By Charles Lea on 06/07/2023
Neal Martin's latest article on the Vinous website is timely and, in a most measured and reasonable way, lays out how an apparently well-motivated individual is capable of making all the right noises about quality of wine and how to achieve it, so that the back story sounds plausible, while marketing it entirely on price.
By Charles Lea on 10/05/2016
There is a wealth of choice of critical reporting on Bordeaux 2015. Maybe too much for any one voice to be heard. Perhaps the merchant's view is becoming more important again in the absence of the absolute arbiter that has been Robert Parker - but in the end it is your casting vote - 'is it worth a punt?' - that matters.
By Charles Lea on 29/04/2016
Today is the day when we expect Neal Martin's verdict on the 2015 vintage. Many critics have already given their opinions, with a rave review (six hundred pointers and lots of 'best-evers') from James Suckling (jamessuckling.com), enthusiastic set of notes from Roger Voss of the Wine Enthusiast (wineenthusiast.
By Charles Lea on 30/04/2013
'Sleeper of the Vintage' A long-term customer asked me today about what he called 'Captain Bob's jargon'. 'Please tell me what 'a major sleeper of the vintage' means! When I first saw this term, often used by Robert Parker, I thought it meant the wine needed many years cellaring.