Monthly Archives: July 2011

Hungary, you cannot be serious!

In early 2008 Hungarian wine critic Péter Uj took criticism to an extreme in the national newspaper Népszabadság – decrying the poor quality of much Hungarian wine and going so far as to describe the produce of one of the … Continue reading

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Die Riesling Manufaktur

Johannes Schmitz isn’t your typical Moselian, his Rebenhof winery on the southern edge of Ürzig is testimony to that. In contrast to an otherwise traditional Mosel village his glass, steel and concrete monument to the 21st Century proudly pronounces the … Continue reading

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Grapevine DNA – The genetics of wine

At first glance Genetics may seem a strange topic for a Wine Blog, but look closer and you’ll discover that humans have been genetically modifying the grapevine ever since it was first farmed over 6,000 years ago by selecting the … Continue reading

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4 by 3…a NEWTS tasting

4 classic wine styles, 3 local retailers each offering an interpretation from their range; this was the premise for the July meeting of the North East Wine Tasting Society and meant a record 12 wines for the 2 hour meeting. … Continue reading

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Wine Society Summer Tasting

Last week The Wine Society came to town with a tasting at The Royal Station Hotel in Newcastle. The theme was Loire and Beaujolais, a summery focus as both regions produce light, fresh wines. As usual the tasting was held … Continue reading

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Greybeard’s Corner – June 2011

The 2011 harvest in both hemispheres dominates the recent wine news while Germany fills up a large part of my own wine experiences in this month’s Corner post. Wine News: Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. … Continue reading

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Smiling Gods

A red and a white are the usual sacrifices to the Gods of the weekend, and this time the Dieties of rest and relaxation were smiling down on me with both wines a notch above the usual tipples. White is … Continue reading

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Tonight’s Tipple – 2009 Beaujolais

Beaujolais 2009 has been lauded as a great vintage for the region, exceptional even. I’m not a great Beaujolais drinker, typically getting through only 1 or 2 a year, but when a vintage is pronounced exceptional then I will always … Continue reading

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PortoVino Summer Tasting at the Biscuit Factory

Portuguese wine retailer PortoVino, run by Alan Holmes and Paul Raven (fellow NEWTS), held their summer tasting at the Biscuit Factory in Newcastle last Thursday evening (can there be a better venue for a tasting than an art gallery?). I … Continue reading

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