The Balearic Islands

The Balearic Islands are located in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of Spain (on the right hand side, Ibiza being the nearest and Mallorca being the largest having 80% of the region’s population). There are four Balearic islands…

The Punset Winery – Featuring Arneis & Barbera

These two Italian wines come from the Punset Winery in Neive, a beautiful village in the Cuneo area of Piedmont.  Punset is a family owned vineyard, which was founded in 1964 by Renzo Marcarino.  In the early days the family…

Calling a Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc blind

This week I have been homing in on these two grape varieties.  At first smell and taste they can appear very similar, but for those extra WSET marks in a tasting exam, you need to be able to pull them…

Mac Forbes Strathbogies Ranges RS17 : Riesling : 2018

This is one of a range of Riesling wines from Mac Forbes that have been developed to showcase the value of terroir, aspect, and altitude.  They illustrate how with Riesling the balance between sugar and acidity are essential in developing…

Baby Bandito: Keep On Punching

I’m considering the merit of natural wines as both a style and marketing theme or approach to developing a wine business.  This wine is an interesting example of natural wine to consider….. Baby Bandito: Keep On Punching Chenin Blanc by Testalonga…

Mas De La Pansa, Parellada, 2016

If you fancy trying something a little unusual, I can thoroughly recommend this Parellada we are serving @thewineparlour from Mas De La Pansa winery in Vila Rodona , 2016 Vintage.  Parellada is perhaps more recognised for its use in a…

Furmint trade tasting 4.0 in London!

On Monday I was lucky enough to go to the Furmint Wine Tasting in London, sponsored by Wines of Hungary. As well as meeting some great wine makers who are seriously passionate about their homeland, I learnt a few things…

A tale of two Italian wine regions!

Inspired by some intensive wine study this week, we enjoyed two Italian reds on Sunday! A Chianti Classico Riserva 2016 from the Querciabella winery and a Primitivo 2018 from The Cantele winery in Salento. Some background We have visited Querciabella…

Beautiful Gewurztraminer from Waitrose

Really enjoyed finding this Gewurztraminer in Waitrose this week.  Studying Alsace wines is fascinating.  The area has such winemaking and grape growing history all of which contributes to the diverse styles and selection of grape varieties available from the area…