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This Month
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Saturday, June 4
Juan Gil 2008 Jumilla
by
Susan
on Sat 04 Jun 2011 02:36 PM BST
This wine breaks two of my wine-drinking rules. Firstly, it's 15% abv - usually too hot for me to enjoy. Secondly, it's sold in a hefty, if stylish, bottle.
Now usually I don't like wine in extra-heavy bottles. Sometimes all the effort and money has gone into the packaging and not into the wine, or the wines themselves are heavy-handed, built to impress with hefty oak and alcohol but hard to really enjoy a whole bottle of. In this case however, none of this is true. more »
Saturday, May 14
Bodegas Gutiérrez de la Vega - DO Alicante
by
Susan
on Sat 14 May 2011 01:45 PM BST
I am trying to fathom why this one was of my best visits to a winery ever, up there with a visit years ago to Valdespino in Jerez. Was it because it was so difficult to find and only by a little act of serendipity did we get there? Was it because of the natural modesty and unforced hospitality of the winemaker/owner Felipe or was it the very individual and powerfully characterful nature of the wines?
Or perhaps it was it the poetic nature in which the wines were named after great works of literature – Ulysses, The Red and the Black - and famous arias - Una Furtiva Lagrima, all of which touched a chord in me. These are wines of passion and soul, something a little rarer than marketeers would have you think. more »
Monday, April 18
Alpha Estate
by
Susan
on Mon 18 Apr 2011 07:21 PM BST
After three days tasting at the very well organised 11th Thessaloniki International Wine Competition I was keen to get outside the hotel, albeit the very comfortable and smart Hyatt Regency, to see some landscapes, some vineyards and even some wineries. I had been invited to visit the Alpha Estate winery in Northern Greece.
Alpha Estate is in Florio, in Macedonia to be more precise, up near the border with Albania, Macedonia (FYROM) and Bulgaria and it is a mountainous, high-altitude area so we were told to expect snow. In fact the previous Monday it had been minus 3o C! Snow was not something I had planned for when I imagined my trip to Greece in early spring. more »
Monday, October 4
Kluge Estate Winery & Vineyard
by
Susan
on Mon 04 Oct 2010 08:48 PM BST
Kluge Estate must be one of the most well-connected and well-heeled of the wineries we visited in Virginia; it has deservedly a big reputation for sparkling wine - both the Kluge NV Sparkling and Kluge rosé were drunk at this year's Clinton wedding. Patricia Kluge had been married to MetroMedia billionaire John Kluge, (at one time the richest man in America) and was granted this estate as part of their divorce settlement. more »
Sunday, October 3
In Vino Veritas
by
Susan
on Sun 03 Oct 2010 08:24 PM BST
Growing Sauvignon Blanc in Virginia? We’d been told it was impossible because of the climate but here was a winery not only doing it but doing it very well. Here it seems vintages can be swelteringly hot and early (as 2010 was turning out to be), or cold, wet and late (and all else in between). more »
Monday, August 9
5th Cyprus Wine Competition
by
Susan
on Mon 09 Aug 2010 10:06 PM BST
I was pleased to be invited to take part in the 5th Cyprus Wine Competition earlier this year, as one of two international UK judges. I didn’t have to think too hard about this one as I’d never been to Cyprus and I was curious to learn more about and taste the native grape varieties. Besides, May sounded like the perfect time to go. The competition took place over three days culminating with a big awards ceremony at a gala dinner on the Saturday evening. more »
Thursday, August 5
Wednesday, March 31
Wines of Turkey Press Trip
by
Susan
on Wed 31 Mar 2010 08:06 PM BST
A press trip to visit the wine regions of Turkey in spring sounded like an exciting idea back in the middle of a bleak December and I still felt excited as we were about to depart on the last day of February 2010. I’d even done some homework and tasted a bottle of Kavaklidere Öküzgözü from a local Turkish restaurant/deli.
The five day trip was organised by Wines of Turkey, an organisation set up only in the last 3 years by Taner Öğütoğlu and his wife and funded by a small monthly contribution from five of the main wineries. Their first initiative was two years ago when they hired a stand at the LIWSTF and several of the producers came over to represent their wines. more »
Review - Château Larrivet Haut-Brion, Pessac-Leognan 2004
by
Susan
on Wed 31 Mar 2010 08:03 PM BST
In appearance, this has a very deep, opaque, dark ruby core with a narrow rim, just showing some evolution. The nose is clean and incisive, initially with sweet cedar, cigar box and spice followed by blackberries, blackcurrant leaf and dark old fashioned liquorice - a classic red Bordeaux nose. more »
Wednesday, March 3
The Old Bridge
by
Susan
on Wed 03 Mar 2010 11:37 AM GMT
Having found myself with a very early start to a day’s work in Cambridge back in January, I remembered that my former MW mentor John Hoskins MW owned an hotel nearby in Huntingdon - The Old Bridge. So it came to be that I arrived late one evening to a very warm welcome. I was shown to my room by a member of staff who insisted on helping me with my bags. more »
Sunday, October 11
Charles Philipponnat Champagne tasting - London, 8th October 2009
by
Susan
on Sun 11 Oct 2009 05:57 PM BST
Philipponnat is one of the very few family-run Champagne companies left and they have been in Champagne since 1532 when their family moved to Aÿ. In 1910 they moved 10km down the road to Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and in 1935 they acquired the prestigious ‘Clos de Goisses’ single vineyard. This is the jewel in the crown for them as a single vineyard producing ripe Pinot Noir grapes is very rare in Champagne.
They are a medium sized company with an annual production of 600,000 bottles, so they are medium-sized by Champagne standards. They manage to supply one third of their own grapes which in Champagne, where wine grape prices are some of the highest in the world, is also quite a rare thing and gives them a degree of independence. more »
Sunday, September 13
Monday, July 20
The Food and Wine Guide to Naples and Campania by Carla Capalbo
by
Susan
on Mon 20 Jul 2009 10:43 AM BST
To many people, Italians included, the south of Italy is largely unknown, ignored in favour of the wealthier and more fashionable central and northern regions, with their rich artistic and musical heritage and their historical importance; Rome, Venice, Genoa, Florence - all have played significant roles in the development of Italy, the region and the world beyond. more »
Saturday, July 18
AWRI Wine Assessment Tasting
by
Susan
on Sat 18 Jul 2009 01:24 PM BST
I was very pleased to be invited to participate in the recent Wine Assessment Tasting, hosted by The Australian Wine Research Institute. Those attending included a mixture of journalists, wine educators, winemakers and trade, more »
Wednesday, April 1
Hidden Spain
by
Susan
on Wed 01 Apr 2009 06:35 PM BST
Having just returned from a breathless and breathtaking tour of some of Northern Spain's less well known DOs on the recent CWW trip, I am filled with even more enthusiasm for 'hidden Spain'. What attracted me to the trip initially was the allure of visiting DO Cigales and DO Bierzo but I found much more to excite me.
more »
Friday, October 17
IMW Hungary trip October 9th to 13th - A visit to Gere winery in Villány
by
Susan
on Fri 17 Oct 2008 06:15 PM BST
Villány is in the south of Hungary near the Croatian border. When we arrived late at night I could see the lights across the border in Croatia from my hotel room. Our hotel was a small boutique-style establishment with a spa (which unfortunately we didn’t get to see). It is owned by the Gere family with whom our first and only visit in Villány was scheduled for the following morning. more »
Tuesday, July 15
Highlights of a press trip to Vinho Verde, June 2008
by
Susan
on Tue 15 Jul 2008 06:57 PM BST
It had been more than 10 years since I last visited Vinho Verde and I was keen to see all the changes that had taken place. Lying north of Oporto, it has a lush green hilly landscape, and is dissected by fast flowing rivers – more dramatic in scenery the further north you go towards the Spanish border. more »
Saturday, July 5
Sunday, June 8
21st Miguel Torres Wine Course
by
Susan
on Sun 08 Jun 2008 04:15 PM BST
This 4 day trip was aimed mainly at exporters and trade and was very much a multinational event with delegates from Eastern Europe (Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia) as well as Israel, Canada and Singapore among others. more »
Wednesday, March 12
Interview with Pilar García-Granero, Presidenta del Consejo Regulador de la Denominación de Origen Navarra – 6th March 2008, London
by
Susan
on Wed 12 Mar 2008 08:31 PM GMT
On a trip to Navarra last October I reported on the air of excited anticipation and renewed enthusiasm among the wine producers as a new president of the Consejo Regulador, the local wine regulating body, had been elected. more »
Thursday, October 4
An organic/biodynamic demonstration in FA Geisenheim vineyards
by
Susan
on Thu 04 Oct 2007 08:35 PM BST
After a long morning of lectures on topics such as organic and biodynamic viticulture, the ORWINE EU funded project and yeast populations in organic & biodynamic vineyards, we now had our first chance to get out into the vineyards at Geisenheim. more »
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Susan Hulme became a Master of Wine in 2005, at that time one of only 250 in the world. She won the Madame Bollinger Tasting Medal, awarded for an outstanding performance in the tasting part of the exam. Details: Panel judge for the International Wine Challenge. Regular contributor to Decanter tasting panels. Member of the Circle of Wine Writers. Former chairman of the Association of Wine Educators (AWE). Editor of the AWE newsletter. Member of the Institute of Masters of Wine Events Committee. I run my own wine education and consultancy company, Vintuition, based in Berkshire and provide all kinds of training and bespoke wine courses for the trade and public. A major part of my work is running in-house training and WSET exams for sales executives at some of the leading on-trade and retail wine companies. Susan Hulme became a Master of Wine in 2005, at that time one of only 250 in the world. She won the Madame Bollinger Tasting Medal, awarded for an outstanding performance in the tasting part of the exam. Details: Panel judge for the International Wine Challenge. Regular contributor to Decanter tasting panels. Member of the Circle of Wine Writers. Former chairman of the Association of Wine Educators (AWE). Editor of the AWE newsletter. Member of the Institute of Masters of Wine Events Committee.
Contact: susan@vintuition.co.uk |
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