The Isle of Wight (and Red) Wine Tour

It rains on the Isle of Wight; I remember a rather discouraging sentence that explains this: "There is no dry season in England". And so it was that a typically murky day in June on a short holiday in the Isle of Wight, I came to visit the island's only two remaining commercial wine producers: Adgestone and Rosemary Vineyards. These have in common that both are on the East of the island, which probably helps protect them a little from that wet South Westerly wind everyone is familiar with on the South coast; they benefit from South facing slopes on clay, silt, and sandy soil, which provides good drainage (especially useful in a place with no dry season); and, being maritime, a relatively moderate climate.

A TOUR OF DAUNIA RURALE AND THE ALTO TAVOLIERE 22nd TO 25TH JUNE 2015

Daunia Rurale, also known as the 'Alto Tavoliere' or Northern Apulia Tableland, is an area of flat land approximately bordered by Molise to the north, Campania to the west, and the Gargano promontory to the east.

A Tasting of BA's Club World Wines

Wine tasting of BA's club class wines on a flight to and from San Francisco recently. The wine was good, the company fantastic, and the beds magnificent. Try it!

Visit to Monte Bello with the Legendary Paul Draper

A visit to California to stay with friends in Santa Clara, just south of San Francisco, started with the principle that this was a wine drinking, not wine tasting trip. No vineyard visits, just barbecues, some sightseeing, and a bit of healthy imbibing. So of course, when we realised that our friends lived about 20 minutes away from Ridge Vineyards, we called and made an appointment straight away. For my sins, I worked for Steven Spurrier in the early 80s while his wine 'empire' was still extant in Paris, so from this, and subsequent study, I was quite familiar with the quality of Paul Draper's wines, and the effect that the 1976 'Judgement of Paris' tasting had on Ridge and the other 'kids from the sticks' (as Bo Barrett of Chateau Montelena put it at the time), although I am not quite old enough to have been there for the tasting. I could hardly miss the opportunity just on a principle.

Oaked Sauvignons from around the World

A blind tasting of oaked Sauvignons from around the world on the 3rd July at London Cru, organised by Jean-Christophe Mau and Richard Bampfield MW was a welcome opportunity to revisit West London's 'flavour of the month' venue, as well, of course, to taste an interesting and perhaps overlooked category. Richard's invitation proposed that: " as Sauvignon Blanc is so ubiquitous and producers will need to work harder to add value and create their points of difference in future, the use of oak will become more widespread". The tasting was very well attended; all the luminaries of the world of wine journalism were there (including me), so there must be something to Richard's assertion. I think we have become submerged in the overpoweringly citrus and fruit-some (Marlborough, mainly, but not exclusively) unoaked version, to the exclusion of the more traditional, complex perhaps, version.

Gilbert Winfield AIWS, BSc

Gilbert Winfield: Let's hope London Cru is first of many UK urban wineries

London Cru, London's first urban winery is the new venture of the unstoppable Cliff Roberson, founder of Roberson Wine. This concept has been going a while in the US and Canada, but the UK seems to be lagging a few years behind on this. Roberson is setting a great example for future ventures, and I hope we see more of them.

Snow storms hit producers and vines in central Italy

Up to 60cm of snow, which fell on Monday and Tuesday this week, have caused extensive damage to the vineyards in Abruzzo, central Italy.