Richard Siddle, Author at The Buyer

By Richard Siddle on April 15, 2021

How Thunevin is taking Ch. Valandraud to first growth status

Bordeaux is full of Chateau owners and families who have been born not just into wine, but some of the best places in the world to make it. Not Jean-Luc Thunevin. His success in Bordeaux has come through all his own work, starting as a garagiste winemaker, before developing Chateau Valandraud from half a hectare of land into a first classified growth of Saint Emilion. Richard Siddle talks to him about his extraordinary life that has taken him from his home land of Algeria to become one of Bordeaux and France’s most celebrated winemakers and influential producers.

Posted In: Bordeaux, chateau valandraud, jean luc Thunevin, wine, wine producer, winemaker

Tasting

By Richard Siddle on April 15, 2021

The stunning scenery of Alsace is matched by the world leading quality of its wines

Millésimes Alsace goes online with first DigiTasting®

There is quite a competitive set of wine regions that could compete to be both the most idyllic, but also the best at producing wine in the world. But with its combination of castles, towers and pretty villages, plus its spectacular range of white wines, serious Pinot Noirs and characterful Crémants, then Alsace would have to be one of the favourites. As we are currently not allowed to travel to see Alsace for ourselves, Les Vins d’Alsace has come up with its first DigiTasting® event that offers buyers the chance to meet producers online for one-to-one personal tastings, as well as pre-order samples to taste and take part in masterclasses and debates. Richard Siddle explains how it is going to work.

Posted In: Alsace, digitasting, millesimes alsace, wine buyers, wine tasting

Insight

By L.M. Archer on April 14, 2021

France’s wine regions count the cost of April’s frost damage

There’s nothing new about an April frost in France, but precocious ripening of vine buds earlier on in the growing cycle is becoming increasingly common due to global warming. Combined, the two have had a devastating effect on wine producers throughout France. From Bourgogne to the Sud de France, vine growers grapple with the catastrophic effects of this frost event which began on April 5 and lasted up to three days. LM Archer talks to winemakers through the country and gets a snapshot of how some of the major wine regions have been affected, as they count the cost.

Posted In: french wine, frost, LM Archer

People People: Producer

By Richard Siddle on April 14, 2021

How Bordeaux’s Château des Arras is united by two sisters

There is a strong family – and female – bond at Château des Arras, which sits in Saint Gervais, just outside Bordeaux, as it is run by sisters Anne-Cécile and Marie-Caroline Rozier who have been in charge of winemaking since their mother, Claudine, took over the estate in 1993 following the death of their father and husband. Together all three now run a successful and organic independent winery, along with gites and bed and breakfast business. Richard Siddle talks to Anne Cécile and Marie-Caroline Rozier about their family and nature-driven winemaking philosophy.

Posted In: Anne Cecile Rozier, chateau des arras, Marie-Caroline Rozier, wine, winemakers, winemaking

Tasting: Wine

By Peter Dean on April 14, 2021

Why Bodegas Roda breaks all the rules with the new Cirsion 2018

Bodegas Roda is a relatively new estate in Rioja but one which has made waves ever since it came onto the scene in the 1990s. Like many of the top bodegas it has an individual approach to how it makes its wine and is not afraid to break the rules. Its super-premium Rioja, Cirsion, for example is aged in French wood for just eight months and made from a selection of very old vines from over 30 vineyards. On the launch of Cirsion 2018, Peter Dean had an audience with the team and tasted the new wine alongside vintages from 2010, 2009 and 2004 to assess its unique properties.

Posted In: Agustin Santolaya, Bodegas Roda, Cirsion, Cirsion 2018, Peter Dean, Rioja, Tempranillo, Victor Charcán

People People: Supplier

By Richard Siddle on April 13, 2021

Long Read

Corney & Barrow’s Rebecca Palmer: demands of a wine buyer

The fact so many of Corney & Barrow’s senior management team that have been with the business for some time has been a major plus during Covid-19 such has been the need to radically change the way it does business. Richard Siddle talks to Rebecca Palmer, associate director and head of commercial buying for the wine merchants, about what has been by far the most eventful 12 months in her 15 years with the business and how the team’s collective experience has been invaluable in first re-assessing what it needed to do and then, with all hands to the helm, go out and achieve it. It is also an opportunity for her to reflect on how her wine buying role has changed in her career and what she now sees as the key attributes and skills needed to be an effective, quality driven, but also highly commercially focused wine buyer in the UK wine industry.

Posted In: Corney & Barrow, Covid, rebecca palmer, wine, wine buyer, wine distributor, wine importer, wine merchants

Tasting: Wine

By Victor Smart on April 13, 2021

Pascal Jolivet on changing his Pouilly-Fumé to Blanc Fumé

Was it the endless confusion between Pouilly-Fumé and Pouilly-Fuissé that led Loire producer Pascal Jolivet to change the name of his Sauvignon Blanc to Blanc Fumé for the UK market? Or was it because Blanc Fumé is the more common term by which Sauvignon Blanc used to be known? Victor Smart hears first hand from Jolivet as well as tastes the new 2020 vintage of the wine alongside three older vintages (2013, 2018, 2019) of Jolivet’s premium Sancerre Blanc “Sauvage”.

Posted In: loire, Pascal Jolivet, Sancerre, Victor Smart

Awards

By Richard Siddle on April 12, 2021

london wine competition judges compilation

Judges announce winners in the 2021 London Wine Competition

The London Wine Competition does things differently from the majority of its competitors. It does not just award medals to wines and producers based purely on the quality of the wine – usually only tasted blind. It bases its medal winners using the same criteria as wine buyers and sommeliers do when choosing which wines to list. By quality and what it tastes like, its price point and whether it offers value for money, and what it looks like and whether its packaging and design matches the quality and value of the wine. Here are the results and winners of the 2021 London Wine Competition.

Posted In: london wine competition, wine, wine producers, winemakers, wineries

Awards

By Richard Siddle on April 12, 2021

london spirits competition bartender pointing

Top bartenders pick winners in 2021 London Spirits Competition

It’s time to raise a glass or two to all the medal winners in the 2021 London Spirits Competition, the only event of its type that rewards distillers and spirit brand owners for making products that tick all the boxes when it comes to how a professional bartender, or spirits drinker, decides which product to buy. By its quality, what it tastes like, how much it costs and what it looks like on a back bar.

Posted In: drinks competitions, gin, london spirits competition, rum, spirits, tequila, vodka, whisky

Tasting: Wine

By Lilla OConnor on April 11, 2021

Explore Carnuntum delivers an insight into Austrian wine

The Austrian winegrowing region of Carnuntum hosted Explore Carnuntum, an online wine fair for importers and retailers from around Europe, in late March. Each estate in this small, quality-focused Austrian wine region, hosted its own one-hour online tasting, to present itself, its production, its focuses in export and distribution and its approach in the vineyards and cellar. A guided flight of six wines was shipped out in advance to each interested party with potential business ‘break-outs’ originating from those tastings. Lilla O’Connor, lately the UK head of Wines of Hungary, took part and tells us what it was like and what she discovered.

Posted In: Austria, Carnuntum, Explore Carnuntum, Lilla O'Connor

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