Vintage v non-vintage Champagne
Champagne isn’t just a drink, it’s a statement but that statement varies depending on whether you’re drinking a vintage or non-vintage Champagne, with each having different methods of creation and taste.
Bang for your buck with Italian red
Abruzzo’s most famous wine is the sumptuous Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. This beautiful Italian red wine is very approachable and affordable, ideal for casual drinkers who don’t won’t to be overloaded with tannins and alcohol.
Champagne – say it like the French
With Champagne drinkers rising in number globally, this is a useful guide for non-French speakers to master, or at least improve, the pronunciation of some of the more commonly sold Champagne brands. Do you say the ‘t’ in Moët or not? Read on!
Bordeaux Chauvinist Breaks His Budget
Crittenden Savagnin boasts WOW factor
While Australia is awash with French grapes, an unknown one is Savagnin, which is being wonderfully made by Crittenden Estate Wines in Australia. Elegant and powerful, the Savagnin wines of France have been compared to Sherry due to yeast flavours, but Crittenden’s wines are very much their own, with a WOW factor.
Need help pronouncing Champagne brands? Say it like the French
Bordeaux Chauvinist loves this bargain
“Bordeaux dry white wine bashing” is common in France given the lack of care given to the dry white wines of the region. They often have notes of cat pee, short and sometimes over-wooded to hide flaws, says the Bordeaux Chauvinist. But that was before he bought the “Les Frangines” of Château Thieuley 2020 AOC Bordeaux white wine from Auchan for €6.95 and loved it!
One of the world’s most expensive rosés any good falls short
Adelaide Hills demands attention
Only a 20-minute drive from Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills offers a great wine-tasting experience and an exceptionally pretty place to visit with rolling hills, fruit orchards, steep gullies and grapevines. It is the closest of the South Australian wine regions to the Adelaide CBD and for my money, the prettiest.
Real men do drink bubbles
A survey by World Wine Watch reveals most men don’t feel less ‘manly’ drinking bubbles in front of their peers, though two in three men only enjoy sparkling wine in the company of a woman while some buy Champagne to show off their spending power and splash out on Cristal.
The Loire Valley’s noble wines
The Loire Valley is a top sparkling, white and red wine producer. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site with huge caves and castles which housed French kings and perhaps most famous of all, Leonardo da Vinci, who made the region his home.
Swiss Wine Watch: Time to Try
Switzerland is much more than mountains, chocolates and watches. It’s wine too. Very good wine. But to try, you need to visit (if you can) as little leaves its borders: just 2% of Swiss wine is exported. At the base of the Alps, in a little known region Valais, you can find fabulous wines in a country with one of the highest per capita consumptions of wine in the world.
Bordeaux Chauvinist tries a cask, and likes it
The Bordeaux Chauvinist reviews a Rhone Valley cask wine, and likes it. He’s gained humility, and saved some money. This column was originally published on the Bordeaux Chauvinist’s website, Cquoi ce vin, or What is this wine? He advises on good value for money wines of all appellations, regions and countries (but he remains a Bordeaux Chauvinist).
