The Wine Demystifier

If pressed to name my favourite type of fortified wine it wouldn’t be Sherry, it wouldn’t even (despite loving these wines too) be Port, it would in fact be Madeira…and its not even close!   I suspect Madeira is probably the wine most people pass over when perusing the aisles of the supermarket for a bottle of something fortified, which is a huge shame and the reason why the letter “M” is dedicated to the fortified wonder that is Madeira!…

This once popular and since maligned frizzante red wine is now making something of a resurgence, and quite rightly so.  The 1980s saw the heyday for this wine, with huge success in America and also across parts of Europe. Lambrusco came in a variety of different guises during this heyday with producers trying to cash in on it’s appeal by releasing a number of (thankfully short-lived) alternative styles including white and pink versions. But it is in its original…

The letter “K” proved slightly problematic, but then I remembered, a while back when I was working for a major wine merchant who had just taken on an Israeli producer, it was while doing the marketing for those wines that the question of 'Kosher' came up. To anyone of a certain age, the very mention of Kosher wine would invariably be met by a shudder as they were almost always considered utterly awful.  But times have changed, and things…

If I asked a selection of people to name three French regions. I would bet my house that none would mention Jura. To be honest, until I started studying wine, I had never heard of it either!  But Jura is a really intriguing and much overlooked region with a wine style very much of its own. About the region This small region is located at the eastern extreme of France, in the mountainous region between Burgundy and the Swiss…

Ok I admit, as I write this in glorious spring sunshine, the thought of frozen vines and Christmas, which is what usually comes to mind when I think of Icewine, does seem (thankfully) a long way away. I bet it’s fair to assume that many of you haven’t ever tried Icewine?  More’s the pity, for this is arguably my favourite dessert wine and I don’t just wait for Christmas, any special occasion will do, and why only special occasions? …