I do love a wine name that tells you exactly what it is. This mixes Chenin Blanc with Roussanne, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Verdelho, Grenache Gris, Clairette, Semillon and Palomino from Swartland’s old bush vines, fermented and aged in very old casks. It’s a wonderfully fresh, mineral, complex wine, with notes of citrus, salt, stone fruit, tea, orange blossom and wild herbs, with just a touch of tannic grip. A Life Uncorked (2006, autobiography, anecdotes and opinions), republished with additions as 'My Life and Wines' Academie de Vin Library 2022). Toro used to be the home of huge tannins and far too much oak, but when Vega Sicilia moved in it showed that things could be done differently. This is from Vega Sicilia’s estate: it smells of cocoa, plums, spice and roses, and is fresh, tense and nicely grippy on the palate. “Precise” and “detailed” are words I never thought I’d use for Toro. Bravo.

The Story of Wine (1989), and illustrated re-edition (2004), Mitchell Beazley/Octopus, London, UK, 2020 edition, Academie du Vin Library, London, UK Scattered throughout the book you’ll find boxes on The New Fine Wines, in which the book’s contributors put together their own lists of outstanding examples that break with tradition and will make you sit up and take notice – for all the right reasons. . . . my room-mate Adrian Cowell, committee member of the University Wine & Food Society came in after dinner with two glasses and said, "Come on, Hugh, are they the same? Or different?" Both were, I am sure, red Burgundy, but one was magic and one was ordinary. This caught my imagination. It was my Damascene moment. [2] [6] Most of us don’t want to buy wines at the highest price points, and can’t afford to. Moves away from a uniform international style have opened up the world to us. There are superb wines—original, subtle, thoughtful—from everywhere. Lift your eyes from the classic regions and you’ll find them. But these new wines have also multiplied the confusion. Instead of just remembering a few grape varieties and a few regions, we need to be more aware of the names of producers, and it helps if we have some awareness of different techniques, to help us remember styles we might like and styles we might not. There are pitfalls: not all winemakers are brilliant, and just being minimum-intervention and right-on doesn’t automatically mean good. The aim of this book is to guide you through—with pointers, definitions and opinions. We are increasingly focusing on producers rather than regions because we believe that that is what matters most now. Regional styles have an influence, of course, but it’s the name of the producer that distinguishes the best from the mediocre. There is still mediocrity to be found in wine; this book aims to help you bypass it in favour of the interesting, the fun, the distinguished. . . . Greater ripeness has implications for when we drink wine, and for how long we cellar it. The most obvious change is that we don’t need to keep wine as long. The 2018 St-Émilions—not the top Grands Crus Classés, but the good Grands Crus—were often drinking well at three years old. The 2017 Left Bank Crus Classés, at four years old, however, were sleek but closed. In the Supplement this year we explore the whys and wherefores of how wines age—and indeed whether we should care as much about such things as we used to.Hugh Eric Allan Johnson OBE [1] (born 10 March 1939, in London) is an English journalist, author, editor, and expert on wine. He is considered the world's best-selling wine writer. [2] A wine he tasted in 1964, a 1540 Steinwein from the German vineyard Würzburger Stein, is considered one of the oldest to have ever been tasted. [3] [4] Beautiful Blaufränkisch: savoury, complex and accomplished, full of pure, tense, red-cherry fruit, layered and fresh. Blaufränkisch is a terri c grape, in the Gamay-Pinot-Malbec avour spectrum, and it’s a bit of an Austrian speciality. Editing two books: The Story of Wine and a third anthology of Trad’s Diary, my 40-year old gardening column. Title: Sitting in the Shade What do we recommend that you try this year? The world is your oyster; but the following ten wines are ones that we currently love. Some are new discoveries, some are rediscoveries and some are old friends. All are pearls. Red wines a b Sale, Jonathan, The Independent (17 January 2008). "Passed/Failed: An education in the life of Hugh Johnson, the world's bestselling wine author". {{ cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link)

Johnson is known as one of the wine world's most vocal opponents to awarding numerical scores to wine. In the autobiography A Life Uncorked, he also expressed regret over the wine critic Robert Parker's influence on the world of wine, which has in his view moved winemaking in many regions towards a more uniform, bigger and richer style. [7] In 2005 Johnson stated, "Imperial hegemony lives in Washington and the dictator of taste in Baltimore". [a] [8] Selected publications [ edit ] Hugh Johnson, younger son of a London lawyer, began his life-long passion for wine in all its variety as a member of the Wine & Food Society at Cambridge University, where he gained an Honours Degree in English literature. When he left King's College in 1961 he became a feature writer for Vogue and House & Garden, writing, among other articles, travel and wine columns for both magazines and their sister-papers in New York. Hugh Johnson has been writing about wine for six decades, and his books have sold millions of copies worldwide. His winning formula of insight, critical appraisal and superbly evocative writing has been often-imitated but never bettered. But this book is not just about Hugh Johnson and his written work. It is about the evolution of wine production, tasting and drinking over the last sixty years. It is about the fundamental shift in our understanding of wine, and our subsequent enjoyment of it. From early tastings in Bordeaux - where even the wine served at Communion is St-Emilion - through a prophetic 1975 assessment of California, to a 2014 discussion of the ever-increasing ABV strength of wine, this book provides a fascinating overview of the development of wine during a period of enormous change. Cuvée Reynolds Stone Brut, Breaky Bottom, Sussex, England
Reynolds Stone was a wood engraver and letter cutter who designed the original Breaky Bottom label, as well as the royal coat of arms on every British passport. All Peter Hall’s wines are named after artists and musicians, and they come from a tiny vineyard hidden in the South Downs, where Peter Hall has been making wine since 1974. The 10 vintage is saline, tense and compelling.The must-have book for all wine enthusiasts and collectors, from the world's leading writer on wine, Hugh Johnson. In 1973 Johnson wrote The International Book of Trees. In 1975 he became Editorial Director of the journal of the Royal Horticultural Society ( The Garden) and its columnist, "Tradescant". "Trad's Diary", now in its 44th year, appears online and in Hortus magazine. In 1979 he published The Principles of Gardening and in 2010 a new rewritten edition of Trees. "Trad's Diary" has been anthologised three times, as Hugh Johnson on Gardening (1993), Hugh Johnson in the Garden (2009) and 'Sitting in the Shade"(2021).

Johnson has been writing about wine since 1960, was taken on as a feature writer for Condé Nast Publications upon graduation, and started work on Vogue and House & Garden, becoming in 1962 editor of Wine & Food and in the same year wine correspondent of The Sunday Times, of which in 1967 he became Travel Editor. From 1968 to 1970 he edited Queen magazine in succession to Jocelyn Stevens. [7] Lechmere, Adam, Decanter.com (8 January 2007). "Hugh Johnson honoured with OBE" . Retrieved 13 March 2020. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link) Kamptal, Austria Lamm is one of the best vineyards in Austria for Grüner Veltliner, and Schloss Gobelsburg never puts a foot wrong. This is silky, graceful, deep and delicate, ligree and rm, full of quince and salt. 1ÖTW, by the way, indicates that the vineyard is a “ rst growth” in the vineyard classi cation of the Österreichische Traditionsweingüter association. University library plans new expansion". Cam. Vol.No 47, Lent Term 2006. University of Cambridge Development Office. pp.45–46. Less than most people. I work at home, tend my garden, write my books and the odd column. A good quiet working period.Johnson became a member of the Cambridge University Wine and Food Society while an undergraduate in the 1950s. On describing his introduction to wine-tasting Johnson has recalled: Las Uvas de la Ira, Vino del Pueblo, El Real de San Vicente, Daniel Landi, Méntrida, Spain
Thyme, incense, cherries, medicinal notes, tension and freshness conjured from old Garnacha vines in the cult region of Gredos, near Madrid. Perfumed and sinuous. This is new-wave Garnacha at its best, showing all the perfume and delicacy of which the grape is capable in certain places. He has published a wide array of books, starting with the publication of Wine in 1966. The World Atlas of Wine (1971) was considered the first serious attempt to map the world's wine regions, described by the director of the INAO as "a major event in wine literature".

Various English wines. A wide range of wines from all over (it’s my job and always interesting). Sicily. Roussillon. Greece. Tasmania….

He was born the son of Guy F. Johnson CBE and Grace Kittel, educated at Rugby School and read English at King's College, Cambridge. [5] Career [ edit ]