All good things come to an end, and this is my last week as your wine writer. It’s now nearly 14 years since I wrote my first column, and it’s been an unbelievable privilege to write for the paper I read and love on a subject I’m passionate about. So why give up? Happily, no one has asked me to, but, a month away from my 76th birthday, there are other things I want to do that aren’t consistent with meeting a weekly deadline. Travel, mainly.
Looking back, a lot has changed since I started here in 2010, not least my own tastes. These days, I prefer lighter, fresher wines than I did back then, plus they fit in better with the more plant-based food I now eat. The most striking development, albeit in wine bars and independent wine merchants rather than supermarkets, is the growth in popularity of natural wine – that is, wines made with minimal additions. Orange or amber wine, popularised by the Georgians, has been very much part of that. Then there’s been the rise and rise of rosé, driven by Provence but echoed by other countries that make wine in a similar style. It will be interesting to see if there will be a reaction to that in terms of deeper coloured rosés.
