I have just been down to Beaujolais and up to Chablis to check out the 2009s from these regions. The visit to Chablis was particularly reassuring because I had some worries that the sunny conditions of the 2009 vintage might have led to atypical Chablis, fat and sassy chardonnay without the underlying austerity which is […]

Marooned I may have been, but Noël Pinguet’s (left) tutored tasting for 31 fortunate few (me included), in Berrys’ cellar on Monday night, more than compensated for this inconvenience. And just as the Icelandic volcano has reminded us of man’s meekness in the face of nature, so Noël’s wines clearly substantiated the pull of biodynamics: harnessing […]

Ferdinando’s been a friend ever since I first arrived in the region, along with his Spanish wife Belen, her daughter Laura and their son Leonardo (a sparring partner for my Patrick!). Indeed it was he who insisted, over a dinner at La Coccinella in Serravalle Langhe a year ago, that I should seek out (not his […]

After a glorious weekend recovering from what I have to say was a completely exhausting week in Bordeaux (and several bottles of reviving Burgundy to aid the process), I can sit down now and actually format in my mind what we experienced and after assimilating that, what’s going to happen next.