http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php Wed, 1 Jun 2011 14:27:00 GMT en With the Bordeaux en primeur campaign yet to get under way, we thought that we would make a quick trip to Burgundy this week to visit the exciting, and much talked about, new producer ? Domaine d?Eugenie. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=93 Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=93 Today we headed in a different direction - over the 'Entre Deux Mers' and up to Pomerol and Saint Emilion. First stop was the headquarters of Ets Jean-Pierre Moueix where Christian Moueix and his son Edouard greeted us with an all-star Pomerol line-up (and their two Saint Emilions - Magdelaine and Belair Monange). What a cracking tasting this was with the wonderful, plump, yet perfectly balanced Moueix wines. Trotanoy, La Fleur Petrus and Hosanna were all outstanding and Certan de May (not actually made by them but part of their portfolio) is at the same level. The erudite and charming Christian Moueix told us that 2010 was a vintage that needed 'under-extraction' not 'over-extraction' and that he had gone to great lengths not to exaggerate the vintage's tannins. If only some of the Saint Emilion producers with their 15 degree headbangers had listened to these wise words.... http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=92 Wed, 6 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=92 Day three began with a trip back up to Pauillac and a visit to our friends at Lynch Bages. There was a very smoky and exotic Villa Bel-Air on show here and an excellent Ormes de Pez but - wow - what a Lynch Bages! I asked Jean-Charles Cazes for a reference point and he said that it was the best since 1989 and 1990. Daniel Llose - who started making wine at Lynch in 1976 - said that this 2010 was off the charts and that it is the most powerful young wine that he had ever tasted here. When we read James Suckling's review last week we thought that he might have got a little carried away with his score.....well he didn't. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=91 Tue, 5 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=91 The Farr Vintners team were up at the crack of dawn today for a slow crawl up the back roads of the Medoc to our 9am start at....Lafite. Talk about setting the bar high. We were only starting the day with the world's (well OK, China's) most demanded wine! http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=90 Mon, 4 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=90 The Farr Vintners en primeur tasting team this year is the biggest ever with a diverse range of ages, palates and tasting experience. Our 'two wise men' are here again to offer us their wisdom and knowledge. Derek Smedley MW tasted his first en primeur vintage in 1961 and Barry Phillips bought his first case of wine - Lafite 1953 - as an eleven year old schoolboy! Their expertise in tasting raw young cask samples is invaluable to the younger members of our team. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=89 Sun, 3 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=89 Last week I was in Hong Kong for a very special dinner that we co-hosted with Bruno Borie, the proprietor of Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou and ?Monsieur Truffle? - Pierre-Jean Pébeyre. Check out Monsieur Truffle at www.pebeyre.com http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=88 Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=88 You may recall Stephen?s blog back in October about the 03 Bordeaux tasting (or was it Phillip Schofield?s black teeth that spring to mind?). Since then, there have been a few email correspondences going back with my Singapore friends who were, how can I say, just a little 'sceptical', as to how approachable and ready-to-drink the 03's really are. So, we decided to put the matter to rest once and for all, and have our own 03 tasting in Singapore, to let the wines speak for themselves on another continent, on the other side of the world. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=87 Thu, 3 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=87 We were delighted to read this review of Sam Weaver's Churton Wines in 'Wandering Palate'. It is our firm belief that Sam's Churton Vineyard is the best in Marlborough and as the vines mature (he now makes his wines entirely from his own grapes) the quality just gets better and better. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=84 Mon, 28 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=84 During March Farr Vintners will be participating in Wine Relief, part of Comic Relief's annual fundraising event by donating £20 for every case we sell during the month. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=86 Thu, 24 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=86 Just before Christmas 2010 a group of us assembled at Chez Bruce restaurant for a spectacular and unique tasting of forty vintages of Chateau La Conseillante, in the company of winemaker Jean-Michel Laporte. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=85 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=85 A recent trip home to New Zealand to see family and friends gave me the perfect opportunity to visit the four wineries that we represent. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=83 Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=83 Do you fancy dinner in Dalian? ? how tempting does 83 Margaux, 86 Lafite, 89 Haut Brion, 82 Mouton, 82 Latour and 97 Yquem sound? ??I booked my ticket! http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=81 Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=81 Every year the leading wine buyers of the UK wine trade get together and organise a comprehensive blind tasting of the most recently released Bordeaux vintage. The tasting takes place at The Crown Hotel at Southwold in Suffolk and has been a regular event now for nearly 30 years. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=82 Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=82 Last week we were delighted to receive our old friend Hubert de Bouard at Farr Vintners for a chat and a tasting of some of his wines. Hubert has been making the wine at Chateau Angelus since the mid 1980's and he has undoubtedly transformed this property from a previous 'also-ran' into one of the very top Chateaux of Saint Emilion, and indeed one of the best of the entire Bordeaux region. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=80 Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=80 First of all, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our customers and suppliers for their fantastic support in 2010. We are well aware that you all have a choice of where you buy and sell your fine wine and we really appreciate the fact that, for so many people around the world, Farr Vintners is their number one wine source. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=79 Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=79 Further to Stephen Browett's blog 'Kiwi Chardonnay takes on the World' of August this year, we are happy to post these notes from Paul Brajkovic of Kumeu River on a similar theme. We often think the best match with good white Burgundy is crayfish and we are lucky that Milan has a friend that likes to swap wine for crayfish. Depending on the market price of the crays we normally get a case of crays for 1 or 2 cases of Kumeu River. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=78 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=78 Oliver East and I hopped on the Eurostar to Brussels at the end of last week for another of our annual First Growth dinners with Belgian friends, a group of real super-gastronomes! This time the venue was the great Restaurant Bruneau (www.bruneau.be) and the theme was Chateau Margaux. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=77 Wed, 15 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=77 Many congratulations to the 2010 Farr Vintners Christmas Quiz Champion, Richard Ross, who got an impressive score of 48/50. Richard beat last year's winner, Kurt Baker, into second place. Many thanks to all of you who took part and the best of luck next time! View Quiz Answers http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=76 Tue, 7 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=76 It was with heavy hearts (and heavy bags of wines) that the Hong Kong team plodded round to a nearby Japanese restaurant last night for the farewell dinner of the inimitable Miss Jessica Law who will be leaving Farr on Friday after 4 years with the company. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=75 Tue, 23 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=75 Tuesday saw the annual Farr Vintners Christmas Tasting at the historic Vintners Hall in London. In attendance were some of the finest names in the wine world, including Frédéric Engerer of Château Latour, Jean-Guillaume Prats of Château Cos d'Estournel, Mélanie Tesseron of Château Pontet-Canet and Emeline Borie of Châteaux Grand-Puy-Lacoste and Haut-Batailley. We were also delighted to show wines from Zind-Humbrecht, Verget/Guffens-Heynen, William Fèvre, Peter Michael, Krug, Dom Pérignon, Nyetimber, Gosset, Beaucastel, and many, many more. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=74 Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=74 Last week we headed off to the Rhône Valley to see if the 2009 wines were shaping up to be as good as the talk that surrounds them. We were not let down. First stop was Côte Rôtie where we called in on Patrick Jasmin who told us that 2009 was simply the most perfect vintage to make as both quality was high and yields good. He described the wines as having elegance, finesse, structure and of course plenty of fruit. Perfect acidity, perfect balance, perfect everything he said. His 2500 case production Côte Rôtie is a wine for those who are turned off by the more oaky rich style of Monsieur Guigal - who now, we were told, controls over 50% of the appellation. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=73 Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=73 There's nothing better than discovering a wine of a given appellation, class or reputation which exceeds expectation. Knowing that Chateau 'X' 1990 has a 97 point Parker score is useful information but what's much more useful is knowing the relative merits of that score based on your own experience and considered opinion. It's for this kind of information that customers consult a wine merchant and it's with great relish that under-rated wines like La Mission Haut Brion 1983, Cheval Blanc 1983 and 1989 and Pichon Lalande 1983 and 1988 can be discovered by the uninitiated or persued by the already enlightened at bargain prices. Let's keep this to ourselves shall we..?! http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=72 Mon, 25 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=72 Off to Paris for the weekend to attend the 30th anniversary of Willi's Wine Bar. We wander the streets of the 1er arrondissement on Saturday morning and thoughts turn to lunch. I sense that my wife is thinking of somewhere chic on the Champs Elysées or the Boulevard Saint Germain, but I have another destination in mind - ten stops away on metro route 13, deep in the Parisian suburbs. This is the equivalent of staying in Mayfair and deciding to have lunch in Croydon. What was I thinking of? Well, quite simply, while Sophie was trying on handbags in the Rue Saint Honoré , my one-track mind was thinking only of Coche-Dury. Homer Simpson dreams of doughnuts, I dream of Coche. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=71 Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=71 One of the hardest questions facing any Hong Konger is the classic ?where shall we go for dinner tonight??. The city is crammed with restaurants offering an array of different cuisines ? whatever your taste, you are sure to find it here, and survival in such competitive circumstances means that restaurants can only offer the best quality for their very discerning customers. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=70 Mon, 11 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=70 2003 Bordeaux was the theme as 16 of us sat down at 9.30 am last Friday to blind taste our way through the 100 top wines of the Medoc and Graves. Apart from assembling a comprehensive 'who's who' of the left bank wines of Bordeaux, we had also put together an all-star tasting panel that included Jancis Robinson, James Suckling, Neal Martin and the vastly experienced Barry Phillips and Derek Smedley MW. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=69 Mon, 4 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=69 This weekend I hopped on a plane ? destination - Qingdao. It was my first time to Qingdao and I really was not sure what to expect. When people talk about Chinese cities they talk in terms of millions of people ? would it be like Shenzhen, Guangzhou, or for that matter any densely populated city around the world? http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=68 Mon, 27 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=68 As a rule Farr Vintners sells wines that we know well from famous producers with famous vineyards in famous wine regions. Just now and again, something comes along from off the beaten track that really takes us by surprise... See our Special Offer... http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=66 Wed, 15 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=66 http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=67 Tue, 14 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=67 Last night was that great annual event - getting the dinner jacket out of the cupboard. With bow ties tied, George, Henry and I headed off to the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane for the International Wine Challenge's 2010 awards dinner. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=65 Tue, 7 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=65 With the August sun being seen for a few seconds recently, between cloud and rain, I thought that I would experiment with some blind white wine tastings. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=64 Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=64 Last Saturday saw the start of the Football League season and the first match for Crystal Palace under the new ownership of CPFC 2010 - a consortium of 4 people drawn together in a joint effort to save this famous football club (established in 1905) from extinction. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=63 Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=63 With the 2009 en primeur campaign winding down and our top ten biggest selling wines of the vintage now published, I decided to dash to Bordeaux to re-taste some our most successful 2009's and see how they have developed. I always think we taste them too early on in March/April and with an extra 4 months in barrel it would be fascinating to see how they have developed from our first, hurried look when we tasted nearly 300 wines in four days. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=62 Tue, 3 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=62 Where have all the blogs gone? Those who regularly read the Farr Vintners blogs might very well have been asking that question. With nothing published for the last six weeks you could assume that we've been putting our feet up but - far from it - June and July 2010 have been the two busiest months in the history of Farr Vintners! And the simple reason for that has been the extraordinary phenomenon that is 2009 Bordeaux. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=61 Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=61 OK, a confession, it was actually 25 years ago. In fact it was almost exactly 25 years ago. On June 26th 1985 Farr Vintners sold a bottle of Lafite 1811 for £12,000 in an auction at the Café Royal in London, beating the world record price of £8500 per bottle. It was quite a big story at the time and was featured on the ITN national news. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=60 Tue, 8 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=60 There are three questions that we are asked more than any others about 2009 Bordeaux. They are about quality, prices and allocations. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=58 Thu, 13 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=58 This morning Charlie Mount of Nyetimber Vineyards in Sussex, kindly presented us the vineyard's latest release - their 2005. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=57 Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=57 A week ago we released the Farr Vintners Vintage Report and Tasting Notes for 2009 Bordeaux. Such is the huge interest in this potentially great vintage that the immediate result was that our web site crashed because of the biggest number of 'hits' that we ever experienced in one day. We have now upgraded the site both with extra power and also with additional tasting notes. Customers are invited to register their interest by placing 'pre-orders' and 'wish-lists'. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=56 Fri, 16 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=56 The Farr Vintners formation tasting team headed en masse to Bordeaux last week to taste the 2009 vintage. The London sales and purchasing department was joined by Jo and Jessica who arrived overnight from Hong Kong, Barry Phillips (our guru and mentor from Chilgrove) and photographer Colin whose work will shortly be illustrating our web site. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=55 Mon, 5 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=55 Last week Tom, Oliver and I spent a day in Burgundy visiting our most important supplier there, Jean-Marie Guffens. Jean-Marie was once described (by Robert Parker no less) as being 'the world's greatest Chardonnay wine-maker' and a visit to his Verget cellars is always one of the highlights of our year. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=54 Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=54 We have today learnt that one of France's most famous white wines will be changing its name from the 2009 vintage. Laville Haut Brion is possibly the world's finest and most famous dry white wine that is made primarily from the Semillon grape variety (the blend in 2008 was 79% Semillon, 21% Sauvignon Blanc). It's certainly the world's most expensive dry Semillon with a release price en primeur last year of £2600 per dozen. Haut Brion Blanc is, by the way, a 50:50 blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=53 Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=53 Last week, it was a privilege to have James Suckling spend some time here at Farr Vintners in London to taste the 2007 vintage ports in our tasting room. We managed to persuade him to give us a tutored tasting on the entire range of these wonderful but very young vintage ports and James helped us to understand what he was looking for when tasting them at such an early stage. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=51 Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=51 With the Chinese New Year approaching, the hugely successful Farr Vintners Asia office in Hong Kong currently has strong demand from mainland China for all vintages of Château Lafite. With prices having risen dramatically in the past couple of years, now may well prove to be a very good time to sell any stocks of Lafite that you might be holding. What is for sure is that current Lafite prices are now too heady for almost all European and US buyers and it would appear that nearly every case of Lafite on the world market is heading for China. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=52 Wed, 3 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=52 How the wine scene has changed since I first came to Asia 15 years ago - Hong Kong had only 4 wine shops, the range of wines was limited (not to mention prices exorbitant due to the duty which at one point was at 90%). If you ventured across the border to the mainland the choice was even less, I think there were only 3 major wine importers, mainly dealing in agency wines. Beer would be the alcoholic beverage of choice. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=50 Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=50 One of the undeniable privileges of working at Farr Vintners is that you get to taste a lot of very good wines. So much so that one?s perception of what constitutes a very good wine changes somewhat and you find that the figurative bar (no pun intended) by which you judge wine has been raised. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=49 Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=49 The very first vintage of Kumeu River Chardonnay that I tasted was the 1987 and I was so impressed with it that we placed our first ex cellars order soon after. Farr Vintners has imported every vintage produced since then. It's a wine that I have served blind countless times and even people who have fallen for it before still identify it as White Burgundy. My first visit to Kumeu was in January 1990 and 20 years on - almost to the day - here I am again, heading out of Auckland to see New Zealand's King of Chardonnay - Michael Brajkovich MW. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=48 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=48 Sam Weaver is a man who has done what many of us would love to do, but would never dare. He left his 9 to 5 job in London, set off to the other side of the world with his young family, and learnt how to make wine. His labour of love is only now just coming to full fruition after 20 years of planning and hard work. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=47 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=47 If you live in London and plan to visit a winery then the longest journey possible is to the Bannockburn region in Central Otago in New Zealand's South Island. This is the Southern-most vineyard region in the world and the next stop below here is Antartica. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=46 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=46 Whilst no one got full marks in our Christmas Quiz, our congratulations and a Jeroboam of Bollinger must go to Kurt Baker who won with a remarkable 49/50, which we think you?ll agree is a pretty impressive score for such a tough quiz. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=45 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=45 With the extraordinary surge of interest in (and prices of) Chateau Lafite Rothschild it seemed appropriate to arrange a comprehensive tasting of recent vintages. Oliver East and I travelled to Belgium last week where a 'bring a bottle' tasting was organised featuring all the important vintages from 2006 back to 1982 and three older years. The same group of people tasted a similar range of Haut Brion last year, Cheval Blanc two years ago and Latour three years ago. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=43 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=43 There was a review on www.decanter.com last week of the new Galvin brothers restaurant, 'La Chapelle', in Spitalfields. Not suprisingly, it lists Jaboulet's Hermitage la Chapelle on the wine list. They apparently offer the rather mediocre 1994 vintage at a staggering £360 per bottle (plus service charge). This is a wine that is available retail at about £40. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=42 Wed, 9 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=42 Oliver felt that it wasn't enough for him to spend eight hours a day, five days a week with his sales team, and so booked a 'bring your own bottle dinner', held at Trinity restaurant in Clapham. With Bordeaux being the mainstay of what we taste here at Farr Vintners Towers, it was decided Burgundy was the theme and that all wines would be served blind. So what did we end up bringing? Wines from Hungary, Italy, a couple from the Rhône and a one from Germany - 10 out of 10 for following orders chaps! http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=41 Mon, 7 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=41 Customers often ask us how we choose the wines that Farr Vintners sells. To a certain extent the choice is simple as our number one goal is to offer great and famous wines to our customers at the best possible prices. Consequently, when a case of Petrus, Latour or Richebourg is offered to us it's not a question of 'if' we want it but only a question of deciding on the price at which we think we can sell it, and then taking a small margin for Farr Vintners. As most of you know, we sell wines on a flat 10% commission for those not in a hurry for payment or buy outright at around a 20% margin if the vendor is looking for a cash sale. Most classic wines have a market price and we always try to find a good balance where both supplier and customer are happy with the deal. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=40 Tue, 1 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=40 Sherry has not really been setting the world alight of late. My parents drink it as if it's going out of fashion which maybe it is but I have to admit that I may be in danger of turning into my parents as I am finding the joys of sherry beckonning me. Somewhere there is a marketing department working like mad to convince us that sherry is actually cool rather than something to keep the O.A.P.s quiet. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=39 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=39 Last night we held a tasting at the historic Vintners' Hall in the City of London for some of our private customers. The event was a huge success with over 350 people attending and 82 wines on tasting, ranging from Churton's 2008 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc back to a 1937 Vin Doux Naturel from Maury in South West France. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=38 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=38 An evening spent recently with good friends, all with an infectious passion for great wine. At our last meeting in July, the theme for the night was set - 1990! http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=28 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=28 Question 1 : What's the rarest wine in the world...? http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=36 Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=36 It seems that our blog is dominated by our colleagues in London with interesting tastings ? but we do get more than our fair share of tastings in Asia you know! http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=32 Mon, 2 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=32 Last week I was very privileged to be asked onto the 3 man tasting panel of 'The World of Fine Wine' magazine. The subject matter was one of my favourites - 2005 Bordeaux and, as you can imagine, like most people reading this, I didn't have to be asked twice. My fellow panelists were the wine writer Stephen Brook (author of 'The Complete Bordeaux' and numerous other wine and travel books) and wine educator and super-taster Michael Schuster. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=34 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=34 Today the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux rolled into town to show their 2007's for the first time since this controversial vintage was bottled. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=33 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=33 Off to our favourite local restaurant for lunch with George and three visitors from France. Ransome's Dock has been Battersea's best restaurant since it opened in the early 1990's. Martin and Vanessa Lam serve delicious 'Modern British' food and boast a brilliant international wine list (current AA restaurant wine list of the year). It's held many a Farr Vintners tasting over the years and was also where I met my wife - but that's another story. Ingredients are carefully sourced here from small independent farmers and fishermen and perfectly cooked with no fancy frills. This is a proper restaurant serving proper food, un-poncy and un-trendy and highly recommended by the Farr Vintners team. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=30 Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=30 On Friday October 9th Farr Vintners held a comprehensive tasting of the 2002 Red Bordeaux vintage. We showed the wines of the 120 leading Chateaux which were served blind in 10 flights of 12. Our panel of experts included Jancis Robinson MW, Derek Smedley MW, Steven Spurrier of Decanter Magazine and Neal Martin of The Wine Advocate. We also had 2 winemakers with us, 4 Bordeaux 'negociants' - led by the hugely experienced France Chauvin - and UK wine trade gurus Roy Richards and Barry Phillips. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=29 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=29 We recently took part in a fabulous tasting of 33 vintages of Lynch Bages, including every single wine produced from 2006 to 1980 and then a few older bottles. These were tasted at Cordeillan Bages, just a few hundred metres down the road, with members of the Cazes family, their wine-making team and a few friends from Bordeaux. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=26 Mon, 5 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=26 With the UK office having claimed the blogging limelight until now, we thought it time the HK office got in on the act and showed that it is not only denizens of 220 Queenstown Road, sybarites the lot of them, who like to enjoy themselves every now and then. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=24 Fri, 2 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=24 Oliver East and I have been in Bordeaux for the last few days enjoying some late summer sun and the beaming, smiling faces of the Bordelais. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=25 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=25 Firstly I have to apologise - this hasn't got anything to do with wine. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=22 Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=22 Contrasting wine-making styles, personalities and cellar conditions were brought home to me on a recent visit to the Rhône valley. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=21 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=21 Those who follow the fine wine market will probably have noticed the remarkable recent rise in price of Carruades de Lafite, the second wine of the famous First Growth. The meteoric price increases have resulted in an extraordinary situation where some vintages are now changing hands for more money than First Growths themselves. Farr Vintners recently sold the 2004 vintage (our rating 15/20) for a higher price than we currently sell Mouton Rothschild, Haut Brion or Cheval Blanc. The 2000 vintage is now selling for over ten times the price at which we sold it to our customers en primeur in June 2001. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=23 Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=23 It's early evening in mid September. It should have been a balmy evening as we wandered down the Uxbridge Road from Shepherd's Bush Green but it wasn't. It was absolutely tipping down with rain. Real rain of the cats and dogs variety. Being a Crystal Palace supporter means visits to some far flung football grounds in all corners of Britain and some fairly dodgy pubs - I don't suppose that many Farr Vintners customers have been to Burnley, Port Vale or even Millwall. Anyway September 15th was QPR away and a rare London Derby so that's why we were getting soaked in W12. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=16 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=16 http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=15 Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=15 Seville in August is hot. No that's underselling it; its very hot. I had booked a short break to Seville at the end of August without checking the temperatures in advance. Maybe the ease of getting hotel rooms at short notice should have been a clue but anyway I ended up in Seville and sweltered. The locals who obviously know about these things had all decamped to the coast so the city was practically empty. The only people one saw were bewildered and sweaty tourists; the modern day mad dogs and englishmen going out in the midday sun. Actaully the temperature did not seem to drop much even at night as by 11.30 in the evening it was still 37°C. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=13 Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=13 Being in the wine trade has its occasional perks and last night, Tom (Hudson) and I were lucky to enjoy a few great bottles over dinner at one of London's finest restaurants - The Greenhouse. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=14 Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=14 Oliver East and I recently jumped aboard the Eurostar to Brussels on our way to one of the world's greatest restaurants. Hof Van Cleve turned out to be nowhere near Brussels and in fact pretty much slap-bang in the middle of nowhere at all. However, it was well worth the journey as the food was absolutely amazing. Hof Van Cleve is the proud holder of 3 michelin stars (only 1 other restaurant in Belgium has 3 stars) and ranked 26 in the world's 100 best restaurants. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=12 Wed, 9 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=12 Mondragon is not a holiday destination. This little French town is situated south of Montélimar (world capital of nougat) and east of the famous Gorges de l'Ardèche through which I would thoroughly recommend a down-river 'escapade' by kayak. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=11 Mon, 7 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=11 Last night Henry Matson and I put on our black ties and headed for The Grosvenor House in Park Lane for the annual IWC Wine Awards. As I don't actually own a black tie, this involved borrowing Tom Hudson's bow tie which only took about 15 minutes of origami-like folding and manipulating to get into a vaguely recognisable shape. http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=1 Thu, 3 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.farrvintners.com/blog.php?blog=1