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Last week we featured wineries, that out of the hundreds of thousands worldwide, were selected to be among the top 50. Taking first place overall was Catena, followed by Penfolds, Torres and 19 Crimes. Today, I will share information on another fiv...

I have often been told that the wine trade was a fortunate choice as folks will not only have a glass to celebrate good times, but also if they need a little cheering up. According to a Nielsen survey, the US wine market increased by 27.6 per cent i...

Let’s finish the progression from a few weeks ago, where we started with very small production wines, to our most recent column when we featured some of our biggest brands. This week I would like to tell you how a $5,000 loan grew into the world’s b...

A few weeks ago I wrote about very small production wines and so today I thought that we could read about the other end of the spectrum. I often refer to these major worldwide brands as “the wines that helped pay for our sons to get educated”. No ea...

I asked The Royal Gazette if they still wanted me to submit an article for today and they replied in the affirmative. One friend suggested that I write about the antiseptic character of alcohol and so on, but I feel that if I can cause a chuckle or ...

It is difficult to get an up-to-date picture of wine imports to China, as their overall consumption grew by about 80 per cent between 2013 and 2018 and their own acres of vineyards are now firmly in second place worldwide. It is challenging to say wh...

The esteemed Château Lafite Rothschild makes 15,000 to 20,000 cases a year. Château Latour produces 18,000 cases, Château Haut- Brion 10,000 to 12,000, Château Margaux around 12,000 and Mouton Rothschild 20,000. These are the great First Growths of ...

A 79-year-old schoolmate of mine will celebrate his twentieth birthday tomorrow. Yes, he was born in 1940, a Leap Year. Anyway, as we compensate for our planet taking 365.24219 days to circle its sun, I am thinking of appropriate Leap Day wines. The ...

I know that I mention Mollydooker Carnival of Love every year, but it is so appropriate for this day. The 2014 vintage that we currently stock is described in this way by its maker: “Luscious cherry, blackberry and plum jam fruit flavours marry toget...

Let me share some information on the favourite grape in our home. We are not alone as it is the most planted worldwide even though, historically, it is rather the new kid on the block. It all happened in the seventeenth century when, accidentally, a ...

It all started back in 1652 when the Dutch East India Company planted vines in South Africa. This was done so that grapes and wine could be given to sailors during their voyage along the Spice Route. The vitamin C in fresh fruit warded off scurvy; si...

I have seen a description of grappa that compares its transition to the fairytale of Cinderella. Poor and in rags, with the help of her fairy godmother, she became a beautifully dressed young lady who won the heart of a prince at the ball. A 1997 New...