Winedr

Pfaffl, Recent Vintages

Chris Kissack — Wed, 30 May 2012 11:04:25 +0000

I’ve tasted a number of wines of Pfaffl before. Frighteningly, my profile of Roman Pfaffl and his domaine seems to have been written five years ago, proof that you don’t have to be on the brink of death in order to have your life flash by. Unsurprisingly, things have changed here over that length of [...]

Bordeaux Pocket Guide 2012: Now On Sale!

Chris Kissack — Tue, 29 May 2012 11:39:47 +0000

After several days of tentatively watching its listing on Amazon, I was happy (and relieved, and excited) to see this morning that my Bordeaux Pocket Guide 2012 is now available for dispatch. Hurrah! What is more, there is now a Kindle version available, for the ridiculously low price of £5.14 (about $8 or €6). For [...]

Was that Natural Wine Week?

Chris Kissack — Sat, 26 May 2012 08:13:29 +0000

So this week should have been coined Natural Wine Week perhaps? I spent Monday at the RAW Wine Fair, a smorgasbord of natural wines gathered together by Isabelle Legeron MW, and Tuesday at the Real Wine Fair, where Doug Wregg was holding court. Much has been made of the existence of two fairs with such [...]

Real Wine Fair, 2012

Chris Kissack — Thu, 24 May 2012 09:03:49 +0000

It’s been an interesting week, what with the RAW Wine Fair (which I attended on Monday), the Real Wine Fair (which I attended on Tuesday) and yesterday’s Born Digital Wine Awards which were announced at the London International Wine Fair (which unfortunately I was unable to attend). The Real Wine Fair was another great opportunity [...]

Born Digital Wine Awards 2012

Chris Kissack — Tue, 22 May 2012 08:31:25 +0000

I was slightly amused to get back to my hotel yesterday, after a busy day at the RAW wine fair in London, to find an email from the Born Digital Wine Awards organisers with a link to a ‘shortlisted’ badge. Here it is: Why amused? The timing gives me about 36 hours to display the [...]

RAW Wine Fair, 2012

Chris Kissack — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:34:53 +0000

I spent Monday at the RAW Wine Fair. It was a day that started well for me; driving to the railway station at 5am I was treated to a feast of wildlife sightings, including foxes in East Lothian fields, deer at the roadside and heron flying overhead. Surely it was a good omen, nature coming [...]

Blend Your Own Bordeaux

Chris Kissack — Mon, 21 May 2012 07:13:09 +0000

A Bordeaux château is offering the chance to visit and, alongside the usual tour of the vineyards and walk round the cellars, to blend your own bottle of Bordeaux. Château Lavergne Dulong sits close to Montussan, on the strip of land that lies between the Garonne and the Dordogne as they wind their way towards [...]

Provignage at Domaine de la Bergerie

Chris Kissack — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:24:27 +0000

I’ve written about the old practice of provignage – gardeners may know it better as ‘tip-layering’ – before (it’s hard not to with wines such as Provignage, from Henry Marionnet). Well, in truth, there is more to provignage than there is to tip-layering, with many variations on the theme. The technique in Burgundy, for instance, [...]

More from Herdade do Rocim

Chris Kissack — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:18:30 +0000

I featured one wine from Herdade do Rocim as my wine of the week yesterday, this being the Vale da Mata Reserva 2008. Although that wine was undoubtedly my favourite from all the Herdade do Rocim and Vale da Mata samples I have tasted recently, the others are certainly worthy of a mention. First, a [...]

My Bordeaux Pocket Book

Chris Kissack — Fri, 11 May 2012 05:02:35 +0000

After learning that I had been shortlisted for a Born Digital Wine Award, yesterday turned into a good-news double-whammy with a knock on the door, and the long-awaited arrival of my book (well, OK, it’s actually only been two weeks since it went to print, but it felt like a long time). I’ve been working [...]