The Spirit World

I’ve recently discovered a wine related search engine. It is used the same way as you would use Yahoo or Google but, as it is wine specific, all you need to do is key in “Spain” rather than “Spanish wine” and you will get all relevant wine related results.
The developers say “We aim to be […]

Next time you open a bottle of wine, raise a glass and toast the hard working people who have made your enjoyment possible. Having just spent a day on a wine production course, I have a healthy respect for those who work in the vineyards and wineries and make it possible for us to enjoy […]

How do you keep up to date with the wine world these days? I’ve found out what works for me although I still suffer from information overload some times. My interests are as follows –

current hot topics such as closures, global warming, harvest expectations and so on
recommendations on wines to try and buy
educational material especially […]

The latest edition of Decanter (March) came out this week, and several articles caught my eye.  The first was entitled Start Your Own Wine Cellar. As I’m often torn between buying bottles to drink and those I think I may like to keep for a special occasion, I was drawn to the profiles of the […]

I helped out at a trade event in London devoted to Sauternes and Barsac the other week. Entitled “Sweeties with Savouries” it set out to show how both Sauternes and Barsac can be drunk not only with the usual foie gras and desserts but also with all the courses of a complete meal. With courses […]

I wonder if 2008 will be as good as 2007 was for English Wine?The year has certainly started well with the lifting of the European Union planting ban. This was put in place in 1999 to compensate for the excessive volumes of low quality wine being produced elsewhere in the EU. It prevented the UK […]

I’ve had the good fortune to visit the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region, featured in this month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday, several times on business. I went to Trieste which is about as far round you can go in Italy in a north east direction before you hit Slovenia. It’s a very pleasant place, obviously Italian but with a […]

When I wrote my first post for Wine Sediments I had just started on the 2 year WSET Diploma course. I am now halfway through it, with my final exam scheduled for 9 January 2009, although I do have one more essay to submit in April 2009. There have been some interesting unrelated benefits I […]

It’s that time of year again when most people make, or at least think about making, New Year’s resolutions. Spurred on by the discussion on Grape Radio recently, I thought I’d have a go at making up my wine related resolutions. Being a Scot New Year’s Eve, or Hogmanay as we call it, is important […]

I’ve been in China for the last 10 days on a guided tour aptly named A Taste of China, and that’s what I’ve been doing – tasting the history, culture, food and of course the wine. To sum it all up, China has huge potential for producing and exporting quality wine – it’s just not […]