JournalLive - Taste Columnists - Helen Savage

New Zealand winemakers rise to Riesling challenge

JournalLive — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

NEW Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir are so good that it’s sometimes easy to forget just how good other New Zealand wines can be. This was brought home to me by two special features at the annual trade tasting of New Zealand wines in London a fortnight ago.

Getting to grips with Austria's pride and joy

JournalLive — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

MICCHI Moosbrugger is a brave man. He allowed a group of Master of Wine students free rein in one of Schloss Gobelsburg’s best vineyards in Austria’s Kamptal to practice pruning.

Wine importers Bibendum on a mission to make wines more accessible

JournalLive — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

I’M FASCINATED by wine lists. The biggest one I ever struggled to pick up was several inches thick.

Syrah is a French classic through and through

JournalLive — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

SYRAH is from South East France. Despite being known to lots of wine lovers as Shiraz it has nothing to do with the ancient Persian town of the same name. DNA profiling has proven its French origins beyond doubt. It first made great wine in the northern part of the Rhône Valley and still does.

Sauvignon Blanc is still throwing up surprises

JournalLive — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

I PLANTED a small row of Sauvignon Blanc vines 20 years ago – at the bottom of our garden beside our little cottage in South West France.

Perfect wines from Portugal

JournalLive — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

I MET Tiago Alves de Sousa a couple of years ago when he came to present his extraordinary wines over a dinner at Jesmond Dene House.

Chablis and news on climate change

JournalLive — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

THE evidence for climate change is clear in cool grape-growing regions like Chablis.

Perfect partners for vine dining

JournalLive — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

CHRISTMAS wine selections are often dictated by chance: what’s on offer and what’s new. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been inundated by publicity companies with ideas for the perfect wines for the festive season.

Port and starboard shippers

JournalLive — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

THE Methuen Treaty, signed in 1703, gave preferential status to imports of Portuguese wine into Britain. British wine shippers made the most of this opportunity and the port trade blossomed.

Hop to it to discover fine wines

JournalLive — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

AN industrial unit may be an unpromising place to find fine wine, but it’s well worth taking the trouble to find The Hop, The Vine.

Jordy wine for a Geordie crowd

JournalLive — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

MY FAMILY persuaded me to part with a five-litre box of rather good red wine, which I’d bought in the south of France a few weeks ago, so that it could be shared around after a charity concert.

Masters of Wine Bordeaux tasting event goes down a treat

JournalLive — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

IVE just booked an appointment with my dentist. If you taste 80 young red, or more like purple wines from Bordeaux, your teeth take a heck of a battering.

Scientific approach to perfecting France's best wines

JournalLive — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

WHILE it’s true that some French co-ops still seem to prefer to concentrate on quantity above quality, others have very different aims and produce some of the best wine in their regions.

Drink to success of Pinet co-op

JournalLive — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

PICPOUL de Pinet is worth discovering. The only appellation in Languedoc just for dry white wine, it is affordable, food-friendly and delicious.

Discover fine port from the Douro Valley

JournalLive — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

VINTAGE port is not made every year. It is the best fruit, from the most successful harvests, blended from the finest vineyards.

Wines from Domaine de l’Hortus near Montpellier, France

JournalLive — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:00:00 GMT

THE Domaine de l’Hortus is set in an isolated valley in the South of France, a short drive north of Montpellier, sandwiched between two immense limestone crags.

Sicily refines its classic red wine

JournalLive — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:00:00 GMT

SICILY is moving fast now,” says Michèle Shah, a leading authority on Italian wine. “Styles have changed – away from big, heavy, over-ripe, over-extracted wines to elegance and fresh acidity. When they’re well-made, they now rank amongst the really great wines of Italy.”

Concha y Toro wines produce sparkling results

JournalLive — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:00:00 GMT

CONCHA y Toro is the biggest wine producer in Chile. One of their best-selling brands is Casillero del Diablo. Its consistent quality and excellent value for money has been a big factor in establishing Chile as a leader in today’s highly competitive market.

Wine legend Oz Clarke on reviving the British pub

JournalLive — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 07:30:00 GMT

YOU’VE got to bang the drum,” says Oz Clarke. “The pub is the hub. Without pubs, communities will suffer badly.” The pub should house the Post Office and village shop, he argues; it might even provide a home for the local church – or vice versa.

Wines well worth the wait

JournalLive — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:00:00 GMT

A CURIOUS procession snaked its way around the almost impossibly well manicured vineyards of St Julien and Pauillac – red-faced bees, giant yellow frogs, sweaty supermen, weary wonderwomen and a man wearing a green tutu with an alligator’s tail.