A short while ago, Blogger, the medium by which this blog is currently published, announced that they’d no longer be supporting publishing by ftp. For the non-technical, let me explain. Currently, I use blogger to compose and organize blog posts, and then I publish them to my own web space, on my domain name, www.wineanorak.com. Having the blog integrated into wineanorak.com is important for several reasons, and so this announcement by... 

This is a really lovely northern Rhône Syrah, made by Maxime Graillot, son of Alan (the most famous grower in this appellation of Crozes-Hermitage). It’s quite an edgy, polarising sort of wine, though: with its high acidity and bold, striking flavours, some will fall in love while others will find it a bit too much. It’s just my sort of wine. I’d much rather have these somewhat wild, untamed flavours that speak so clearly …  Read More →

Here I take a look at New Zealand Syrah, tasting two top-notch examples on camera. Will it be the next big thing from Kiwiland? Too soon to say, with less than 300 hectares of Syrah planted in the whole country. But I’m a big fan – I’m excited by the wines that I’ve tried so far.  Read More →

At the Pinot Noir 2010 symposium I was interviewed by Jamie Drummond of Good Food Revolution – you can view the interview here: Jamie Drummond on Food and Wine: Episode 12 – Jamie Goode from GoodFoodRevolution on Vimeo .  Read More →

Just on my way back from Sarah Ahmed’s 50 Great Portuguese Wines tasting. Having done this job last year, I know how difficult it is to narrow down this selection to just 50: Portugal must be the most underrated wine-producing country on the planet. Sarah is pictured above, with one of her favourite whites. Sarah’s selection was excellent. I think we have quite similar tastes in terms …  Read More →

New Zealand is, of course, famous for its Sauvignon Blanc, becoming famous for its Pinot Noir, and beginning to make a name for its Syrahs. But what of its Rieslings? I think they’re a bit underrated. They are also quite hard to sell. But I’ve tried some great examples of late, in both the dry style, the just-off-dry style, and the lower alcohol semi-sweet Germanic style. Here’s a really good one in the second category. Neudorf... 

Just a quick note to say that I’ll be moving servers over the next few days. I’ve outgrown my previous hosting service. Too many readers; too much traffic. Not a bad problem to have, but it does mean that there will be a short period where the site is down. I apologise for this. It’s called DNS server migration, and there’s no way around it.  Read More →

Just been on to amazon and ordered a book recommended to me by Ted Lemon, who was at Pinot Noir 2010. Ted’s wines are fantastic, and so anything he wants to put on my reading list is fine by me. It’s called ‘Agroecology’, by Miguel Altieri. Not cheap at £30, but I’m hoping it will be very good. On the flight on the way back from Auckland I caught a few films. Here are my amateur reviews. 1. In The Loop ( www.intheloopmovie.co.uk... 

Just a few more pictures from my recent trip. The glorious views over lake Wanaka from Rippon, Central Otago ( above ). This is an aerial view showing Kawarau (left) and Pisa Range (right, with its distinctive black poplar trees), in Central Otago’s Pisa district. This is one of the black poplars at Pisa Range, this time viewed from the ground.  Read More →

Keith P posed an interesting question in response to one of my blog posts from New Zealand. To paraphrase: does having a nice experience when visiting a wine region of country introduce a degree of positive bias in subsequent reviews? Let’s put this another way. Would it, in fact, be better for wine critics to have samples sent and taste the wines blind in a relatively neutral environment, such as their offices? There are a couple of well... 

So I’m on my way home. Two weeks on the road is probably enough: I’m missing home. Still, it has been a great trip. I’m pictured above flanked by Andrew and Katharine, with whom I have spent two very enjoyable days. I wish we lived nearer to them. I’m now sitting in the lounge at Auckland airport, sipping a very precise Man O’War Sauvignon Blanc 2008. Next time …  Read More →

My last couple of days in New Zealand are being spent with some friends in Auckland, The Hemingways. We knew them well in the UK, but a decade ago they moved out with their five children to live here. It has been great fun. Their kids are now, with the exception of one, teenagers and young adults, and there’s a real positive vibe in the house. Where they are living, some way out of the centre in west Auckland, is pretty and leafy. We’re... 

Last day of Pinot Noir 2010. I’m feeling tired – you have to remember that this is not an academic symposium. It’s largely about eating, drinking, meeting people, having fun and generally partying. I was out last night with a small group of winemakers and journalists for a fun party hosted in someone’s home. We drank some beautiful wines and bantered until late. Max Allen brought his mandolin along, and there was even some... 

The theme today? Sustainability, and all that goes with it. I gave my talk, in a session that included Steve Smith, Doug Bell (Wholefoods), Andrew Jefford, Nick Mills and Max Allen. I thought it went OK, although I did have a little too much information for a 15 minute presentation, and to avoid over-running had to do some jettisoning of the later slides. The star turn, however, was the tasting of 13 wines blind. These were all Pinot Noirs from... 

So Pinot 2010 is now in full flow. The event opened by a welcome from New Zealand PM John Key ( top ). Pretty cool that the PM should open a wine conference – can’t see it happening in the UK! He has a good vintage, too – 1961. Seems like a smart guy with a great common touch and his speech was perfectly judged. Today’s proceedings went pretty smoothly, although in the tasting sessions I felt that the panels were being a...