The Wine Merchant's Blog

The idea that red wine has to be served at room temperature is dated and out of fashion. Wine lovers in this country routinely serve their red wines far too warm (and their whites far, far too cold!). In the 17th century French chateaux, where the rules and conventions of wine were discussed and decided […]

According to the highly respected Larrousse Guide, terroir is a French word with no translation in any other language. Terroir means the most intimate relationship established between soil and a unique micro-climate. These are behind the birth of a specific type of grape, one that will freely express the quality, typicality and identity of a […]

The first week in April always heralds our departure for Bordeaux and the beginning of 10-hour, action-packed days, visiting many Chateaux and joining in comparative tastings throughout the week. Many of the top wines have been tasted two or three times and very often on different days. It’s so difficult to summarise a vintage in […]

Last month I had the pleasure of spending a day at Felton Road with their talented winemaker Blair Walter. Blair has worked at Felton Road since 1996 and has overseen the transformation of this special place in the Bannockburn area of Central Otago. You need to be there to take in the location and the […]

There are lots of myths and theories about how to spot “quality wine” and how to avoid the plonk. While some have a bit of merit, most of them hold very little truth. Let’s have a look at some common myths.   MYTH – “Good legs” means good wine This is an oldie, but a […]

Mother’s Day is just around the corner and we have some excellent gifts to make her feel extra special. We can even gift wrap your item and deliver it with a personalised message.   A ticket to “A Taste of Spring with Susy Atkins” £35.00pp Why not take Mum out for the evening to meet […]

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Champagne Louis Roederer, producers of one of the world’s finest wines, Cristal. If I am going to be perfectly honest, Champagne has never been a wine that I have drank a lot of. However, the opportunity to visit this historic region was just too good to pass […]

Regardless of one’s position on the influence of (or lack thereof) anthropogenic climate change on global temperature and sea level rise and associated weather patterns, it is undeniable – according to a March 2018 report by the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC) – that weather has become more volatile and more extreme in the […]

Furmint February: It’s time to celebrate Hungary’s versatile flagship white grape! “Wine of Kings, King of Wines” was how the wines of Hungary’s were described, if you can believe it, by a Frenchman! And not just any Frenchman might we add, but ‘The Sun King’ himself, Louis the XIV of France.   That’s quite a […]

Jane Boyce, MW gives us her account of the JN Wine trip to Burgundy and Rhone.  She tells us about the producers visited on Thursday.   Early morning Carpentras, blue skies, crisp frost but none of the snow that greeted us in Beaune. A breakfast of café au lait and croissants in our favourite Patisserie, […]

Richard from JN Wine has put together his account of day three in Burgundy & Rhône.  Read about snow in France, the fantastic producers and most importantly; the wine.   Tuesday evening 22nd January – 11pm. …….sure, all this snow will be gone by morning.     Wednesday morning 23rd January – 7am. The pretty […]

Tuesday by Darren Rafferty This is a series of blog posts about the wine producers that we visited and the wines we tasted in Burgundy & Rhone in January 2019. After a quick croissant and coffee for breakfast in a lovely boutique hotel in the centre of Beaune the team set of on a 15km journey […]