If you have recently gone vegan and are looking for a way to replace your old go-to wines with vegan wine, then you are in luck. With the growing popularity of vegan wines, there are now more options than ever. And with that comes confusion— what is vegan wine? What should I look for? How do I know if it is good? Here are some tips on how to navigate the wine aisle when looking for great vegan wines. What is vegan wine? First off: what is vegan wine? Vegan wines are without animal products. Although the Vegan Society accepts the use of by-products like casein and egg whites in winemaking, it ..read more

From the island where there is ice-cream for breakfast, Frappato red wine knows how to cool you down when the temperature rises.  The best comes from the hot region of Ragusa in southern Sicily, where it reaches over 40 degrees in summer (also home to some of the world’s best sun-dried tomatoes, too). Here’s what you need to know about this lesser-known Italian red wine: What is Frappato?  The first thing to know is that it’s a red wine made from Frappato grapes.  If you ever saw the opening shots of the Italian series, Inspector Montalbano, you may remember the baroque archite ..read more

The Dão region in Portugal has always fascinated me due to the amazing reds you can find for an affordable price, and the fact that it’s so often overlooked by wine lovers.  When you have tasted some of the best wines in the world, you can’t easily go back to drinking what you can afford. I’ve even seen people stuck in dead-end jobs for decades so they can keep their wine discount. It’s like pizza. I have had one too many good pizzas in Napoli. Now I can’t eat anything less than a slurpy sourdough base and the radioactively bright-tasting tomatoes. And the same goes with wine i ..read more

Ah, rum. What is the first thought that springs to mind? Pirates, island paradises, and shivers of Captain Jack Sparrow. Rum reminds me of freedom and adventure. Martinique, a small island in the Caribbean, has one of the largest and most diverse rum industries in the world. The high level of quality control and craftsmanship that goes into each bottle makes Martinique rum an excellent choice for sipping straight or mixing Rhum Agricole Rhum Agricole is a style of rum made in the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. Most rum is distilled from molasses, a byproduct of the process of re ..read more

There’s a new Greek red wine at Waitrose: Strofilia Mountain Fish Agiorgitiko. Greek red wine at a reasonable price is hard to get hold of outside Greece. People often forget that it’s one of the most popular types of holiday wines in the world. Or maybe they’re not used to fish kick-starting a wine tasting note! Either way, that’s an issue that needs solving. And the solution? Here it is – a red wine called Mountain Fish. It’s made from Agiorgitiko grapes, which are normally prized for their low level of acidity and high levels of natural sugar. This gives an excellent balance of fruity flav ..read more

Some people collect empty crisp packets, I collect throwaway remarks on twitter about wine. It could have been 7 years ago, when an American blogger touring Beaujolais wineries tweeted something along these lines: I’m surprised more natural wines are not fervent nationalists they way they talk about the land.. It could have been the febrile political times at the time, but it struck a nerve. Were natural wine not so Gaia-an as I liked to believe?  Natural winemakers do talk about expressing the terroir. This concept that annoyed the hell out of new world countries in the 2000s, has been ..read more

In the greater scheme of things it was nothing. But it was a peculiar type of nothing that lasted for months. I lost my sense of smell during the c19 times. As you can imagine, smell is important for wine. As I came to find out, smell is a lot more than just my profession. Having no sense of smell put me in a loop for months. Then again, that’s not saying much in a rollercoaster year for everyone. My nose not working only added to the dizzy disorientation. I got off relatively lightly compared to many people (including a friend who passed away during the early peak in 2020). All you had to do ..read more

I’m often asked about pairing wine with pork. The wrong wine to pair with a pork dish often leaves a bland, bland meal. Either the white meat becomes too dry and difficult to digest with a tannic wine. Or salt pork dishes completely overwhelm the wine. That’s why you don’t need to believe in one single rule when it comes to pairing wine and food. Read on for some basic guidelines for pairing wines with pork dishes. With the right wine, hearty pork dishes can truly shine. When pairing wine with pork, choose a wine that complements, rather than overwhelms, the dish you are preparing. But ..read more

“Ok, but does a winemaker think about movement in wine?” This was the question by an engineer at a wine tasting of Dom Perignon vintages ten years ago. I still think about it.  “I hear you talk about structural elements (tannins, acidity, the colour palette, and palate), and yet you don’t talk about movement.” This question threw me at first, because I had not prepared to answer philosophical questions about time and space at the end of a boozy tasting. Then again, there is always one question at the end of the wine tasting that makes you glad you remain sober throughout.  What is m ..read more

Hello. It’s been a long time since I’ve sat down to write for my old friend Wine Woman & Song. It’s been so long, it feels new again. Which is where I want it to be.  The Google beast punishes the sin of inconsistency. You must turn up, and act the right way. If you want to get in. Writing, especially about wine, became a social charade. Like standing in cold midnight rain outside a club trying to crack a smile from the bouncer. Maybe they will take pity on the mascara running down your face.  Then again, why not go around the back? There we find the door wide open. Now that’s a ..read more