TMG Blog

A chunk of heather and sandstone beside one whisky glass on a weathered wooden ledge, grey sea light behind — Island whisky is not all peat
Producer Guide

Highland Park and why island whisky is not all peat

Ask ten people what island whisky tastes like and nine will describe the same thing:...
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Rows of identical glass demijohns holding amber reserve wine along a dim cellar shelf, uniform tone across every jar — Reserve wine keeps house taste
Champagne

Henriot and how a house tastes the same every year

Here is a problem worth sitting with for a moment. The weather in northern France...
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Stacked oak barrel staves leaning against a champagne riddling rack inside a chalk cellar, a single candle burning nearby — Oak reshapes Champagne flavour
Champagne

Henri Giraud and what oak does to Champagne

Take one batch of juice, split it in half, and ferment one half in a...
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An unopened bottle silhouetted in candlelight beside a magnifying glass and a loose cork on dark cellar wood — Read a bottle before opening it
Bordeaux

Gruaud Larose and how to read a bottle before opening it

A bottle arrives with a label that has clearly had a hard life. Stained brown...
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A clump of blue clay soil against a rusted iron gate post, Pomerol vine rows dissolving into morning mist — Gazin lost land it once owned
Bordeaux

Chateau Gazin, Pomerol, and the land it no longer owns

Open a classified Bordeaux from 1975 and one from 2005 on the same table and...
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A plain wicker grape basket on a stone farmhouse step, modest vine rows climbing a gentle hillside behind — Cheaper Burgundy has a reason
Burgundy

Faiveley and why the southern Burgundy villages cost less

Draw a line down the Burgundy map and something strange happens to prices about forty...
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A handful of Pauillac gravel stones beside worn pruning shears on a weathered oak barrel stave in low morning light — Ownership does not buy character
Bordeaux

Duhart-Milon and what ownership cannot transfer

A restaurant group that runs a very good kitchen in Central opens a second place...
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A single champagne flute catching candlelight on a stone ledge above a chalk cellar stair, the room beyond empty — This bottle sells a signal
Champagne

What Dom Perignon is actually doing on the table

A bottle lands on the table at a banquet and does its work before anyone...
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A shallow dish of dark alluvial soil beside crushed wild herbs and river reeds, faint mist rolling across flat fields — Southern Medoc smells different
Bordeaux

Chateau Dauzac and why southern Medoc smells different

Ask why a Margaux smells the way it does and you will usually be told...
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A ceramic sake flask and small cup beside two piles of rice, one polished bright white and one still husked and brown — Polishing number is not a rank
Producer Guide

Dassai 23 is not a higher grade than Dassai 45

Someone hands you two bottles of sake. One says 45 on the label, the other...
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A corkscrew mid turn in an open unlabelled bottle, two empty glasses waiting beside a young vine cutting on weathered wood — Open this Pauillac early
Bordeaux

Chateau d'Armailhac and the Pauillac you can open early

Somebody buys a serious bottle of Bordeaux and is told to leave it for ten...
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Loose wooden classification tiles scattered and half stacked on a stone table, one pile forming again beside the fallen others — The ranking gets rebuilt
Bordeaux

Chateau d'Angludet and the ranking that gets rebuilt

A classification is a promise about the future made with information from the past. The...
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Recent Post

Macallan TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask and Mastery
Glass Notes
Glass Notes: Macallan's yellow case is out. Why is the red one selling for half? 黃盒上市，紅盒點解跌咗一半？
Neat rows of dark oak whisky casks stacked beneath a wooden warehouse roof, a single dram glass resting on a barrel head — One distillery, its own casks
Producer Guide
Yamazaki and why Japanese distilleries do not swap casks
Fossil flecked grey limestone fragments with tiny oyster shell imprints scattered on dark soil beside a pale tinted glass of white wine — Kimmeridgian rock shapes Chablis
Burgundy
William Fevre, Chablis and what Kimmeridgian rock does