Harvest, 2025
Harvest, 2025 Friday March 20th. Outside there is a peace settled on the vineyards. Barely a breeze, clear perfect skies, and gentle warmth following the cold early morning that typifies the harvest season. We are about half a dozen days from kick off, barrels are delivered, cleaning steadily works it’s way through every corner of […]
What do the following wines have in common?
What do the following wines have in common? Furst Hundsruck GG Spatburgunder Comando G Las Iruelas Tenuta della Terre Nere Calderara Sottana Thymiopoulos Earth and Sky Storm Vrede, Hemel-en-Aarde Five wines, five countries, five very talented winemakers, five special places. Five very special wines, without doubt. These are five wines that will bring a smile […]
On leadership…
On leadership… OK, it’s January, so in the UK all is dark, cold and grim. Actually, as I reluctantly survey the morning’s news, most of the planet feels dark, cold and grim, regardless of season. Maybe that’s just my mood: January Blues. But as an increasingly belligerent world flexes its muscles I’m thinking about what […]
Exclusive wine…..Is it OK for wine to be exclusive?
Exclusive wine…..Is it OK for wine to be exclusive? I am the first to concede that the wines we make aren’t cheap. But I can’t remember the last time I had a communication complaining the wines are too expensive. We’ve had a lot praising what good value they are. So, I’d like to strip back […]
Another day… another airport… another pile of CO2…
Another day… another airport… another pile of CO2 The depressing reality of my summer of wine in Europe. Here I am, sitting at Heathrow waiting for a flight to Zurich. In three days time I’ll be back here, waiting for the Madrid flight. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Yes, we are flying much […]
Spring 2024
Winemaker’s Comment – Spring 2024 Over the last four months Nigel and I have been busy visiting several of our markets: conducting various events including tastings at retail shops; winemaker dinners at fine restaurants; importer and distributor staff trainings as well as private customer events. Despite the long hours travelling, hotel life and laundry management […]
Autumn 2024
Winemaker’s Comment – Autumn 2024 As many of you will now recognise, there’s always a tone of relief in our autumn newsletter. It’s the conclusion of another vintage; the end of the long hard days – every day for several weeks. It’s when about 90% of our winemaking activity occurs and is always the most […]
What price carbon?
What price carbon? One of the first realisations that most companies face if they are seeking that nirvana: true carbon neutral, is that there will come a point where further cuts and innovations just won’t have the desired effect. You first pick the low hanging fruit, then you tackle the trickier stuff, at each stage […]
Nigel’s Harvest Blog 2024
Wednesday May 1st Today I can celebrate the fact that my intermittent blogs now come with added colour as our new website platform allows me to include pictures. So, we’re going to kick off with a brief summary of harvest with the glamour of added pixels. This weekend will be the last and probably the […]
Independent Certification’s….
Independent Certification’s…. “International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA) is a collaborative working group of environmentally committed wineries taking a science-based approach to reducing carbon emissions across the wine industry.Our goal is to share best practices that mitigate climate change impacts in vineyard and winery operations so that we can act collectively to decarbonize the global […]