A Good Nose

Quinta de S. Jos�

2009-07-15 13:37:55

João and Ruy Brito e Cunha above S. José

The first of a two part in-depth profile of the jewel-like Quinta de S. José in Portugal's Douro valley has just been added to our New Douro micro-site.

João Brito e Cunha of Quinta de S. José is making some of the finest wines in northern Portugal. He epitomises all that is best in the new Douro D.O.C. movement and his youthful aspiration, unencumbered by old world baggage or fortified inhibition, permeates every step...

Rui Paula: Gravity Defying Chef

2009-04-09 12:42:02

Chef Rui Paula on the cover of his new book 'Douro Cuisine' (click)

If seeing is believing, Portuguese star chef Rui Paula really can walk on water; as evidenced by the extraordinary image adorning the dust-jacket of his first ever gourmet cookbook: ‘Douro Cuisine'. Rui's iconic, ultra modern restaurant, appropriately named ‘

Quinta de La Rosa's venerable adega

The first half of a two-part profile and pictorial essay on Quinta de La Rosa has been added to our New Douro microsite and is now online .

The Bergqvist family have a distinguished Port wine history dating back to 1815 and the past seventeen years have provided an invaluable opportunity to evolve an impressive portfolio of stunning table wines to rival any in the Douro...

Saturday Night Fever

2008-12-08 15:52:46

Click and magnify our image panel above to visit a full size photo montage of the Auberge kitchens and see Cédric and Yoshi at work.

Peter Gordon is the famous New Zealand chef known as the godfather of fusion cooking: from the Pacific Rim to Romney Marsh, he is credited with inspiring more cross-over culinary creations than Kiri Takanawa has warbled arias, and by putting the word chef before celebrity, his benign gastronomic Haka has displaced the tired twin-set bluster of antipodean TV cooks. He really knows about fo...

Yoshi's Big Smoke

2008-12-04 21:16:50

Click and magnify our image panel above to visit the Auberge kitchens and see Yoshi at work on day one.

Yoshi Takazawa the exciting and enigmatic Japanese chef has arrived at Auberge Basque in south west France and he is already creating a stir.

Together with ever smiling wife Akiko, Yoshi will spend four days working alongside dynamic French chef and hotelier Cédric Béchade in the ultra modern kitchens of his stylish boutique hotel. This unique opportunity will feature in a new online culinary journal of
Harvesting high in Gaivosa's vineyards - click to enlarge

The first section of a two-part comprehensive profile on Quinta da Gaivosa has been added to our New Douro micro-site and is now online . Father and son winemakers Domingos and Tiago Alves de Sousa have established a fine reputation for their stunning portfolio of authentic Douro D.O.C. wines. With no less than six separate estates and an impressive array of award winning vintages, Alves de Sousa epitomize ...

Going Dutch with 'Marvellous Marcel'

2008-11-08 14:18:31

I am delighted to announce that marvellous Marcel Swaghoven, the Meester Gastrenoom, bon viveur and mischievously funny Dutch sommelier is our brand new Wine Spy from Holland. Marcel is larger than life, passionate about fine wine and runs a highly regarded Michelin starred restaurant, together with his chef brother Eric. Based in Venlo, close by Maastricht on the Netherlands/Belgium frontier, Marcel welcomes visitors from all over Europe.

His first four wine recommendations have now been posted, with many more to come. Marcel has a first class palate and deals with great wines every day of his life... both professionally and for pleasure. His articulate descriptions and abili...

TAKAZAWA COMES TO FRANCE !

2008-10-28 10:45:37

The world's most enigmatic chef will be visiting Europe during late November and early December this year. Yoshiaki Takazawa is a culinary phenomenon: his cult Tokyo restaurant Aronia de Takazawa has only two tables, and three to six month advance booking is de rigeur... his food is original, intelligent and offers a unique vision of culinary creativity - he is an inspiring, exciting and dynamic Japanese chef.

Cédric Béchade, Akiko & Yoshi Takazawa

A Unique Dining Opportunity

After making a presentati...

Douro 2008 - a chiaroscuro vintage

2008-10-16 18:02:28

The Douro's beautiful Roncão valley in early autumn light

I am back from the glorious land of topographically terraced vines known as the Douro valley: three and a half weeks of searing Portuguese sunshine, fine wines and heavy perspiration, climbing amid the vertiginous schist slopes. So many memories filed and stored without any real opportunity to reflect, before moving on to the next location. Ervamoira, Noval, Nápoles, Vesuvio, Malvedos, Roriz, Bom Retiro, Crasto... the list of great winemaking Quintas visited is endless, my mind is full of edited highlights and the minutiae of vindima. The Douro at vintage time is mesmerizing and full of vinous details, providing a visual l...

Cuisinier-Sommelier

2008-09-12 08:20:56

Cédric Béchade is a dynamic French chef and Samuel Ingelaere a first class sommelier: together they are developing a wonderful gastronomic centre in the heart of the French Basque country, close to Biarritz and St Jean de Luz. The concept is ‘Cuisinier-Sommelier' and their welcoming boutique hotel, l'Auberge Basque, is a place of the highest culinary standards and warm hospitality. Until two years ago Cédric was running the Michelin three star kitchens of the Plaza Athenée in Paris and Samuel spent five years as head...

The New Douro

2008-09-06 16:41:27

Quinta do Vesuvio - patamares at sunset (click for full size)

Yet another Douro grape harvest is under way and I will soon be in northern Portugal to record this year's frenetic activity amid the extraordinary vine-clad terraces. This seems like a good moment to announce the publication of our very first Symington Family Estates feature within the New Douro microsite. In this two-part illustrated essay, Rupert Symington provides a frank assessmen...

Heeeeeere's Johnny...

2008-09-03 12:05:08

I am absolutely delighted to welcome John Stimpfig of Financial Times and Decanter fame to the pages of A Good Nose.Com. As an occasional contributor to our online features and the gradually expanding Wine Spy, he will share informed and direct observations on an assortment of vinous topics. John's Nose debut takes the form of a Champagne feature on the world's most exclusive and prohibitively expensive fizz, Clos d' Ambonnay made by Krug. John clearly likes to do things in style and is starting his professional relationship with A Good Nose at the very top of the bubbly ladder, though this comes as no surprise to me. In his other life, John Stimpfig frequently rubs shoulders ...

Niepoort's Nice Nose

2008-08-29 12:30:36

The Cote d'Azur, best known for Brigitte Bardot, minor monarchs with small principalities and an excessive use of Ambre Solaire - is not a natural home for one of Europe's most celebrated cerebral winemakers. Dirk van der Niepoort is a man whose personal interpretation of dressing for dinner extends to wiping the daytime dust from his beloved pair of Crocs . He is the winemaker's winemaker, a man who eats, breathes and sleeps fine wine while eschewing visible excess, except, that is, when it comes to his own state of the art schist-clad winery in the heart of northern Portugal's Douro valley. Niepoort is a professional wine Guru whose family...

Say Cheese...

2008-08-22 11:54:43

Cheese is a wonderful and endlessly fascinating subject for those who love food: in many ways it offers a striking similarity to fine wine. The tremendous array of nuanced flavours and tastes, slowly evolving with time or exposure to air; the removal of the cheese rind and elevation of ambient temperature permit flavours to evolve, providing many points for comparison with wine appreciation. In addition, there are many distinct and carefully defined local appellations for cheese, with each region proudly defending the honour of its own cheesy identity. This standard and narrowly defined typicity is seldom diluted and with particular cheeses, is upheld and protected by individual A.O.C. denominations in a very rigorous fashion - the list of revered regional cheeses is endless; R...

Acting the Goat in Portugal

2008-08-15 07:07:00

Driving back across an arid yet brightly hued Spain from northern Portugal's Douro valley, to my home in St Jean de Luz on the French-Spanish frontier, is usually uneventful. On the last occasion I made this journey from Pinhão, the high Douro's rustic capital, via Alijo, Bragança and on to Vallodolid, the autumn weather was simply perfect. By-passing Alijo and heading due north, the winding and quite narrow road breaks through an area of bracken and coniferous woodland, eventually meeting the main IP4 and the highway home. Entering the Vale de Cunho I witnessed a most extraordinary sight; as the road traversed a well worn woodland crossing, a surging mass of slate grey goats, issued forth from a gap in the trees on my left; braking hurriedly, I drew ...

Quinta do Vesuvio: D.O.C. Table Wine Announced

2008-08-09 13:57:49

Quinta do Vesuvio, owned by Symington Family Estates and famed for its iconic Port wine, is to release a premium D.O.C. table wine in late 2008. This legendary estate has an impeccable Ferreira Port pedigree dating back to the nineteenth century. Since the late 1990's, Vesuvio has been contributing premium grapes to the elegantly styled Chryseia and Post Scriptum, a successful joint venture with Bruno Prats of Cos d'Estournel fame. These two limited production red wines, made by French winemaker Stéphane Point, sell in the manner of a fine Cru Classé via the Bordeaux place. They sit at the apex of an S.F.E. portfolio of red table wines, whose combined annual sales already exceed 2 million Euros. The first large scale foray by Symington into tabl...

The Best Nose: Gerry Casey 1928 - 2008

2008-07-29 15:00:11

A Good Nose.Com was established in 2003. It is a name inspired by a distinguished and valued friend, Gerry Casey. As Berry Bros & Rudd's man in Bordeaux for nearly a quarter of a century, Gerry had an excellent ‘nose' in every sense. Wellingtonian in proportion and so finely tuned, it seemed he could identify a bad wine before its cork was lifted. Fifty years in the wine trade had honed his senses, sharpened his wits and evolved an invaluable capacity for simply knowing good wine. The launch of this new weblog and gastronomic portal owes a great deal to my dear friend, who tragically passed away in May this year, after a short untimely illness. His bravery at the end of a very complete life was exemplary. He faced the conclusion of...

Welcome!

2008-07-07 11:53:18

As many of you will know, building a website can take over your life and for the last year or so, A Good Nose.Com has done just that. As a writer and artist I enjoy the idea of discovering new and original concepts within fine wine and gastronomy, through the construction of AGN I have met so many wonderful people, encountered so much that is new and have hardly known where to begin when choosing the first dynamic subjects to upload in time for our much postponed launch.

I hope visitors to A Good Nose.Com will understand it is something of a work in progress, and though many elements are complete, there is much more to be done. Therefore, I seek the indulgence of first time visitors and hope you will value and support our ...