For some years now we have been passing through (and sometimes stopping to visit) the Cote Chalonnaise and Cote Maconnais. These  being the wine areas around the cities of Chalon-Sur-Saone and Macon. Geographically these areas are located south of the famous Cote D’Or (from where the world’s most expensive Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs hail). This southern end of ‘Burgundy’ is the source of some of the best quality/price ratio wines. No surprise that we fell in love with them at first taste and later managed to import wine from two wonderful vineyards. The Chalonnaise is home to the wine villages...

The earliest written evidence of the grape in la Rioja dates back to 873. Vineyards occupied the landscape throughout the high Middle Ages, the 10th to 13th centuries. Rioja is one of the best price quality ratio wine areas in the world. The main grape varieties cultivated in the region are Tempranillo (87.5% of production), Garnacha Tinta (Grenache 7.5%) Mazuelo (also known as Carinena and Carignan 2%) and Graciano (2%), the last 1% made up of a few other permitted grape varieties. Rioja has a specific ageing classification. The wines are often not released until years after these minimum ageing...

Sometimes I do wonder whose tastings these are! Harry is heading down to the Southern Rhone to stay at the family villa with fellow tasters Jen and Luke. As such he wanted them to have a flavour of the area before their trip just to get them in the mood. The southern Rhone and more particularly the wine areas of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Beaumes-de-Venise, Sablet, not to mention others are very well known to Harry and I. They are also a particular favourite.  For this tasting we decided to look at two of our favourite villages which are separated by...

Whilst we weren’t waxing lyrically after the English light whites tasting (T2.2) a few weeks ago, Chardonnay from England is a totally different wine. This grape is a key component of the very successful and much awarded English sparkling wine revolution. We are hoping for a better identification of prime sites and some good winemaking knowledge of how to treat this highly versatile grape variety. Chardonnay is a fantastic grape variety. It is very good at expressing both the location and climate of where it is grown (its terroir). Also expressing the techniques used in the winery such as malolactic...

Finally said Harry, some red wine. After our first two tastings both being white wines and of the light summery style with a lighter food accompaniment. We looked forward to some powerful wine and food to match. With each tasting so far, and we expect this to continue, we taste the 5 or 6 wines one after the other on their own. Once we have marked up and noted our aromas and tastes, we then prepare our food and cook it. We then retaste the wines with the food as we eat. So far, we have tasted the wines in...