Uncorking Tales https://uncorkingtales.com/ A wine journal of vineyard visits, tastings and notes on what’s in the glass. en-GB Why wine tastes the way it does https://uncorkingtales.com/journal/wine-education/why-wine-tastes-the-way-it-does/ https://uncorkingtales.com/journal/wine-education/why-wine-tastes-the-way-it-does/ Tue, 10 Feb 2026 15:44:45 GMT Climate, soil, the choices made in the vineyard and the winery, and the balance between them all shape what ends up in your glass. The grape is only the starting point. Why do some dry wines feel softer than others? https://uncorkingtales.com/journal/wine-education/why-some-dry-wines-feel-softer-than-others/ https://uncorkingtales.com/journal/wine-education/why-some-dry-wines-feel-softer-than-others/ Fri, 07 Nov 2025 22:49:00 GMT A dry wine can still feel soft, round and generous. Acidity, tannin, alcohol, ripe fruit and winemaking choices set the feel, and there are clues for spotting the softer bottles. Tasting Cyprus at Tsiakkas Winery https://uncorkingtales.com/journal/wine-travels/tasting-cyprus-at-tsiakkas-winery/ https://uncorkingtales.com/journal/wine-travels/tasting-cyprus-at-tsiakkas-winery/ Fri, 10 Oct 2025 01:30:34 GMT A winding climb into the Troodos hills, a guided tasting of six wines shaped by altitude, and a chance meeting with our guide Anastasia at a London wine show. Binifadet: a Menorcan winery with rocky soils, sea breezes and a cellar carved into the rock https://uncorkingtales.com/journal/wine-travels/binifadet-a-menorcan-winery-with-rocky-soils-sea-breezes-and-a-cellar-carved-into-the-rock/ https://uncorkingtales.com/journal/wine-travels/binifadet-a-menorcan-winery-with-rocky-soils-sea-breezes-and-a-cellar-carved-into-the-rock/ Fri, 29 Aug 2025 00:44:00 GMT A walk through Menorca’s red, stony vineyards, the orange Chardonnay that surprised me most, and a long island lunch on the terrace at Binifadet. How wine became my story https://uncorkingtales.com/journal/my-story/from-kyiv-to-london-how-wine-became-my-story/ https://uncorkingtales.com/journal/my-story/from-kyiv-to-london-how-wine-became-my-story/ Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:54:00 GMT It began with supermarket bottles and an Instagram blog in Ukraine. Then came a move to London, WSET qualifications, and a career in wine I once thought unrealistic. A sparkling weekend in Champagne: Épernay, Aÿ and beyond https://uncorkingtales.com/journal/wine-travels/a-sparkling-weekend-in-champagne-epernay-ay-and-beyond/ https://uncorkingtales.com/journal/wine-travels/a-sparkling-weekend-in-champagne-epernay-ay-and-beyond/ Tue, 04 Mar 2025 19:32:00 GMT A weekend from Reims: a small train through Mercier’s chalk cellars, de Venoge and Veuve Clicquot in the glass, and the growers in Aÿ I ran out of time to visit. My journey to Chablis: cool climate, pure expression https://uncorkingtales.com/journal/wine-travels/walking-the-grand-cru-slopes-of-chablis-from-petit-plateaus-to-limestone-amphitheatres/ https://uncorkingtales.com/journal/wine-travels/walking-the-grand-cru-slopes-of-chablis-from-petit-plateaus-to-limestone-amphitheatres/ Sat, 09 Nov 2024 21:48:00 GMT I tasted my way through seven Chablis cellars and learned how a few metres of slope, from windy Petit Chablis plateaus to the grand cru amphitheatre, change the glass.