Author Archives for John Borrell

Nectar from the gods

I don’t have a single all-time favourite wine. It depends on the season, with whom...

Raise your glass

Normally I get to drink Champagne two or three times a year, raising a glass...

Pinot Noir – finesse in a bottle

Pinot Noir is not a grape that Poles fall in love with immediately. In fact...

Summer blushes

If you like rosé wine there’s no better place to be than in Provence which...

There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch

This is one of the best-known adages in the English language. Its origins date back...

New Portuguese wines – Pausa

The White Lake

On an autumn day more than two decades ago I sat on a grassy bank...

Awaiting the wines from Domaine des Tourelles

Domaine des Tourelles Article from Decanter Magazine.

Perfumed and wild

Perfumed, gamey, wild, leathery, earthy, lusty. These are just some of the adjectives used by...

From pallets to containers

Sixteen years ago I imported what was probably the first pallet of New Zealand Sauvignon...

The judgement of Paris

Californian wine came of age in 1976 at a blind tasting in Paris which pitted...

Shining brightly

It’s great that Poland now has a Michelin star restaurant, and a very good one...

Wine, not war

It’s nearly 30 years since I was last in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. There was a...

The better the company, the better the wine

Wine is something best enjoyed in the company of other people. The better the company,...

Murcia, the new Puglia?

Few people have heard of the Spanish grape Monastrell. They are much more likely to...

Jonathan Maltus

When Chateau Teyssier’s Jonathan Maltus was our guest at Kania Lodge in Kaszubia a few...