred roving reporter, attends the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino Investiture annual dinner held at London’s Dorchester Hotel. For the past 33 years this prestigious event has been held to promote the high quality of wines from Spain. The climax is the ordaining into the fellowship of Caballeros, individuals who have made a particularly significant contribution to promoting wines from Spain.
If you didn’t manage to make it to the Berkmann annual portfolio tasting in London last week them never fear, Michelin-starred chef Roger Jones was on hand to taste the wines for you and recommend which ones will work and which will not work in the premium on-trade.
It is rare that sommeliers and members of the press get an opportunity to try aged wines which show evolution and wines during their peak drinking window. For its annual portfolio tasting in London, wine importer Fells laid out a treasure trove of aged fine wines and fortifieds, an opportunity that Roger Jones could not pass up, tasting alongside the new vintages available.
Pinotage is a wine that has gone out of fashion, particularly in the premium end of the market – this despite it being a derivative of Cinsault and Pinot, two grapes that have recently seen a massive increase in production on South Africa’s Cape. Michelin-starred chef Roger Jones travelled to South Africa to find out what has happened to quality Pinotage and see if he could find some that would sit happily on wine lists in the UK.
With the lightweights all tucked up in bed trying to sleep the gala dinner off, our man in Wellington, Michelin-starred chef, Roger Jones returned to the Opera House to hear some impassioned talks about biodynamic farming, meet Sam Neill and explore the many wonders of Pinot Noir from Marlborough. All of this after Roger’s customary 20k morning run, many hundreds of bench presses and meagre, organic oats breakfast…. ‘natch.
So what do you do after three days of intense Pinot Noir tasting and drinking? Not to mention the after-party of Guns And Roses in the same hotel. Why another round of Pinot Noir, of course, drank in a chartered jet flying at low, turbulent altitude. Our Michelin-starred chef, Roger Jones, put on a brave face (well not that brave) and decided to join the mile high Pinot club.
The sixth celebration of New Zealand Pinot Noir is under way with 600 delegates descending on the capital Wellington to celebrate the grape. Michelin-starred chef Roger Jones is there for The Buyer and reporting back every day on events, as well as trying to taste and discover as many of the wines on show from 115 Pinot Noir producers. Pinot Noir NZ 2017 started with a road trip of New Zealand’s major Pinot Noir regions and with his butt cheeks alive (his words not ours) Roger went along for the ride.
Our Editor at large, Michelin starred-chef Roger Jones, questions why he is flying across the globe to celebrate New Zealand Pinot Noir. Will the conference Pinot Noir NZ17 really be the ‘Greatest Pinot Noir show on planet earth.’ ? Never one to eschew the drinks trolley, Roger samples a few NZ Pinots to get him in the mood, bumps into some of the world’s top sommeliers as well as a ‘knowledgeable’ stewardess called Sandra…
