The ‘king of wines and the wine of kings’

I recently wrote that many consider brunello Italy’s finest red wine and now I feel a little guilty, as this was rather like trying to decide whether burgundy or bordeaux is the finest that France has to offer.

Barolo, made from the...

Why chardonnays work with fish

Today I am just going to write about chardonnays from California and how they work well for me with seafood. I could take the word California out and substitute white burgundy, but not this time.

Let me first state that I do not like...

Classic taste: great brunello vintages

There is something enchantingly sophisticated about a fine brunello di Montalcino, it just reeks of classic taste and ethereal aromas.

Made 100 per cent from the brunello clone of Italy’s sangiovese grape, it is the only Tuscan wine that...

A taste from Down Under

Topping the list of our world’s most planted wine grapes is cabernet sauvignon with 840,000 acres.

Merlot takes the second spot with 657,300 and the popular pinot noir is well behind with 285,000. By far the winner in white is chardonnay,...

Toast summer with Marilyn’s favourite bubbly

Although these are strange times to judge which way our market is going, the decision has been made to reduce, for a limited time, the price of a few wines in our stores — with, of course, the desire to reduce stocks.

From a purely retail...

Know your bubbles...

Let me start with discussing a few statistics as possibly a quick scan of those recently released may have led to the wrong conclusion.

I read last week that car sales were down 99 per cent, clothes and apparel minus 97.1 per cent, but...

Just what is in a colour description?

August 4 of each year is designated “World White Wine Day”, and although I am a little slow off the mark, I would like to suggest a few off the beaten path today.

First I must confess that even after 45 years in this trade I am still...

Celebrate wines made from historic pinot noir

Last week I wrote of pinot noir and how August 18 is set aside each year to celebrate the wines made from this historic, cool-climate-loving grape.

We ended with Drouhin Cuvée Laurène Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette...

Pinot noir, the holy grail of grapes

The term holy grail is, at times, used to refer to an elusive object or goal.

I use it in the way that many winemakers do as they strive to make a fine wine from a most difficult grape to work with.

August 18 is designated as the...

Light, fruity and refreshing or big and rich? Try both

For this very warm summer weekend I was trying to decide whether to write about light, fruity, refreshing reds that can be served a little chilled, or big, rich reds to marry with grilled steaks, ribs and so on.

Then the light came on — I...

Portugal’s wines are great value

When I think of Portugal my mind goes straight to port, but in this summer weather some of their table wines are very pleasant, inexpensive and easy to enjoy.

For instance Casal de Ventozela is a family business created in 1983 and...

A few new arrivals

The Catena family of Argentina pioneered high-altitude vineyards that are known for their bright and direct sunlight day after day as well as their very cool nights. This wide diurnal temperature variation is so important for developing complex...

Chardonnay back in demand on island

This week, I had a chat with two of the staff at our store on Harbour Road in Paget because I wanted to get a feel for any changes in wine-buying patterns.

One of them told me that chardonnay has been more in demand, starting about six...

Enjoying wines of a certain age

I wrote last week about wineonline.bm being back up and running and shared some of the wines in its “monthly specials” section.

There are more, including ones that offer the opportunity of experiencing the effects of age.

You may...

A great feature to our new website: specials

Last year Burrows Lightbourn Ltd introduced a new data-processing system and decided to re-plan its online store, wineonline.bm.

The site is now up and running and one of the features that you can click on is “monthly specials”, where you...

Drink a toast to National Rosé Day

In 2014, National Rosé Day was established to celebrate what is probably our world’s oldest known type of wine.

It’s now done every year on the second Saturday in June, which just happens to be tomorrow.

Although I wrote about rosé a...

Grass, gooseberry and lemon peel

If I were to say grass, gooseberry, lemon peel, asparagus, acacia, geranium, chamomile, grapefruit, lime and even smoke (hence fumé blanc in California and pouilly fumé in France) you might develop a thirst for a glass of sauvignon blanc.

The Loire Valley: a magical place for winemaking

Today we will take a trip to the Loire Valley.

Once inhabited by Neanderthals it is now known as “the Cradle of the French” and “the Garden of France”, the latter because of its vineyards, fruit orchards and even asparagus farms.

This...

It’s time to enjoy a bottle of the pink stuff

Doing my best to get inspired from home and have had a look at what the hard-hit French are doing. After all, they have consumed more rosé wine than white for a few years now.

They have obviously not been in a mood to celebrate and in...

Some tasty recommendations to try

Just imagine. My first memory of being taken to a fine-dining restaurant was as a very small boy.

An American friend (we thought all Americans were rich) took my mother and I out for a rare treat and, as cars were few and far between then,...

More top wineries to appreciate during lockdown

Last week we featured wineries, that out of the hundreds of thousands worldwide, were selected to be among the top 50.

Taking first place overall was Catena, followed by Penfolds, Torres and 19 Crimes.

Today, I will share...

Snoop Dogg wine coming to you soon

I have often been told that the wine trade was a fortunate choice as folks will not only have a glass to celebrate good times, but also if they need a little cheering up.

According to a Nielsen survey, the US wine market increased by 27.6...

A very large wine company

Let’s finish the progression from a few weeks ago, where we started with very small production wines, to our most recent column when we featured some of our biggest brands.

This week I would like to tell you how a $5,000 loan grew into the...

The wines that are always in demand

A few weeks ago I wrote about very small production wines and so today I thought that we could read about the other end of the spectrum. I often refer to these major worldwide brands as “the wines that helped pay for our sons to get educated”.

A new and emerging wine market

It is difficult to get an up-to-date picture of wine imports to China, as their overall consumption grew by about 80 per cent between 2013 and 2018 and their own acres of vineyards are now firmly in second place worldwide. It is challenging to...

Going Italian will lead you to some tasty wines

As I think back to that fateful day of March 15, 44BC and the demise of Julius Caesar, I can’t help but be concerned for the wellbeing of friends now in northern Italy. Today, I will tell you more of a people and place story and leave wines till...

Small is beautiful: tiny production picks

The esteemed Château Lafite Rothschild makes 15,000 to 20,000 cases a year. Château Latour produces 18,000 cases, Château Haut- Brion 10,000 to 12,000, Château Margaux around 12,000 and Mouton Rothschild 20,000.

These are the great First...

Grab a taste of the high life

I recently wrote about our new investment in South African wine and now I would like to share facts on a few more from Cederberg, DeMorgenzon, the Raat Family and Simonsig.

At Cederberg Private Cellar, winemaker David Nieuwoudt says that he...

It’s 100% cabernet sauvignon

Let me share some information on the favourite grape in our home.

We are not alone as it is the most planted worldwide even though, historically, it is rather the new kid on the block.

It all happened in the seventeenth century when,...

Wines from South Africa

It all started back in 1652 when the Dutch East India Company planted vines in South Africa. This was done so that grapes and wine could be given to sailors during their voyage along the Spice Route. The vitamin C in fresh fruit warded off...