English Wine Week and wine guide

From www.lymebaywinery.co.uk

To mark ‘English Wine Week’ 2016 (to 5th June), I’ve done the second comprehensive update this year to my English wine mini-guide to include a couple of new names on the English wine scene, small and so far quite hush-hush, and a couple of conspicuously missing big names: Exton Park Vineyard (Hampshire), Sixteen Ridges (Worcestershire & Herefordshire), Denbies Wine Estate (Surrey), Lyme Bay Winery (Devon). And, for the first time, broadened the reach to take in ‘still’ whites, rosés and reds (the focus had previously been just on 'traditional method' sparklers).
This latter wine 'offering' used to be dominated by several lesser-known and Germanic sounding grape varieties – and some of them can make good wine e.g. Bacchus, Ortega, Reichensteiner – but, while tasting on the English Wine Producers stand at the recent London Wine Trade fair (along with a lot of other people it has to be said), it became clear that there’s an increasing amount of good quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir coming our way. Not surprising perhaps, when you read (see guide for details) that these two ‘Champagne’ varieties are now the most planted, especially across southern England for creating traditional method fizz. So it makes absolute sense to offer wine consumers recognisable non-sparkling styles too from very recognisable varieties, particularly as some of these are rather tasty in an English ‘Chablis style’ for Chardonnay and light aromatic ‘Burgundy style’, or not dissimilar to certain 'German style', Pinot Noir reds. The main problem is the usual UK wine production dilemma: relatively small quantities mean prices remain quite high.
I’ve updated some of the existing winery profiles in this guide as well, with new vintage releases and labels which have also been highlighted: e.g. Hattingley Valley (Hampshire), Hush Heath Estate Winery (Kent), Chapel Down Winery (Kent), Furleigh Estate (Dorset). Buy the full-works 20-page PDF magazine for £1.99 using the PayPal button below to pay by card or using your own account (select it in drop-down menu).

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French wine e-magazine English wine guide Cava guide Slovenia & Croatia Portugal special

Click HERE for more about card payments, your privacy and terms and conditions. I will email the PDF supplement to you once I receive payment confirmation from PayPal. Enjoy.

More info on English Wine Week: englishwineproducers.co.uk.

Wine Education Service NI: new dates added in Belfast

The fully updated programme of wine tastings, wine workshops and wine courses scheduled in Belfast from summer 2016 to spring 2017 is (drum roll)...

Friday 1 July 6.45-8.30pm Champagne & sparkling wine tasting £36

We'll sample and compare six top-notch bottles of fizz from around the wine cosmos, including well-known favourites such as Champagne, Cava, Prosecco, alongside a few eye-openers from the Southern Hemisphere like New Zealand, Australia or South Africa... Add some sparkle to your weekend!

France: 'wines of the moment'

Burgundy

Domaine Marguerite Dupasquier Rully blanc 2013 (13% abv) - I bought a few bottles of this over a year ago (click to see note made on International Chardonnay Day last May); this was the last one and what a revelation. Buttery and almost exotic with light toasty coconut edges, nicely rounded and creamy yet still has some fresh bite too. £10.50 Asda.

Champagne

P. Desroches Brut non-vintage (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, 12%) - Made by the Nicolas Feuillatte winery actually, this stylish well-made crowd-pleaser confirms that Marks & Spencer know what they're doing on the Champers front. Elegant yet toasty/yeasty, eminently drinkable at £14.50 on offer! It supposedly usually costs £29, but I wouldn't pay that for it. Funny how the other multiple grocers, including Tesco who was the worst offender, have stopped doing these so-called (and dishonest) half-price deals (which blatantly aren't), but Marks is still doing it on certain Champers labels anyway. Mustn't grumble ah.
Buy my Champagne e-supplement HERE.

Languedoc

Alain Grignon Carignan Sélection Vieilles Vignes 2013, Pays d'Hérault (12.5%) - Attractive example of the fashion for making varietal reds from old-vine Carignan, this is aromatic and quite soft with fairly intense berry fruit flavours. Dunne's €12.50/€9 on offer in the Republic/about £9-£10 in Belfast? (Most of Dunne's NI stores aren't licensed it appears).
Laurent Miquel Syrah 'special edition' 2014, Pays d'Oc (13%) - Lovely pure peppery black cherry fruit with a light bitter twist of tannin on the palate, plenty of sexy Syrah style but reasonably subtle with it. Dunne's €9 on offer.
Domaine Jones
Fitou 2014 (old vine Carignan, Grenache, Syrah from 15 small plots; 14.5%) - Concentrated (blue)berry fruit with uplifting crunchy vs sweet profile mix, lively spicy and powerful finish. £87-£95 case of 6 (depending on mix).
Blanc Barrique 2010 (Grenache gris, 13.5%) - The follow up vintage to apparently a 'by accident' barrel-aged white, made in limited quantities, this is quite oaky to start yet has delicious nutty oxidised and oily characters and rounded texture, unusual and tasty. £80 for 6.
Château l'Argentier E&F Jourdan Cinsault Vieilles Vignes 2014 (old vines) - Lovely aromatic sweet fruit, soft and oily palate although actually pretty concentrated with mature vs fresh finish. £14.99 Red Squirrel Wine.
Château Montfin Saint-Jacques 2014 Corbières blanc (Roussanne, Grenache blanc, organic) - Concentrated and intense dry white, zingy yeast-lees notes vs oily rounded mouth-feel, lovely wine. £90 for 6 Joie de Vin. More Montfin HERE.

More of the latest from the Jones', Argentier, Montfin and lots more besides from the Languedoc to follow as an update to my 'French wine tasting and touring' e-magazine (drawn from extensive tastings at the recent 'Outsiders' tasting in Dublin and at the London Wine Fair)...

Bordeaux and the South-West

Château Lassègue Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2006 (Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, 13.5% abv) - This posh chateau is found lurking among some of the Saint-Emilion region's best vineyard sites, and is part of the Jackson Family Wines' group, "a collection of premium wineries owned privately by Barbara Banke and the Jackson family," the blurb says, probably better known for their West Coast US wines. Still dense and quite oaky for a ten year-old red, although with distinct brownish hints to its otherwise dark colour, it shows a classy mix of lush plummy fruit, maturing meaty notes and spicy nicely textured oak/tannin combo to finish. c. £25 a bottle - £152 for a case of 6 from closcru.com.

Domaine de la Maletie Monbazillac 2013 (Sémillon, Sauvignon blanc, 12.5%) - Bargain Sauternes replacement made in the same way but in Monbazillac on the Dordogne River in the Bergerac region. Delicious exotic apricot marmalade nose with spicy 'volatile' edges, lush and sweet but with nicely balanced freshness and lighter touch. £7.99 Lidl.
Combel la Serre 'Pur Fruit de Causse' 2014 Cahors (Malbec, 12.5%) - Alluring fruity 'funky' nose, very Malbec berry and spice style though with light bite and grip. £13.99 Red Squirrel Wine. Update on CLS to follow, and lots more Cahors HERE.

Alsace

JP Muller 2012 Riesling Engelberg Grand Cru (12.5%) - Pretty classy dry white at this price: classic developing Riesling nose with aromatic oily 'mineral' notes, similar maturing palate profile yet still quite concentrated with some fresh bite and elegant finish. €12.99/€9.99 on offer Lidl (Ireland).

'Off the beaten track' wines of the moment

Henners Brut Reserve 2010 - East Sussex, England (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir; 12% abv) - Classy fizz: buy my English sparkling wine guide to find out more (which will be updated soon-ish following extensive tasting in London recently: fizz and still wines including a couple of new English vineyard names). £34.99 Virgin Wines, c. £180 for 6 Henners online shop...

Spain: 'wines of the moment'

Catalonia

Vintage Cava 2011 Brut Nature Jaume Serra (Xarel.lo, Parellada, Macabeu, Chardonnay, 11.5% abv) - Attractive drink-now and dry version ('nature' here means zero added dosage) of the popular favourite, with oily roundness and a touch of style. Tesco 'finest' £7.

Marqués del Norte Vintage Cava Brut 2013 (11.5% abv) - Asda has been knocking out this own-label fizz at a ludicrous bargain £4! Also made by the Jaume Serra winery, less developed and fresher than above although more off-dry.

Frares Priorat 2014 (Garnacha, Carinena, 15% abv) - Tasty example of this often very expensive Catalan red from the hills behind Tarragona, full-on spicy liquorice with oomph and plenty of lush fruit. Marks & Spencer £13

Montilla – Moriles

Fresquito PX 2014 Perez Barquero (Pedro Ximenez, 14% abv) - Deliciously different dry white with the lively yeasty almond edges reminiscent of Fino Sherry, but a touch 'lighter' in style (despite that quite high alcohol). Marks & Spencer £9, on offer at £42 for 6 bottles online (late April).

Rioja

Marqués de Valido Reserva 2010 Bodegas Muriel (Tempranillo, 13% abv) - Always reliable Co-Op own-brand Rioja, not the greatest Reserva style around but has plenty of maturing charm and smoky smoothness for the price. £8.99

Perez Burton Tempranillo 2013 Telmo Rodriguez (14%) - A touch classier and more concentrated version from this well-known consultant winemaker. M & S £11.50.

Yecla - Murcia
Tapa Roja old vines Monastrell 2014 Bodegas del Mediterraneo (14.5% abv) - Same delicious unoaked style as the previous vintage featured on this blog a year ago (click there), layered with earthy dark fruit and black olive flavours. M & S £9/£7 on offer (late April).

Jerez/Sanlúcar de Barrameda - Andalusia

12 Year Old Oloroso Sherry Emilio Lustau (Palomino Fino, 20% abv) - Labelled as 'medium dry', but I think its inherent characteristic richness makes it taste less dry than it actually probably is. Towards stunning aged sherry for a bargain price, rich and baked walnut-y with complex lingering flavours. Sainsbury's 'taste the difference' £8 50cl.

La Gitana Manzanilla Bodegas Hidalgo (Palomino Fino, 15% abv) - Classic style dry and lively sherry with roasted salted almond notes and tangy finish. 50cl £8 Sainsbury's/widely available.

Languedoc: Domaines Paul Mas, organic frog

LATEST UPDATE HERE (Sept. 2016)

You can't knock Domaines Paul Mas' boss Jean-Claude Mas for coming up with something new every year (at least) to taste and write about. His Arrogant Frog range appears to be doing well in export markets with a sense of humour - and the wines are mostly good too - which has now been boosted by a couple of organic labels too. Mas says this is part of an overall strategy, perhaps since buying the 30-hectare Mas des Tannes organic vineyard in Montagnac in the central Languedoc, across the road from their head office, winery and showcase restaurant/wine shop, which "has always been managed without any synthetic chemical products," the press blurb claims. Inspired by the 2015 vintage and "the outstanding quality of the fruit we picked... This year, we have been experimenting with low SO2 fermentation techniques and the results are convincing: the cuvées without sulphur taste far better than those to which sulphur has been used throughout the fermentation and they continue to develop in intensity,” Jean-Claude exuded.

So, I recently sampled five Mas wines positioned in this increasingly fashionable camp - whether they're worth the extra money for being organic or without added sulphites is another argument I suppose, one which will be decided by his regular wine punters. But this progressive winery is obviously trying to 'do the right thing' in terms of the environment and health. These were my favourites then...

Arrogant Frog Organic Chardonnay 2014 - 100% Chardonnay sourced from Limoux in the western Languedoc (vineyards farmed organically for 10 years), 20% of it fermented and aged for 3 months in American oak barrels, 13.5% abv. Tasty Chardy style, well made with subtle oak and yeast-lees notes complementing juicy vs sunny peachy fruit. £9.75 Vintage Roots.
Arrogant Frog Organic Ribet Rouge 'Rural' 2014 - 55% Cabernet Sauvignon / 45% Merlot, 25% of the blend aged for 3 months in new oak, 13.5% abv. Nice enough soft red, a bit too easy for the money though just because it's organic. £9.75 Vintage Roots.
Cuvée Secrète 2014 Merlot / Cabernet Franc - organic with no added sulphites, no oak, 14% abv. Quite serious red, chunky and concentrated with savoury/meaty edges, firm and spicy palate with cooked damson vs soy sauce flavours. Good stuff. £9.75 Vintage Roots.
Mas des Tannes Réserve Rouge 2014 - organic 55% Cabernet Sauvignon / 35% Grenache / 10% Mourvèdre, 6 months in French and American oak, 14% abv. Probably the best of these reds, richer spice and sweet berry fruit combo, structured yet rounded mouth-feel with good depth. Should improve over the next year or so. £12.95 Soho Wine Supply.

More about Jean-Claude Mas and his wines on this blog:

LANGUEDOC SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 2015 (July 2015)

Languedoc: Terrasses du Larzac (Feb 2015)

Languedoc: Domaines Paul Mas update (March 2014)

Languedoc: Domaines Paul Mas (2014 update and 2011-2004)

New wine tasting events in Belfast

First of all, a quick reminder of the next tasting coming up in May:

Looney Tunes' Tasmanian Devil
downloaded from You Tube.

Thursday 19 May 6.45-8.30pm

'Island wines' tasting £28.95

This original tutored tasting will hop around from one island to another across the world taking in six to eight wines (depending on numbers), travelling from the Mediterranean (Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Greece...) to where the Indian Ocean meets the South Pacific (Tasmania, New Zealand...).

2016 Wine Blog Awards

Submissions now being taken for 2016 awards

Feel free to nominate this blog WineWriting.com & French Mediterranean Wine in as many categories as you see fit before 15 April. Merci.
Follow this link: wineblogawards.org

Or via this post on my Google+ page: plus.google.com.

English wine guide updated

The latest vintages - the delicious exuberant 2010 and finely 'structured' 2011 - of 'Champagne style' (they won't like me saying that, I can hear expensive-suited lawyers in Reims dictating a letter as I write...) sparkling wines from Henners Vineyard and Ridgeview Winery, both in East Sussex, have been added to my 15-page English Sparkling Wine PDF supplement, as well as some news on the 2015 harvest, burgeoning vineyard plantings and fizz production figures and other useful tit-bits of info. Buy it using the PayPal button below to pay by card or using your own account.

Henners 2010 Reserve and happy tasters in the background.

Click HERE for more about card payments, your privacy and terms and conditions. I will email the PDF supplement to you once I receive payment confirmation from PayPal. Enjoy.

India - Grover Zampa

You may be tempted to think where don't they grow vines nowadays, but India appears to be shaping up into more than a pleasant surprise on the wine front. Kanwal Grover planted this company's first vineyard in 1992 with the help of certain prominent French wine consultants. Son Kapil expanded their plantings to a substantial 400 acre estate, or 162 hectares; and latest generation daughter Karishma studied oenology and viticulture at the famous University of California Davis.
Nashik in the Maharashtra region, lying north-east and a little inland of Mumbai, is considered the 'wine capital of India' and is where Grover's winery is based; they also own vineyards in another important production area in Karnataka, to the north-east of Bangalore in the Nandi Hills lurking in India's southern half, where grapes are grown at altitude as you probably guessed.
Grover Zampa's UK importer is Character Wines, where I copied the map from. More info on groverzampa.in, or check out this new book - 'the wines of India' by Peter Csizmadia-Honigh.

Grover Zampa Art Collection 2014 Sauvignon blanc – grassy green pepper notes then lively citrus fruits and zesty crisp finish. Good SB style. £10.99

Grover Zampa Art Collection 2014 Viognier – lightly exotic apricot fruit with zesty 'chalky' edges and fairly crisp mouth-feel, attractive easy-going style. £10.99

Grover Zampa VA 2013 Reserve Viognier (barrel-fermented) – richer texture and bigger mouthful, less Viognier character though and rather expensive. £15.99

Grover Zampa Art Collection 2014 Shiraz rosé – juicy 'gummy' palate with fruity ripe red berries, lively and crisp finish; nice dry rosé. £10.99

Grover Zampa Art Collection 2013 Cabernet/Shiraz – very ripe blackberry spice and dark chocolate on the nose (no oak though apparently), fairly punchy mouth-feel yet soft and smoky too with nice 'sweet/savoury' fruit vs light bitter twist on the finish. £10.99

Grover Zampa 2012 La Reserve (Cabernet Sauvignon) – quite spicy and punchy actually with cassis undertones, firmer palate with herby juicy blackcurrant fruit; could go well with lamb curry if not too spicy. £12.99

Grover Zampa VA 2013 Syrah/Cabernet Sauvignon/Viognier (oak aged) – spicy too and more structured although less firm with more 'substance', tight long and spicy finish. Could be good when it opens up a bit. £15.99 though.

Lebanon: Heritage and Ksara

As a timely update to my substantial Lebanese wine and food page HERE, the latest vintages from the two widely exported wineries Château Heritage and Château Ksara are reviewed below. These also both feature in more detail in that archive material: from a trip to Lebanon in 2005 and tasted on other occasions since in 2008 and 2011.

Château Heritage

Run by the latest generation of the Touma family, who set up the present-day winery operation in 1997 - their history of owning vineyards mostly for distilling Arak goes back to the late 19th century though - in Kab-Elias in the high-altitude Bekaa Valley (1000 metres above sea level). They seem to specialise in holding back their top red wines for late release to mature them longer in bottle; and I didn't try their quirky fortified walnut liqueur on this occasion, but follow the Lebanon page link above (and scroll down) if that raises your curiosity (curious being the right word). UK importer = Lebanese Fine Foods & Wines. www.chateauheritage.com

Château Heritage 2008 'Château' (60% Syrah, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon; 12 months in French oak) - Touches of cedary coconut on the nose mingle with maturing notes and spicy black cherry fruit, quite punchy with a little grip still and attractive sweet/savoury fruit on the finish. Good. £11
Château Heritage 2008 'Family Reserve' (50% Syrah, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon; 12 months in American oak) - More coconut oak on the nose, more concentrated too with grippier mouth-feel; a tad extracted and oaky perhaps but has good depth vs structure. £12
Château Heritage 2012 'Plaisir du Vin' (50% Cabernet + Cinsault/Syrah; 6 months in French oak) - Aromatic cassis and liquorice aromas with a bit of vanilla oak adding sweetness and roundness, fairly soft and drinking nicely now. £6

Château Ksara
You'll see from my previous ramblings and musings about Ksara (follow the HERE link as mentioned above to my Lebanon archive page) that I've been disappointed with their wines in the past, but this time I seem to have been more impressed and liked a few of them in particular when tasting the whole range again. They claim to be "the country's oldest winery" - Jesuits bought the property (pic. top taken from their site) in the mid 19th century and planted more vineyards etc. - and it's been owned by a consortium backed by the Sara family since 1973 overseen by long-standing chairman Zafer Chaoui. www.chateauksara.com

2013 Chardonnay - Nutty and oaky touches enhanced by sweet citrus fruit and some freshness still too, drinking now. Nice Chardy but expensive at nearly £14 (unless that's a restaurant list price?).
2014 Gris de Gris rosé - Zingy and lively redcurrant and berry fruit, gets creamier on the palate vs zesty finish. Attractive mouthful and style. £9
2013 Le Prieuré red (Carignan, Cab Sauv, Mourvedre) - Ripe and 'resin-y' vs spicy / herby nose, firm fresh and structured mouth-feel vs a lusher side with perfumed fruit. Nice red. £8.15
2013 Reserve du Couvent red (Cab Sauv, Syrah, Cabernet Franc) - Leafy / cedary with cassis and black cherry, pretty firm palate vs powerful and concentrated. A tad 'extracted' but has good depth of fruit. £9
2012 Clos St Alphonse red (Syrah, Cab Sauv, Cab Franc) - Aromatic cassis and dark cherry with maturing savoury edges, 'crunchier' fruit and quite firm on the palate at first but finishing with a lusher softer texture, quite powerful and long too. Marks & Spencer does a good own-label version of this for £10.
2012 Cuvée IIIeme Millenaire (Cab Franc, Petit Verdot, Syrah) - Cedar and red pepper hints vs lush dark olive and cherry, better tannins and concentrated with enticing sweet/savoury fruit finish. Good. £24
2010 Le Souverain (50-50 Cab Franc-Arinarnoa (Petit Verdot/Merlot crossing apparently)) - Cedar and red pepper notes again, pretty dense extracted and firm mouth-feel with smoky oak but it's very concentrated; still surprisingly young although it is quite firm and oaky. £37

Uruguay: Bodega Garzón

I used Garzón's 2012 Tannat (click there to see my pick of that crop) in a 'wines of South America' themed tasting last year, which did the job well enough; so was pleased to see their name on a table at the 'Emerging Regions' event in London last autumn (which also took the 'wow-est view at a wine tasting trophy' in my book: if you get the chance to go to the Leadenhall Building in the City, take one of the Nasa installed lifts to the top for a rich-person's panorama across the old smoke in all directions).

Back to Bodega Garzón, which is found near a wee place of the same name in the Maldonado region not far from the resort town of Punta del Este on Uruguay's Atlantic coast. Founded by Alejandro Bulgheroni and his wife Bettina in 1999, their vineyards lie on gentle hills up to 200 metres above sea level all around a quirky-looking eco-winery with grass and trees growing out of it. They also planted the star north-western Spanish/Portuguese white variety Albariño (Alvarinho) here in 2008 and 2011 to supplement Sauvignon blanc and Viognier, which has proved to be a good idea I'd say (see my notes below).

Photo above pinched from bodegagarzon.com where you'll find more info on their wines, tourist activities and restaurant, if you're lucky enough to go there some day (Uruguay could become the new Mexico or Brazil, who knows). Garzón is part of the Blends Wine Estates group - their UK agent is Bibemdum PLB, and prices indicated are approx UK retail/on-trade (I think). I'd be surprised then if you couldn't find them in North America and the Far East etc. as well (the Blends' website lists lots of international distributors).

Colinas de Uruguay Albariño 2014 - Juicy and honeyed style, quite rich (for young vines) texture vs crisp and zesty finish. Nice dry white. £5

Bodega Garzón Albariño 2014 (older vines) - Similar style, more 'serious' and yeast-lees character vs very crisp and intense. Good foodie white. £11
Bodega Garzón Viognier 2014 - Quite green and zesty for a Viognier, has attractive apricot fruit edges though on a fatter palate, pretty crisp on the finish. £11
Colinas de Uruguay Tannat 2013 - Very sweet/sour profile with dark liquorice vs bitter chocolate notes, smoky vs crunchy fruit cocktail, fairly soft tannins though. Different. £5

Bodega Garzón Tannat 2013 - Less aromatic to start and more concentrated mouth-feel with similar smoky vs crunchy profile, firm/fresh and structured vs some lush fruit too. All comes together in the end, pretty good. £11-£13

Chile: Viña Ventisquero & John Duval

Downloaded from facebook.com/VentisqueroWines

One of Australia's most famous and laid-back winemakers, John Duval (below right) has been a consultant at Ventisquero (meaning 'grey glacier') in Chile since the beginning: 2004 vintage for Syrah and Merlot and 2005 for Cabernet and Carmenere (CLICK HERE and scroll down to read my report and notes cobbled together in 2007 featuring these wines). John, who was in London to host a special tasting a few months ago, said he's "worked with Felipe Tosso (winemaker at Ventisquero) for many years now... After I left Penfolds in 2002, it was through contacts there that I was invited to Chile." And the rest is history, as the old cliché goes; he goes over twice a year nowadays "after the vintage in Barossa and in November."

WES Belfast wine tastings update

Here are the latest dates and details of forthcoming Wine Education Service NI courses and tastings running in Belfast city centre, with an updated PayPal button for card payments at the bottom of the post.

Impossible castle in Slovenia
(not where the vineyards are!)

Roussillon winery updates

Wild back-lands around Domaine des Soulanes
Photo: Vi Erickson.

It might look like I've been neglecting one of my favourite wine corners of southern France, the Roussillon, but I'm working on a whole bunch of updates and new winery profiles from the Roussillon (and just over the Corbières hills in a couple of cases) at the moment. This includes these Domaines: Schistes, Sabbat, Pons Gralet, Soulanes, Terres de Mallyce, Serre Romani, Rombeau, Gilles Trouillier, Tribouley, Balmettes, Sabots d'Hélène, Arcadie, Rivaton, La Toupie, Mas Devèze, Jones and Treloar. 

These won't be posted here on my blog though, but will be part of a new book I'm trying to get finished soon-ish covering the whole of French Catalan wine country...

AND HERE IT IS ('Roussillon French Catalonia, wild wine country' available as paperback or ebook).

Is dry January beneficial?

This enlightening article on Decanter.com was written by Dr. Michael Apstein, a bit of wine/alcohol science in plain English: CLICK HERE to read it on their site.

Wine Education Service: tastings & courses Belfast 2016 update

See below for the latest on forthcoming wine courses and tastings running in Belfast, plus a new evening tasting added to the programme at the end of April and updated PayPal button for card payments at the bottom.

Impossible castle in Slovenia

Saturday 30 January 2016: Spain and Portugal one-day workshop £90

LAST FEW PLACES LEFT!

French wine touring & tasting e-book

UPDATED Sept. 2016 - see link at bottom.
I've combined, tweaked, edited, added to and reformatted my special French wine and travel supplements into a Kindle e-book, which is now available to buy on AMAZON. This includes three huge reports on the Languedoc and Saint-Chinian, updated Cahors wine touring, independent Champagne wine-growers' mini-guide, 'Chablis on foot' (and more) and Alsace Grand Cru among other things (follow links for more info). Click on the links below to buy the e-book in your country's Amazon store (prices subject to exchange rate variations):

Amazon US ($6.50), Amazon UK (£4.95), France (€5.89), Canada ($8.43), Australia ($8.58), India (₹399), Germany (€5.89), Spain (€5.89), Italy (€5.89), Netherlands (€5.89), Japan (¥682), Brazil (R$21.32) and Mexico ($120.93).
Alternatively, it's also available on offer (compared to buying them individually) for £4.99 (about $6.50 or €6) as a 125-page PDF file with photos using the PayPal button below, by card or your own PP account although you don't need one to buy it.

THIS E-MAGAZINE WAS UPDATED IN SEPTEMBER 2016: CLICK HERE TO BUY THE LATEST VERSION (Amazon Kindle or PDF: US$5.99 / £4.50 / €5.37)...