Monthly Archives: March 2020

  As a London cabbie might say, ” I ‘ad him the back of my cab once.” So to speak. It was Autumn 1992 and I was a stagiarie at Moët et Chandon in Epernay. It was a Saturday and … Continue reading →

We should probably, very definitely, stop buying avocados. At very least, so often. Every time I see a a pile of avocados, “provenance: Peru”, I shudder. In terms of distance, their carbon footprint is no worse than so many other … Continue reading →

Originally published on http://www.jancisrobinson.com 4th of March 2020. Matthew Hayes reports. Might a vineyard like this one in the Hautes-Côtes be home to Syrah? Twenty years ago, no one ever pronounced the C-word. Now it’s on everybody’s lips, in every … Continue reading →

These are trying times, for everyone, everywhere. I remember on my first visit to China in 1990 that I felt the worst karma possible was to be reborn as an animal foodstuff. At the very bottom of the pile was … Continue reading →

Originally published 27th February on jancisrobinson.com as RN-74 – the door to the Côte d’Or. Perhaps less of a Steinbeck fan than me! As you drive south out of Dijon you could be forgiven for thinking you were in a … Continue reading →

…that I can re-print this from Jancis Robinson’s, “the world’s most respected wine journalist” (Decanter, not me) website. The third of I hope legion articles was published yesterday. If you follow wine criticism you will know that there is a … Continue reading →

The problem with any philosophy is when it morphs into dogma. This appears often to be the case with natural wines. Fervent admirers will hear of nothing else, regarding absolute non-intervention as the only way forward. In principle, I am … Continue reading →

At fifty one, and with a wide Italian footprint I have still never made it to Venice. Admittedly, the thought of all those bridges, and a wheelchair, does rather dampen my ardour, Not to mention the horror stories of teeming … Continue reading →