Recent Articles

Koffmann’s at The Berkeley: a taste of old France (in: Restaurant Reviews)
Aug 12, 2010

Heaven for Francophiles, Koffmann's revives the tradition of the great prix fixe lunch

Beer vs wine: experiments with cheddar (in: Wine Pairing Tips and Techniques)
Aug 11, 2010

Further evidence that red wine isn't the only - or even the best - pairing with cheese

Laksa and riesling (in: Match of the Week)
Aug 9, 2010

Laksa is one of those dishes you hesitate to pair with wine being both a soup and really spicy but the pairing I came across at the Pegasus Bay wine dinner at The Providores the other night was spot on.

Vive les guingettes! (in: The Guest Slot )
Aug 6, 2010

Fancy a friture? Food and travel writer Philip Sweeney argues for a revival of the culinary traditions of the guingettes, France's traditional open-air restaurants and music halls

Pitch perfect pairings at Providores (in: Wine Pairing Tips and Techniques)
Aug 4, 2010

Not all wine dinners do favours to the winemakers they feature. This one, which hosted Kiwi winemakers Pegasus Bay, really did

Vietnamese sauce chicken wings and tamarind whiskey sour (in: Match of the Week)
Aug 2, 2010

It might seem perverse to pick out a cocktail match during a week of drinking stellar wines in Oregon wine country but I’m saving my new thoughts on wine pairing with Pinot Noir for a more wide-ranging piece. And this is a great cocktail pairing

A perfect vineyard lunch (in: Entertaining with Wine)
Jul 30, 2010

As I mentioned in my last post our last lunch of the Oregon trip was at Cristom where the sales director (no less!) John D'Anna cooked us a great meal. Here's how he did it and - where I have a link to them - the recipes he used. Try it for a taste of the Willamette Valley

Gorgeous green Oregon (in: News and Views)
Jul 28, 2010

If I had to live anywhere in the US it would be Oregon. Admittedly the last couple of days have been unbelievably beautiful but I think it’s more that it’s comfortingly familiar - with green rolling hills and woods and flower-strewn hedgerows. Very much like Burgundy, the spiritual home of most Oregonian winemakers.

What the IPNC is really like (in: News and Views)
Jul 25, 2010

As you can see I’ve given up any attempt to catalogue this NW road trip. Some may call it an excess of Pinot Noir and there would be some justice in that but the truth is the days are so packed there's been little time - or inclination - to sit down at the computer. But here's what I've been up to at the International Pinot Noir Celebration, Oregon's famous summer camp for Pinot lovers

On the road in the Pacific North West: Day 4
Jul 23, 2010

A whirlwind trip round Washington State and the first night of IPNC