Henry Jeffreys

This article is taken from the October 2022 issue of The Critic. To get the full magazine why not subscribe? Right now we’re offering five issues for just £10.
One of the conversations we drink writers like to have over a late-night glass of port is who is the best in our admittedly rather limited field. In my experience, one name comes up more than all others: Andrew Jefford. He is the wine writer’s wine writer.
Jefford is the author of two essential books: The New France, an insightful guid...

There’s no need to panic buy… yet … but there are Islay peated malt shortages on the horizon for the Scotch whisky distillers with Port Ellen maltings especially facing unprecedented demand. Here’s the full story.
It started as a tip-off from an anonymous source on Islay: the supply from Port Ellen maltings to non-Diageo distilleries will be limited in 2023 and may be stopped entirely in 2024. So we did a bit of digging. Robbie Millar from Beam Suntory, owner of Bowmore and Laphroaig, had thi...

Gosh, there are a lot of English sparkling wines out there. More brands than you can shake a stick at. To try to narrow the field down a bit for this taste test, I’ve only included wines made in the champagne style ie. from French grapes like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier (and a little pinot blanc), and bottle-fermented.
We are now starting to see cheaper English sparkling wines made from Germanic grapes like Bacchus and with bubbles created in a tank as with Prosecco but I'll save...

I don't think I have ever enjoyed a taste test as much as this one. The quality of port is at an all-time high, from the cheapest rubies on supermarket shelves, to vintage ports. It was very hard narrowing it down to ten bottles.
Port is made by taking very ripe grapes grown in the Douro Valley and crushing them to extract as much colour and flavour as possible (the top wines are still trodden by foot). Then, while there is still lots of unfermented sugar, brandy is added which kills the yeas...

A wine merchant once let me into a secret about ordering from an unfamiliar wine list: go for the Rioja or the Malbec, and you can’t go wrong. Malbec is one of the very few grape varieties, like Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay, that has become a brand name familiar to non-wine buffs.
What’s all the more remarkable is that 25 years ago the word ‘Malbec’ was almost unknown. In its home in south west France where it went into an often rather tough wine called Cahors, it was called Cot. In Bordeaux...

The blessings of maturity
For some people wine appreciation is like big game hunting. It’s about ticking off the prizes: Latour, Petrus, Romanee Conti. Whereas for others it’s about chasing unicorns, looking for mythical wines so rare that they are almost impossible to obtain. I don’t have the money for either, but even if I did, I still think I would take the greatest pleasure in opening a strange old bottle and being surprised by how delicious it is.
I’m fortunate in having friends and rela...

Do you have an unfounded fear of sommeliers? Allow Henry Jeffreys to calm your anxieties.
Even for a monumental wine bore like me, being presented with a strange wine list can be stressful. What should I order? Am I going to look cheap? And how the hell do you pronounce Pernand-Vergelesses? It’s funny because this doesn’t happen at a pub with wide selections of beer or whisky. Or indeed a lavish cheese counter.
People get upset about wine in a way they don’t with other drinks. I remember havi...

This week we’re making a cocktail that everyone is talking about, mainly due to an endorsement from ‘House of the Dragon’s’ Emma D’Arcy. It’s the Negroni Sbagliato!
It’s a funny thing the internet. A cocktail can be chugging along getting a moderate amount of attention from drinks lovers and bartenders, and then all of a sudden a celebrity will express an interest and boom, suddenly everyone is talking about it.
What is a Negroni Sbagliato?
This happened a couple of years ago when Stanley Tuc...

There’s no need to panic buy… yet … but there are Islay peated malt shortages on the horizon for the Scotch whisky distillers with Port Ellen maltings especially facing unprecedented demand. Here’s the full story.
It started as a tip-off from an anonymous source on Islay: the supply from Port Ellen maltings to non-Diageo distilleries will be limited in 2023 and may be stopped entirely in 2024. So we did a bit of digging. Robbie Millar from Beam Suntory, owner of Bowmore and Laphroaig, had thi...

This week we’re making a fancy take on a Spanish summer classic. A blend of red wine, lemonade, and all kinds of other things, it is, of course, Sangria!
Normally for this weekly slot we add a definite article to the cocktail eg. the Dry Martini, the Screaming Orgasm etc. but to call something the Sangria just sounds ridiculous. Perhaps because Sangria is such a relaxed sort of drink. All you need is red wine and then you just add to it: lemonade, fruit, brandy, whatever takes your fancy.
The...

Raise a toast to Armenian resilience
The Armenian capital of Yerevan has much of the trappings of a modern city such as craft beer, free wifi and ugly glass architecture going up everywhere, but what differentiates it from London or Edinburgh, is the distinct feeling that at any moment horsemen may come over the mountains and kill everyone.
The country’s beautiful churches are festooned with images of grapes
This isn’t just paranoia. Armenian history has proved time and time again that their ...

30 years ago English wine was changed forever, and a vinicultural revolution began
Among all the excitement of the Platinum Jubilee, one important anniversary seems to have been forgotten. 30 years have passed since the first harvest at Nyetimber, the Sussex estate that put English wine on the map. Rather than make pale imitations of German wine — which is what most of the homegrown wine industry was doing — Nyetimber aimed at the very best of Champagne. Astonishingly, it succeeded with its v...