For the first time in a few years, the three of us made the trip down to Bordeaux for Primeurs week. This is the week when merchants from all over the world come to visit the Chateaux to try barrel samples from the previous harvest prior to their release throughout late Spring and early Summer. The...

In keeping with our nod to the classics by offering the fabulous 2010 Paveil de Luze this morning, I thought it would be a good idea to write up our fantastic dinner at Medlar in Chelsea last night. The UGC tasting brings representatives from a host of classed growth chateaux to London to show the m...

There are certain wines that always pose the question: When should I drink this? Wines that have a reputation for being massive and impenetrable in their youth, what a shame it would be to open them before their 40th birthday. The drinking windows offered by the main critics seem so far in the futur...

The 2014 Vintage
It is pleasing to say that the 2014 vintage is shaping up very well! It is certainly the finest since the blockbuster 2010, and was subject to a healthy growing season especially aided by transforming weather in late September, early October, and good yields at harvest. Reports from...

We were honoured to be joined by Eric Baugher, Vice President and wine maker at Ridge Vineyards, for the first of what we hope will many Winemaker Dinners last week. The Library Room at Vauxhall’s Brunswick House provided an intimate and dramatic setting for a most enjoyable evening. Jackson Boxer s...

I had been itching to get back to the Harwood Arms in Fulham following a very enjoyable visit before Christmas. So, I rounded up a few colleagues from the wine trade for lunch last week. If you haven’t been, the Harwood serves some of the most refined food available but is still very much a pub. As...

There is something humble, comforting and very English about fish and chips, and when a gaff gets a write up like Baileys, which is tucked away in a Fulham backstreet, it has to be worth a visit. There is the added bonus that brings a smile to every wine merchants face, free BYO. So armed with a few...

On a fleeting November visit to La Rioja Alta my eyes were well and truly opened to this majestic region. As a consumer it is hard not to be blinded by the generic reams of orange labels that fill the supermarket shelves and every corner store known to man, but when you experience the real Rioja, wh...

Wednesday 27th of November saw the first of what we hope will turn in to many tastings with winemakers from around the world. What better way to start than with one of our favourite growers from Champagne: Rodolphe Peters from Pierre Peters. We have been working with Rodoplhe’s wines for some time s...

Our friends at Pol Roger, the UK agents for Joseph Drouhin, kindly put together a dinner at Medlar to revisit Drouhin's 2011s. Set amongst 2009, 2010 and 2012, 2011 has been largely overlooked. I think that the trade as a whole can be guilty of generalising when it comes to vintages as a whole. It s...