by Master of Wine, Nick Adams. This blog has nothing to do with the physical construction of the said item, but how anyone can put together a collection of wine and enjoy the benefits from this exercise. And it gives me the chance to outline a new development with WineTrust and the web site offering…
By Nick Adams, Master of Wine So often the dancing partner with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot produces an array of wine styles at all prices. And to put this into context, paradoxically, it is the main grape behind the most expensive Bordeaux wines of the whole region. A grower’s favourite, but it has not always commanded…
By Nick Adams, Master of Wine. It is estimated that 90% of all wines produced are made, bottled, and consumed within 2 years. Here the value of the wines’ styles is all about freshness and fruit and immediate (primary) flavours and pleasure. For a relative handful of wines, the opposite is true – these examples…
‘Off The Beaten Track’ Part Three By Nick Adams, Master of Wine Frankly, Sherry should not be considered “off the beaten track” as it is one of the finest and most traditional wines of the world – and has been exported to the UK since 1340! For many reading this though I imagine sherry is…
By Nick Adams, Master of Wine A classic scene of a Champagne cellar where the magic of bubbles happens and the wine ages. It all starts when a solution of dissolved sugar, wine and yeast are added to the base wine blend (as outlined in Part One). This is called the liqueur de tirage in…
By Nick Adams, Master of Wine. It is absolutely fascinating how bottle fermented sparkling wine is made. I could have committed this to prose and included a few pictures but felt that the subject matter in block text might become a tad dry. So, in line with the earlier visual blog on how white and…
By Nick Adams, Master of Wine Firstly, I hope you all had a particularly good Christmas and best wishes for the coming new year! It is customary for some people to have a “dry” January – I am not one of them. Whilst we all indulge much less post-Christmas, I find this month a good…
Wine recommendations for the coming season and menus From Nick Adams, Master of Wine. Introduction After what has been for most of us a truly challenging year, I am sure we are all ready for an enjoyable Christmas, with the chance to take a few days to really switch off from worldly matters. And above…
The idea for this blog came about from enquiries and questions asked by Wine Trust customers – over time – and those ones which stood out as very interesting questions and/or were being repeatedly asked. So, considering this I thought it would form the structure for a general blog – and hope that these questions…
This blog almost feels like an antidote to the previous one on Chardonnay – in that I wanted to look at a grape which has all the qualities of one of the world’s greatest white wines, but has been poorly understood (until recently), falsely maligned and unfairly targeted. To try and put this into context,…
Part Two – Rosé and White Winemaking, and Aging of Wine Prior to Bottling Rosé Wine And the longer you leave the black skins in contact with the juice the darker the colour becomes. To put this into context, as little as 12 hours will see a rosé “staining” in the wine – typically used…
Part One – The Harvest and Red Winemaking (prior to aging) It all starts with grapes on the vine: and it is important that these are both healthy (no rot) and properly ripe. Not ripe enough, or too ripe, and the wine will suffer. The grapes contain all the potential of the wine: you can…
