“It’s not just pink” was the message from a Château d’Esclans Provence Rosé wine tasting last week. The property’s most famous wine is Whispering Angel. This wine is credited with a Rosé revolution – in terms of improving the quality and style of Rosé, changing wine drinkers’ perception, and marketing it as a premium drink. […]
Learn about wine
Learn about Ribeiro
When I’m not buying wines for wine courses, I find myself buying wines with lower acidity. Ribeiro whites ticked that box, at a recent wine tasting. Ribeiro D.O. is in Spain’s Galicia region, in the north-west of the country, on the Portuguese border, some 30km from the Atlantic. Its tradition of vine-growing dates back at […]
Chianti Classico – green, religious & not how you might expect
Luckily for me, I’ve a great excuse to visit wine regions as part of my never-ending wine education! And if I can visit with friends, all the better! Chianti Classico was one such trip. A green and fertile land: Chianti Classico DOCG extends over 7,000 hectares, from Florence southwards to Pisa. Its rolling hills are […]
Alsace – 10 key facts
Learn about wine: Barbaresco
Barbaresco is perhaps one of the most muscular red wines on the planet – pale yet full-bodied, firmly tannic, with high acidity. In youth it gives earth, violets, roses and tart red fruit, becoming more tarry, leathery and liquorice-like with age. It is delicious with hearty winter dishes of slow-cooked beef, rabbit, lamb, venison, white […]
How Riesling Ages
I regularly give 6-9 year old traditional Mosel Rieslings at my wine courses. Many students are confounded by its petrolly aromas, and undecided about its honeyed flavours, balanced against finely chiselled acidity. Winemason, one of the leading importers of German wines in Ireland,* invited Anne Krebiehl MW to Ireland this summer, to give a very […]
Introducing Brimoncourt Champagne
A rainy and relatively quiet June afternoon coincided nicely with an invitation from Boutique Wines to the launch of Brimoncourt Champagne in Ireland. The venue was Pichet Restaurant,looking good after a revamp about a year ago. The warm welcome from Johnny and Phil from Boutique Wines, as well as Jeremy from Pichet lifted my spirits […]
WSET Diploma 2016
The 2016 WSET Diploma in Dublin is now open for enrolment and full details can be found on the WSET website. Note that WSET runs this course directly from their London office – contact Joseph Hallam ([email protected]) directly if you have any queries. – Enrolment deadline: 3rd October 2016 – Course start: 7th November 2016 – […]
Learn about wine
If you can imagine the island of Ireland covered in vineyards, this is roughly the same footprint as the world’s vineyard area. Okay, so tag on an extra County Cork for good measure and you will come close to the real figure of 7.5 million hectares of vines in the world, which bear grapes. Although […]
