tasting

Latest tasting

Three wine glasses and three miniature bottles, all containing small amounts of red wine

From theory to practice: an MW critiques his own tasting prowess. Or lack of. Inspired by Sam’s Mission Blind Tasting series, I signed up for a tasting called ‘Burgundy or...

Richard Hemming MW Thursday 28 May 2026 • 3 min read

illustration of wine bottles and glasses

Free for all Bottle by bottle, sip by sip

Guest contributor Saturday 2 May 2026 • 1 min read

Mission Blind Tasting Blind tasting, part 5 – conclusions

Samantha Cole-Johnson Thursday 12 March 2026 • 1 min read

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About time

Tom Parker MW, whose day job is at Farr Vintners, reports on lockdown's beneficial effect on his wine tasting. The...

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MW tasting notes analysed

Matthew Hayes, our man in Burgundy and MW student, takes a second look at Beyond Flavour by Nick Jackson MW...

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The evolving language of wine

Is wine vocabulary too Eurocentric? A version of this article is published by the Financial Times. Think about all those...

Aerial view of central Oxford by Sidharth Bhatia

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The aesthetics of wine

25 March 2021 Ferran reminded me about this article the other day as he wants to include a Spanish translation...

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Wilderness wines increase

11 February 2021 We are republishing this today as it is germane to the evolution of the wines of Herbert...

Hemming in Asia

The small world of wine words

Richard examines whether wine-tasting vocabulary can break through language barriers. The best superhero power isn’t flying, even when the world’s...

Matthew Hayes' blind tasting of France v the rest in Burgundy

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Pride and prejudice – blind tasting in France

Burgundy-based Matthew Hayes tried to persuade his neighbours to enjoy some non-French wines. The inspiration for this is a popular...

Hemming in Asia

The tea that tastes like wine?

Richard turns his taste buds to a wine-themed range of blended teas. Describing flavour in wine is a combination of...

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Tales from a sickbed

Poor Alistair Cooper MW, one of our JR.com team members, is just – only just – recovering from what was...

Jan Paulson, Serena Sutcliffe MW, Michael Broadbent and Stephen Browett at a Hardy Rodenstock tasting in the late 1980s

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Broadbent – more memories

Some more memories of the expert on wine tasting. See also memories from others at the bottom of this article...

Michael Broadbent MW in his London study with tasting notebooks

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J Michael Broadbent MW RIP

We have lost one of the wine world's best-known personalities. See also Broadbent – more memories. Michael Broadbent, a towering...

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My New Year's wine resolutions

A collection of good intentions. A version of this article is published by the Financial Times. Drink more wine. Since...

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So, so Sensible

If you're based in the UK, you can now hire my glasses! Forgive me for banging on about my all-purpose...

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London, capital for wine

A version of this article is published by the Financial Times. We Brits may be suffering a crisis of confidence...

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The problems of cellar (and vineyard) palate

This article about the difference between producers' and commentators' perceptions of individual wines has been syndicated. I’m often asked whether...