News and travels
Our trips away with, wine tours and everything wine.
A Few Drops from the Old Vines
A Pinot Noir masterclass at Champagne Bollinger: ungrafted pre-phylloxera vines, barrels from Burgundy, reserve wines aged in magnums and a side by side tasting of PN VZ19, TX20 and AYC21.
Tank 27 - Champagne Boizel
A drive out to Épernay to see my friend Alina at Champagne Boizel, a tank of Rilly-la-Montagne Pinot Noir we pressed at Marc Chauvet, the reason every Champagne cellar glows yellow and a Blanc de Noirs with a silk scarf to remember the day.
Midnight to Midnight
Two big Champagne houses in one day in Reims. Down into the Veuve Clicquot chalk cellars, the story of Madame Clicquot, a tasting of four Champagnes and the whisper of Champagne, then lunch under the trees and a very commercial visit to Pommery.
Chenin or Chinon
A bike ride from Saumur to Chinon through Souzay-Champigny, Parnay, Turquant and Montsoreau, past tuffeau caves and cliff houses, then sparkling Touraine at La Cave Voltaire and a Montlouis Chenin at La Cabane à Vin, where I got corrected on how to say Chenin and Chinon.
Saumur - La Loire Plein les Yeux
Four days in Saumur during the Saumur Loire Festival, which only comes round every two years, learning why Saumur crémant can taste so like Champagne, sunset boat trips on the Loire with new friends from an Orléans sailing club, and one of the best meals of the trip at Le Boeuf.
Slate, Energy and a Wink at the Bus Stop
A day out from Angers to Savennières just after harvest, learning about slate, low yields and Chenin with Antoine at Domaine du Closel, a glass of water and a chat with Janette and her friend Danielle, then a bus driver who stopped for a wink on the corner.
Just a Problem to Be Solved
A missed stop at Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, an unplanned trip to Strasbourg and a 120 euro new ticket, then a day getting to know Angers, finding Les Joues Rouges, Delphine's warm little restaurant only a week old, and learning why everyone in the Loire says "of course" it's Chenin or Cabernet Franc.
Bordeaux City, Table for One
After leaving the châteaux and vintage behind, four days in Bordeaux city with learning at Cité du Vin, running the bridges, a $41 rooftop gin and tonic and a thing or two about getting a good table when you're travelling on your own.
Bordeaux Is Pulling Out Its Vines
Vintage week across two Bordeaux chateaux, punching down at Magdeleine Bouhou, pump overs and receival at Puynard, a ride on the harvester that ran straight over her phone without breaking it, and a day working solo with Fred.
Saint-Émilion
Word of Sol Béni - Grand Cru classification, making great wine. Strength, power and elegance.
Saint-Émilion, Disneyland for Wine
Vintage at Sol Béni with Philippe and Ludwig, a Grand Cru classification, an evening finding the one real wine bar locals actually drink at, and a Sunday pump over where Ludwig makes the case for winemaking by feel over recipe.
Vintage at Château Puynard
Vintage week across two Bordeaux chateaux, punching down at Magdeleine Bouhou, pump overs and receival at Puynard, a ride on the harvester that ran straight over her phone without breaking it, and a day working solo with Fred.
Bordeaux Château Puynard & Château Magdeleine Bouhou
A missed train, a stone gite near Berson, and a first tasting straight from the puncheons with the Château Puynard team, Chardonnay, Semillon and Roussanne with picking set for Monday and Tuesday.
Beaune and the Italians
A back roads ride through harvest villages to Domaine David Duband to see old Pegasus Bay colleagues Luca and Eric, foot stomping grapes the traditional way, foulage au pied, before cycling home between Premier Cru and Grand Cru vines with a long held idea about NV Wines tours to Champagne and Burgundy coming back into focus.
Beaune
Four days in Beaune start with a solo dinner in a window seat at Le Conty, a day eating and drinking like a local at La Belena, then a long bike ride through Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet to Santenay, chain trouble included, ending with new friends and an opened bottle of Louis Roederer.
Riddling and Sabrage
Riddling down in the cave is slow, meditative work, three-quarter turns every day for three weeks. Then a proper sabrage induction with Philippe, ceremonial French delivered with total sincerity in the middle of the cellar.
Making Champagne and Pinot Noir
The morning after picking wraps at Marc Chauvet, racking and blending in the cellar with Jules, feeding a fermenting wine and finally trusting herself on the pump, plus the story of the one bonus red only possible because this vintage was good enough to spare the fruit, left to ferment on wild yeast at Jules's own risk.
Charging the Press
The last day of picking at Marc Chauvet, one of the best seasons on record, small berries in great condition, a final press load charged alongside Jules, and a harvest party where a daft drinking game became the whole team's phrase for the night.
Bâton à Casser la Mousse,
Settled into the rhythm of vintage, then a morning walk into the village turns into a family moment when Dedette Chauvet, the winery's founder and Clotilde's mother, is spotted buying her daily baguette. By afternoon a trolley and a village-wide prank send me hunting for a Champagne tool that doesn't exist, and revenge comes as a bottle of salted fizz.