With no indigenous grape varieties of their own to draw on, winemakers in modern-day Israel, obviously have to resort to the obvious suspects to vinify. They hope to tap into export markets with their twists on Chardonnay, Cabernet and other noble grape varieties. And, with a benign climate and different terroirs within the country to … Read More
Wine
Georgian Enchant Me Not
It was years ago, travelling off the beaten path in Moldava, a country where wine has been an inherent part of people’s lives for thousands of years, when I got my first taste of Rkatsiteli. I remember it as if it was yesterday but not because the dry white ferment was exceptionally good. In fact, … Read More
Less is Meerdael
Really, I would have liked to jot down a different tasting note for this Belgian sparkling wine which has been hailed in the press and by many a Belgian wine and food critic. I was hoping Meerdael would pleasantly surprise me like that other, great Chardonnay from Belgium did. Ideally my entry would have read … Read More
Clos d'Opleeuw
“For thus whatever false opinion of pre-eminence is attached to the age becomes at once a title of reverence to him: and when with distinguished powers he sets himself apart from the age, and above it, as the teacher of high but ill-understood truths, he (…) will derive from illusion itself the power to disperse … Read More
Deep Purple Milk Monster
Will somebody redesign the label of this wine and put a scary Purple Milk Monster image on it, please? This violet purple wine is a nice wine if you are fond of yogurt milkshake. It is a textbook example of cool-climate red wines that have not taken too well to ‘le malo’ or malolactic fermentation. … Read More