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Posts by Alastair Woolmer

A deep dive into Single Malt Whisky

Monday, 3rd October 2022 by Alastair Woolmer

Last month, the Farr Vintners team spent three days in Scotland on a fact finding (and dram drinking) mission to learn more about whisky. Having been selling everything from single bottles to full casks for a number of years now, and with the recent release of our very own independent bottlings, it was the perfect time to take a deep dive, in situ, into this unique and inimitable drink.

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Spain... But not as you know it - El Bierzo

Tuesday, 2nd March 2021 by Alastair Woolmer

“Spain’s northern, Atlantic Ocean–influenced winegrowing zones were virtually unknown to most wine lovers only a decade ago, but things have changed dramatically. Some of Spain’s most sought-after, high-quality and highly allocated red wines come from Bierzo and Ribeira Sacra… Today, collectors are chasing down small-production, Mencia-based Bierzos and Ribeira Sacras with the zeal of Burgundy aficionados” – Josh Raynolds, Vinous (March 2019)

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2016 Barolo - "A Truly Spectacular Vintage"

Thursday, 24th October 2019 by Alastair Woolmer

"In so many ways, 2016 is all about being in the right place at the right time for Barolo... The result is a vintage full of truly spectacular, breathtaking wines that captures all the pedigree that Nebbiolo and Barolo are capable of."

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Chilean wine takes on the world... and wins!

Monday, 9th October 2017 by Alastair Woolmer

Ed and I have just returned from an eye-opening three day trip to Chile discovering the wines of Viñedo Chadwick, Viña Errazuriz and Viña Seña in situ amongst the stunning South American scenery. Along with other key representatives of the UK fine wine trade, we were invited as guests of Eduardo Chadwick Claro, a charismatic and tireless visionary whose family have been making wine in Chile for over 140 years. His goal is to create internationally recognised fine wines of the highest quality from Chile’s unique terroirs.

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Bordeaux 2005 under £50 per bottle

Wednesday, 30th March 2016 by Alastair Woolmer

Last week, a few of us from the wine trade got together in Portland restaurant’s private dining room to taste through a range of Bordeaux 2005s. Winemakers often refer to 2005 as the deck chair vintage because, from bud burst to harvest, the conditions were so perfect that they could pretty much sit back and watch the grapes ripen all by themselves. As a result, the wines that were produced were almost universally outstanding on both sides of Gironde.

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2004 Tuscany Dinner at the Quality Chop House

Friday, 9th October 2015 by Alastair Woolmer

Our wine trade 2004 Barolo dinner back in July was such a success (see blog) that we decided to get together again to taste another set of Italian 2004s but, this time, from Tuscany. Although, historically, Chianti Classico is probably Tuscany’s most well-known wine, few would argue with the assertion that Brunello di Montalcino is its greatest. However, in more recent times, a new breed of wines made largely from non-Italian grapes – the ‘Super Tuscans’ – have been producing wines of sufficiently high quality to give Brunello a real run for its money as Tuscany’s most prestigious.

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2004 Barolo Dinner at Zucca

Friday, 10th July 2015 by Alastair Woolmer

Prompted by Antonio Galloni’s recent review of 2004 Barolo on vinousmedia.com, I decided to organise a bring-a-bottle dinner with a few friends in the wine trade so that we could taste this vintage across the board. As far as I was concerned, there was only one fitting venue for such a tasting – the brilliant Italian restaurant, Zucca in Bermondsey. Before I report back on the wines tasted, a little bit of background on the 2004 vintage…

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New Zealand - Great people make great wine

Friday, 11th February 2011 by Alastair Woolmer

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. Despite all being located in different parts of the country, the common thread that unites these four estates is great people making great wine. In contrast to our cold and snowy winter, New Zealand had been enjoying a fantastic, warm summer and everyone that I spoke to was very happy with how the 2011 vintage was progressing. In fact, in most vineyards veraison was well under way, about two weeks ahead of schedule, and things were looking very promising.

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Farr Vintners' Top Ten Wines of 2009

Friday, 22nd January 2010 by Alastair Woolmer

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.

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