California has been a hotbed of great wine for many years now, even if somewhat misunderstood. The massed produced styles of Gallo's Rosé have dominated supermarkets and High St outlets for a long time now, thus giving a poor representation to the true nature of this States wonderful wine.

It's time for a new tact! Having expelled a fair chunk of energy on an email drive to various media agencies, the length and breadth of the UK, trying to find work or at least establish whether these guys would be open to a wine writer within their ranks, it's...

How would you describe a wine tasting, what goes on? If you've never been to a tasting, what do you think happens? I suppose you could say that it's simple! After all, it's in the title 'Wine Tasting!'

For those...

In order to be successful in business you need 'the idea'. You need to find something that no one else has thought of, perhaps rework an existing model. It's not easy! So when do you achieve that Archimedes moment when you stand up and scream 'eureka, I've got it?' Last...

Treachery, murder, piracy! Sounds like a great plot for a Hollywood blockbuster. For the de Marisco family, this was all in a days work. It wasn't always that boring. At one time or another the family actually held high roles within the English court....

Did you know music has an effect on how we taste wine? Neither did I at first but once the question was posed, it did get me thinking. Wine has the ability to evoke many memories and emotions. Your favourite day could be associated to a particular wine you've had,...

It has been quite a successful year for Brent Marris and his team down at New Zealand's Marisco Vineyards. Following on from picking up last year's International Wine & Spirit Competition award for New Zealand winery of the year, both his labels, The Ned...

Over the last month or so my wine rack has been dominated by South African wine. This has all stemmed from an event I attended in London to highlight wines and food from South Africa. Since then it's been Africa all the way. Two wines of note that have drawn...

I've been working in retail since I was 13. I'm now 37, you do the maths, either way it's a long time. I get thoroughly fed up with the absolute stupidity and general ignorance of the general public. Time for me to get a new career me thinks!?

After all...

As grape varieties go Pinotage seems to have developed a bit of a Marmite tag, you either love it or hate it. I've never been able to work out why! Maybe it's a lack of understanding; after all, genealogically speaking, it's still a relatively new genus.

The...

Say the word Beaujolais, what springs to mind? Light and easy fruity red wines, Beaujolais Nouveau or Beaujolais Villages no doubt! What about the unknown? What about Beaujolais Blanc...? Not ringing too many bells eh!

This is understandable really as white Beaujolais represents only 1% of wine production from the...

One of the things I love about wine is its ability to evoke a memory. It could be from the smallest, most insignificant moment to a major event that has happened in your life. A simple sip will kick start your own personal memory drive. For me, in this case,...

We all know the names of Veuve Clicquot, Moёt et Chandon, Taittinger. Bollinger was made famous via its association with everyone's favourite British spy, James Bond. Champagne Jacquart on the other hand, for me, was a bit of an unknown quantity. I had heard the name some time ago but...

What is it about wine that average Joe public are happy to be ignorant about? I'm sure people don't follow the same philosophy when it comes to buying clothes or cars. In my experience consumers go out of their way to have some understanding of these. Why not wine?
...

I haven't written a review for a while but having popped into my local Majestic last Friday (1/6/12) to peruse the beer section, I thought I'd take the...

My normal scribblings are usually about wine. This weekend though I heard something on TV that has made me question the beliefs and morals of modern day society.
I'm a very easy going person and can deal with a lot but this just didn't sit well with me

I have given myself a new task. That task is to try and be a voice for Beaujolais.

Beaujolais, or Bojo for short, has had to live with the stigma of the once successful Beaujolais Nouveau, in its day...

I have worked within wine retail since 1995 and during that time I have listened to all types of questions and answers from customers regarding wine. When it comes to buying I have no illusions on how difficult it can be. I'm lucky, I study wine. I also know how...

10 April will celebrate my wine blogs first birthday. When I began www.magicsnewbiewines.com it was meant as an educational tool for new wine drinkers. The plan was to offer advice, reviews, tasting techniques on wines via simple and understandable language, without the use of colourful metaphors. As I...

Now British summer time has officially begun, the mind starts to wander. Holidays are approaching. The days are getting longer and warmer. Possibly the odd barbeque or two is on the horizon?

At the same time our palates begin the seasonal migration from the cosy winter nest of full...