Author Archives: Tim Hall

Good wine’s march out from its past limited to the French classics and a few un-French fortifieds has also run parallel with changes in the terms wine tasters use to describe and analyse wine.  Tasting terms are notoriously imprecise of course.  It … Continue reading

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The UK’s rather wonderful Wine Society, the biggest mail order wine retailer, (see my prized membership card right) has been pioneering grower champagne for a little time now.  We think it’s wonderful and urge you to try it.  You will need … Continue reading

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I’ve long thought that published scores for wines in the wine consumer press are meaningless.  Most of the wines seem to do amazingly well.  Imagine if every car magazine scored each road test at about 85- 90%.  It should make … Continue reading

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High quality single estates in Champagne tend not to be in the Marne Valley west of Epernay; you can count the good ones on one hand.  You may just about need two.  The valley has traditionally been a happy hunting … Continue reading

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Champagne danced to a slightly different beat this week.  But this was not stadium rock from heavy Moët et al (geddit?) big bands. Instead four groups of single estate producers showed wines in Epernay, Aÿ, Avize and Reims.  We prefer to use the term single estate or domaine champagne instead of ‘grower’ so … Continue reading

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Paradise is cool spring mornings in the Languedoc. Last week, visiting Minervois wine, I swopped the usual cicadas and heat for near-alpine smells of damp garrigue, the savage scenary of the Petit Causse limestone and gneiss hilltops dappled in pale sun and winemakers relaxed … Continue reading

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I don’t know what it is with Parisian branding agencies but they all seem to be deeply in love with Adobe Flash, both animation and video.  You only need to google a Champagne house and you will be met by … Continue reading

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Something of a whippersnapper, this champagne house was created from nothing in 1986.  Recent newcomer it may be but its reputation has soared, being lauded by many a purring and perhaps starry eyed wine critic, in particular Richard Juhlin, the Swedish champagne writer and Tom … Continue reading

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The smallest piece of information on a champagne label is often the most important.  Let’s assume you’re happy it is actually a bottle of champagne and you’ve probably clocked the producer or brand name.  Usually the producer is the brand. But … Continue reading

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No other champagne house evokes a world at peace and at play, at one with Champagne’s beneficent encouragement of good times, civilisation and elegance, as well as Champagne Perrier-Jouët. This aesthetic makes it the most vividly defined champagne grande marque. Perrier-Jouët … Continue reading

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