{"id":9668,"date":"2010-04-01T12:52:59","date_gmt":"2010-04-01T11:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/?p=9668"},"modified":"2022-03-30T12:55:23","modified_gmt":"2022-03-30T11:55:23","slug":"talking-wine-april-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/talking-wine-april-2010\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking Wine &#8211; April 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_flex valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><time class=\"w-post-elm post_date entry-date published\" datetime=\"2010-04-01T12:52:59+01:00\" title=\"1 April 2010 at 12:52:59 Europe\/London\" itemprop=\"datePublished\">16 years ago<\/time><div class=\"w-separator size_small\"><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><h1>Talking Wine &#8211; April 2010<\/h1>\n<p>Over the years the French have pushed up wine prices but often failed to match this with an improvement in quality. For years they got away with it but their arrogance has come back to haunt them. With the exchange rate against them as well, the sales figures have plummeted or perhaps they are just being found out! This is a huge generalization as there are some excellent value wines available but too many producers have, in the past produced bland, fruitless wines with no personality which have sold for well beyond their worth. Research suggests that many of us are finding better value in Italy, Spain and Portugal and this is certainly something that we can substantiate.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_small with_line width_default thick_1 style_solid color_border align_center\"><div class=\"w-separator-h\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p>European wine prices are at last relatively stable as they fight to maintain market share. So when you see wine prices rise in the spring you can firmly blame the Chancellor and the increase in transport costs.<\/p>\n<p>The nanny state is insisting that we put so many warnings on a wine label that it will soon become difficult to determine the name of the wine. By all means keep the public well informed via the media of the dangers of alcohol, but for heaven&#8217;s sake give us some credibility in making our own judgements. It a bit like skiing in America when the purchase of a lunchtime Becks at a mountain restaurant is accompanied by vicious verbal and written warnings &#8211; and the sad thing is they are serious!!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_small with_line width_default thick_1 style_solid color_border align_center\"><div class=\"w-separator-h\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p>I went to the SITT tasting recently which is held in London and Manchester each year specifically for the independent wine trade. Here the producers and their agents only want to deal with small companies who have the real passion and dedication to sell their wines. These wines will not necessarily be cheap but they have character and personality and are often great value for money. They are deliberately being kept well away from supermarkets and the big chains whose bullying tactics and fickle approach to wine buying are all too well known. As one supplier told me recently &#8220;I can no longer cut the corners being demanded of me. I have a passion for wine making that is being compromised and I have been persuaded that the independent route will lead to stability in sales. This will allow me to make the best possible wine and get exposure to the most sophisticated buyers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_small with_line width_default thick_1 style_solid color_border align_center\"><div class=\"w-separator-h\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div>\n<div class=\"c9 \">\n<p>Is it sacrilege to mix two wines? Of course it happens all the time as most wine is blended to a style before bottling. A Cabernet and a Merlot from Bordeaux are not grown together but fermented separately and blended later. On this basis was I wrong to throw together three half drunk bottles into a decanter and stir? This was thought out &#8211; we had a young brooding French country Syrah, an older Rhone Villages that was on the cusp and a rich vibrant Carignan. The result &#8211; a stunning Rhone style blend drunk and enjoyed by all my guests. Did I tell them? You&#8217;ll never know!!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_small\"><\/div><div class=\"w-post-elm post_author vcard author color_link_inherit with_ava avapos_top\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/author\/tedmd\/\" class=\"fn\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><div class=\"post-author-ava\" style=\"font-size:96px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"96\" height=\"96\" src=\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Staff-photos-colour-1-96x96.png\" class=\"avatar avatar-96 photo\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Staff-photos-colour-1-96x96.png 96w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Staff-photos-colour-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Staff-photos-colour-1-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Staff-photos-colour-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Staff-photos-colour-1-350x350.png 350w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Staff-photos-colour-1-600x600.png 600w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Staff-photos-colour-1-400x400.png 400w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Staff-photos-colour-1-24x24.png 24w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Staff-photos-colour-1-48x48.png 48w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Staff-photos-colour-1.png 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 96px) 100vw, 96px\" \/><\/div><\/a><div class=\"post-author-meta\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/author\/tedmd\/\" class=\"post-author-name fn\">Ted Sandbach<\/a><div class=\"post-author-info\">Ted studied History and Physical Education at Loughborough University before teaching at Magdalen College School in Oxford for 7 years. He gave up teaching to follow his passion for wine and cut his teeth at Stevens Garnier in Wine retail. During this time he travelled extensively and took his wine exams including the Diploma \u2013 which he will admit is much harder these days! Frustration and ambition prompted him to start The Oxford Hamper Company in 1985 which by 1992 had metamorphosed into The Oxford Wine Company.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"16 years agoTalking Wine &#8211; April 2010 Over the years the French have pushed up wine prices but often failed to match this with an improvement in quality. For years...","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-talking_wine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Talking Wine - April 2010 - Oxford Wine Company<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/talking-wine-april-2010\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Talking Wine - April 2010 - Oxford Wine Company\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/talking-wine-april-2010\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Oxford Wine Company\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theoxfordwinecompany\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-04-01T11:52:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-30T11:55:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ted Sandbach\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TheOxfordWineCo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TheOxfordWineCo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ted Sandbach\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/talking-wine-april-2010\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/talking-wine-april-2010\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ted Sandbach\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/#\/schema\/person\/429d0557e47aa59854a0f44e780ed621\"},\"headline\":\"Talking Wine &#8211; 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