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Testalonga King of Grapes: precise elegance or ‘cranberry flavoured wheat beer’?
I was thrilled by this. It’s the latest red from Craig Hawkins in the Swartland, and it has been a bit controversial in the wine press. Andrew Jefford, normally a hero of mine, seems to have it in for...
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Some nice wines at The Remedy – Don Chisciotte Fiano, Salvaje Blanco, Vin Nu,...
Popped into The Remedy a few days ago for a drink with Mr Primack. We had some interesting things, as you’d expect. Here are my notes. Barranco Oscuro Salvaje Blanco 2014 Spain This comes from Europes...
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Thistledown Thorny Devil Grenache 2014 Barossa, Australia
This wine is made by Giles Cooke and Fergal Tynan of Alliance Wine, in conjunction with Aussie winemaker Peter Leske. It’s a single vineyard, old vine Grenache from the Barossa, and it captures the...
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A day in Sydney
After a morning coffee and a quick blog, I set about ensuring internet access for the trip. Roaming is just too expensive, even with bundles, so I bought a cheap android phone and 3 gigs of data, and...
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Garnacha not Guerra 2015
This is a new wine. Naturally made Garnacha (deliberately chosen as the name to indicate a style difference, rather than the local Cannonau), just 360 bottles produced! It’s such an indulgence to...
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The Bee-Side Grenache from Domaine of the Bee
Justin Howard-Sneyd’s Domaine of the Bee is based on three small plots of old bush vines in Cathar country, deep in the south of France near the village of Maury. Normally, the wines are made in a...
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Fugazi! A lovely McLaren Vale Grenache from Ochota Barrels
Had this bottle the other night at Noble Rot. You can tell times are changing if I’m going out and ordering (a) a Grenache (b) from the McLaren Vale. Both grape variety and region are underestimated,...
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The amazing Vanguardist Wines, from South Australia
I was really pleased to try these wines (thanks to Christina Rasmussen for getting these samples to me). They’re from a relatively new project, Vanguardist, which is a collaboration between three...
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Marelise Niemann’s Momento wines, Bot River, South Africa
Marelise Niemann Marelise Niemann is a champion of Grenache. Her label, Momento, began officially in 2013, when she was still working at Beaumont in the Bot River region of South Africa. Beaumont was...
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Thistledown The Vagabond Old Vine Grenache
Giles Cooke at Alliance wine is the dude behind this wine from Thistledown, which is a really beautiful expression of old vine McLaren Vale Grenache. It’s not showy, but just really elegant and with...
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