I’m writing this brief piece because once again I’ve stumbled upon a piece of text on the internet from a reputable source that gives out completely false information – it says “sulphites in wine are unlikely to affect you unless you are asthmatic”. That couldn’t be further from the truth! There are tens of thousands [...]

It’s that time of year again when the supermarkets like to discount alcohol as a loss leader to attract the public into their stores hoping they’ll leave with armfuls of pressies and everything they need for the festive period. After all Argos and Currys don’t sell below cost booze do they? So what better weapon [...]

For a country with a small population like New Zealand, an extra quarter of a million visitors coming over for the rugby world cup should be a major boost for the flagging economy. New Zealand like the rest of us is struggling to pull itself out of this global recession. I was shocked to see [...]

Boekenhoutskloof The Chocolate Block has become a wine with a massive following, both in it’s native South Africa and over here in the UK. “Why?” – you may ask. Well, it’s a lovely wine in it’s own right, but then there are a host of great red wines coming out of South Africa these days. Presentation? – [...]

The rugby world cup kicks off in New Zealand in less than three weeks, and is expected to draw hoardes of tourists. Unlike football the majority of these rugby supporters are likely to be late thirty plus, fairly solvent people. Again unlike football, rugby attracts nearly as many women as men, with the majority of visitors [...]

The recent riots in the UK have finally made politicians sit up and take notice of the sub culture which has existed in this country for years. At last we, the British public, feel the politicians may be beginning to take notice of some of the things which have been wrong with this country for so [...]

“Natural wine” is THE buzz word in the wine trade at the moment. It is everywhere and everybody is talking about it, but does it deserve so much coverage and publicity? After all, it’s just wine as it used to be, before wine production became a global business, isn’t it? If you’re looking for delicious [...]

Natural wines are quickly gaining in popularity, but is this just a new fad? The latest in  “green” credentials for wines and winemakers? Or are natural wines genuinely being appreciated for their natural taste, aroma and balance, over normal wines which have been artificially manipulated to achieve an end result? There are plenty of people no doubt who are [...]

Natural wine is experiencing a surge in popularity at present, for all the right reasons. But beware! – if you are sensitive to sulphites and other additives in your wines you need to be very very careful if you plan to rely on “natural wines” as a healthier alternative to standard wines. Natural wine has no [...]

Natural wines are attracting a lot of attention at present from both the press and wine drinkers looking for a genuinely healthy option. Until recently organic was in fashion, which subsequently gave way to biodynamic. So if we were already drinking genuinely healthy organic biodynamic wines, why has this latest style of natural wines appeared? The truth is perhaps not [...]