taste by flemming

It’s the only way to go after a long day’s wine tasting. And this was after a long day of bubbles. Strange to think that in the middle of Reims, in the Place Drouet d’Erlon, there is an English-style pub with music, burgers (only the finest Angus or Wagyu), champagne – and Belgian beer. The …

Burger and pommes frites, of course. Here the Pierre Péters Réserve Oubliée, an extraordinary blend of each of their 56 parcels of Chardonnay from the villages of Le Mesnil, Oger, Avize and Cramant, all classified Grand Cru in the Cote des Blancs, an east-facing chalk-rich slope south of Épernay, the acknowledged epicentre of Champagne. It …

Blanc de Blanc or Blanc de Noir? TrentoDoc or Franciacorta? Top quality parcellaire Champagne or entry-level supermarket fizz? Vintage 2016 or 2015? Traditional method or charmat? Autolysis or Maillard? Many questions – and many samples – in perfectly proportioned sparkling glasses from Josefinenhütte. Alison struts her stuff with a range of sparkling wines from around …

Obwohl Champagner oft als der Star unter den Schaumweinen gilt, gibt es viele andere Beispiele, die ebenso erkundenswert sind. Die Welt der Schaumweine ist reich und vielfältig und bietet eine breite Palette von Stilen und Geschmacksrichtungen. In dieser Masterclass mit Verkostung teilt Master of Wine Alison Flemming ihr Fachwissen über verschiedene Schaumwein-Stile, Produktionsmethoden und Qualitäten …

Never stop learning. Especially when you have the Master of Riesling, Olivier Zind-Humbrecht MW, taking you through an extraordinary tasting of Rieslings from 14 top growers in Alsace, with each grower showing off two of his or her Grand Cru Rieslings from different vintages. Learnings came fast and furious. Here are a few: 1) forget …

How much is the taste of wine influenced by man rather than terroir? Well, that depends…. Some would argue that sparkling wine’s style, for example, is created by man as the winemaker decides which wines and which quantities are included in the assemblage or blend. And yet all those complex elements and interactions of terroir …

The MW „origin“ system means you get „allocated“ the country you live in. So here is Anne Krebiehl MW – German born but living in the UK so considered to be „Origin UK“ – and me, considered to be „Origin Germany“, UK born but living in Germany. And here we both are in Alsace, which …

Alsace rocks: despite the common belief that Gewürztraminer should be drunk young, a tasting of this highly aromatic grape variety in Alsace shows just how beautifully it can age thanks to its high natural tannins. Jean-Frédéric Hugel opened up a magnum of 1953 Gewürztraminer which was umami savoury with Parmesan biscuit notes and a creamy, …

What an honour to have John Malkovich, the renowned and sometimes controversial American actor and film producers, be our guest in one of the IMW 10th Symposium discussion sessions, hosted by MCs Susie and Peter Barrie, a married MW couple. Here he is with the „internal team“ of MWs who executed the symposium. John talked …

No, this is not about us, but about an extraordinary tasting on the final day of the IMW Symposium in Wiesbaden. Eight decades of wine history were discussed and tasted: over 70 year old Tawny Port from Taylor’s (especially bottled for the symposium); 1955 Gonzalez Byass Oloroso Sherry (also the year of the inauguration of …