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The Morning Claret

Simon J Woolf + friends on wild and wonderful wines

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  • Rage against the machine

    Hannah Fuellenkemper   

    Hannah outlines why vineyard work can be incredibly divorced from the end product, and has some suggestions on how it can be rehumanised

  • How natural wine killed the tasting note

    Hannah Fuellenkemper   

    Has natural wine killed the tasting note? An army of internet warriors wants us to believe it is so!

  • No, I'm not a lover of mousiness

    Are natural winemakers in denial about mousiness?

    Simon J Woolf   

    This is an updated and significantly longer version of an article which originally appeared in Issue 2/2017 of Meininger’s Wine Business International with additional input from Joseph di Blasi, and Geoff Cowey. And yes, another outing for that photo…. Imagine a yoghurt manufacturer decides one day that using predictable, laboratory cultured lactic bacteria to create their

  • Hugh Johnson admires the colour and sheen that 6 months skin contact in an amphora brings

    Tasting orange wines with Hugh Johnson

    Simon J Woolf   

    I’m not sure that I have heroes anymore – and those I once had were certainly not wine writers. That said, if I did, and if they were, Hugh Johnson OBE would be a candidate. Several of his books are on my shelf, and his writings have accompanied my entire journey into wine over the last 25

  • People not enjoying orange wine at all

    “Orange wines are a sideshow and a waste of time”

    Simon J Woolf   

    “What’s the point of experimenting? We know how to make really good wine. Why do we want to throw away the formula and do something different?” Hugh Johnson, interviewed in the Washington Post, October 2016. Recently I’ve been wondering whether the whole arena of natural wines was becoming so mainstream, tolerated and understood that maybe there

  • Slurp back label

    When slurping isn’t natural

    Simon J Woolf   

    I looked at the bottle three times, picked it up, took a photo on my phone. Something didn’t feel quite right. “This is simply a fabulous French no-nonsense natural wine…” screamed the label. And then further down, there it was again: “This wine is 100% natural as well as gorgeous to drink”. At €4.99 in

  • Wine society logo with devil horns

    Wine Society whitewash – evil plot or careless journalism?

    Simon J Woolf   

    It’s no surprise that wine writers and journalists almost unanimously sing the Wine Society‘s praises. After all, here is a retailer which does not have profit as its primary motive, is entirely owned by its members and exists purely “to make available to members the highest possible quality of wines and services at the best

  • Musar fireworks

    Simon J Woolf   

    Chateau Musar is an utterly unique, beguiling wine from the Lebanon, which could be said to have a cult following in the UK and internationally. Its uniqueness stems, I think, from a perfect combination of old world finesse and restraint, with new world ripeness and fruit. Particularly impressive is how the Musar character – exotic

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