What about the weather: Around the 20th of February I saw lizards basking in the sun as I jogged by the Rhine, frogs and butterflies, likewise, were to be seen long before their usual ‘arrival time’. I was in Burgundy during the last week of February and was amazed to… Read More

Drive into Fixin, and even before you realise that it’s exactly the address you’re looking for, your eyes are drawn to a large old building at the top of the hill – it seems to keep guard over the whole village, this is the Manoir de la Perrière. Constructed… Read More

Sometimes visits to a particular producer or vineyard can stand out in the mind; for a variety of reasons they can remain with you or even effect the way you might think about things in the future. The visit to Domaine Prieure Roch was certainly one such visit. The domaine… Read More

No slurping or spitting! This is a compendium of wines that were (in the main) really drunk with food, friends and family. These wines were mainly drunk at home or at organised dinners between July 2006 – which averaged well over 30°C so plenty of… Read More

2006 The winter was cold and then so was the spring – not just cold, also very wet. Flowering was late, but quite even. The wet of the early part of the year encouraged plenty of foliage growth which needed keeping in check. July was a record hot… Read More

Domaine Leroy (Vosne-Romanée) – well would you turn down the chance to really drink (no ‘tasting’ here) 12 different bottles (2004-1966) with a wide selection of food at a Michelin-starred restaurant? No, neither would I The cost was actually less than a bottle of the ’66 Chapelle-Chambertin that we finished… Read More