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You may or may not know that Pinot Noir is one of my favourite grapes and you may well associate the word “Pinot” with some of your favourite wines, but do you know what it means? To understand everything Pinot, let’s define it, recount the history of this legendary grape and analyse some of the delicious vino it yields.Pinot defined The word Pinot comes from the French term for “pine cone,” but what does that have to do with grapes?If you take a close look at a cluster of a sumptuous and juicy Pinot variety on the vine, you will quickly see...

If you have never tried Sauvignon Blanc and goats cheese together you are quite simply missing out. Even if you are not a huge fan of either of these when these two meet it's magic in the mouth and there is a reason behind it. The zippy acidity in the wine matches the acidity in the cheese. The combination brings out the base flavours and completely changes the texture and taste in a fantastic way.  Try it and let us know what you think....

At our most recent Thursday wine tasting workshop (a bit of a mouthful) we tried South American white wines. Amongst the four was a barrel aged Torrontes from Mendoza.  Torrontes is Argentina's signature white grape. It's been rising in popularity for a while because of it's attractive and pronounced floral flavours whilst being bone dry. It works superbly with food and offers serious value for money. Malbec from Argentina has been one of the biggest success stories in the industry since the turn of the century - is Torrontes about to follow suit....    

You walk into the supermarket and you are greeted by 3 different Riojas all looking relatively similar but their prices aren't similar at all. What is going on?  Wine is a highly regulated sector in the European Union and in the case of Spain the regulations are established at regional level by the “Consejos reguladores” or regulatory bodies. In the case of Rioja this is the Consejor Regulador del vino de Rioja, which establishes the regulation for Rioja wines on things like which varieties can be planted, maximum yield per acre permitted and most importantly the Consejo establishes a classification...