Tag Archives: Wine education

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 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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A brief history of champagne

Posted on April 24, 2013 by James

by Neel Burton and James Flewellen Early sparkling wines were produced by the méthode ancestrale, with the carbon dioxide gas arising from fermentation in the bottle. The méthode ancestrale is still used in certain parts of France such as in Gaillac and Limoux … Continue reading →

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A brief introduction to fine wine at Lincoln College

Posted on October 30, 2012 by James

I recently presented a tasting for the Lincoln College graduate students. We covered three different white wines, three reds and a dessert wine, all tasted blind to begin with. Here’s a précis of some of the tasting information covered along … Continue reading →

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The art of tasting wine

Posted on September 12, 2012 by James

I’m now reworking, reposting and writing some new material for an international food and beverage site: The Rambling Epicure. Don’t worry, I’ll continue to post to the Oxford Wine Blog (more so once my PhD thesis is safely tucked away in … Continue reading →

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Wine bottle shapes

Posted on July 30, 2012 by James

Have you every wondered why a standard wine bottle is 750mL? Or why wine bottles are the shape they are? My curiosity was recently piqued by David Ling at Hugel in Alsace when he uncovered a few tidbits. 750mL is … Continue reading →

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Getting more out of your wine

Posted on March 26, 2012 by James

An academic article titled Wine Expertise Predicts Taste Phenotype was recently published in the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. It received a lot of attention in the press mainly due to the finding that those who gravitate towards wine … Continue reading →

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Should we write about wines we don’t like?

Posted on February 19, 2012 by James

For a while now I’ve been slightly annoyed by the conventional 20- or 100-point scales used frequently in the wine media to rank or rate a wine. Yes, I can understand that with a commodity as complex and hugely varied … Continue reading →

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Wines of Iberia

Posted on November 14, 2011 by James

If you’ve read my previous posts on deciphering wine labels from France and Italy, you’ll have noticed a trend in the way wines from these two nations are classified. They are generally split into ‘Quality Wine‘ and ‘Table Wine‘. Further … Continue reading →

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Champagne: greater than the sum of its parts

Posted on October 16, 2011 by James

Champagne is a wonderfully complex wine. Firstly, the champagne-maker has the option of using a blend of three different grape varietals (two of which are black grapes) – Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. Secondly, the winemaker must take into … Continue reading →

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