Sarah Ahmed Journalist Profile

Articles

Carcavelos: Salt-lined sweetness from the 'Portuguese Riviera'

Nov 14, 2024 | decanter.com | Sarah Ahmed

The undulating 20-mile stretch between Lisbon and Cascais – known as Estoril Coast (after the coastal town of the same name) and dubbed ‘the Portuguese Riviera’ – is fêted for having 18 sandy beaches and one of Europe’s highest concentration of world-class surf. However, during the 18th and 19th centuries, Cascais, Carvavelos and Oeiras, three of the coastline’s then rural villages, were mostly celebrated for the latter’s eponymous fortified wine.
The finest wines of Vinho Verde

Nov 6, 2024 | worldoffinewine.com | Sarah Ahmed

Vinho Verde: Another green worldALVARINHOSoalheiro Revirado 2021 VR Minho (11% ABV)Elevation (400m [1,300ft]) and relatively turbid juice inform the flinty Burgundian profile of this Melgaço Alvarinho (and explain its Minho VR classification). Fermented in a revolving barrel to mitigate reduction, it is restrained, taut, and twangy, with firm nectarine- and white peach-marked salinity and savory lees.
Vinho Verde: Another green world

Nov 5, 2024 | worldoffinewine.com | Sarah Ahmed

To claim that the time is ripe to discover Vinho Verde may sound oxymoronic. The name of Portugal’s northwesternmost DOC—its highest rainfall region—has been inextricably linked with the concept of wine (vinho) that is green (verde), in the sense of unripe. Then there is the stereotype born of 80% of Vinho Verde DOC’s production revolving around so-called “classic” white commodity wines, distinguished by low alcohol, added gas, and residual sugar. Let me challenge those misconceptions from the off.
How To Wear Sperry Boots ? 20 Outfit Ideas

Oct 30, 2024 | outfittrends.com | Sarah Ahmed

If you’ve ever been caught in the rain wearing white sneakers or snow boots with no tread, you appreciate the value of functional footwear.This year, make sure your winter shoe collection is ready with Sperry boots, especially if you’re planning a trip to a colder area, with muddy or wet areas. These boots are wardrobe must-haves not just because they keep you dry in the rain and snow, but also because they’re stylish.
Mount Langi Ghiran: A masterclass in signature Shiraz

Oct 30, 2024 | decanter.com | Sarah Ahmed

Located 190km west of Melbourne at the craggy southern edge of the Great Dividing Range in Western Victoria, the remote Grampians region is home to Australia’s pioneering, now iconic, cool climate Mount Langi Ghiran Langi Shiraz. It is also home to some of the world’s oldest Shiraz clonal material, the so-called Swiss clone (or Great Western clone), which predates phylloxera in the Rhône.
Inherited Basaloid Neoplasms Associated With SUFU Pathogenic Variants

Sep 18, 2024 | jamanetwork.com | James Abbott |Angela Jiang |Sarah Ahmed |Rama Godse

Inherited Basaloid Neoplasms Associated With SUFU Pathogenic Variants Key PointsQuestion What are the cutaneous manifestations in patients with germline SUFU pathogenic variants (PVs)? Findings In this case series of 5 patients with germline SUFU PVs, basaloid neoplasms including basaloid follicular hamartomas and infundibulocystic basal cell carcinomas, typically starting in the fourth decade, were displayed.
2015 Casa Ferreirinha Barca-Velha:Turning 21 at 72

Sep 10, 2024 | worldoffinewine.com | Sarah Ahmed

Born in 1952 but a product of only 21 vintages (1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2011, and now 2015), Casa Ferreirinha Barca-Velha—the original Douro red—has the ring of a riddle about it. For the keepers of this vinous flame there is a simple answer as to why the Douro icon is long in the tooth but short on the ground. In the words of Luís Sottomayor, Sogrape’s Head of Winemaking, “Barca-Velha has its own identity.
Czar: The humble Azores curio turned stealthy unicorn

Aug 31, 2024 | decanter.com | Sarah Ahmed

Fortunato Garcia has come a long way from trawling Pico island’s restaurants for empty bottles to refill with Czar, the passado wine originally made by his father who, like him, made wine on the side while holding on to a full-time teaching job. Garcia commissioned luxury Portuguese glassmakers Vista Alegre to create bespoke 20.6-carat gold-engraved crystal decanters for Czar’s latest release, a rare 86-bottle back-vintage priced at €7,500.
Growing an eclectic Australian cornucopia

Aug 27, 2024 | worldoffinewine.com | Sarah Ahmed

Sarah Ahmed reviews Alternative Reality: How Australian Wine Changed Course by Max Allen and The Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show. The bold yellow ochre and terracotta cover of Alternative Reality: How Australian Wine Changed Course evokes Australia’s sun-baked earth and the challenges it poses for grape growers—especially for those in Australia’s inland regions, even if the Murray, the country’s longest river, runs right through it.
Penfolds Rare Tawnies: A masterclass in ageing

Aug 2, 2024 | decanter.com | Sarah Ahmed

During the first half of the 20th century, fortified wines dominated Australian wine production. They accounted for 86% of total global sales in 1950, versus just 2% of global sales today. Production may now be tiny but, drawing on precious heritage stock, the faithful few who still make fortifieds can produce wines of unrivalled intensity and complexity. Among their number is Penfolds.