To Buy or Not to Buy - Domaine de la Romanéee-Conti 2008
POSTED ON 31/01/2011Next Saturday’s piece in The Independent on the 2009 Burgundy has had to be held over for a week until Saturday 12 February (and my blog’s accompanying buying guide), so a good opportunity to turn attention back to the 2008 vintage in general and the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in particular. The DRC always holds its tasting at the same time as the en primeur Burgundy circus but the difference is that it shows the wines of the previous vintage.
Aubert de Villaine of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
Yashin, Yamanashi and Koshu
POSTED ON 18/01/2011I confess that until lunchtime today I thought that Umu off Berkeley Square was the best Japanese restaurant in town. Yashin off High Street Kensington has only been open a few months but it looks like it just might knock Umu off its Kyoto perch. Today’s lunch at Yashin was organized by Lynne Sherriff MW in conjunction with KOJ, a group of 15 Japanese wine producers based in Yamanashi prefecture who came to London for the second time to show their wines made from the local Koshu grape.
Catch a Falling Star
POSTED ON 10/01/2011Unwrap a parcel and you always hope for a nice surprise. That’s the thing about hopes and parcels. They create expectations that don't always deliver. Parcels, or deals, have long been the stock-in-trade of Majestic which was particularly adept at snapping up great deals when Tony Mason, alas now retired, was in charge of the buying. Among his most famous coups was picking up thousands of cases of mature claret from the Swedish monopoly Vin & Sprit.
Houghton - Never Let It Fade Away
Gym Today, Jam Tomorrow
POSTED ON 03/01/2011For the last few years I’ve said goodbye to booze in January. I’ll be doing the same again from today. It’s good to remind myself every so often that I can (and in my job I need to). I also feel so much better for it in the mornings. Instead of having to drag my sorry self out of bed, there’s a spring in my step. Drinking wine every day is an easy habit to acquire. Breaking the habit is easier said than done and don’t believe anyone who tells you they can do it if they want to unless they actually do it. The proof is in the not drinking.
