Bibendum Times
by Juel Mahoney

After two days, our impressions of the left bank are very mixed. 2012 is not a uniformly good vintage for Pauillac, St-Julien, St-Estephe and Margaux. There are some good to very good wines but there are also some fiercely tannic, extracted and very difficult wines. As Ben Collins said on the way over the bridge to the right bank, …
Tags: Bordeaux, Bordeaux 2012, En Primeur
Posted in Bibendum Times, Fine Wine, News | No Comments »
by Juel Mahoney

We only have one CD in the car as we drive around the superstar chateaux on the left bank of Bordeaux: The Best of Rod Stewart. “It was only £2.50,” said Ben Collins, unwrapping it from its plastic, “No wonder went HMV bust.” We wondered how he could have paid so much – much as we wondered …
Tags: Bordeaux, Bordeaux 2012, En Primeur
Posted in Bibendum Blog, Bibendum Times, Fine Wine, News | No Comments »
by Gareth Groves

“I am a legend!”
The great Ben Collins is indeed a Bibendum legend. He’s been here from the very beginning, half his life in fact, selling fine wine to the great and the good around the country. On Monday night more than a few Bibendumites gathered upstairs at our local The Lansdowne to celebrate his 60th birthday. As …
Tags: Ben Collins, Bibendum, events, Trade Talk, wine
Posted in Bibendum Blog, Bibendum Times, Events, News, Sommeliers Corner, Trade Talk, Wine | 3 Comments »
By Rob Pickard

Leading on from my recent post on sustainable winemaking methods at SAAM, here is a look at Mitchelton, from central Victoria, Australia – another producer putting investment into environmental issues within the vineyard, and leading the way down under. One area in particular in which the winery is investing heavily is its use of water, attempting to recycle and reduce …
Tags: John Beresford, Mitchelton Wines, Vineyard irrigation, vineyard water management, vivid, waste water managemnt
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By Rob Pickard

Commitments to environmental and ethical issues have come to the forefront of business strategy over the last few years, with Corporate Social Responsibility a key area for company investment. Whether you feel these issues are important in the wine industry, or indeed whether eco-friendly wine production would influence the average consumer’s next wine purchase – many wine producers around the world believe in its …
Tags: Lightweight bottles, Saam, south africa, Sustainable Wine, Sustainable wine production, Vineyard Biodiversity, vivid
Posted in Bibendum Blog, Bibendum Times, News, Travel | No Comments »