Buying decisions from trend setting trade and The Buyer tastings
In order to launch its entirely new 100% Pinot Noir cuvée, Hommage à William Deutz Parcelles d’Aÿ 2010, Deutz CEO Fabrice Rosset took Anne Krebiehl MW through an extraordinary tasting that included six back vintages of top cuvée Cuvée William Deutz, including a 1988 that showed the full gastronomic potential of the wine.
The recent Australian Women in Wine tasting in London was an opportunity to celebrate women winemakers and their wines out of the shadows of the often macho, male-dominated wine scene in Australia. But is pigeon-holing wines according to sex a good idea or not? Chris Wilson found the room divided between the Ayes and the Nays.
After the success of the Dirty Dozen make way for the ‘Magnificent Seven’, another collective of small independent wine importers calling themselves Out the Box that is hell-bent on discovering exciting, new, ‘out-there’ wines as well as interesting takes on the classics. Read why Chris Wilson thinks this was the perfect wine tasting for anyone wanting to start a complete wine list from scratch.
The launch of the new Penfolds Collection is always an unmissable date in the diary as we found out again when we went to see newly-decorated Peter Gago at London’s Liberal Club, pacing the floor like a seasoned stand-up comic, offering up delightful insights into winemaking, Grange 2013 and the whole damn thing.
For the past 20 years the Bonnie family has been transforming Malartic-Lagravière on Bordeaux’s Left Bank into a force to be reckoned with. During an epic lunch The Buyer tastes a range of vintages in the company of Jean-Jacques and Véronique Bonnie including the latest 2015 and 2016 wines plus vintages going back to a 1961.
The Dirty Dozen tasting this year was once again staged in Phonica, the Soho record store, much to the delight of vinyl junkie Chris Wilson who also has a taste for the old vino – particularly wines that challenge the status quo. On side A, Chris has six whites to recommend to the on-trade, on side B six reds that will also knock your socks off.
Wynns Coonawarra Black Label is recognised as one of Australia’s most collected and cellared wines and yet it has always had the most modest of price tags. Roger Jones attended a 15-vintages vertical to celebrate 60 years of this most iconic Australian wine.
It’s almost October and the busiest time in the UK wine industry calendar is well under way. With many importers already showing off their wares, Justin Keay sees a growing trend towards diversity within their portfolios – as if the younger agencies the scene have forced the big boys into showing they haven’t lost their edge. It’s a theme that is evident at the colossal ABS tasting.
2015 is a very special vintage in Bordeaux and it’s getting better every time we look at it. Last Thursday saw the 271 Cru Bourgeois du Médoc wineries showing off their wares at the annual London tasting and there is nothing but good news, especially for the sommelier, with many wines able to serve so soon after bottling.
At a lunch tasting at London’s new eatery Oystermen, Victor Smart meets Pongrácz winemaker Elunda Basson and finds out how she is trying to improve people’s perceptions of South Africa’s Méthode Cap Classiques. Basson believes that, unlike proseccos and cavas, the Cap Classiques have the ability to stand toe-to-toe with Champagne.
