I’m not mad about the idea of scoring wines. I grew up drinking wine in an age when good wines were treated with reverence and bad ones were scorned* but there was never any attempt to evaluate on a comparative basis other than stating a preference for bottle A...
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Until yesterday I’d always thought that offensive Pinotage and inoffensive Pinot Grigio were two grapes that should have been strangled at birth. Now, after a tasting of Dunne’s Stores current and proposd South African range, I’m prepared to grant the former at least a stay of execution. I’ve...
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Olivier Quenet’s fine restaurant Olivier’s at The Schoolhouse occupies a great room, made even better by the warm, bright afternoon sun as I found out last Friday when I breezed in to partake of a whiskey masterclass during which some of Cooley Distillery’s finest were teamed with Olivier’s creative...
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This topic has peculiar resonance for me as I’ve just spent the last couple of days logging my modest wine collection. I used to have a kid’s exercise book with ‘Cellar Book’ written somewhat pompously in marker on the front. I was always very casual about updating and –...
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A day in a wine writer’s life. I get up, dress, eat my porridge then phone the Guinness Storehouse to see if they have a wheelchair. Oh dear, apparently they don’t. I should maybe make it clear that my request stems not from the previous night’s over indulgence but...
readmore Homepage Featured, Tasting Notes, Wine & DrinkI cooked my first sweet and sour dish in 1984. Pork, of course. The recipe came from Ken Hom’s Encyclopaedia of Chinese Cookery Techniques, a cookery book classic and one I bought the minute it came out that year, on foot of Ken’s successful BBC TV series. I still refer to this book on a ...
readmore BLOG, RecipesI’ve just been road testing a brace of quality coffees from a small and relatively new Irish supplier, Imbibe. Latin Espresso is a blend from Columbia and Costa Rica beans. The blend was described to me by Imbibe’s man Gary Grant as “a medium-to-dark roast espresso which is rich, sweet and balanced with notes ...
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