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My intention today is to show how a strong dollar is allowing us to bring in wines that we may not have considered in the recent past and also how we are able to lower prices on others. This does not happen across the whole spectrum as we have to c...

Although January is considered by many as a quiet month for business, it is a time of considerable activity for us as we do our best to set a successful path for the new year. It helps to use the crystal ball rather like a rear-view mirror and see ...

Champagne At 2 million bottles, Billecart Salmon, still a family-owned business, rather straddles the line between the biggest well-known brand at 35 million and the boutique “grower champagnes” that are increasing in popularity. Here is what the w...

For many years I have told the story of how British sailors fortified red Portuguese wines with neutral grape spirits (brandy) so that they could better survive the rough trip to England. It seems now that this is not true, as it really started back...

I just love a good curry, and what a diverse range of flavours we encounter here. I inevitably end up with too much on the plate as I am prone to add copious amounts of raisins, cut up banana, peanuts and, of course, chutney. It is common to feel tha...

If you had asked back in 1990 what were the world’s most widely planted wine grapes, the top five in order would have been: airén, garnacha, rkatsiteli, sultaniye and trebbiano. Twenty-plus years later familiar names emerge and it goes cabernet sauv...

November 16 has been designated as National Zinfandel Day in the United States and so we feature the zinfandels of Joel Peterson who is known as “the Godfather of Zin”. Joel never planned to make wine, as his family were scientists; his mother a nuc...

I feel it appropriate to write one more time about the New York Wine Experience. When close to 1,000 of us sat down for the morning session of seminars on Saturday, 22 October, I noted that 18 glasses were set at each place. At the lunch sponsored ...

It may not be technically accurate on all three fronts, but the vineyards of Bordeaux cover 264,000 acres; wines have been made there since the first century and there are close to 10,000 producers. The fact that our Lafite Rothschild 1989 lists fo...

In keeping with California Wine Month, we feature a 240-acre estate located in Oakville, right in the heart of Napa Valley. Franciscan released their first Cabernet Sauvignon in 1975, the year I first became involved with the wonderful world of win...