Written by I remember a Tuesday night in my old dining room, about ten years ago, when a regular—a man who had eaten with us every month since the doors opened—set down his glass with a look of profound confusion. He didn’t want to be a bother, but the Chablis smelled less like flint and more like … Continue reading “The Four Faults Worth Recognising”
I’ve spent thirty years watching people walk into tiny, specialist wine shops with the same terrified expression, as if they’ve accidentally stumbled into a high-stakes poker game instead of a retail space. They hover near the door, eyes darting between the price tags and the proprietor, terrified that asking for a recommendation will result in … Continue reading “Getting Real Advice From a Wine Shop”
I spent twenty-six years watching people pour money down the drain in my own dining room, usually by ordering a bottle that looked “expensive” but tasted like nothing more than fermented vinegar and marketing. There is this pervasive, exhausting myth that you need a sommelier in a waistcoat and a three-figure budget to enjoy a … Continue reading “Buying Well Where the Choice Is Worst”
I’ve sat at enough bar counters to know that when a sommelier starts lecturing you on the “nuanced oxidative profiles” of a fortified wine, they’re usually just trying to justify a forty-percent markup on a bottle that’s been sitting in the cellar since the nineties. Most people approach a wine list with a sense of … Continue reading “Finding Your Way Around Sherry”
I remember sitting in the corner of a dim dining room in Porto back in the nineties, watching a sommelier explain to a wide-eyed couple that their Sherry was “an evolution of spirit and grape.” He was using far too many syllables to describe what was essentially a survival tactic. People love to treat these … Continue reading “Sherry Is the Most Underrated Bottle in the Shop”
I’ve spent enough nights standing behind a service pass to know that most wine lists are designed to make you feel small. You’re sitting there, trying to have a lovely dinner, and suddenly you’re staring at a bottle that looks more like a piece of modern art than a drink, wondering if the gold foil … Continue reading “Stop Paying for the Marketing and Start Paying for the Grape: a Beginner Guide to Reading Wine Labels.”
I spent twenty-six years watching people panic over a wine list, mostly because they were terrified of looking like an amateur if they didn’t know which stemware to reach for. There is this ridiculous, expensive myth floating around that you need a specialized crystal vessel for every single grape variety ever grown, as if the … Continue reading “Stop Treating Glassware as a Luxury Whim and Start Understanding the Different Types of Wine Glasses as the Precision Tools They Actually Are.”
I’ve seen enough “curated” wine evenings to know they usually end one of two ways: either your guests are too intimidated to speak, or you’ve spent a small fortune on twelve different vintages just to realize half of them taste like nothing more than expensive vinegar. Most people think learning how to host a casual … Continue reading “Stop Treating Your Guests Like Critics and Start Treating Them Like Humans: How to Host a Casual Wine Tasting at Home Without the Pretension.”
I remember a Tuesday night back in my old dining room, watching a young couple stare at the wine list like it was a math exam. They’d ordered a heavy, chocolate-laden dessert and a glass of something bone-dry, only to watch their faces fall as the cocoa turned the wine bitter and thin. It’s the … Continue reading “Sweet Wine Deserves Better Than the End of the Meal”
I remember sitting at a tiny, overpriced bar in East London last spring, watching a young man in a linen shirt explain to a confused couple exactly how natural wine differs from the “industrial sludge” they were used to. He used words like biodynamic synergy and terroir-driven volatility, while the couple just looked like they … Continue reading “Natural Wine: the Argument, Fairly Put”