Let’s all bitch about wine, or is that whine about bitch?

This meme appeared on my Facebook newsfeed some time ago – If you’ve never had a Supreme Court case decide if you have the same rights as others, you have privilege. This is so true, and a very simple explanation of what privilege is. Recently, I saw a post on Tim Atkin’s site in relation to wine bitch, something of which I had never heard. This led to two other articles, by Vinka Danitza, (who I don’t know and have never met. Finally, I was sent the four so-called wine bitch articles and the whole thing is quite depressing. 

Rock’n’roll blues, or a rose by any other name…

The terminology of wine tasting is notoriously loose and ill-defined and this can cause problems when so-called experts (i.e. geeks like me) try to explain what a wine is like to a normal person (i.e. you!). What seems like a useful term within the trade can be confusing (or even off-putting) to a lot of consumers. One such term, which became fashionable about 12 years ago, is “minerality”. What is this “minerality” of which we speak? As it happens, even the great and good aren’t so sure…

Thank you so very much....

A trip like this is a costly thing, for all concerned. Every MW on the trip paid GBP 750 to be there as well as flights to and from Australia. Our sponsors in Australia all paid varying sums of money to cover wines, venues, food etc. There’s also the cost of time off work and away from family. Since we have paid we have a right to be critical of the wines we taste and what we hear but that in no way diminishes our gratitude to our hosts. 

When you’re in the dark don’t strike a match

In which I explain my views on some trends and why they may not be important.

Along the way we were given a list of new trends, which was essentially a buzzword bingo lexicon. Cooler sites, early picking, natural acidity, good sulfites, reductive handling, struck match and so on – a range of phrases representing the current trends in relation to new wine styles in Australia.

At last we're on duty...

The Institute of Masters of Wine Australia Trip 2015 started off on a lovely Sunday morning with breakfast at the Sydney Opera house.

The views are stunning and we were treated to a lovely breakfast there, some scene-setting presentations and then a range of tastings designed to show, as briefly as possible, what Australia is all about.

How many Hawaiian shirts can you pack?

#MWOz2015 - well, the trip has started as I type this little piece in the departures lounge of Dublin airport on a beautifully sunny day. The suitcase is full of Hawaiian shirts (the dress code is smart casual) and we have a breakfast alert: the trip starts with a 6 course breakfast at the Sydney Opera House at 08:30 Sydney time. Which means a lot of disappointed English MWs having to taste fine Australian wine on the day they exit the Rugby World Cup! Unless, of course, they can win...

Countdown to Australia

On the 1st of October 2015 yours truly will get on a Qantas plane and fly to Sydney. Why? Because I'm taking part in the Institute of Masters of Wine's Australia Trip. This is an intense, hectic trip, more or less non-stop for 12 days - you can view the itinerary to see exactly how gruelling it will be. Cricket on the beach? That's the way you do it, wine for nothing and your wines for free...

Fit for purpose...

Are Harpers wine blogs fit for purpose?

No. Not a bit, judging by a recent example, namely one entitled “Is the Institute of Masters of Wine fit for purpose?” by Mr Stephen Forward. The main reason for my negative response is that he states the Institute (IMW) is an elitist club, accessible only by invitation and is not fit for purpose. He further states that IMW is not relevant to the modern wine industry.

From Botticelli to Bond…

We did a lot on Saturday – too much to detail but here's the headlines.

Who ever heard of...

Early Saturday morning, drag yourself out of bed, put on suit (battledress all day as no time to change before tonight’s dinner), struggle to café for breakfast, feel refreshed (just), move on, find seat and ask yourself if you want to sleep or do a tasting of 46 wines?

But then…start with a pinot gris from the Valle d’Aosta and wow! where did that come from? Then a red made from the well known fumin grape (?) and the next thing you know you’re happily smiling as you taste one more new grape after another…

Old and well known such as trebbiano but being made into really good wines then new to me varieties such as schioppettino, tintilia, centesimino, mantonico, magliocco, timorasso, croatina, frappato, carricante and many more. I blame Jancis – it’s obviously a plot to sell more copies of J3… we all wanted to dip into it during the tasting!

Some stunning wines – centesimono is a red wine that basically tastes like gewürztraminer and there are only 20 Ha planted. Somebody found this old vine many years back and planted cuttings. A few other growers did the same and then got it DNA tested, discovering that it’s unique. Not knowing what it was they called it after the guy who first found it and whose nickname was “centesimono”!

Eventually, struggle back to the auditorium but enlivened and uplifted – what a revelatory tasting. You may be tired but when you get real quality allied to interesting and unknown wines the effect is amazing. Tiredness dissolves and happiness evolves…

A magical mystery tour

At the end of the day we were broken up into small groups to visit individual properties in Tuscany. We had a long, very long, drive to visit Fattoria Felsina in Castelnuovo Berardegna and it was worth it.

From past to future via the present…

The next three sessions covered a huge range of topics. The first, moderated by David Gleave MW covered the changes in Italy over the past 60 years. Marchese Piero Antinori started by giving us the background to the revolution which occurred in the 1960s and ‘70s (largely due to his pioneering spirit). Alberto Tasca d’Almerita and Maurizio Zanelli explained how changes have occurred in Sicily and Franciacorta respectively. The latter region is only about 50 years old, even wine has been made there for centuries (by the way, Piero let slip the first night that his family had been living in Florence for only 900 years so we were getting a really broad perspective). Gaia Gaja then gave an excellent viewpoint on how to move forward, based on her father’s determination to change the perception of Piemontese wines.

The next session was geek heaven (I was happy!) as it was about wine research. Some of the best wine researchers in the world gave an overview of their work – Peter Godden of the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) (and also ace nebbiolo producer); Hildegard Heymann of University of California Davis (UCD) and a long-time friend; Hans-Reiner Schultz of Geisenheim University, who has taught a number of Irish students; and Cesare Intrieri, Professor of Viticulture at the University of Bologna). The subjects are too technical to cover but there is a remarkable degree of work being done on a huge range of topics.

The final session of the day covered aspects of wine business with an impressive panel comprised of Christian Seeley of AXA Millesimes, Rajeev Samant of Sula Vineyards in India, Rowald Hepp from Schloss Vollrads and Oscar Farinetti of Eataly. Again, time constraints meant we barely got into the meat of the discussion but overall it was thought-provoking.

A new world of wine

Session 2 opened Friday’s programme, exceptionally well moderated by John Hoskins MW, took up the topic of climate change and how it affects the world of wine. The panel consisted of Prof. Greg Jones, a climatologist and winemaker from Oregon, Dr José Voillamoz, a geneticist and one third of J3 (the authors of Wine Grapes – Jancis Robinson MW and Julia Harding MW being the other two-thirds), Christophe Salin, President of Domaines Baron de Rothschild (Lafite) and Frank Cornelissen a winemaker on Etna.

The Symposium starts…

After a lovely morning exploring the streets and sights of Florence the Symposium started with a tasting of sparkling wines from Trento in the gardens of the Palazzo dei Congressi. Our first full session was about the role of different media in communicating with consumers.

Walk the talk...

MWs know how to make wine, right? Hmmm.... good question, brilliantly answered at yesterday afternoon's tasting after the first session of the IMW Symposium in Florence.Some 20 winemakers presented 36 wines from 9 countries and there were some superb wines on taste.

What a lucky band we are...

What you are looking at is the Madonna and Child with six Angels, by Botticelli. why on a wine blog? Because at dinner tonight, hosted by the Chianti Classico Consorzio for delegates at the Institute of Masters of Wine's 8th Symposium in Florence this painting was on display in the Palazzo Corsini.

Sad news...

Sad news today that Nick Baile MW died yesterday. Nick founded Oddbins a long time ago and was one of the old guard of the IMW, having passed in 1961. I met Nick a few times and always found him a good person to be sitting beside at dinner.
This brings our number back down to 312. By the way, the number of "Irish" MWs grows - this year we have two from Northern Ireland, Barry Dick MW and Ann McHale MW.
So far the "Irish" are:
Robin Kinahan (N.I.), Alan Crowley (R.O.I.), Martin Moran (U.K.), Dermot Nolan (R.O.I.), Jane Boyce (N.I.), Carmel Kilcline (R.O.I.), Fergal Tynan (R.O.I.), Mary Gorman-McAdams (R.O.I.), Barry Dick (N.I.) and Ann McHale (N.I.): 10 in total with 6 men and 4 women.

312 and counting

Great news today from the Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) announcing 8 new Masters of Wine (MWs) bringing this year's passes up to 11 in total. Included are the first Turkish MW, Ms Dilek Caner MW working in the US as well two other Irish MWs, Mr Barry Dick MW from Northern Ireland and Ms Ann McHale MW, also from Northern Ireland. Good news too in that Lynne Coyle, the head buyer for O'Brien's Fine Wines, has now one step left, the Dissertation, so I hope all will join in congratulating those who passed and encouraging Lynne for next year.

John Avery MW RIP

The last post was about the passing of Trevor Mast, this is about the passing of John Avery MW, who died today. John was a big, bluff man, with a booming voice, strong opinions and a great sense of humour and of history. I first met John on the MW West Coast USA trip in 1999, then again on the Australia trip of 2001 and the Portugal trip of 2002.
On the Australia trip, we spend Anzac day travelling from Coonawarra to Melbourne, via a morning tasting and lunch at Best's Great Western (and an afternoon visit to Mt Langhi Ghiran). On all MW trips every event has 2 MWs with specific duties - one is the scribe, who writes up the event for the trip report, the other is the official thanker, who thanks the hosts and organisers on the day. This day, it was John's turn and he gave an intensely moving speech on the topic of Anzac Day and Gallipoli. It was simply marvellous. John Avery RIP, 23/03/2012.

Do you like aged wines? Chianti, perhaps?

On Monday 4th April, on behalf of the the Institute of Masters of Wine, I am running a tasting of Chianti and Super Tuscan IGTs from the highly renowned 2001 vintage. This is a reprise of a tasting held in London in 2005 and in Dublin in 2006. There are 39 wines to be tasted in a standard producer-free walk around tasting. Tickets are €30 and should be booked in advance from Helen Williams in the IMW office or directly from the events pages of the IMW website, where the tasting sheets can also be downloaded.