Uncorked
A sideways look at the world of wine
Latest Article
10th July 2023
“Remarkable, miraculous, and truly exceptional vintage.”
Not my words, nor those of a Bordeaux château owner, typically bigging up their property’s new wine. No, the very erudite Colin Hay, a man who, when he is not writing about fermented grape juice, works as the Professor of Political Science at Sciences Po in Paris. He is not given to hyperbole, and he remains firmly grounded when assessing En Primeur claret. Furthermore, he is not flogging his own dotcom blog, so he can be, and is,... Read More >
Recent Articles:
22nd May 2023
Don’t let the percentages bother you, says this writer
1979. Margaret Thatcher came to power and the USSR invaded Afghanistan. I certainly recall both events, but I think that Nottingham Forest beating Malmö FF to win the European Cup had Read More >
22nd May 2023
Tasting notes on the harvest.
I scrawl the following words towards the end of May, having recently returned from a week in Bordeaux… Now, there’s a phrase that hasn’t appeared in print for a while – over three years, to be exact. And Read More >
22nd May 2023
This article was originally published in October 2020.
Though the smaller format has a shorter shelf life, it provides the benefit of maturing faster – and is often the perfect amount.
I am still finding it very hard to wean myself off Read More >
10th November 2022
Originally published September 2021.
This wine connoisseur gives his informed opinion.
Most wine drinkers would probably plump for those made from the ubiquitous Chardonnay grape – French, in particular. Bottles from Burgundy’s Read More >
9th November 2022
Originally published October 2021.
There are no two ways about it: the French are mad. As a Francophile I feel comfortable in asserting this. Their country is beautiful, they’re deliciously un-PC and their food and drink is the best in Read More >
31st January 2022
What to drink in 2022.
We ran out of Picpoul de Pinet last week, 2020 vintage. No big deal, stocks do indeed run dry – after all, wine is an agricultural product and the phrase, “We’re just waiting for the new vintage to be bottled Read More >
24th November 2021
Originally published May 2021.
“Vino treba slugu, a ne gospodara” (A vineyard needs a servant, not a master). This old Croatian saying, which has been handed down by winemaking families for centuries entails the single most important Read More >
14th July 2021
Originally published October 2019.
So, I have recently indulged in a return to the vodka bottle. Now there's a line I never thought I'd write in my advancing middle-age.Now, whenever it comes to a choice of a pre-prandial (if I'm not aiming Read More >
5th July 2021
When you don’t want to pay top dollar, consider sipping the fruit of your favoured vineyards’ less established plants.
We’re back on vaguely familiar territory, I’m afraid (I promise to try and change the record soon). Yet I am, as Read More >
2nd March 2021
Christmas sales aren’t looking rosy, what with the pandemic – and then we have to deal with Brexit.
I will try not to dwell too much on you-know-what – we all know the effects of the coronavirus, ad infinitum, and glasses are, alas, Read More >
9th February 2021
This article was originally published in September 2020.
This is going to be a somewhat different ramble from previously, vis-à-vis the curious concept of buying claret while it still lies in a wooden barrel. Good thing, too – much too Read More >
21st October 2020
Given the lack of relatively significant news in the wine market, this is the first report since early in the second quarter of the year.
In fact, it is fair to say that the world of fine wine has been relatively boring, and in this world, Read More >
7th October 2020
This article was originally published in November 2019.
Hermitage is the supreme expression of the Syrah grape, but little recognised – making it a bargain among the Rhônes.
There’s a regular tale of customer woe, familiar to all wine Read More >
27th August 2020
Still finding it very hard to wean myself off the lockdown beverage…which was the half-bottle of wine. No enormous shock/horror/probe: I live on my own, so the 375ml is the perfect fit for a middle-aged wine merchant, one who’s reasonably Read More >
29th April 2020
Robert Parker. For years, the wine trade was in thrall to this most influential of wine journalists. If you were a ‘vigneron’, his score out of 100 could make or break your bottle; similarly, if you were a merchant, those same points might be Read More >
27th February 2020
It’s been a rather excellent start to the vinous year, for I have been immersing myself in the joys of all things Piemonte, the jewel of NW Italy. Indeed, this was fully enabled by four days’ tasting amidst the rolling hills of the Langhe Read More >
29th November 2019
This article is a republished version of one that appeared earlier in the year. Why? Because there’s another reason to sing about the virtues of Italian wines; the Trump administration have recently introduced a 25% tariff on all wines from Read More >
11th October 2019
At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, the market mood is sombre. It does, however, remain reasonably steady amidst a turbulent sea of macro factors.
Hong Kong is an important market for wine and the ongoing protests are a concern. The Read More >
23rd September 2019
With Bordeaux and Burgundy offering lacklustre returns, the trading focus has moved to Piedmont, Champagne and the Rhone Valley
The second quarter of 2019 was largely tranquil for the fine wine market, with trade bobbing along nicely but no Read More >
15th August 2019
Burgundy continues its slide, but Bordeaux might be coming into its own.
In the same way the media in March was completely dominated by Brexit, so was the wine market. Instead of squabbling and jostling for position, however, the main players Read More >
2nd July 2019
The wine world’s spin doctors are up to their usual hype. But last year’s weather has made for a fascinating vintage.
It’s that time of year again, when the latest claret vintage roars into view. There is the usual trumpeting, words Read More >
26th June 2019
The Property Chronicle speaks to Jim Nolan, CEO and founder of Black Dog Hill
Operating since 2007, Black Dog Hill is a family-run vineyard in Ditchling, Sussex. The Nolan family didn’t have to travel far to find one of the world’s Read More >
16th March 2019
February was a relatively quiet month for the wine market. The month started with the Chinese New Year celebrations which meant Asia was quiet and it also contained a European half term break. Sentiment towards Brexit turned, meaning GBP Read More >
17th January 2019
In a year, and particularly the last quarter of great uncertainty, the wine market has proved to be a place of great refuge - the WO 150 increased by 10.3%. The wine market performance during the fourth quarter of 2018 was flat, having been Read More >
26th November 2018
So, at the risk of stating the obvious, it’s not too bad a time to be a beer-drinker, is it?
Yes, of course the likes of Watneys Red Barrel, Worthington ‘E’, and Ind Coope Double Diamond have been safely consigned to the archives for Read More >
7th September 2018
Every so often, the UK’s wine-writers are known to take a road to rebuke, whereby the drinker comes under fire for supporting/ignoring (delete as applicable) a certain type of wine that said hacks deem unacceptable. For example, the most Read More >
28th August 2018
To the uninitiated, wine might seem a relatively high-risk investment, but the data tells a different story. Long-term returns from wine investment can be very good, in fact. Last year, wine was the best-performing of all passion asset classes. Read More >
9th July 2018
If the title looks vaguely familiar…well, yes, it is indeed exactly the same ‘headline’ as the last article, where we set the scene for the launch of the latest vintage from our friends in the Gironde. One had been prepared to unleash Read More >
6th July 2018
Following on from '28 Days Later', this report looks back at the 2017 Bordeaux en primeur campaign, which came to a close at the end of June. For reasons which will become apparent as you read, this article of recommendations is somewhat shorter Read More >
25th May 2018
It was just over a month ago that the not inconsiderable bulk of the world’s wine trade descended into the French province of Aquitaine. It’s become an annual migration (more promenade than stampede), as Bordeaux’s most recent vintage, Read More >
7th May 2018
Four weeks ago, in our first guest post, I was about to head to Bordeaux, with WineOwners.com founder and CEO, Nick Martin. We promised to report back with our views on what’s hot and what’s not. Et voilà…
For six days in early April, Read More >
31st March 2018
Wine Owners (www.wineowners.com) is doing for wine collectors what the iPod did for music lovers twenty years ago. It immediately simplifies life for those looking to build a wine collection, or to efficiently manage an existing collection. The Read More >
24th March 2018
Now, we’ve got the (potentially dry) production process out of the way we can look at the main styles of true, definitely dry Sherry sometimes referred to as Vinos Generosos. It’s worth noting that most wines labelled Amontillado and Read More >
17th March 2018
Following on from last week’s introduction, we’re now going to have a look at how the drink is made.
The production of Sherry is fairly technical so what follows is a very simplified version of events, if you can believe it. If you happen Read More >
10th March 2018
For the past several years, without fail, various trade magazines, in partnership with some think-tank or another, have boldly predicted the coming 12 months to be “The Year of Sherry”. They point to Majestic Wine recording a 25% increase in Read More >
28th February 2018
The red wine that comes from the Grand Cru vineyard of Clos de Tart might not be at the top of every Burgundy-lover’s wish-list - that accolade probably belongs to the fabled Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. And if one had to conjure an image that Read More >
8th February 2018
Introduction
Welcome to my wine column where I’ll be taking a look at all things oenological. Here, you’ll find information on the latest trends and gadgets, investment advice, the places to visit and how to get the most out of your Read More >
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