Links

Links header

Some useful links to other websites

Some of these sites feature reviews and recommendations of wines you can buy from Leon Stolarski Fine Wines. Others we just like, because the content is interesting and informative. More sites will be added, as we discover them. If you feel a site that is not listed here would be of interest to us, or to you as visitors/customers, please let us know. As there is also life beyond wine, we have added a few sites that are of special interest to us......... and maybe to others, too!

Wine-related

regions

Non-wine-related

tourism

music

others

Links journals

Journalists/Media

jancisrobinson.com Known affectionately in the wine world as "HRH", Jancis Robinson OBE, Master of Wine and award-winning TV host, has written millions of words about wine, in books such as The Oxford Companion to Wine and the latest, 5th, edition of The World Atlas of Wine (with Hugh Johnson), and as wine correspondent of the Financial Times. Much to our delight, she has also featured two of our wines as her “Wine of the Week” and has recommended various others, both on her site and in her column in the Saturday edition of the Financial Times. Obviously, these wines have been given the "thumbs-up" purely because they are excellent wines, but we are nonetheless extremely grateful to Jancis Robinson for the recommendations, as good reviews are an invaluable asset to any wine merchant, especially when the "shop front" is the Internet.

winewriting.com On winewriting.com, freelance wine journalist Richard James offers commentaries, tasting notes and features from all over the planet, with lots of opinion on the wonderful and sometimes weird wine world. More importantly, there is an ever-increasing database of reviews, winery profiles and tasting notes from the south of France, with particular emphasis on Roussillon.

wine-pages.com Tom Cannavan hosts what is said to be the U.K's most popular wine website. A huge database of articles, tasting nots and recommendations (including some of our wines) from Tom and other contributing writers, including Rosemary George M.W, author of the fabulous book "The Wines of the South of France - From Banyuls to Bellet." A Easy to navigate, updated dailty, and with an extremely active and interesting discussion forum.

Wine Alchemy Paul Howard belongs to the Association of Wine Educators, teaching public wine appreciation courses at all levels for the WSET. He is also a member of the Circle of Wine Writers, and has judged at the International Wine Challenge (O.K so nobody is perfect!). He also happens to be great company at tasting evenings and is a thoroughly nice bloke. His new website aims to become an essential portal for lovers of all things vinous, with special emphasis on organic and biodynamic wines and also "slow food". Paul says of his site; "If ever there was a description of the seemingly miraculous ability to create a potentially profound drink from mere fruit juice then alchemy is it........ My aim is to communicate about the world of wine; by tasting it, talking and writing about it. Entertainingly."

FrenchDuck A new website set up by the former owner of ALLEZ VINS! (French Regional Wines). It is being developed as a gateway for Francophiles – anyone interested in France,, French Wines, Food and Travel. With a background of 18 years experience travelling the length and breadth of “la France profonde”, the site aims to share recommendations and ideas for indulging a passion for all things French. Wine tours to the South West, Rhone & Provence and the Loire Valley are being planned for 2006. The site is updated daily with new content and there is an fascinating blog at www.frenchduck.com

Andy's Scribblings A U.K. based wine and drink e-mail newsletter, an offshoot of ukwinesonline. This weekly e-zine provides a wide selection of tasting notes (wine reviews) and recommendations on wines, beers and other alcoholic drinks (cider, real ale, champagne, whisky, exotic liqueurs, rum, gin etc). The website itself also contains interesting wine articles and reviews.

www.drink-pink.com An enthusiastic and informative website, devoted entirely to the subject of rosé wine. The authors, Steve Broadhead and James Hayes, have also published a book, entitled Rosé Exposé, which is featured on our books page.

www.investdrinks.org Jim Budd's drinks investment site, dedicated to showing the dangers of drinks investment and pointing out the dodgy deals. If you are worried about the prospect of your hard-earned cash ending up in the offshore bank account of some dodgy wine merchant..... then so you should be, because the wine trade is littered with them. But Jim Budd is on their case. There is many a cautionary tale here, from "one-man-band" wine merchants frittering away a few grand's-worth of en primeur payments to full-blown multi-million pound embezzlement scams. You have been warned!

internetwineguide.com Basically a links site, giving access to many of the World's wine-related websites.

erobertparker.com A subscription website, containing a huge database of tasting notes and articles from the celebrated American writer, Robert Parker, including (amongst other things!); tasting notes from The Wine Advocate since 1992, tasting notes from many of Robert Parker's books, most of the articles from The Wine Advocate beginning with the 1995 issues, articles from Robert Parker's books and other sources, plus virtually all of the editorial information (e.g., excluding the wine reviews) from The Wine Buyer's Guide, 5th Ed. Also The Hedonist's Gazette: Robert Parker and Pierre Rovani publish a regular column offering thoughts about wine and food and informal tasting notes not published in The Wine Advocate.

hidden-wineries.com is a consultancy service for the discerning client requiring individually tailored itineraries for various wine regions around the world.

Links Producers

Wine Producers

Domaine Sainte Rose is owned by Charles and Ruth Simpson, a British couple who left their respective international careers to pursue their mutual dream to establish a boutique vineyard and winery of their own. After scouring the world for something special, they found what they were looking for in 2002. The wines are superb, and their excellent website is testament to the boundless enthusiasm with which they approach their new life and career.
Cave Cairanne Another nice website, featuring one of our producers from the Rhône area. Available in English and French languages, it details the wines and winegrowers of the Cave Cairanne. There is also loads of information on each wine in their range, together with grower profiles, virtual tour, harvest reports and much more.

Domaine Treloar Yorkshireman Jonathan Hesford and his New Zealander wife Rachel Treloar created Domaine Treloar in 2006. Having witnessed (as very close range) the 9/11 disaster, when living in New York, they decided it was time for a change. So they moved to New Zealand, where Jonathan learned to make wine under the watchful eye of Tim Finn at Neudorf. Then it was off to Roussillon, where the first vintage of Domaine Treloar has produced some brilliant red and white wines. This is definitely an estate to watch!

Links regions

Wine Regions

le-minervois.com Amongst our flagship wines are those made by Guy Vanlancker, in the village of La Liviniere, in the heart of the best appellation in the Minervois. This website is a good source of information about this beautiful and off-the-beaten-track area of southern France, including its wines, food, other products and history, together with tips on where to stay, where to eat and what to do.
We will be posting more links for great places to stay in France, as soon as time allows.

Links retailers

Other retailers

Nick Dobson Wines An online retailer specialising in wines from southern Burgundy, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. We are grateful to Nick, who provided us with a wealth of information that made the extremely difficult task of setting up a wine business and website just that little bit easier.

Champers Ltd specialise in champagne, particularly personalised label champagne for corporate brands and social events. Their range of proprietory branded champagne includes Champagne du Mont Hauban, and Joseph Perrier. They also supply a good range of reasonably priced champagne half bottles for regular drinking.

Links hotels

Hotels, gites and other accommodation in France

Logis de France Around 3,000 hotels, situated in all areas of France, using a 1, 2 or 3 "cheminée" (fireplace) symbol system, rather like the A.A star rating. Hotels accredited by this organisation are our main choice of accommodation, when we are not staying in a holiday villa or gite (or with friends/relatives). All but one of the Logis de France hotels we have ever stayed in (avoid, at all costs, l'Oasis, in Narbonne Plage!) have been either very good or excellent. All are family-run and the rooms are clean, tidy, usually spacious and always reasonably-priced (for a family of four, we normally expect to pay about 60 Euros, in total, breakfast included). The rooms almost always include T.V and radio, bath and/or shower, telephone and comfortable furnishings - the only small gripe is a lack of tea/coffee making facilities in the rooms. The food is good, and often superb, since the owners are quite often trained chefs, so "demi pension" (half board) can provide truly excellent value for money.
Here are a few of the Logis de France hotels that we feel are worthy of particular note;
Ferme du Vert. Wierre Effroy, less than 10 minutes drive from the centre of Boulogne, Pas de Calais. A charming, countryside hotel, housed in a former farm, dating back to the early 19th century. Great accommodation, great food and a warm, friendly atmosphere. And they also make their own cheese!
Excelsior. Les Tines, Chamonix Mont Blanc, Haut Savoie. A charming, old fashioned chalet hotel, with every room having a view down the valley towards the Aiguilles and Mont Blanc itself - open the curtains in the morning to possibly the finest view in the whole of France! The rooms are rustic, but spacious, and there is a swimming pool. The food is good and there is a warm welcome.
Residence. Nissan Lez Enserune, a 10 minute drive south-west of Beziers, Hérault. A fabulous hotel, set in a pretty village in the heart of Languedoc wine country. The ambience is calm, the rooms are furnished with numerous antiques, there is an outdoor pool and the meals (prepared by the brilliant chef-patron) are served either in the charming dining room or - weather permitting - under the plane trees in the courtyard. A superb place to unwind!
Auberge de Corcelles. Corcelles en Beaujolais, in the heart of Cru Beaujolais country, west of Villefranche-sur-Saone and very close to the A6 autoroute. If you are on the way to the Languedoc or Provence, this is the perfect place for an overnight stop. The rooms are very comfortable, the food (and wine!) is superb and the countryside is lovely.
Le Vieux Moulin. Gignac, Herault, Languedoc. Not, it would seem, an old mill (maybe there once was) but a nicely laid-out group of chalet-style rooms, with a lovely swimming pool and a super restaurant. Very relaxing.
Le Moliere. Casteil, Pyrenées-Orientales, Roussillon. A simply furnished hotel, in a gorgeous and peaceful setting, at the foot of the Canigou massif. Simply furnished rooms, tasty food, good wines and a warm welcome. And the walking is excellent, amidst superb scenery with refreshing mountain air (the hotel is 800 metres above sea level).
We will be posting more links for great places to stay in France, as soon as time allows.

Links tourism

Touring in France

Languedoc Dining A website devoted in the main to reviews of restaurants and hotels at which its author, Graham Tigg, has dined. A useful site if you are intending holidaying in Languedoc.

Links music

Some of our favourite musical artists

Brian Wilson After the 2003 gig at Nottingham Royal Concert Hall, it seemed impossible to go one better, but the old guy pulled it off, and then some! The performance of SMiLE at Birmingham Symphony Hall in 2004 was just amazing, and the album itself certainly lived up to expectations. It has been a privilege, and a lifetime ambition fulfilled, to see the greatest genius of the pop era perform. Let's hope he keeps on keeping on.
Wilco The greatest rock band in the world? You bet. Another ground-breaking album, in 2004's "A Ghost Is Born" and a tremendous gig, in a pokey little venue in Birmingham. Why this band is not taking the world by storm is simply beyond me. Looking forward to seeing them in Nottingham in March 2005.
Bruce Springsteen At the top of the rock'n'roll tree for over 30 years - peaked in the late 70's and early 80's, but returning to form again in the 21st century. The greatest live performer of them all.
Steve Earle Blue Collar Rock/Country par excellence. Whilst Springsteen was going off the boil, this guy was getting better and better. We saw him on the final date of his U.K tour just before Christmas 2004 and he just blew us away. And, whether or not you agree with his politics, you cannot disagree with his sentiments (peace, love and understanding, and an end to the war). And the new album, "The Revolution Starts...Now" is a cracker.
Beth Nielsen-Chapman Beth writes and sings some of the most achingly beautiful songs you will ever hear, based on a life that has certainly had its ups-and-downs (She lost her husband to cancer, and has also survived breast cancer herself). And, on the night England lost to Portugal in Euro 2004, we were treated to a magical performance in a small venue in Nottingham. Just Beth, on guitar and piano, with a great woodwind/brass player (John Ragusa). It was a life-changing experience - to see and hear and feel the warmth of such a wonderful artist, so in touch with her audience and so patently just glad to be there. And we got to meet her afterwards!
Nanci Griffith We first discovered Nanci in the mid 80's. 18 albums and many concert tours later, and we still love her music. A great folk/country artist, and another great live performer - we have a fair collection of concert bootlegs too! Touring the U.K in April 2005 - go see her, if you can.
Jackson Browne
Another artist who's been around for decades. Yet another brilliant live performer - we have JB bootlegs galore, both with his band, and with the wonderful David Lindley. We saw him in 2003 with his band, and solo in 2004. One of the great lyricists.
We love our music, so we'll be posting lots more links, when time allows..........

Links others

Other sites we like

Nottingham Forest F.C. The official site of the "Mighty Reds" - at least they once were! And who knows... maybe they will one day return to battle it out with the big boys, and conquer Europe again. The great Brian Clough (now sadly missed) set them on the road to glory and, after nearly two decades at the top, stayed a little too long and allowed them to return from whence they came. But it was one hell of a ride. Happy days!

The BBC The greatest broadcasting institution in the world, and quite possibly the best website in the world. Up-to-date news of what's happening in the world, plus great sports coverage, and a whole host of great radio stations. And you can "listen again" to programmes you have missed, or enjoyed.