Cellar Raid #1: Jo Pithon’s 1997s
Hot on the heels of my 2026 Loire Valley Rosé Report comes another new Winedoctor feature.
In case it is not clear, I adore wine (really – who knew?!). And while I make frequent pilgrimages to the Loire Valley and Bordeaux to meet, explore, travel and taste, and write all those poured samples up, I also maintain a cellar filled with my favourite bottles. While I qualify as a critic (there are a disgruntled few who might dissent on this matter – presumably those who refuse me appointments to taste, although that might be just because I gave them some low scores) I am also a buyer, enthusiast and consumer.
I have a problem though. The boxes and cases of wine have been piling up at my cellar door over the past twelve months, indicative of one thing; in short, a lack of balance between bottles purchased and corks pulled. In other words, too much enthusiasm and not enough consumption. Something, I realised, would have to be done.
The sensible decision would be to slow the rate of acquisition.
But since when has buying and enjoying wine been about sensible decisions?
So, here’s to more consumption! And hence this new sporadic feature, Cellar Raid, in which I will bring random, themed mini-tasting reports onto Winedoctor alongside the increasingly voluminous regional and vintage-themed reports from my two favoured regions.
The one rule is that all the bottles must come from my cellar; otherwise, how is it going to free up the space which would allow me to squeeze in that pile of waiting boxes?
I start today, with a quartet of wines from Jo Pithon, all from the 1997 vintage, all pulled from my cellar during my recent annual ‘sort out’.
