Author Archives: admin

The Clash was probably not thinking of Bordeaux vintages when they released “1977” as the B-side to “White Riot” (nothing to do with white wine) in March 1977… It was the first of four unusually late Bordeaux vintages that had wet … Continue reading

Arden Fine Wines retains an extensive “library” of empty bottles of fine wines. Most of them were consumed by Arden staff (purely for professional purposes, of course…) and they evoke happy memories of great wines enjoyed with friends. But the empty … Continue reading

From my friend Vic Mills: “Hi Stuart, Greetings from Berlin. Hope this finds you fit and well. A busy quarter for the project culminated in our three-day hack around western Europe earlier in the month delivering kit to clubs and … Continue reading

The great English city of Newcastle is 280 miles north of London. It’s a long way to go for a bottle of wine – unless it’s something special. As they say in Newcastle: Noo tha yoor heor at the toon … Continue reading

Volnay was served at the royal table for the coronation of Louis XV in 1722. (Louis was only 12 years old so probably did not drink it himself.) His father the “Sun King” Louis XIV is said to have preferred … Continue reading

Worcester Cathedral, in the pleasant county of my birth, dates to 1084. Burgundy was already famed for its wines by this time. There are church records that mention donations of vines between the villages of Aloxe and Pernand by Charlemagne to … Continue reading

It was a superlative year for Bordeaux in 1961, producing wines of power and majesty. Control of temperature during fermentation was better than it had been in, say, 1928 or 1945, so the tannins were reined-in and the wines were very … Continue reading

Château Clerc Milon 1975… 🍷 😋 This Pauillac estate was acquired by Baron Philippe de Rothschild (of Mouton Rothschild) in 1970, when it was called Château Clerc-Milon-Mondon. He dropped the Mondon part of the name and redesigned the label, modelling … Continue reading

The origin of the “white horse” name of Château Cheval Blanc is uncertain, though an apocryphal story links it to a post house that once stood at the site of this great Saint-Emilion estate. Henri IV, who always rode white horses, … Continue reading

On 22nd October 1956, the harvesting of grapes in Tokaj, in northeastern Hungary, began. A day later, 20,000 protesters gathered in Budapest to hear Péter Veres, the president of the Writers’ Union, read a manifesto that demanded Hungarian independence from all … Continue reading