Dear <<First Name>>
What makes a good critic? I’ve been reading the ‘Theatre Writings' of Kenneth Tynan – a collection of his reviews, mostly from the 1950s – and they are a masterclass in criticism. Tynan was a superb stylist - the sort of writer that elicits admiration and even a degree of envy. Alan Bennett in ‘Beyond The Fringe’ looks like a ‘plain-clothes friar, badly in need of a tonsure’; Herman Melville’s prose is described as a ‘shot-gun wedding of sensuousness and metaphysics’.
But it wasn’t just the facility with language that made Tynan so brilliant. It was three other things: bravery, self-belief and sound judgment. Read his review of ‘Waiting for Godot’ by Samuel Beckett and it displays them all. Tynan understood that what he was watching was revolutionary – ‘it forced me to re-examine the rules that have hitherto governed the drama’ – and had the courage and confidence to say so. History would prove him right.
Good wine criticism, it seems to me, requires those things too. It’s easy to parrot received wisdom; no one will question your taste if you give Château Latour or Romanée-Conti a glowing review. But to discover new styles, regions and producers and give them the praise they deserve, way before they are popular or recognised, takes more guts and possibly ego.
That’s one of the many reasons I love writing about South Africa, the focus of my latest report. Spotting talent and backing it to succeed, putting a bit of my reputation on the line in the process, is a vital part of my job as a critic. I’ll never be able to write like Kenneth Tynan, but I can be inspired by his example.
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There’s no better person to write about the development of English wine than Oz Clarke. Henry Jeffreys gives a fulsome review of Oz’s new book on my site – it’s a charming analysis which makes me, for one, keen to dig in (especially with all my free time post-South Africa report!).
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91 points
Sometimes called Pájaro Rojo because of its distinctive red bird label, this entry-point Mencía from Losada’s winemaker Amancio Fernández Gómez is a wonderful example of a distinctive Spanish grape. Produced from old vines on clay soils – not the slate that’s more common in Bierzo – this is plush, lightly oaked and comparatively ripe, with softer tannins and lower acidity than many of its competitors, but showing the variety’s classic red berry fruit and herbal undertone. Appealingly refreshing for a wine with 14.5% alcohol.
£13.98, 14.5%, Jascots
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In the manner of all Englishmen, I always feel a bit uncomfortable celebrating my own achievements. But it’s always nice to be recognised by your peers. I’m absolutely chuffed to have won my seventh Louis Roederer Award this week for my bi-monthly column in Harpers, which is also published on timatkin.com. My previous wins were in 2009 (also for Columnist of the Year), 2011 and 2013 (Wine Website), 2014 and 2018 (Online Communicator) and 2015 (Feature Writer). This one feels very special, though, because after 16 years this is the awards' final year. I’m doubly delighted that Peter Pharos won the Emerging Writer of the Year award for his work on my site. You can see the full list of winners here.
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Sunsets are a bit like Instagram catnip. Who can resist those dramatic skies, those incredible colours? Certainly not me – especially when there’s a beautiful medieval bridge in the frame. I captured this photo of the Pont Valentré in Cahors a few years ago. But really, the bridge hasn’t changed much since it was built over a period of 70 years in the 14th century. After I’d taken this shot, I retired to the terrace of the bar you can see in the right-hand corner for a glass of toothsome local Malbec. It’s a very happy memory of a special place.
If you’re interested in buying signed prints of any of my photos, email me at admin@timatkin.com.
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I’ve been living all things South African this week in celebration of the launch of my 2020 South Africa report. Music-wise, I’ve been listening to Johnny Clegg. He’s one of my musical and political heroes. Though he was born in England, the so-called ‘white Zulu’ was raised in Johannesburg – and he was a generally amazing person wearing many hats. Singer-songwriter. Anthropologist. Anti-apartheid activist. I was incredibly lucky to hear him play once – and it was a concert with Bruce Springsteen-level energy. Great Heart, his most famous song, has carried me through the final edits of my report.
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Keeping with the South African theme, this week's Cork Talk features Adi Badenhorst. He was brought up on a wine farm in Constantia and made his first wine when he was 13. An absurdly young age, even with his background, although he says the vino tasted disgusting. After a spell working at Rustenberg in Stellenbosch, he bought a semi-abandoned property on the Paardeberg and has since become a key figure in the Swartland wine Revolution. We talk about Cinsault and Chenin Blanc; about music, coffee and mezcal – and the thrill of working with old vines.
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As well as my weekly Podcasts with some of the wine world’s leading lights, I interview the subject at greater length at 7pm BST on Instagram Live, so you can join in and ask some questions of your own.
These are on my @timatkinmw account. You can watch back-episodes on my IGTV channel, or join us on the night.
This weekend’s guest is Daniel Pisano from Pisano Wines in Uruguay.
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One of the central tenets of all my reports is that they convey the life of each region – that they’re not simply stale reams of scores and tasting notes. I visit each area in person, visiting all the wineries and talking to the winemakers. But, of course, this report has had to be quite different. I replaced my usual month-long tour of the Cape and was able to get as close to my usual experience without leaving my study. I interviewed as many producers virtually as possible and took delivery of 1,381 wines.
For only the second time in the New World, I have awarded a perfect 100-point score. In fact, there are two of them among the 153 wines of the year that scored 95 points or more. The report runs to 225 pages and contains 1,000+ tasting notes, my Cape Classification, in-depth analysis of the South African wine scene and a sprinkling of controversy. I’m incredibly proud of it. I hope you enjoy reading it.
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