Author Archives: James

About James

Dr James Flewellen is a biophysicist, award-winning wine writer and educator based in London. Keep up to date with his writings and tastings at www.jamesflewellen.com.

Join me on my new wine site!

Posted on May 29, 2018 by James

If you’ve noticed that it’s been a while since I posted to The Oxford Wine Blog, that’s because I’ve been posting new wine content over at jamesflewellen.com.  I will keep the Oxford Wine Blog up as a repository of all … Continue reading →

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Regional Food and Wine Pairing in South Australia

Posted on April 7, 2014 by James

Readers of this blog will know I have a lot of respect for Australian wines. While the image of Aussie wines in the UK is often associated with bottom-of-the-barrel supermarket specials, the country produces quite incredible wines at all price … Continue reading →

Posted in Australia, Suggested Wines | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How we perceive wine

Posted on March 12, 2014 by James

Our sense of taste arises from specialized sensory cells in taste buds on the tongue, palate, soft palate, and in the throat. There are around 5,000 taste buds in the mouth, each with 50-100 sensory cells or chemoreceptors. These sensory … Continue reading →

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The Joy of Wine

Posted on October 10, 2013 by James

Thought I’d share a link to this wonderful comic story with pithy and artistic reminders about why we all love wine! http://lastlemon.com/stories/wine/

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The Visual Guide to English Wine

Posted on September 22, 2013 by James

I came across this wonderful infographic recently that conveys the essence of the English (and Welsh – and soon to be Scottish!) wine industry. While viticulture in England dates back to Roman times – with vineyards found as far north … Continue reading →

Posted in England, Wines by Region | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Structure of Wine

Posted on September 1, 2013 by James

Over the last few weeks I’ve been writing a series on the structural elements of wine for the Rambling Epicure blog. I’ve assembled the seven posts here as a series of links, which constitutes a concise overview of the elements … Continue reading →

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Essence of the Rheingau

Posted on August 18, 2013 by James

Regular readers of this blog will know that with my focus on blind tasting, I like to get to the bottom of ‘what makes a wine a wine’ and how a particular region is expressed in the wines that come … Continue reading →

Posted in Blind Tasting, Germany, Winemaking | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Top 10 wine grapes

Posted on August 11, 2013 by James

What are your top ten grape varieties? It’s an academic question but one that throws into focus why it is we like the wines we like. My consideration of the question is split into whites and reds available on the Rambling … Continue reading →

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The universe in a glass of wine

Posted on May 31, 2013 by James

Richard Feynman was one of the twentieth century’s greatest physicists and free-thinkers. Here’s his take on wine, illustrated by the folks at Zen Pencils, from whom you can buy prints.

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Champagne: Method of Production

Posted on May 22, 2013 by James

by Neel Burton and James Flewellen Following previous posts on the history of champagne and the geography of the Champagne region, in this article we cover the method of champagne production. ——————————————————————————————————– Like many sparkling wines, champagne is produced by the traditional or classic … Continue reading →

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