Welcome to Bigpinots

Bigpinots was born from a desire to know enough about wine to get by: buying “good wine that I would enjoy”.

10+ years later, I’ve written over 100 blog posts (mainly about how technology and wine work together), gained a number of certificates in wine and travelled around the world tasting and talking (I know, what a life!)

So whether you are a newbie hoping to find out more about wine or a bit of a pro looking for some interesting articles, I’m sure you’ve come to the right place.

Check out the posts below or the shortcuts to the right.

Enjoy!

Become an expert in 5 steps

Find out more about wine so you know what to buy, how to drink (properly!), what to serve with different foods, how to store and serve wine? It’s easier than you think.

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Le Petit Ballon

Published June 2016 Wine + education + fun + engagement + accessibility = win It’s a simple formula, but one which many companies have tried
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How to build a killer product

Published May 2016 Every product and project is different, but there are still a few key rules that increase your chance of success. I was
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An addictive game

Published April 2016 I’m not one for Candy Crush or such distractions, but I have to admit that I’m slightly addicted to a game on

Vivino: the best wine app ever?

Published February 2016 I think I’ve finally found what I’ve been looking for: an app that gives you enough information about nearly any wine at

New domain names to challenge GIs?

Published 4 January 2016 The two gTLDs of .wine and .vin become available in January 2016. As well as having financial implications for the wine

Bigpinots is going to sleep for 2015

Some of you know that my day job is coaching businesses (particularly software teams). In 2014, I set up my own business. Anyone who has their
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Made by Jacob

Published 27 March 2015 How does a large wine producer connect with the wider public? Normally, they produce a nasty, gimmicky website which has little
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Restaurant markups uncovered

Selling a bottle of wine in a restaurant for three times what it cost is pretty normal in the UK. However, would you want to

The ultimate corkscrew?

  @CoravinUK Do you insert gas into the bottle after extracting wine? Otherwise, if you drink 50cl of 75cl, won’t oxidisation start?   I thought

Gordon’s Alive

Published 30 July 2014 Which state in America am I? The first vines were planted here in 1825 by the Hudson’s Bay Company I have

Ricasoli’s Elegance

Published 30 May 2014 “Elegance.” That’s the one word to sum it all up: the wine, the food, the hotel. I was invited to the

“Blow into this tube”

Published 25 April 2014 A friend of mine had a new “toy” at work: a Dräger Alcotest® 5510. He’s a university researcher who focuses on

Tell me a story

Published 29 March 2014 At a recent meeting of venture capitalists, I met Damjan Obal. His product, edgartells.me, helps you tell your story. It’s fantastic

Buying locally

Published 28 February 2014 I’m impressed. Having been asked to pay attention to some supermarkets for a new project (more about that soon), I have

Sensorist

Published 16 January 2014 Do you have any wine that you have laid down to age? Where are you keeping it? Please tell me it

A miracle cure?

Published 14 December 2013 I think I drink sensibly. I try to have 4 nights a week when I don’t drink and make the 3

Wine matching help

Published 28 November 2013 How to match wine to food is one of the first questions people ask me. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to pass on

Oddbins’ Twitter account hijacked

Published 21 November 2013 “Socks and boring books are out. Fizz and frolics are in!” ~ Mother Christmas Oddbins’ marketing team has ditched the usual

Desseauve + Bettane Wine Experience

Published 22 October 2013 Since 1996, the two respected wine critics, Thierry Desseauve and Michel Bettane, have been the writers of The Guide to The

The Gang’s All Here

Published 11 October 2013   Hundreds of wines to taste all in one place is a few hundred good reasons to go to a Wine

Importing your own wine

Published 26 September 2013 The text read: “Finally found missing piece to jigsaw: have way to ship wine to UK at amazing price. Could change