This is the start of a different type of article / tasting that I am going to do. I have always been fascinated about how wine ages. It is clear to all wine lovers that even just one extra year in bottle can change the taste and body of a wine. That is the point of these ‘Up from the Cellar’ articles. The aim is taste wines from all over the world, with varying vintages. The main objective, of course, is to taste and write about these wines and to show how they develop over time. For example, these articles...

After the success of our Australian Cabernet Sauvignon tasting (T3.2). Harry and I were really looking forwards to this one too. We decided to kick off with a wine from Noon as they had impressed us so much with their Cabernet. The other wines come from some real heavyweights in the Australian Shiraz arena. I remember reading many years ago that members of the Australian wine industry believed that the Syrah grape from the northern Rhone in France had its origins in the Iranian city of Shiraz. There is a legend in the Rhone, that a knight called Gaspard de...

Tuscany is a region of Italy that is home to the cities of Florence and Sienna. Nestling between these famous cities is an area of wine production known as Chianti. This area is so connected with the English that it has been referred to as Chiantishire particularly since the mid ‘90’s when Tony Blair chose it as his preferred summer retreat. Chianti is a red wine produced from the central region of Tuscany. It is the largest classified wine region in Italy and produces over 8 million cases a year. Sangiovese is the dominant grape of Chianti and since 1996...

In tasting T1.4 we covered Cotes de Beaune Red’s from Louis Jadot, all Premier Cru. In this tasting T1.5 we will cover the same area but in white wines, from many growers. The Cote de Beaune produces some of the greatest iterations of the Chardonnay grape and certainly some of the most expensive. The most expensive of wines are based around Grand Cru vineyards of Chassagne and Puligny-Montrachet. Those we will taste later in T1.6. Today we will taste some of the best value for money offerings, but don’t think these are cheap. Wines from Pernand-Vergelesses, Aloxe-Corton and Beaune in...

Champagne is a region that pretty much everyone has heard of and is familiar with. Champagne is a sparkling wine, originating and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the Champagne appellation. The rules give very specific vineyard practises, grape sourcing and grape pressing methods. Along with the key ingredient, the secondary fermentation of the wine in the bottle to cause carbonation. Grape Varieties and colour Champagne is made from three prime grape varieties, planted in similar volumes, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Although a small amount of Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Arbane and...