shiraz / syrah

International Grenache Day, La Garnacha Salvaje del Moncayo 2014, Majestic

Five wine picks for International Grenache Day. Don’t forget the bunting.

WE ALL love a reason to celebrate, so here’s advance warning of International Grenache Day. Buy the bunting, invite your friends round, bake a cake as it’s next Friday (September 18 2015). Grenache Day is a global event organised by the Grenache Symposium Association. I bobbed onto their website which waxes lyrical about the grape. […]

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Rosa dei Frati 2014 summer pink wines

Summer pink wines to enjoy while the sun is out (or when it rains)

AS its summer,  I suggest you grab some summer pink wines,  glasses and head to your nearest park, picnic basket in hand. And as its summer, don’t forget the umbrella. Some people view pink wines as flim flam, never to be touched. One or two wines here may convince you otherwise. But first, do you know

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Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Fathers Day

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a special-buy red for Father’s Day

If I had a pound for every time people say “Châteauneuf-du-Pape” when I ask them to name their special-buy red, I wouldn’t be sitting here. Sorry, but that’s how shallow I am. It’s June and you might not be thinking of red wine, but tomorrow is Father’s Day, so you have an excuse. I asked

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Vilarnau Brut Gaudi Sleeve

Sun-kissed winning wines from Languedoc-Roussillon

TO celebrate the British Open last weekend I opened some wine. That is the closest affinity I have to golf. I didn’t even have a British “open” it was a French “open” with wines from Languedoc-Roussillon. It is the most prolific wine-making region in the world. Yes, there are some mass-produced so-what wines, but there

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The International Wine Challenge Merchants' Awards 2014

International Wine Challenge announces Wine Merchant honours

THIS girlie, as I write, has a mild red wine hangover. I have tried revitalising shampoo but it hasn’t worked, so I’m going to write to the Shampoo Ombudsman. The reason for my “mild” head? This week the International Wine Challenge announced its Merchant Awards and I was there “quietly” enjoying the occasion. The headlines

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