Sep 27, 2016
8 min

Brexit for wine lovers - the 90 day review

This article was first published on JancisRobinson.com on Monday 26th September, 2016 Three months have now past since the UK voted to leave the EU. Just after the vote I set out some initial impacts of the result for UK wine lovers. In the corporate world, when a major change has occurred, like buying a company or hiring a new CEO, 3 months or 90 days after the event is a good point to take stock of how the change has affected the overall business. Following a major change l

Simon Reilly

Sep 25, 2016
3 min

London’s wine community has its own Cru

An edited version of this article was first published in Issue 11 of Root + Bone Magazine, September 2016 Rewind a few years and London's wine community revolved around the private clubs of St James. Old men in stiff suits would sit around pontificating about whether 1982 was a better vintage than 1961 in Bordeaux or boast about how many first growths they had in their cellars. For the uninitiated, wine was a scary prospect. For London's younger generation, it was a drink for

Simon Reilly

Aug 22, 2016
5 min

Txakoli - not just a holiday wine

So the holiday season is drawing to a close for another summer. Hopefully you have all enjoyed trying new wines in exotic locations. Local wines washing down local food as you sit in the sun not thinking about work. Nothing beats holiday wine. But in most cases, that's how they always will be, just holiday wines. That rose from Provence tasted great by the pool over a lazy lunch but it doesn't quite hit the mark on a freezing Friday in forest hill. And as for that local white

Simon Reilly

Aug 7, 2016
5 min

Andrew Edmunds - a wine restaurant

When dining out, for me the wine list is just as important a factor in picking a restaurant as the menu. A good wine list for me doesn’t just have good wines on the list. There are lots of those about. The key is the pricing. A great wine list is one that allows you to drink very well at sensible prices. A mark-up sure, but not multiplying the retail price by a factor of three, four or more. Recent trips to San Sebastian and Paris suggest that things have got a bit silly in L

Simon Reilly

Jul 29, 2016
6 min

Baden's 1782 club

An edited version of this article was originally published on jancisrobinson.com on Tuesday 26th July, 2016 On a recent family holiday in Germany, I was able to negotiate sneaking away from the family for a morning of wine tasting. The other side of the deal was me agreeing to take the kids to Legoland Germany, but being a bit of a kid myself it was a bit of a win-win. I only had a few hours so the wine producer(s) had to be near to our hotel in Baden-Baden. After a bit of re

Domaine des Accoles - home to Burgundy's latest wandering winemaker

Simon Reilly

Jul 11, 2016
7 min

Domaine des Accoles - home to Burgundy's latest wandering winemaker

Like most wine lovers, I have my favourite wines that I buy vintage after vintage, safe in the knowledge that I will not be let down. I will recognise the much-loved characteristics of the wine and discover new nuances every time I open a bottle. How these discoveries come about varies. Some start as recommendations in a restaurant. Some come from wine tasting events. Some come from cellar door visits. Others come from recommendations, either from the wine press or directly f

Simon Reilly

Jun 30, 2016
8 min

Brexit for wine lovers updated

An edited version of this article was originally published on Jancisrobinson.com on Tuesday, 28th June Back in March, I set out what I thought might happen in the event that the UK referendum resulted in the UK voting to leave the European Union (EU) (see What does brexit mean for wine lovers?) The conclusion I came to at that point was that nobody knows what will happen in the event of a Brexit, but it is likely that the price of wine from the EU would increase for UK wine l

Pub crawl Paris style - Juveniles Wine Bar & Willis Wine Bar

Simon Reilly

Jun 23, 2016
5 min

Pub crawl Paris style - Juveniles Wine Bar & Willis Wine Bar

I have recently returned from a four day trip to Paris to watch Euro 2016 with 6 of my school mates in honour of a significant birthday we all share this year. Three games in 4 days meant we had one day spare when we could ease off the beer and act a bit more respectable, at least for a few hours anyway. Having spent four years living in Sydney about ten years ago I have enjoyed a lot of Torbreck's wine in my time. The first time I came across Juveniles wine bar was on the ba

Simon Reilly

Jun 23, 2016
3 min

Is terroir bollocks?

Terroir is probably the most commonly used word in wine these days. Terroir is a French word which has no direct translation into English. It basically refers to everything about a specific site that makes it unique. The climate, the soil, the altitude, the direction it faces, etc. Winemakers talk about vineyards having a great terroir as if it is the holy grail. The be all and end all. They also talk about using winemaking methods with minimal intervention to allow the terro

North Piemonte’s baby Barolos grow up in the Alps

Simon Reilly

Jun 5, 2016
6 min

North Piemonte’s baby Barolos grow up in the Alps

I love Nebbiolo. Like many, most of the Nebbiolos I have tasted are from Langhe in South Piemonte in Northern Italy. Langhe is home to the world famous Barolo, and the slightly less famous, but in my view equally good, Barbaresco. It also makes some fantastic Langhe Nebbiolo, an earlier drinking wine generally made from younger wines with less time in oak. A Langhe Nebbiolo from a good Barolo or Barbaresco producer is a top tip for a good value introduction to the grape. Try

Simon Reilly

May 30, 2016
2 min

Never give up on a good wine

George Benson once sang "Never give up on a good thing". I don't know what he was singing about. It probably wasn't wine. But I think his point holds for wine on this occasion. I bought a case of Domaine Raspail Ay's 2007 Gigondas‬ en primeur, back when it was released. Probably early 2009. A wine from the Southern Rhone region of France, Gigondas is a village within a few miles of the more famous village of Chateauneuf Du Pape. The two wines are generally made from the same

Simon Reilly

May 20, 2016
7 min

How good are own label wines?

An edited version of this article was originally published on jancisrobinson.com on 18th May, 2016. I like to think I am not a wine snob. However, I have to confess that I noticed a bit of wine snobbery rising to the surface a couple of times over the Easter break. The first came when we had some friends over for Sunday lunch. My mate brought me a bottle of wine as a gift, Majestic’s new(ish) “Definition Range” Pouilly Fume. I smiled, thanked him, told him he shouldn’t have b

Simon Reilly

May 16, 2016
2 min

Don't be scared of the sommelier

Since I began writing Wineloon, I have noticed a change. All of a sudden my mates seem to think I am some sort of wine expert. This phenomenon is most noticeable when it comes to ordering wine in a restaurant. Before Wineloon, my mates and I would all discuss the wine list on a pretty much even footing. These days I am immediately handed the wine list. "You pick the wine, you're the expert". And then they all just look at me. Waiting. Waiting for me to select the best wine th

Simon Reilly

Apr 21, 2016
4 min

Noble Rot Wine Bar, London - 2nd Visit

I wrote a short blog post about my first trip to Noble Rot in February this year (Noble Rot 1) and had not intended to cover my second trip last night. However, I had such a stonking night that I could not let it pass without a bit of a mention. I was catching up with two ex-colleagues, who are both keen wine geeks. One is a hater of natural wines “they taste like flat cider, I just don’t see the attraction”, who loves ethereal red burgundy, even though he claims to “have nev

Tasting Bordeaux in 2015 primeurs week ...just not in Bordeaux... and not the 2015 vintage

Simon Reilly

Apr 11, 2016
3 min

Tasting Bordeaux in 2015 primeurs week ...just not in Bordeaux... and not the 2015 vintage

I read with interest, but no lack of envy, countless Twitter and Instagram posts of jolly wine critics and writers in Bordeaux tasting the 2015 primeurs last week. The majority have been positive and 2015 looks like being a top vintage in Bordeaux. For all the bashing Bordeaux has been getting in the wine press for its approach to pricing, it still elicits excitement in oenophiles like no other region on earth. Either my invite got lost in the post or, more likely, I was NFI'

Holiday wines at L'escargots Blanc,
Edinburgh

Simon Reilly

Mar 28, 2016
4 min

Holiday wines at L'escargots Blanc, Edinburgh

After a brutal 11 hour drive from SE London to Edinburgh on Thursday night as part of our annual family tour of duty round the Scottish Wineloon clan, we were in need of some consoling. A night out in Edinburgh on Saturday with some old friends, no children and lots of booze was needed. It started off badly. My sister suggested trying a "secret gin bar" in the west end for an overpriced, preprandial gin & tonic. This sounds cool and trendy until you get there and realise its

Simon Reilly

Mar 24, 2016
7 min

What would Brexit mean for wine lovers?

An edited version of this article was originally published on www.jancisrobinson.com on 23rd March, 2016 I have a significant birthday this year. There are two main events happening as a result. One is a 5-day trip to Paris to watch the Euro 2016 football finals with 7 of my school mates in early June. The other is a long weekend in San Sebastian in September, wining and dining my darling wife to earn the brownie points required to secure approval for the Paris trip. Both of

Simon Reilly

Mar 21, 2016
5 min

Greece-ing the wheels of recovery

An edited version of this article was originally published on www.jancisrobinson.com on 21st March, 2016 I have a bit of history with the wines of Greece. Our last holiday before the end of real holidays (i.e. before we had children) was to Oia in Santorini, back in 2009. A paradise of a place with great food and many great wine discoveries, the most memorable being Vin Santo and Assyrtiko. I had tried neither before that holiday and they have both become perennial favourites

Simon Reilly

Jan 1, 2016
6 min

Bitter, Sweet, Sweet - a freebie at The Sampler

You know that feeling when you pay someone to do some work for you and you can't help feeling they got the better deal? Well that happened to me at the day job last week. We've paid some consultants so much money in the last 12 months that they invited a few of us out for some special pre-Christmas drinks...on them. Yes, we definitely paid them too much. Alas, this bitter sweet pill was made all the more sweeter by the fact that they at least did some homework and worked out

ABOUT WINELOON

My name is Simon Reilly. I am a wine writer based in South East London. I am passionate about discovering new and exciting wines which offer value for money. I write about the wines I taste and other related wine stuff that I think is interesting, brilliant or annoying.

My aim is to write about wine in a straight forward way that is accessible to everyone.

I have had my writing published in Root+Bone magazine, Root + Vine, Jancis Robinson's Purple Pages, Glass of Bubbly and Decanter.

I have been shortlisted for a few awards for my writing; the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers' Awards 2017 in the "Emerging Writer" category and the 2017 Millesima Wine Blog Awards in the "Wine Reporter" category.

I also came second in the Born Digital Wine Awards 2017 in the "Best Investigative/Journalistic Wine Story" category.

One of these days I might win one, but as an Aberdeen FC fan, these days I am happy enough with second place. Stand Free.

Brexit for wine lovers - the 90 day review

London’s wine community has its own Cru

Txakoli - not just a holiday wine

Andrew Edmunds - a wine restaurant

Baden's 1782 club

Domaine des Accoles - home to Burgundy's latest wandering winemaker

Brexit for wine lovers updated

Pub crawl Paris style - Juveniles Wine Bar & Willis Wine Bar

Is terroir bollocks?

North Piemonte’s baby Barolos grow up in the Alps

Never give up on a good wine

How good are own label wines?

Don't be scared of the sommelier

Noble Rot Wine Bar, London - 2nd Visit

Tasting Bordeaux in 2015 primeurs week ...just not in Bordeaux... and not the 2015 vintage

Holiday wines at L'escargots Blanc, Edinburgh

What would Brexit mean for wine lovers?

Greece-ing the wheels of recovery

Bitter, Sweet, Sweet - a freebie at The Sampler

ABOUT WINELOON

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