Wine Events, Wine Education, Journalist
THE Co-operative hasn’t had the best of starts to the year, but as far as wine is concerned it is defiantly full steam ahead. The retailer has been busy revamping its wine range with new lines and a more tailored range to “reflect customer demand”. The Co-op is giving prominence to its Fairtrade and Truly […]
Co-op wines have a revamp to reflect customer demand Read More »
You wait patiently for one celebration to brighten up the year and then several come along at once. Happy Easter. I’m turning my first thoughts to Malbec, because in case you missed it, Thursday was Malbec World Day, the celebration (created by marketeers) of this grape which Argentina has made its own. Malbec is as
Enjoy some lovely wines this long Easter weekend Read More »
BY THE time you read this I will have enjoyed a Girlies’ Night In, with yours truly in charge of a wine-tasting challenge. Other entertainment was to be one Girlie playing tunes on her ukulele. My plan: To disguise all bottles in tin foil and to ask the Girlies questions, including guessing the grapes. I
Top winemaker Neil McGuigan shares his wine-tasting tips Read More »
I HAD a rotten day the other day and was in need of comfort. I stood in a supermarket aisle in front of something which declared itself to be fresh and crisp. I wasn’t in the fruit and vegetable section. It also had “sparkling” on the label. I certainly wasn’t near the household cleaning products.
Freixenet and Mia range looks to the younger market Read More »
PICTURE French winemakers and what do you see? Veterans. Wisps of white hair blowing in a warm breeze. Soil brushed off gnarled hands and a grape taken firmly but gently between Gauloises-stained fingers. A face the colour of Red Rum’s saddle bags turned upwards to the life-giving sun…. well that’s what I see. And of
Young bloods challenge our perception of French winemakers Read More »
SOME people can’t stand Mother’s Day. I mean they love their mum, but they can’t stand leaving the house for the so-called “treat”. Over-booked restaurants, under-cooked food and poor old mum trying to pretend it’s the best time she‘s had since the grand final of The X Factor. The alternative is staying in – cook
Mother’s Day wine: Choices for mum’s special day Read More »
THERE are two things I always do as the seasons tick by. One is to proffer a “pinch and a punch, first of the month”, to my pal Jamie; the second is to text my daughter whenI see my first lambs in a field. The latter went like this. You thought I’d made it up
Herald change in seasons with quartet of New Zealand wines Read More »
JOHN TORODE is now one of this country’s most popular celebrity chefs. Only last week he launched his new cookery programme Australia. But he also comes from a part of Australia which is the oldest wine-making region on that vast continent, the Hunter Valley. So it should come as no surprise that he has been
John Torode launches recipe collection with McGuigan Wines Read More »
IT’S Fairtrade Fortnight. I want to embrace wines which carry the Fairtrade stamp of approval and are born out of such a worthy cause; but I do so with mixed results. The Fairtrade Foundation (www.fairtrade.org.uk) explains it has several missions; “better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and
Wine Press: Fairtrade Fortnight and a sparkling nod to the Oscars Read More »