“H” is for Hungarian wine

Hungary has a surprisingly long wine history, with a winemaking pedigree going back to the 1600’s and is home to a distinctive array of indigenous grapes coupled with more familiar international varieties. If pressed, some of you may mumble “Tokaji” if asked to name a Hungarian wine, many of you may not even be aware that this legendary wine actually comes from Hungary.  Don’t worry, you are not alone, this is a wine which has taken on almost mythical…

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“G” is for Gewürztraminer

One of many grape varieties with a hard to pronounce name (you will meet more during the remainder of this A-Z!).  Pronounced “Guh-VERTZ-tra-mean-er” I tend to just call it “Gewürz” it’s easier. I think of this grape as being like marmite – now obviously it doesn’t taste like marmite, (that would be horrific in a wine!), but it does divide consumers just as much - quite literally some love it and others hate it.  I am very firmly in…

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“F” is for films about wine

It's fair to say that if it wasn’t for films I probably would never have got into wine.  Not because I watched a film and had an epiphany that a career in wine may be my future, precisely the opposite actually. Working in IFE providing movies to airlines meant I travelled a fair bit, and it was during trips to places as far flung as Auckland, Los Angeles, Melbourne and Cape Town that I was exposed to wines and…

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“E” is for Entre-Deux-Mers

Weirdly I really struggled with “E”, in comparison “X” and “Z” are going to be a breeze!  The really obvious one: English Wine, I remembered I had covered off in an in-depth piece a couple of years ago.  So rather than cheat and just direct readers back to that post I've switched my attention to Bordeaux, and in particular a less-glamorous, generally less flashy area which nevertheless is worth a mention given it is actually the largest wine producing…

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“D” is for dried-grapes

Before you assume I am writing about sultana’s or raisins, don’t worry I’m not, well not exactly anyway. You may wonder what dried grapes have got to do specifically with wine?  Well, here’s an easy starter question for 10, what do the following wines have in common:  Amarone, Recioto, Vin Santo, Passito di Pantelleria?  Yes, you guessed it, these are all wines that are made from dried-grapes. Now I am not going to talk about Noble Rot (Botrytis) in…

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