The Wine Blokes

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Last night was another where a couple of friends turned up unexpected with a few bottles of wine to taste, along with some great bread and cheese. One of the wines they had was a label I had been wanting to try for a while. I ordered it the other night when out for [...]

Robert Mondavi of Napa Valley, the founder of the modern US fine wine industry and a global symbol of American wine and food, passed away the morning of May 16, 2008. He was 94. The Mondavi family stated that the legendary vintner died peacefully at his home in Napa Valley. In tribute to this colossus [...]

By Jon F.
One of the most important operations completed during vintage is of course, picking. For hundreds if not thousands of years, grape growers have picked the grapes by hand, carefully selecting the best bunches. 21st Centruy technology has revolutionised this operation with the introduction of mechanical grape harvesters. Over the years they have been [...]

Much has been made of the war-time PM’s predilection for booze, but what exactly did Winston Churchill drink on those long mornings reading TOP SECRET documents in bed with the cat?
Over lunchtime meetings with politicians, military chiefs and family, Churchill would loyally drink Pol Roger -followed by brandy. He was supplied by shipments from Madame [...]

As well as being a celebrated children’s author, photographer and linguist, Roald Dahl also had a penchant for chocolate and fine wine. He even went so far as to make a giant sphere of silver wrappers in his garden, such was his taste for chocolate. After his death in 1990, some of his wine collection [...]