David Williams

England

Wine Journalist at Freelance

Wine Journalist at The World of Fine Wine

Wine Journalist at The Guardian

Wine Journalist at The Wine Gang

Wine journalist for The Observer, World of Fine Wine, Wine Gang, Wine Merchant etc http://t.co/0WnD9odBqG

Articles

Interesting and original whites from both Chile and Uruguay

2 days ago | observer.co.uk | David Williams

LFE Gran Reserva Roussanne Marsanne, Colchagua Valley, Chile 2024 (£10, Tesco)What to make of Chilean wine these days?
Esoteric finds in the supermarkets’ novel battle for our ...

1 week ago | observer.co.uk | David Williams

M&S Found Encruzado, Dão and Lafões, Portugal 2024 (£8.50, Marks & Spencer)Wine has always been one of the frontlines in the battle for the bourgeois wallet waged by M&S and Waitrose. And, over the past few years, one of the weapons of choice wielded by both of Britain’s two bougiest national supermarkets is the category that I’m calling “esoteric own-label bargains”.
The best summer wines (and when to drink them)

1 week ago | observer.co.uk | David Williams

Photographs by Romas FoordSummer wine drinking is all about the outdoors, although you don’t need to be outside to get into the right mood. I’m happy to open the windows and let a big event unfold on TV, congratulating myself that my strawberries and champagne or cava, crémant or moscato are a fraction of the price they might be at Wimbledon or Glastonbury. Refreshment is the defining characteristic, and the wines – red as well as pink, orange and white – will always be served a little cooler.
Wines of the week: thrilling new Spanish whites

3 weeks ago | observer.co.uk | David Williams

Spain is probably still best known for its trademark reds, but has recently made progress with a dazzling new generation of whites 1.
Wines of the week: cabernet franc is the perfect fresh red to enjoy in the sun

4 weeks ago | observer.co.uk | David Williams

In summer it makes sense to choose a grape that has proved itself in the heat and dust of the Mediterranean Les Argelières Cabernet Franc, IGP Pays d’Oc, France 2023£11, Cambrian WinesWhen I’m looking to buy a bottle of red from the south of France, I generally prefer wines made from grape varieties that have proved themselves in the heat and dust of the Mediterranean climate.
2023 Vintage Port: The fruits of a “welcomingly wet” year

4 weeks ago | worldoffinewine.com | David Williams

Quinta do Noval, Taylor’s, and Symington Family Estates have all announced the release of a 2023 Vintage Port—although only Noval has made a full classic declaration from a growing season in which the milder, wetter growing conditions came as something of a relief after a series of more challenging years in which extreme heat and drought were the deciding factors in the Douro.
Wines of the week: Riesling’s star is rising

1 month ago | observer.co.uk | David Williams

The great German grape is a summer winner, but there are many other other varieties to try too M&S Classics No.2 Riesling, Pfalz, Germany 2023 (£10, Marks & Spencer)Riesling, in all its silvery, fine-pointed, dashingly incisive brilliance, so dominates the scene in German wine it can be hard for other grape varieties to get a look in.
A century of Mercurey: The noble trade of immediate appeal

1 month ago | worldoffinewine.com | David Williams

To mark the centenary of the village’s ascent to AOC status in May, 1923, growers in Mercurey hosted a year of celebratory events. Raymond Blake looks back on some of the highlights of the festivities and charts the evolution of the appellation over its first 100 years.
The best places to try unusual and new wines

1 month ago | observer.co.uk | David Williams

Being adventurous has never been easier, or more affordable More than ever, wine producers talk up the natural origins of their produce, with “great wine is made in the vineyard, not the winery” an endlessly repeated guiding mantra. Which makes it ironic that one of the most significant changes in how we discover and ultimately enjoy new wines has been down to advances in technology.
Slow Wine and clos-ed minds

1 month ago | worldoffinewine.com | David Williams

While a new manifesto by the Slow Wine Coalition has much to commend it, Nick Ryan finds a potentially fatal flaw. Lock a dozen people in a room and give each of them a tin of paint and a brush. Some will look up and imagine Sistine beauty. They’re the creative types. Others declare the room in need of a freshen up and assiduously apply their paint to the walls. They’re the practical people who keep things ticking along.