Jonathan Ray is The Spectator’s drinks editor.
A tasty selection this week courtesy of FromVineyardsDirect.com, the masters at snuffling out tucked-away treasures for bargain prices. FVD’s founders, Esme Johnstone and David Campbell, have impeccable contacts and seem to know everyone who matters in the regions that matter. As a result, they nab tiny parcels of this and that from both well-established and
Jonathan Ray looks back on a fine Spectator Winemaker Lunch with Vega Sicilia. An excellent lunch in the Spectator boardroom today as Antonio Menéndez, managing director (sales and marketing) of mighty Vega Sicilia hosted the latest in our series of Spectator Winemaker Lunches. Vega Sicilia in Spain’s Ribera del Duero has an extraordinary reputation and
This 8 week course has now begun. If you are interested in joining another one of our Wine Schools please email wineschool@spectator.co.uk. The Spectator Wine School is a chance to be tutored by the best in the wine business. It is aimed at enthusiastic beginners and anyone who wants to know more about the main wine regions. Over eight
We had some very fine answers in our competition to find the perfect collective noun for a group of wine bores. You might recall that the best my confreres and I could come up with during the wine bores’ dinner that kicked off the initial discussion [see: Struggling to serve wine in the right order]
We’ve some wonderful summery wines this week, each one from France. Not deliberately so: it’s just that these six wines — from Alsace, Loire, Bordeaux and beyond — were easily the best in our tasting. And I reckon they show that France on song is pretty much unbeatable and (thanks here, I admit, to some
One of the great joys of travelling is happening upon a restaurant or bar that quite unexpectedly brings a beaming smile to your chops. A place about which you had the lowest of low hopes that unpredictably turns out to delight you. In truth, such a spot might even be on your doorstep rather than
We had a full house in the boardroom last Friday with James Simpson MW, managing director of Pol Roger (UK), in the chair for the latest in our series of Spectator Winemaker’s Lunches. Oh, and by the way and quite coincidentally, our current Wine Club offer with Private Cellar is a Pol Roger offer, so
We at The Spectator drink a lot of Pol Roger Champagne. It’s more or less the house pour. Not every day you understand, just on high days and holidays such as the Spectator summer party, from which more than a few of us are still recovering. And I must say that when standing like a
We had a fine Spectator Winemaker Lunch with Olivier Humbrecht of leading Alsace producer Domaine Zind Humbrecht the other day. Olivier is generally agreed to be among the most gifted winemakers of his generation. Not just in Alsace but anywhere. He is also one of the humblest and most charmingly self-deprecating. He showed us half
The key to working out the best order in which to serve one’s wines is to mix it up a bit discovers Jonathan Ray. There were five of us to dinner last night at a BYO-friendly club in London and each of us had brought one or two fine bottles to knock back and bang
Browsing and Sluicing in Toronto and the Niagara Peninsula Jonathan Ray discovers that Canada’s most vibrant and global city is home to some exceptional restaurants and a vibrant cocktail culture with some of North America’s most exciting wines on its doorstep. Toronto is an eight hour flight from London (and not even seven back) and
Sideways has long been one of my favourite films, the hugely enjoyable bittersweet tale of two ill-matched old friends, Miles (Paul Giamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church), enjoying a celebratory trip road trip to the vineyards of the Santa Ynez Valley in California the week before Jack’s wedding. Miles is a Pinot Noir-obsessed writer weighed
Much has been written about the tip-top quality of the 2015 clarets, the en primeur campaign of which is in full swing, and there are indeed some absolute belters to be had, but at a price. And while a fine vintage in one region rarely guarantees a fine vintage in another, 2015 was a glorious
I do love a good oyster. And I love the fact that here in Toronto it’s okay and acceptable to eat them in the middle of June without an ‘R’ in the month. My dear departed dad adored oysters and used to say that eating one was like having an angel copulate on your tongue.
Good grief, I’ve just been well and truly seduced! Back in April, attentive readers might recall, I led a heavily oversubscribed Spectator visit to Chapel Down winery in Kent for a bit of a tasting and one heck of a lunch. We ate and drank like kings and lingered far longer over lunch than was
So here I am, just arrived in Toronto. And it strikes me that we Brits uncertain about the vote on Thursday and unnerved by immigration in particular could learn much from this quietly confident city. It’s the fourth largest in North America (which I did not know), after New York, LA, Mexico City and just
The Languedoc is home to some cracking wines at the moment. And really great value ones too, especially compared to the all-too-often-overpriced wines of Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhône. Domaine de la Jasse is one of the region’s leading estates and when we offered some 2012 Domaine de la Jasse ‘Black Label’ Tête de Cuvée
The following wines from Private Cellar are all about summer, chosen with long lunches on the lawn, picnics by the river and crafty evening drinks in mind. I reckon they hit just the right note. And because I’m so wretchedly indecisive I’ve snuck a seventh wine in too. First, the 2015 Finca Salazar Sauvignon Blanc
Last week’s Spectator Winemaker’s Lunch with Sami Ghosn of Massaya was an instant a sell-out. For some reason it was also our first ever all-male lunch; more fool the girls, for Sami is nothing if not a charmer and his wines are outstanding. Almost everyone has heard of Chateau Musar, which famously blazed the Lebanese
I reckon Robert Boutflower of Tanners has the measure of The Spectator. He knows exactly what tickles our fancy. He put up a dozen wines for our tasting, any one of which I’d be delighted to recommend to readers. Price was ultimately the deciding factor, though, and — hooray! — we nailed the mixed case
