Writing a weekly column about wine for a national newspaper isn’t easy. I’ve been there, done that, for 21 years. Keeping each article fresh is challenging. Some journalists don’t bother, but Fiona Beckett did. That’s why I was sad to read she was retiring from The Guardian after 14 years in the post. Fiona always tried to say something new, to encourage her readers to experiment and trade up.
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At first sight, it looked like a PR disaster. Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, was filmed falling off a paddleboard into Lake Windermere five times. He’s a middle-aged bloke with a paunch and no sense of balance. Politicians do all sorts of silly things by mistake – members of the public can ambush them too – but Sir Ed’s aquatic pratfall was deliberate. He’s done a number of similar things campaigning for July’s general election.
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Prompted by a brilliant series on The Rest Is History podcast, I’ve been reading Richard Davenport-Hines’ Titanic Lives. It’s a fascinating tale of class, wealth, emigration and, of course, hubris. “The boat is unsinkable,” declared Philip Franklin, vice-president of White Star Line, the ill-fated ship’s owner, on the very night of the tragedy.
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The 12th edition 2024 Sud de France 100 competition will have a new look when it relaunches in June.
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Rarely does a trade tasting generate this level of excitement, but, Tim Atkin MW’s Best of Rioja trade and consumer tasting was teeming with life in Westminster this week. By Atkin’s admission, never has such a collection of wines been assembled in the UK from Spain’s flagship region.
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Abrie Beeslaar, three-time IWSC International Winemaker of the Year, will leave the iconic Cape estate Kanonkop, in August this year.
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From traditional print critics to social’s influencers, by way of encroaching AI, David Kermode weighs up the evolution of the critic.
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My late friend Michael Cox, who ran Wines of Chile’s UK office for more than a decade, had a great line about so-called “icon” wines. “Is that one word or two?” he would ask with a raised eyebrow. The pun works best in English, but the marketing strategy it points fun at is pretty much universal. Wines promoted as “iconic”, especially
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Registration is now open for the Sud de France 2023 Top 100 tasting – an opportunity to taste all 100 wines from 61 producers which have won their place in this year’s league.
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It should have been a moment of celebration, a chance to hymn the qualities of a special place. José Luis Pérez-Linares’ documentary, Rioja: La Tierra de Mil Vinos, will be premiered at the Valladolid film festival later this month. No doubt the movie will talk about Rioja’s diversity, about the thousand wines of its title, but it will also prompt deeper questions about the way Spain’s marquee wine region is run – and its future viability.
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Chile is in the midst of a dramatic revision of its viticultural assets. Andrew Catchpole asks three leading producers what part the larger companies are playing.
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“How many of you here tonight were born in London?” In a room of 400 people, no more than 20 of us put up our hands (in case you’re wondering, I’m from Dartford). “And how many of those people’s parents were also born here?” Six people confirmed they were second-generation Londoners. “And your grandparents?” The arms were lowered. “You see,” said the man on the stage, “we’re all immigrants in a way.”
The person asking the question was the Chilean folk singer Nano Stern, currently on tour in Europe to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the great musician and activist Víctor Jara. At such a concert, you’d expect a fair percentage of the room to be from other places. It’s also worth remembering that London is a metropolis, not some backwater where successive generations are more likely to stay in the same place. But the point was still well made.
Modern and traditional are surprisingly slippery terms in Rioja and should be handled with caution. Techniques, ideas and debates that are considered contemporary turn out to have strong historical precedents. Reading Ludger Mees’ new book The History of Rioja Wine (Routledge), I was struck by how often the present echoes the past. As early as 1771 – long before Rioja became a famous wine region – people were grumbling about excessive yields and low prices, the very subjects that still exercise commentators, growers and producers today.
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Harpers columnist Tim Atkin MW has launched the 2022 edition of his Rioja Report – the seventh in-depth study, published via Atkin's website.
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After 18 months of Zoom calls, Instagram Lives and home tastings, of Coravin capsules, small samples and endless recycling bags, I finally got to visit a wine region two weeks ago. To be strictly accurate, I did go on an inspirational visit to Danbury Ridge in Essex last year, squeezed in between lockdowns, but my trip to Ribera del Duero involved getting on a plane and flying to another country. Spain always lifts my spirits, but this time they soared.
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Nyetimber was unveiled as Wine Producer of the Year in the first-ever Tim Atkin MW England Special Wine Report.
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Ribera del Duero DO has declared the 2020 vintage as "excellent", at the same time unveiling UK marketing plans for this year.
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Tim Atkin MW, Harpers columnist and leading UK wine writer, has launched his 2021 Chile report.
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Wines of South Africa (WoSA) is running another series of the Insider Sessions in 2021, following the success of the 2020 events.
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An initiative to support the global group of winemakers and viticulturists engaged with the world’s oldest vines has been launched by Leo Austin, Sarah Abbott MW and Alun Griffiths MW.
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