Author Simon J Woolf

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Simon J Woolf
Contributor
Simon is an award-winning English wine and food writer, currently based in Amsterdam. He writes mostly, but not exclusively about organic, biodynamic and natural wines. Fermented grape juise has been his muse for the last 15 years. Originally he just drunk the stuff, then started studying, and finally got the urge to communicate in 2011, starting with www.themorningclaret.com. Simon contributes regularly to Decanter magazine, Meininger Wine Business International and other publications.

A fresh crop of Cape wines at Intellego

Simon J Woolf
Feature Stories
3 min read
What's your image of South African wine? Big-boned, smoky Pinotage, highly extracted Bordeaux blends, or super-ripe oaked Chenin and Chardonnay perhaps? These were the wine styles that put post-apartheid South Africa on the international wine map. You might be surprised if you tasted Jurgen Gouws's refreshing bottles. Visitors were scratching
Pogo Nugget - 68, courtesy chrstphre ㋛ campbell

Mousiness: a primer

Simon J Woolf
Feature Stories
4 min read
I admit it, I've become obsessed by mouse taint. If that seems strange or perverse, let me expand. Most wine faults in this day and age are pretty well understood. We know a fair bit about Brettanomyces, volatile acidity, reduction and many other common complaints. Not so with the stray rodent

A Bosnian wine adventure

Simon J Woolf
Feature Stories
4 min read
How do you rate your wine drinking preference? Conservative, tried-and-trusted, varied or adventurous? I've always thought of myself as pretty adventurous, until I discovered “Vins Insolites” (unusual wines), a new book by the French journalist Pierrick Bourgault. Bourgault's impressive opus catalogues 20 years of travel and research, to bring together

Is it rude to be #social?

Simon J Woolf
Features
3 min read
Imagine this scene: you host an intimate dinner party for a few friends. The candles are lit, your best starched linen guilds the table and the guests are getting nicely oiled on your killer flirtinis. Out comes the starter – home made langoustine tortelloni served with a romesco sauce. Your guests

Nikolaihof: The Wrong Side of the Wachau

Simon J Woolf
Feature Stories
4 min read
“This is the new part of the cellar”, says Nikolaus Saahs with a wry smile as we walk around the extraordinary gothic basement of his family's estate - Nikolaihof. It's “only” 400 years old, compared to the rest which dates from the Roman era (c. 1,880 years ago). I can't