Awards and citations:


1997: Le Prix du Champagne Lanson Noble Cuvée Award for investigations into Champagne for the Millennium investment scams

2001: Le Prix Champagne Lanson Ivory Award for investdrinks.org

2011: Vindic d'Or MMXI – 'Meilleur blog anti-1855'

2011: Robert M. Parker, Jnr: ‘This blogger...’:

2012: Born Digital Wine Awards: No Pay No Jay – best investigative wine story

2012: International Wine Challenge – Personality of the Year Award




Tuesday 31 December 2013

2014 Happy New Year – Mes meilleurs voeux pour 2014


Photos: seeing in 2013@Newtonmore 

Hopefully a good Loire vintage in 2014! 





2013 La Dive Bouteille@Château de Brézé: photo quiz (part 2)


Second part of the photos taken at the 2013 edition of La Dive Bouteille held in the cellars of Château de Brézé. Again names please? Many thanks, especially to those who have now provided some names to go with the photos.





Benoist Rey 
An author who is often at events like Bourgueillotherapie
'Mieux vaut boire du rouge que broyer du noir' is his most recent book
On YouTube

Le Grand Cléré, Lémeré  


This gent remains unnamed from the first quiz?
Can anyone help please?

Monday 30 December 2013

2013 La Dive Bouteille@Château de Brézé - named producers

 Antoine Foucault (Domaine du Collier)

Photos of Loire producers who presented their wines@the 2013 edition of La Dive Bouteille held in the cellars of Château de Brézé – taken on 3rd February 2013. 

 Caroline Boireau (Domaine du Collier)
above and below



Bertrand Jousset (Domaine Jousset, Montlouis)


(Montlouis et un saumon dans la Loire)

Gérald Marula – Beaumont-en-Véron and Lerné
above and below





Pascal Potaire, Faverolles-sur-Cher

above and below



Sunday 29 December 2013

2013 La Dive Bouteille@Château de Brézé: photo quiz


Photos of Loire producers at the 2013 edition of La Dive Bouteille@Château de Brézé. I meant to post them months ago and have now forgotten the names of some of the producers. Here is a selection. Can anyone help with some names please? 


Sylvain Dittière, Domaine de la Porte Saint-Jean

Christian Venier, Cheverny

Jean-Luc Tessier, Faverolles-sur-Cher (Touraine)

Grégory Leclerc, Chahut et Prodiges, Chargé (Indre-et-Loire)
(above and below)
  

 
The 2014 edition of La Dive Bouteille will be held in the Ackerman cellars in St-Hilaire St-Florent on 2nd and 3rd February.

Saturday 28 December 2013

Changing face of Central London

September 2005

In less than a decade the centre of London has been changed substantially. In September 2005 the City of London skyline was dominated by the NatWest Tower and the recently completed Gherkin. Two photos taken this morning (28th December 2013) show how much the skyline has changed with a number of higher buildings led by the Shard now the dominant features overshadowing the NatWest Tower and the Gherkin.  This change has accelerated over the past three years as the photo below from January 2011 shows.

25th January 2011: Shard under construction
Gherkin no longer alone but not the concentration of 
high buildings in the City of London that there is now   


 Taken on a December grey morning: the Shard now dominates

 


Friday 27 December 2013

Caspar Auchterlonie would have been 46 today

 
Caspar Auchterlonie: 28.12.1967-10.4.2012


Serendipity perhaps? 

Yesterday as I was sorting through some images taken during 2007 I came across this shot of Caspar Auchterlonie, which I took at the Circle of Wine Writers' Christmas Party in early December 2007. I hadn't got round to labelling these photos, they still had just their image codes so I had little idea of what I would find. Completely by chance I came across this photo of Caspar, who sadly died at the ridiculously young age of 44 in April 2012. See the tribute by Chris Losh, editor of imbibe here.

Having decided that I wanted to post the photo of Caspar today, I searched on Google to check when he died and discovered to my amazement that 28th December was his birthday – he would have been 46 today.

Fittingly, as I post this, I have a glass of Waitrose's very fine Lustau Dry Oloroso Solera Reserva to hand and lip. Cheers Caspar!   

     

Thursday 26 December 2013

Newenden: River Rother breaks its banks

Newenden Lake? No flooded fields looking eastwards (above and below)

Following the heavy rain and strong winds on Monday through to early Tuesday morning, there is widespread flooding in southern England. Although the photos of the 'Newenden Lake' look spectacular, the fields flooded are water meadows. They are, however, planted with wheat which should be OK providing the water subsides in the next seven days or so.     




 Flooded fields looking westwards