Copy
Can't read this email? View it in your browser
Tim Atkin MW Logo
Tim Atkin MW

Dear <<First Name>>

How Proust Can Change Your Life was an unlikely 1990s bestseller from philosopher Alain de Botton. It drew on the letters and published works of the great French novelist for advice about subjects as diverse as reading, friendship and taking your time.
 
In the wake of footballer Diego Maradona’s death at the age of 60 this week, I’ve been imaging a similar book drawing lessons from his life, although I grant you that it’s a slightly surreal idea. For all his self-evident sporting gifts, Maradona was a cheat (remember the so-called “Hand of God”, used to defeat England in the 1986 World Cup Finals?) who struggled with drug addiction at various points in his life. The older he got, the fatter and more outspoken he became. In later years, he rarely seemed to engage his brain before he opened his mouth.
 
Maradona was many things, but he was not a philosopher. But are there lessons to be drawn from his life? I think so. Watching Asif Kapadia’s brilliant documentary about him again this week – with a good bottle of Zuccardi Concreto Malbec for company – I was reminded of what one of his trainers said about his charge. The great footballer was two people: Diego and, frequently spoken of in the third person by the man himself, Maradona. Diego was vulnerable and all too human; Maradona was a strutting, invincible egomaniac. The two needed each other on the pitch, but the latter destroyed the former in his private life.
 
Dr Jekyll could’ve told him that inventing alter-egos rarely leads to happiness for the individual concerned.
 
There were plenty of other things to admire about Maradona – his drive, his tenacity, his work ethic, his ascent from very humble origins. Not to mention his ability to inspire and engage people, even those who cared nothing for football. Argentina declared a three-day holiday in mourning this week, which might seem excessive to an outsider. But not to me. Despite his flaws, Diego personified something noble about the human condition. And what a talent he was.

Cheers,


Share Share
Tweet Tweet
Forward Forward
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
The Wine Show

Making Fun Of Foreign Accents

 

The Wine Show is self-billed as “the world’s finest wine television show”. Its third series has arrived on Amazon Prime, so Peter Pharos sat down with several bottles in hand to watch all seven episodes and deliver his verdict. Is it worth watching? What did he learn along the way? He gives us the lowdown. 
 

READ

Share Share
Tweet Tweet
Forward Forward
Grenache Gris

2018 Domaine Jones Grenache Gris Vieilles Vignes, IGP Côtes Catalanes, Roussillon


91 points

 

This Grenache Gris vineyard was the first that Katie Jones bought back in 2009 before she set up her brilliant business in the Languedoc-Roussillon. Every bit as good as the 2017, it’s wonderfully herbal and fresh, with notes of greengage, aniseed, thyme and lemon zest, benefiting from the concentration of old vines and finishing with length and elegance.

 

£16.45, 13.5%, Amps Wine Merchants


BUY

Share Share
Tweet Tweet
Forward Forward
Producer of the week
I featured one of Pedro Parra’s wines a few weeks back, but, having tasted through the whole range, I was moved to write about them all. For me, they are the essence of the new Chile. Using old vine parcels of Cinsault and País in Parra’s native Itata Valley, these are site-specific reds that are as intense and fragrant as they are elegant, detailed and refreshing. The fact that several of the cuvées are named after jazz greats – Parra is an accomplished saxophonist himself – is an added bonus.
Pedro Parra
FIND OUT MORE
TIM'S PHOTOGRAPHY
Burgundy
You can almost feel the cold seeping through your boots in this photo, taken at the start of winter in Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune. My first tasting of the day was in Puligny-Montrachet at 8am – hardcore or what? – and as I drove past this Bourgogne Rouge vineyard on the “wrong” side of the RN74, the sun was coming up. I parked the car, walked down the track and enjoyed one of the most beautiful dawns I’d seen in Burgundy that season.  
 

If you’re interested in buying signed prints of any of my photos, email me at admin@timatkin.com.

FOLLOW TIM ON INSTAGRAM
Joni Mitchell
If you can remember what’s it’s like to share wine with friends, you’ll know that there’s a point in the evening when things become more reflective. Poetic, even. It’s at that point that I turn on Joni Mitchell’s A Case of You. It was featured on her 1971 album Blue, about her breakup with fellow singer-songwriter, Graham Nash, and it’s a bitter-sweet reflection on love and the bonds we form with certain people in our lives. How can you not love a song that references Shakespeare, Rainer Marie Rilke and wine? “I could drink a case of you and I would still be on my feet.” We’ve all had nights like that.
 
PS If you like my weekly music recommendations, I have collected them on my Spotify playlist titled ‘Music to Drink Wine to’.

 

LISTEN

Laura Catena
Laura Catena is no one-trick pony. She’s a global wine personality, managing director of Catena Wines in Argentina – and a trained emergency room doctor. Dividing her time between San Francisco and Mendoza, Laura is also an author, businesswoman and energetic ambassador for the wines of her country, travelling the globe to spread the word. Listen to us chat about the Catenas' Italian origins, her ambition to create a Grand Cru vineyard in the Uco Valley, her relationship with father Nicolás and why Malbec is so well suited to Argentina. 
 
Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews. 

 

TUNE IN


 
Top Reds from NW Spain

Join me on Thursday 10th December as I taste and talk through a trio of outstanding red wines from Castilla y León, one of Spain’s most diverse wine-producing regions.  I'll be chatting to the team behind each wine and finding out what makes them so special.

 
Jose Antonio García Aires de Vendimia Mencía de Valtuille 2018, Bierzo
Made by José Antonio García, one of the rising stars of Bierzo, this superb old-vine blend of Mencía with 4% of other co-planted red and white varieties has lovely stemmy complexity from 100% whole bunches, graceful tannins, sweet wild strawberry fruit and levels of complexity that wouldn’t look out of place in a Premier Cru Burgundy.  96 points

Dominio Basconcillos Viña Magna Crianza 2017, Ribera del Duero
Combining Tinto Fino with 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, both from one of the coolest sites in Burgos, this is a superbly balanced Ribera that spends 14 months in new wood, but has the structure to cope. Polished and refined, with mint, cassis and chocolate flavours and racy, palate-cleansing acidity.  93 points

Elías Mora Crianza 2016, Toro
This is "just" a Crianza, but it has lovely perfume, balance and precision, with chalky freshness and brightness, fine-boned tannins, violet and red berry fruit and the subtlest dusting of French and American oak. Elegant, even at 15% alcohol. 92 points

 
You can pick up the trio of wines – plus your complimentary invite to the virtual tasting – here.

As well as my weekly Podcasts with some of the wine world’s leading lights, I interview the subject at greater length 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 Paolo de Marchi from Isole e Olena in Tuscany. 

REPORTS

Over the past 10 years, I’ve published more than 40 in-depth reports covering Latin America, South Africa, Burgundy, Bordeaux and Brunello di Montalcino and Spain. I’ve walked every vineyard, interviewed every producer and tasted every wine to bring you the inside track on the very best these regions have to offer.
My most recent report, South Africa 2020, and all past reports are available to purchase on my website

I’ve also published a free download of the 2020 South African wines of the year this week, to allow people to compare and contrast my wines with those given Five Stars in the annual Platter Guide.

South Africa Report 2020
GET FREE REPORT
Twitter

Join Tim's 71,000 followers and keep up with the latest news.

FOLLOW TIM ON TWITTER

If you would like to advertise here please contact us.

Twitter
Facebook
Link

Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe now.


Copyright © 2020 Tim Atkin, All rights reserved.

Update your preferences | Unsubscribe from this list