Happy New Year to all and many thanks for your support and comments throughout 2023. Before we head off into 2024, and the chaos that it promises, a few ‘Best Of’ selections from the past 12 months.
There is one wine book that every wine lover, from the most recent beginner to seasoned professional, simply must have. ‘The Oxford Companion to Wine’, edited by Jancis Robinson MW. The first edition came out almost thirty years ago. There was nothing like it. Still isn’t.
‘Modern Caribbean Rum’. has already been dubbed the bible on the subject. The first thing you are going to notice about this book is its size. It is massive!
Mascarello is an Italian wine producer family that adheres to the old ways. Apparently, there is no email nor website (I certainly could not find one), and until 1990 they did not even have a phone. However, there are many who believe that Maria Teresa (granddaughter of founder Giulio Mascarello) has taken the wines to unprecedented heights. After a recent visit to the winery in Italy, Ken Gargett is one of them.
Before Ken Gargett smoked a Diplomaticos 30th Anniversary PCC Cigars, he asked for some thoughts. The responses ran the gauntlet from seriously good to stunning.
Champagne Devaux blends are not predetermined and the non-vintage wines see a high proportion of reserve wines. The majority of the reserve wines are aged in oak vats while they also incorporate the solera process. Time on lees far outstrips many of their competitors.
“Time traveling with decadence”. That’s the perfect description of the incredible extravaganza known as the annual tasting in Scandinavia, which saw an absolute deluge of amazing wines, so many of them a century old, give or take.
Held on the fourth Friday of October – in 2023, the 27th of October – Champagne Day was originally established in 2009 by Californian wine educator, Chris Oggenfus, and has taken off, with events around the world. You might be like Ken Gargett and have wondered why we need an official Champagne Day. Surely, every day is perfect for champagne?
Normally Ken Gargett would not highlight a retailer/supplier, but Dekanta offers special limited edition Japanese whiskies as well as many of the harder-to-find bottlings. And he does think this Asaka Aoi Edition Single Cask is a very fine whisky and definitely worth a look.
Yamazaki 12-Year-Old from Japan is a whisky that Ken Gargett has loved every time he has had the chance to try it. The bottle he sampled for this piece was actually one from the back of his cupboard, which he has been sitting on for far too long. When a mate saw it, he implored him not to open it. But Ken of course did and shares the experience with us here.