Phil Parrish, Wine Merchant and Journalist based in East Yorkshire, UK
The Spanish economy might be in a perilous state at the moment but their wine trade is booming, apart from lacklustre domestic consumption – although our recent five strong family holiday might have given it a temporary boost! New investment and a fresh generation of innovative wine makers have made...
Muscadet is one of those wines that the world (including me) seems to have forgotten, and is now in serious difficulty. Muscadet is now both the name of a defined wine region of the western Loire and, by default, a grape variety, although strictly speaking the grape variety should be...
It’s estimated that there are more than six thousand different grape varieties world wide that are being made into wine. You certainly don’t get that impression when you look at the varieties on the bottles in our supermarkets – you’d be hard pressed to find more than thirty – we...
I shouldn’t have a favourite grape variety, but secretly I have – and it’s Chardonnay. I’m not the biggest fan of over oaked styles but a bone dry, minerally, buttery, 1er cru Chablis with a bit of age is amongst my favourite slurps. Much maligned in recent years, primarily due...
A while ago I was invited on a wine buying trip to France. It was an all-expenses-paid affair, and they must have thought I was someone else as I was housed in the finest hotel in Cannes, the Hotel Carlton. This hotel is an imposing luxurious building and is listed...
My better half tells me that buying a Christmas present for me is a nightmare, but I think I am easy – here are a few suggestions that I, and no doubt other winos, would appreciate. Books are always a good bet but the chances are that most bacchanals already...
What wine can you buy for £5? I’ve noticed lately how expensive wine has become in the supermarkets, with prices in the main hovering close the £10 a bottle mark, and a considerable amount costing a great deal more. It only seems like yesterday when you could happily buy a...
Who would have predicted three or four years ago that this relatively second tier red grape variety would suddenly be one of the most saleable varieties in the UK? Well I didn’t, and everybody else seems to be surprised too by its meteoric rise in popularity, with Tescos reporting a...
I read a statistic last week that took some believing – we now buy more South African wine in the UK than we do French. Latest figures from market analysts AC Nielsen show that sales of South African wines grew 20% by volume, compared to a decline in French wine...
The range and style of wines from this blessed area are quite simply astonishing and unsurpassed by any other area of Italy. This in part is due to the range of indigenous grape varieties – including the much maligned Moscato, famous or infamous, depending on your point of view, for...
You can’t beat visiting a vineyard to take in the full amount of dedication, hard work and commitment needed to make even the simplest of wines. And if you happen to visit the maker of your favourite vinous treat in situ then you are hooked on it forever, as the...