Posts by Matthew Hemming MW
Burgfest 2022 Red Burgundy Report: A Great Côte d’Or Vintage
Having pulled corks on nearly 300 reds from 2022, my conclusion from this year's edition of the worl...
2022 Red Wines at Burgfest: The Quickfire Verdict
Burgundy 2022 red wines are exceptional. After tasting nearly 300 of them blind at Burgfest, as part...
Wine Words: Whole Bunch Fermentation – Bunches, Clusters & Stems Explained
Bunches, Clusters & Stems: whole bunch fermentation in tasting notes
The point of these Wine W...
Platt Vineyard
In the early 2000s, wine-loving businessman Lewis Platt – former CEO of Hewlett Packard – planted ne...
A Vertical Tasting of Kumeu River Chardonnay
And now for something completely different - A Vertical Tasting of Kumeu River Chardonnay
Mirrorin...
How to build a wine collection?
Three key tips that do not involve purchasing a single bottle
I have been delaying writing this si...
Burgfest 2022 Full Report
The Burgfest tasting of 2022 whites taught me that this is a great white Burgundy vintage that sits ...
Wine Words: Vintage – Decoding wine speak and tasting notes
If we talk about vintage fashion, vintage cars or even vintage watches, people have a pretty clear i...
Burgfest 2022 First Impressions
Part way through our marathon tasting of white Burgundies from the 2022 vintage, someone asked:
“Is...
A New New Normal for Lafleur
As reported in 2025 Bordeaux at a Glance, one of the hot topics of gossip in Bordeaux this year cent...
2025 Bordeaux At A Glance
Bodeaux 2025: The Full Q&A
In two sentences, why should I pay attention to another Bordeaux vin...
Bordeaux 2025 Vintage Report – by Matthew Hemming MW
2025 Bordeaux – just what the doctor ordered?
Seemingly against all expectations, Bordeaux’s 2025 v...
Philip Togni: Spring Mountain Cabernet
The story of Philip Togni Vineyard (https://www.philiptognivineyard.com/) is one of pioneership and ...
2016 Bordeaux – Re-visited at 10 Years Old
After immersing myself in 150ish examples of the best of Bordeaux 2016 earlier this month, I’m convi...
Wine Words: Balance – Decoding Wine Speak And Tasting Notes
Wine tasting students are taught to assess quality in terms of BLIC, that is Balance, Length, Intens...
Southwold-on-Thames – Bordeaux 2022 Gets The Treatment
After a marathon blind tasting of some 250 of Bordeaux’s finest 2022s, a few things are clear:
...
2024 Burgundy – Heartbreaking, Tiny, Complicated And Rewarding
2024 is the most complicated vintage I have ever tasted in Burgundy. The wines defy pithy summaries ...
Champagne Billecart-Salmon’s Garden Vineyard – A Very Special Vertical Of Clos St. Hilaire
About 1805h I disembarked my flight in Changi airport. Come 1930, I was finding my place at the Summ...
Wine Words: Energy – Decoding Wine Speak And Tasting Notes
At a recent Wanderthirst event – don’t know? Ask us! – in Singapore one of my table mates asked me t...
Wine Words: Brett – Decoding Wine Speak And Tasting Notes
Brett is an abbreviation of Brettanomyces and a word that has been increasingly creeping into tastin...
Wine Words: Minerality – Decoding Wine Speak And Tasting Notes
This is a controversial one. Minerality is a term steeped in more self-regarding, pretentious pseudo...
Wine Words: Intensity vs Concentration – Decoding Wine Speak And Tasting Notes
Decoding wine speak and tasting notes
OK, so maybe not the most obvious choice for kicking off wi...
2021 Red Burgfest – Cosmic Balance Is Restored
At the beginning of last month the Burgfest group blind-tasted our way through about 250 samples of ...
Platt Vineyard, West Sonoma Coast
100/100 debut for our newest agency partner!
Established vineyard of Grand Cru calibre.
Spec...
Missing the point with scores
There seems to be no argument that not all wines are created equal, so how come the increasing deman...
White Burgundy on a Knife Edge – 2021s at Burgfest
After an extensive blind tasting of the top 2021 white Burgundies, if I was shopping for these wines...
2021 Burgundy From the Archives Report
I’ve just returned from the Burgfest tasting of 2021 whites and am about to write up my notes. Befor...
Tuscan Thoroughbreds – by Matthew Hemming MW
A recent collectors’ lunch provided a refresher in some of the greats from Tuscany, with vintages re...
Where We Eat In Bordeaux
Far from an exhaustive list of Bordeaux restaurants – I’m not sure I have sufficient appetite to und...
Bordeaux En Primeur 2024 Diary: Day 2 & 3
Day 2
Today we really got into the meat and potatoes of Pomerol, taking a deep dive into some of th...
Bordeaux 2024 En Primeur – Day 1
No one tasting in Bordeaux this week can be unaware of the jungle drums’ beat on this vintage. Every...
Standout Wines From A Few Days in Bordeaux
In March I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Bordeaux with a friend from Singapore. Our trip ...
2015 Bordeaux: Ten Years On Tasting
Tasting 2015 Bordeaux Ten Years From The Vintage
Amongst the upper echelons, there are outstanding ...
Two Way Traffic: Buying… And Selling Fine wine
If you have well-cared-for wines to sell, especially if originally purchased from Vinum, we would lo...
Tasting Note Tips
Putting pen to paper at a wine tasting can be a source of anxiety akin to hanging a target on your b...
Venturing off the RN74 – Drinking Off The Beaten Track in Burgundy
“That’s it, I’m done! I’m priced out of Burgundy!”
If you’re interested in fine Burgundy, and haven...
Burgundy 2023 Vintage Report
Three and a half days of tasting, 19 domaines, 200ish wines: all to remind me how little I know!
...
Chateaux Lynch Bages & Pichon Lalande: Six Vintages, 2005-1966
This was a recent tasting I led for my local tasting group, the Jeroboam Club, in the UK. They had s...
Decant / De-can’t, When Do You Pour Yours?
Pouring wine from a bottle into another serving vessel, to remove sediment or aid oxygenation, shoul...
Burgfest Report: 2020 Reds
To use a technical term, the Burgfest tasting of 2020 whites was an absolute belter. I was amazed th...
A sneak peek at Burgundy’s 2023 vintage – Matthew Hemming
Last week, during a rushed couple of days in Burgundy, I managed to steal a couple of afternoons to ...
Groffier Dinner Report
For some years I have been fascinated by the wines of Domaine Robert Groffier. At the Burgfest blind...
Chateau Rayas Dinner – Sometimes Lightning Does Strike Twice
In June 2023 I remember pinching myself as I sat down to a dinner in Singapore with eight vintages o...
Burgfest Report: 2020 Whites
That we were asking ourselves whether 2020 had provided the best ever white Burgfest tells you all y...
Bordeaux 2023 – Vintage Report
Bordeaux 2023 is a vintage born out of an adversity that stretched from the climatic to market condi...
2023 Bordeaux First Impressions
This is a short, overview report so let’s cut straight to the chase: in 20 years of primeurs tasting...
2023 Bordeaux En Primeur Is Coming
It’s that time of year again, Bordeaux En Primeur is just around the corner. We expect the first rel...
Vintage report – Barolo 2020
The northern Italian region of Piemonte is currently enjoying a golden age and has been blessed with...
Burgundy 2022 Release Schedule
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a fine and consistent Burgundy vintage on our hands! Very good wines a...
Bordeaux 2020: Southwold Tasting Report
2020 is a remarkably consistent, extremely high quality, year for red Bordeaux. The wines are much m...
2022 Burgundy – How wrong we were!
In 2022 the Burgfest tasting of 2018 reds fell during the early days of the harvest. I have clear re...
Proper Napa Class & A Potential 100/100: Spottswoode 2020
Spottswoode belongs to an elite group of historic California producers including Ridge Vineyards, Du...
Beyond Bordeaux & Back Again
September's suite of fine wine releases from La Place de Bordeaux is now well established in our cal...
Fete Du Bourgogne: Tasting the 2019 Whites at Burgfest
Earlier this year the Burgfest tasting of 2019 white Burgundy delivered the most exciting, most sati...
Vinum’s Fete du Bourgogne
The eagle-eyed may have spotted a reference to a special series of Burgundy offers in yesterday's Th...
Bordeaux 2022 vintage report
The cellars of Chateau Montrose house one of the great 2022s.
Having spent a week immersed in 2022 ...
2022 Bordeaux: First Impressions Ahead Of The Upcoming En Primeur Campaign by Matthew Hemming MW
During the week before Easter Vinum’s Vice Chairman, Lindsay Hamilton, and I spent a couple of days ...
2019: The First Great Vintage of Piemonte’s New Era
2019 feels like a must for serious lovers of Barolo and Barbaresco – a worthy follow up to 2016 and ...
Bordeaux 2019 – Full report from the 2023 Southwold tasting
The 2019 Bordeaux campaign nearly fell victim to the pandemic; the recent Southwold tasting left me ...
Vintage Report: Burgundy 2021 by Matthew Hemming MW
Our first thoughts on the new vintage, tasted in the Cote d'Or late last year.
Chiselled whites wit...
Bordeaux 2018 – Full Report from the 2022 Southwold Tasting
Having been interrupted by ‘you know what’ last year, in 2022 the Southwold Tasting returned to its ...