Articles
26th Jan 2013
2008 Bordeaux revisited
by Sarah Abbott MW
Bordeaux is the most confident and comfortable of fine wines. Great Burgundy is like riding a runaway horse, bareback. Diving into a top Bordeaux is like being chauffeur driven in a purring Bentley. And just as establishment. Any discomfort is... Read more
20th Aug 2012
Argentina's Malbec obsession
by Tim Atkin
Is Argentina too dependent on Malbec? The question might seem absurd – few countries have managed to associate themselves so successfully with a single grape – but it’s beginning to worry some producers. The partial commoditisation of... Read more
15th Aug 2012
Try before you buy: the future of wine?
by Natasha Hughes
Some 10 years ago, when I first started out as a wine, journalist I was commissioned (by a certain Tim Atkin) to write about why people bought the wines they did. I spent a week or so lurking in the aisles of supermarkets and high street wine... Read more
20th Apr 2012
Should Bordeaux en primeur take a holiday?
by Tim Atkin
Nothing divides opinions quite like Bordeaux en primeur. If you’ve spent the last few weeks in the Australian outback, without access to a mobile phone or the internet, you might have missed the brouhaha surrounding the annual pre-Easter... Read more
2nd Mar 2012
Robert Parker, Nigel Tufnel and the 2009 Bordeaux
by Tim Atkin
There’s a famous moment in This is Spinal Tap, Rob Reiner’s spoof “rockumentary” about an ageing English heavy metal band, when the lead guitarist, Nigel Tufnel, is showing off his custom-made amplifier. Whereas most amps stop at 10, he... Read more
17th Feb 2012
Argentina: full speed ahead?
by Tim Atkin
The recent arrival of HMS Dauntless in the south Atlantic, complete with Prince William in his role as a search and rescue helicopter pilot, hasn’t done much for Anglo-Argentine relations. As the 30th anniversary of a war that the Argentinian... Read more
10th Feb 2012
My Dream Cellar
by Tim Atkin
Imagine, just for one minute, that you were richer than Bill Gates: more loaded than a Hollywood film star, Warren Buffett and a Russian oligarch put together. Which wines would you buy? Would you stock your cellar with the most expensive... Read more
11th Nov 2011
My top dozen wines from the Biodyvin tasting
by Tim Atkin
2007 Domaine Bott-Geyl Gewurztraminer d’Alsace Grand Cru Sonnenglantz (available from OW Loeb)One of a series of stunning wines from this outstanding... Read more
10th Nov 2011
2007 Bordeaux revisited
by Tim Atkin
We Brits aren’t very good at scrums, but that’s what the annual Institute of Masters of Wine claret tasting resembles at times, especially around the more popular wines. It’s all done with reserve of course – no angled elbows here – but... Read more
4th Nov 2011
The pick of Waitrose's wine range
by Tim Atkin
RED2010 Saumur, Les Nivières (£7.49, 13%) Essence of Loire Cabernet Franc, this unoaked red is a delight: soft and grassy with fresh acidity, no oak and pure blackcurrant and green pepper... Read more