Claret not blue

The weather's getting colder, the food is getting more substantial, and we're all getting into a more celebratory mood. In this season of snow, steak and Christmas trees, claret is the ideal wine. 

Claret is French, of course, but it has always been a favourite of the English, going right back to the happy times when we actually ran a large slice of the vineyard-packed south-west of France.

This Haut-Medoc from Chateau Tour Du Haut-Moulin has all the typical characteristics. Not a lot of fruit and the dry slightly mouldy tone may not be to everyone's taste. However, those spicy, woody aromas and the long, grape flavour works for me.

My claret-wearing football team may be bottom of the league this Christmas but after watching their hard-won draw at Blackburn I celebrated with few glasses of this Medoc. It's difficult not to feel things can only get better.

Go West!

When I think of Oregon I think of wagon trains about to tip off the west coast of America. But of course it's also host to some of the most sophisticated and pioneering new media folk in the world. So no surprise that this is a smooth, clever and rich wine.

I am a fan of Pinot Noir. Not to Sideways levels of fanaticism. But you will see from this blog that I enjoy its different manifestations according to climate and culture.

This one is velvety but with a lot of adjectives to follow: blackcurrant, warm, dry, full, deep but not too sweet. Perhaps not complex enough to be a classic but for a rounded and characterful drink. Well worth the wagon ride.