Raymond Blake

wine writer

Raymond Blake

wine writer

Raymond Blake

wine writer

Raymond Blake

wine writer

Super Semillon

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I had the great pleasure of leading an Australian Semillon masterclass at the recent Wine Australia tasting day in Dublin. It was no hardship, none at all. Ever since visiting the Hunter Valley in 1997 I have been an avid fan of the unique, chalky-dry-in-youth, toasty-in-age Semillons that are produced there. The net was thrown a little wider for this masterclass and, included in the half-dozen wines, were two from the Barossa, three from the Hunter and one sweet number from Riverina. Read More...
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Elizabeth Semillon 1994


At the risk of being branded an ‘Elizabeth-phile’ I am going to write about this wine once more. This was my last bottle from a case bought about a decade ago and was opened over the weekend in anticipation of a forthcoming visit to Dublin by the Mount Pleasant winemaker, Phil Ryan. It is fair to say that it was on its last legs but it was a fascinating drink all the same. Read More...
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Mount Pleasant Mystery Solved


Thanks to a swift response from the winery in Australia, delivered through Tesco, so thanks to them also, I am now able to clear up the confusion surrounding the labelling of the Hunter Valley Semillon that remains one of my favourite Australian wines, no matter what they call it. For the record it is now labelled as: McWilliam’s Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon 2005. The text of the message reads: Read More...
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Double Identity?


I had a great response to my recommendation of the Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon 2005 last week, so much so that a number of people contacted me to say that their local Tesco store was sold out of the wine. All I could say by way of consolation was, “So was mine!” But that’s not all.

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Best Value Ever


Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Very probably the best value wine offer I have ever come across lasts for only a few more days at Tesco. Read More...
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