Following on from my comments about the number of websites who blatantly dishonestly claim to have the cheapest prices, I’m amazed at the ‘misleading’ (to be polite) text on many wine retail websites claiming to be scouring the vineyards to bring you the best wines! Ok, some of the big ones like Laithwaites really do [...]

Being an honest, truthful person I’m frankly amazed at the incredulous claims many retailers are making on their websites to attract customers. Or more to the point I’m amazed that they’re actually ALLOWED to make these claims. We all know about the completely fake ‘half price deals’ from the supermarkets. But now there are many [...]

At last good South African wines are available in the UK! In my opinion South African red wine is right up there with the best from the rest of the world. In fact so are many South African white wines too. We’ve all had a Chenin Blanc of course but they also produce some stunning Chardonnays - and Sauvignon Blancs [...]

What is the ideal gift or present for a man who’s turning forty? Possibly an Aston Martin if your budget is limitless, but for those of us in the real world we need to find an affordable present! At forty you’d expect he has a fully furnished house, which the wife has filled with ornaments. He’s already [...]

Partly due to the new year and partly due to the odd recent health scare, I’ve taken a critical look at my lifestyle recently. We discuss this with friends and I also get comments from other people and it’s lead me to some pretty unpleasant conclusions. I always blamed everything on stress due to overwork as [...]

The Vinturi wine aerater is a fast and simple way to let your good red wine ‘breathe’ so you can enjoy it immediately without having to wait for an hour for it to open up. Clearly there are huge benefits to this system for many people. Firstly for the red wine lovers amongst us enjoying a bottle [...]

Yes, yet again we have more price increases on the way. With VAT having been restored to 17.5% a case of wine at £10 per bottle now costs an additional £2.50, which goes straight to the Treasury. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Further increases are imminent. From Darling’s budget two years [...]

More and more people are looking to buy good Argentinian Malbec, or to use the new correct adjective, good Argentine Malbec, as it’s quality has recently been widely publicised. It’s the grape that helped put Argentina in the spotlight in the wine world, as the Argentinian (Argentine!) producers are able to craft some exceptional wines from this grape, unmatched by [...]

The internet is full of wine blogs, wine enthusiasts just like ourselves who like and enjoy wine as part of their everyday lives. However, with everything, there is a lot of misinformation and content put out by poor quality commercial wineries, pretending to be independent, peddling their wares. Who do you trust? Here are 3 [...]

Coinciding with the release of the frankly awful Beaujolais Nouveau on November 18th, is the publication of renowned wine writer Michael Gluck’s new book ‘The Great Wine Swindle’ revealing the nefarious goings on in the international wine trade. I’ve been asked by the publishers to give it a pre-release review. This book lifts the lid [...]