Last Saturday saw the great, and the very good indeed, on display at the Saatchi Gallery in London when the Robert Parker Matter of Taste road-show came to town. This event featured over 200 wines from around the world, the ‘only’ requirement for entry being that they needed to have scored 90 or more […]

The recent Natural Wine Fair at Borough Market provided a wonderful opportunity, not only for a day out of the office, but also for a chance to meet up with several of our winemakers and taste their latest vintages. In particular, my first opportunity to meet Ron and Elva Laughton, who, along with their daughters […]

I am delighted to report that the inaugural Natural Wine Fair which we co-hosted with 4 other innovative wine merchants (Les Caves de Pyrène, Aubert & Mascoli, Dynamic Vines and Wine Story, since you ask) in Borough Market from last Sunday until Tuesday was an unreserved, barn-storming success albeit one that was fairly exhausting for […]

It was a treat to be back at Le Gavroche for our annual Spring lunch yesterday playing to a full house of 100 diners keen to sample wines matched to a seasonal menu devised by Michel Roux Jr. We kicked-off with a lively Vouvray Mousseux Brut from Domaine Aubert by way of aperitif, which guests […]

Over the last 2 or 3 years, roughly coinciding with the onset of the Global Financial Crisis (which we used to naively call the ‘Credit Crunch’), there has been a growing ground swell of interest in ‘natural’ wines. One might assume that as wine is made from fermented grape juice it essentially a fairly natural […]

Heavenly Heathcote A blog entry can't be expected to do justice to a visit to world-renowned Jasper Hill, but I'll try and distil the flavour. Based an hour and a half north of Melbourne on an iron-rich, 100m wide, 2m deep strip of Cambrian soil, the Jasper Hill estate and its creators Ron and Elva […]

Despite the impact of the GFC* on the CBD** (Australians love abbreviations) Melbourne boasts a vibrant and innovative restaurant scene that can rival anything to be found in Europe or America. Melbourne also hosts a magnificent food and wine festival each March which attracts an international roll call of chefs, critics, wine-makers and sommeliers. A […]

It felt like we were in the land of the lost as we weaved our way up Zig Zag Hill in thick fog last Friday evening. Our goal; The Museum Inn, Dorset, the reason; The legendary Yapp Christmas party, our immediate aim; to get there in one piece and ahead of Charlie, our fear; he […]