Tango through the tulips

A walk-around tasting like the Argentine event below can only provide a snapshot, of course, but I did have the advantage of tasting some wines in advance, at the Decanter World Wine Awards, as well as some tips from my colleagues. I dipped in and out of several Torrontes that were on display, but they were generally disappointing, in the sense that they were all over the place in terms of style, weight, and flavor—there’s nothing remotely like a consensus here. The best, like the Alta Vista 2009 and Bodega Colome 2009 (both from the northern region of Salta) were intriguing, lovely wines, intensely aromatic

This sporting life. . .

The social season kicked off with a whump at Decanter’s World Wine Awards dinner at the Royal Opera House (than whose glitz few can hardly be glitzier)—plenty of great wines and winemakers, and a few surprises. There was a huge roar when the International Trophy for “best sparkling wine” was announced—it went to Ridgeview, a British wine producer, based in Sussex (southern England, of course). The wine’s made 100 percent from Chardonnay, and it is indeed refined and vivacious. It won a

Getting warmer

For those of you still skeptical about global warming, I offer three little words: English Pinot Noir. For years, English vineyards have struggled along in their cool climate without an abundance of sunshine, producing wine from hybrid forms of early-ripening, mostly white grapes; often the wines have been sparkling, where the tartness of less than total ripening could be considered a virtue. It was easy to be a skeptic.
       Last year, there were rumors that it had all begun to change, with the 2008 vintage. An English Pinot
Noir, from Bolney Wine Estate, in Sussex, trumped a red Burgundy in a televised tasting; other

Wine to go, but where?

There’s a Biblical injunction about putting new wines in new bottles, and a savvy marketing man has taken it to heart—and the bank. When James Nash thought of putting wine into single-serve plastic glasses, with a peel-off top, he did what most people do these days: He went on TV. The show was “Dragons’ Den,” where would-be entrepreneurs present their ideas to a panel of business experts, in hopes of getting funding. He was turned down by the entire panel, and scornfully. He went ahead anyway, secured a partnership deal with Marks & Spencer, and now his product is on sale in their stores all over England, and selling very well indeed—“flying off the shelves,” as an M&S spokesperson said. (They’re sold in the “to go” section of the stores.)
       The wines are Chardonnay, Rosé, and Shiraz, all from the south of France (Vin de Pays d’Oc), all

Thought for the day: If wine were the cure for sciatica, the world would be an immeasureably better place. (Or, at least, my place would be an immeasureably better place.)