Will Lyons @Will_Lyons

A huge thank you to @Will_Lyons of @thetimes for featuring JN Wine among the UK’s best independent wine shops. A real honour for our family-run business as we approach 50 years in the trade. Here’s to the next chapter 🥂

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What goes into a £10 wine? Tax, packaging and £1.93 of drink thetimes.com/article/28bba7…

Whenever I’m asked how to get into wine, I always recommend striking up a relationship with a good independent wine merchant. Fortunately, Britain is blessed with them. Traditionally we imported rather than produced wine and today we retain that tradition. Our islands are dotted with hundreds of passionate, enthusiastic, knowledgeable importerswho spend much of the year travelling to vineyards, unearthing new producers and filling their shelves with bottles you simply won’t find anywhere else. They know the winemakers personally, have tasted every wine they sell (and discarded thousands) and are happy to share their knowledge. I spent years working in wine shops and quickly learned that most people are often bewildered by the choice and wanted a recommendation from someone they could trust. A good wine merchant will fulfil this role. They learn your tastes, steer you towardssomething unusual and, if you’re lucky, open a bottle for you to try. This is by no means an exhaustive list. I've deliberately left out some of the larger names, including The Wine Society and The Sunday Times Wine Club, both excellent and who also buy direct from their growers, to focus instead on smaller and medium-sized independent merchants who retain relationships with small farmers, and buy wines that genuinely excite them. Some I’ve visited many times, others I’ve come to know through years of tasting their wines and following their lists. I can happily lose myself for hours browsing the shelves of a good wine shop – just ask my family – I hope this list encourages you to do the same. thetimes.com/article/0af98f…

Happy birthday to Charlie Parker, born on this day in 1920!

If wine has never been better, why isn’t the wine industry flourishing? A question I posed at Oxford’s Reputation Symposium this week, discussing the relationship between quality, reputation and status in wine.

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Cornwall: the hunt for Bodhi continues…

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But mostly talking about wine…

Will Lyons @Will_Lyons

2 weeks ago

Thrilled to be appearing at this year’s Cheltenham Literature Festival @cheltfestivals .📚🍷 I’ll be joining The Sunday Times Wine Club for a very special evening of wine, food and lively conversation — with the great @Beathhigh . Talking Rebus, writing, crime against a backdrop

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Thrilled to be appearing at this year’s Cheltenham Literature Festival @cheltfestivals .📚🍷 I’ll be joining The Sunday Times Wine Club for a very special evening of wine, food and lively conversation — with the great @Beathhigh . Talking Rebus, writing, crime against a backdrop of a glass or two of wine. PLUS. I’ll be at the Headline Bar over the opening weekend sharing a glass or two with some of @thetimes editors and columnists. Do pop in for a glass or two… # 📅 9–18 October 2026 🎟️ Tickets go on sale 3 September at 10am 📖 The full programme is out now. Hope to see some of you in Cheltenham! #CheltLitFest #CheltenhamLiteratureFestival #IanRankin #Rebus #sundaytimeswineclub

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Fantastic day @thehundred

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How to make sense of a wine label. thetimes.com/article/d33f19…

Greatest test series of all time - and Peak Simon Jones was arguably its best bowler. A career of such possibilities ended by injury. But by God will those of us who watched never forget. We’ll never know how great Simon Jones could have been (just as we will never know about Frank Tyson) but we know exactly how great, for a brief moment, he was

Jack Blackburn 🇺🇦 @HackBlackburn

3 weeks ago

21 years ago today. Come for the sound of ball on stump Stay for the Richie Benaud commentary

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One of the most difficult shots I ever took. Favaritx lighthouse right before totality in Menorca, with my friends at photopills. Shooting from a boat in choppy water. Never again 😂 #photopills #eclipse2026

Matthew was an absolute inspiration to us all. Talented, generous and deeply professional, he was blessed with a phenomenal work ethic and a laser-like palate.  His 100 Best Australian Wines was one tasting you simply couldn’t miss. It was a remarkable tasting, unearthing and introducing us to new wines and new estates from the Southern Hemisphere.  But it was Matthew’s tasting notes that truly set him apart. Bubbling with energy and enthusiasm, Matthew married the traditional, human feeling of the old school with the precise, technical descriptions of the modern school. They were always a joy to read. When I was invited to host a masterclass on how to write wine tasting notes for the Wine Writers Symposium in Napa, I referenced Matthew as an absolute master of his craft and quoted his note on Killerby below.  This is an enormously sad day for the wine world. Our prayers and love go to Amelia and the family.   2013 Killerby, Premium Series Sauvignon Blanc, Margaret River, Western Australia  Ferngrove-owned Killerby is a well-known name in Margaret River but its fame has not yet ignited the UK. This wine might light the fuse. I am conscious that I rarely feature Sauvignon Blanc from Australia in the line up and this is because I set the bar so high. When a wine clears these lofty standards by a margin I sit up and take note. I tasted this wine for the first time at the Australia Day Tastings in early 2014. It was one of the last wines of a 600+ wine day and it shone like a beacon. With laser-driven, lime juice fruit and a stunning winemaking twist of three months spent in French oak barrels, this is a very carefully assembled wine. There are no traces of green pepper or sweat which so often pervade Margaret River SSB wines and there is a real sense of place found in the nose and palate. The sea spray freshness and cool undertones allow your taste buds to shiver with joy and I wouldn’t bet against it ageing well, too, even though I will inevitably drink my bottles far too early in the greater scheme of things. Matthew Jukes, 100 Best Australian Wines 2014/15

Devastated to hear that Matthew Jukes has passed away at 58 while on holiday with family in the Alentejo. Truly tragic. The wine trade loses another legend far too soon. Deepest condolences to Amelia and family. You’ll be in my prayers. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🍷🤯thedrinksbusiness.com/2026/08/wine-w…

Lovely view tonight. @thehundred @HomeOfCricket @London__Spirit @BraveHundred

The House of Infantino has to close. And the House of FIFA reopen. FIFA has to show that it is not a presidential fiefdom, that it can be a fair-minded custodian of world football ruling by sound principles of governance, togetherness, decorum and transparency. That it can resist political and commercial interference that tainted the recent World Cup. The White House call over Balogun, sponsored hydration breaks & shameless ticket prices all on Gianni Infantino’s watch. Now the "World Cup for sale" plan. To move forward and regain trust, FIFA must remove its discredited president now. Potential successors are mooted. Victor Montagliani from CONCACAF; Sheikh Salman Al-Khalifa from AFC; Nasser Al-Khelaifi of PS-G. Do they want it anyway? Al-Khelaifi is said to be unwilling. The deadline is Nov 18 for candidates to declare for the presidential election in Rabat on March 18. But Infantino might have rebuilt his support by then. Action is needed now. In most organisations, Infantino would have been dismissed by now for dragging the world’s most-loved sport to the brink of civil war because of his divisive plan and his arrogant decision to ignore collective governance. An emergency referendum of the 211 associations on Infantino’s fitness to lead is needed immediately. His continued presence serves to damage FIFA only further. Some within want him out. It’s all very Shakespearean when a family turns on a flawed man, King Learjet in this case. Elements of FIFA’s culture clearly need addressing. The power and intoxicating proximity to world leaders and world footballing greats can go to the head of some. Safeguards need introducing to limit the president’s power. He is there to serve, not be served. Infantino, respected during his eight years at UEFA, changed at FIFA. No accountability and very, very rare press conferences when he could be called out. He became all ego, no humility. The World Cup trophy was not Infantino’s to handle in the proprietorial way he did. Only Rodri and his wonderful Spanish compadres had that right. Concocting a Peace Prize was full, sirens-blaring evidence that Infantino crossed the line from custodian to narcissist. If FIFA is strong and moves Infantino on now, citing his venture capitalist plan and the lack of proper consultation as a dismissible offence, the obvious caretaker is general secretary Matthias Grafstrom. He’s a total contrast to Infantino in many ways. The 45-year-old Swede is low key, ego-free, a team player, not really a charismatic leader but a safe pair of hands. That’s what FIFA needs now - the appliance of governance not a dangerous individualist who forgot he’s a sports administrator not a world leader. Infantino has to be eased out now. Otherwise, the danger is he rebuilds his powerbase and influence by offering member associations substantial sums from FIFA reserves in the manner of a feudal king dispensing favours to ensure support - and also pushing through plans for a 64-team World Cup in 2030. 127 of the 211 FIFA members have never been to the World Cup; 64 opens the door more, temptingly. Both offers could win back support and ensure Infantino wins another four-year term in the presidential election in March. That would be a disaster for the game. That would let down the many good people amongst FIFA’s 953 full-time employees. Many work tirelessly organising tournaments, believing in the not-for-profit, public service element of their organisation. Good people drawn from 76 nationalities who ask not what the global game can do for them, but what they can do for the global game. It would be good to hear from Arsene Wenger. Now FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development, Wenger would have railed against Infantino's behaviour during his time as Arsenal manager. Wenger needs to take a stand now. Others are. “Our mission - the mission of the hundreds of passionate, dedicated, and exemplary FIFA employees - is to serve football,” chief operating officer Kevin Lamour wrote in his powerful statement to the Associated Press’ Graham Dunbar. “Not to serve the personal interests of a person who, unfortunately, believes he embodies FIFA when he is supposed to be at its service.” FIFA needs to get back to that reputation for service not a reputation for presidential self-aggrandisement. Infantino out.

@EdGrapeNutZimm Noted Ed. Dönnhoff or JJ Prüm?

Very enjoyable read, but pls don't bring me "a top-notchEnglish fizz" (& no, this isn't anti-Brit sentiment). 🙏 @Will_Lyons (also, I respectfully suggest that German Riesling from the Mosel provides great value & will last forever)

Will Lyons @Will_Lyons

a month ago

The dos and don’ts of taking wine to a dinner party thetimes.com/article/b11241…

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