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Articles by Algy Belville

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About Algy Belville

We are delighted to add Algy Belville to our team of writers. Algy was a director of family film Bodgers and Belville , Wine Merchants of St James. He will be contributing a column on wine. Algy lives in Amberley Sussex , is captain of his Crown Bowls team and a local Councillor. More Posts

A visit to Wiston Wine Estate

British wines are on the up. Camel Valley in Cornwall produces an award-winning and much-rated sparkling rosé, the Chapel Down Wine Estate of Kent sparklers are similarly highly-acclaimed, whilst  Sussex has a cornucopia of wineries stretching from West to East Sussex. One of the most famous is [...]

November 25, 2024 // 0 Comments

Celebrating 10 years at the Rust

Last week was my tenth year as wine correspondent of The Rust and I enjoyed a bottle of Supertuscan Sassicaia with the editor. It was my choice of wine as it nicely illustrates the cycle of wine fashion. I drank it first in the late 1970s when a friend invited me to their family home in Tuscany [...]

October 13, 2024 // 0 Comments

Left field/unusual vintage.

The wine world has moved on from expensive Bordeaux and Burgundies to Supertuscans but at a lower level there are new countries and vineyards. Today I am going to focus on Greek wines though many imbibe Croatian wines. I am ignoring Spanish wines as Albariño from Galicia is increasingly [...]

May 28, 2024 // 0 Comments

Bottle Shock (movie)

This is the 2008 film of the Judgement of Paris which I recently reviewed. It stars Alan Rickman – excellent as he always is – as the wine expert Stephen Spurrier who set up a wine-tasting competition in Paris in which the Californian chardonnay Montelena and Stag’s Head red beat the [...]

July 4, 2023 // 0 Comments

A wine tasting with a difference

In May 1976 the English wine critic Steven Spurrier presented some Californian wines in Paris. Fearing that the distinguished panel was so unfamiliar with them, at the last moment he paired them with some classy French wines like Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Las Cases and Ch. Montrose. In a blind [...]

May 26, 2023 // 0 Comments

A private cellar tasting

Yesterday I attended a private cellar tasting organised by a local Wine School. I enjoy these events where participators bring their own choice of wine. Mine was a Slovenian red bottled by Dveri Pax which went down well. My neighbour, who was clearly a wine connoisseur and was anxious you should [...]

November 18, 2022 // 0 Comments

Rathfinny Wine Estate

The Rathfinny Wine Estate was once a large arable farm but was acquired in 2012 by Mark and Sarah Driver who transformed it into a vineyard specialising in the cultivation and production of sparkling wine. Sussex wine growers cannot term it champagne – although their sparkling wine notably [...]

September 25, 2022 // 0 Comments

A wine worthy of celebration

Last Friday day I arrived – the day before a 21st celebration – at the home of some old friends, one of whom has an excellent cellar. The weather was broiling so we ate late al fresco. My friend served a Chateau Neuf du Pape but the star of the evening was a bottle of Chateau Yquem. [...]

June 19, 2022 // 0 Comments

The. Tanner Report: Fulham 2 Blackburn 0

This wa a sound and satisfactory performance but not a spectacular one. Fulham’s recent cycle of victories is based upon a well-organised defence which has been returning clean sheets. Fulham’s first half goals were due to some inept goalkeeping by Thomas Kaminski, who first failed to get [...]

March 6, 2022 // 0 Comments

A tasting of Austrian wines

The Wine School I attend convened last night to taste Austrian wines. It was the first post-lockdown event I attended and for this alone I enjoyed it. The tutor began by extolling the virtues of Austrian wines: they are organically grown, have more reduced alcoholic content and there is now a [...]

November 5, 2021 // 0 Comments

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