Published 24 June 2013
In May, I went on a 48-hour trip to Bordeaux. It’s a fantastic city (see my recent post) and I’d definitely recommend a visit. But I wanted to know about the real Bordeaux from an insider’s perspective. Is the city really as good as I experienced? What is the truth about the wine industry? Fortunately, I was in Bordeaux [...]
Posts in category France
A wine consultant’s view of Bordeaux
Published 24 June 2013
In May, I went on a 48-hour trip to Bordeaux. It’s a fantastic city (see my recent post) and I’d definitely recommend a visit. But I wanted to know about the real Bordeaux from an insider’s perspective. Is the city really as good as I experienced? What is the truth about the wine industry? Fortunately, I was in Bordeaux [...]
My Bordeaux
Published 4 June 2013
I have a confession: until last month, I’d never been to Bordeaux. Sure, I’ve drunk lots of their wines, but I always thought of Bordeaux as big, imposing, inaccessible chateaux whose wines I couldn’t afford.
Happily, I can report that Bordeaux city is not like that. It has recently gone through a period of regeneration [...]
Cru Bourgeois goes techno
Published 21 January 2013
When thinking of Bordeaux chateaux, you probably imagine pretty towered buildings and men in bow ties; I doubt that adding codes to bottles so that consumers are taken to a bespoke site with information on the vineyard (details of varieties grown, planting density, yield, etc), history of the chateau, food pairing su [...]
Pimp my vine
Published 16 August 2012
One morning, I stumbled across a tweet talking about @lagramiere’s mobile wine tasting truck raising funds on Kickstarter. I’d heard something about Kickstarter, but thought it was an online venture capitalist site for business people. Before I knew it I was backing all kinds of weird and wonderful ideas, including th [...]
How do wine customers in the US and U...
Published 17 June 2012
When writing a recent post about the UK launch of Lot18, the American-based wine merchant, I started wondering how UK consumers differ from their US equivalent.
Here’s a few facts I’ve discovered:
Grape Types
The most popular grape types aren’t symmetrical, but they are quite similar: Chardonnay ranks #1 in both countri [...]
2012 predictions
Published 8 January 2012
Only the brave would make predictions in such tumultuous times, but I’ve managed to find quite a few willing to put themselves on record for what they think 2012 will throw up.
I only have one: that the divide between wine brands who use social media and those who don’t will increase. That is, those currently using s [...]
Is Franciacorta the next Champagne?
Published 26 November 2011
Champagne is probably the most famous wine region in the world. In the UK alone, Champagne accounts for annual sales of over £1bn, or 7% of all UK wine sales [Source: Datamonitor, 2010]. Most Champagne is made using a blend of three grape types (Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir), although some styles use onl [...]