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On a mission for Malbec
Meet the Friend: Nicky Forrest, Phipps
Nicky Forrest's love for wine has brought her not only into the world of wine PR but into the vineyard as a grower too, as Amanda Barnes learns in this interview. As MD of Phipps, Nicky has worked on several landmark campaigns for wine brands and producers and she shares some of her experiences in the drinks business.
What are your earliest memories in wine?
My first memories are from the late ...
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Meet the Member: Tanya Mann
Tanya Mann was born in Russia and after a decade living in London, she has returned to run a few wine projects, details of which she shares with Amanda Barnes in this interview. She also talks about her first taste of fine wine and how the Russian wine market is changing. Tanya is a Member of the Circle of Wine Writers and currently serving on the Committee.
Tell us about where you grew up and ...
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Living it up at Livres en vignes
Jon Wyand shows what to expect on bringing out a wine book with a French publisher as he goes under a hedonistic house arrest at Château du Clos de Vougeot.
One benefit of struggling through the production of a wine book with a French publisher is that you’ll probably be invited to Livres en Vignes, when it has been published. It’s a kind of house arrest at Château du Clos de Vougeot, where you s...
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Review: The Count of Wine by John Umberto Salvi MW
Neil Fairlamb reviews The Count of Wine by John Umberto Salvi (available from Amazon UK) and reflects on his fascinating life in wine.
This has to be the bargain of the year, at £4.99, indeed of the decade at least. For the price of plonk you have Premier Cru quality of anecdote, history and wine wisdom. Every page is full of precise detail, vivid personalities, frequent hilarity, sometimes painf...
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Shedding light on Slovakian wine
Jochen Erler, who first reported on Slovakian wine in the mid-90s, reflects on the country’s wines after judging at the 2019 edition of Slovakia’s National Wine Competition, held in Pezinok.
Pezinok is a pleasant town in the foothills of the Little Carpathian mountain range, reflecting its Austro-Hungarian past in its architecture, and showing a lifestyle á la Vienna with cafés busy all day arou...
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Sacredly steep Sacra
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Meet the Member: Liz Sagues
Liz Sagues is well known for her book on English wine, but it was in fact a bottle of Burgundy (enjoyed in the dark!) that brought her into the world of fine wine. In this interview, we find out how she has enjoyed maintaining a wine column for over 30 years at a North London newspaper and why she believes Muscadet and Loire Moelleux are the most underrated wines today. As a Committee Member Liz h...
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A taste of Les 110 de Taillevent & Christopher Lecoufle
Christopher Lecoufle is the Head Sommelier for Les 110 de Taillevent, a wine-focused restaurant which offers a benefit to Circle members and plenty of benefits to any wine lover as Amanda Barnes discovers on a visit there.
There are restaurants that serve wine, and then there are wine restaurants. Les 110 de Taillevent is definitely one of the latter. Even the name plays on the importance of win...
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Minerality: fact or fiction?
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