Critic Review
17/20 jancisrobinson.com "Along the very old canal tow path that I have walked and run for the last 12 years are ancient crab apple trees. They are wizened, lichen crumpled, scabby and always, always green no matter how dry or hot the year is. They are hacked by farmers trimming them back generation after generation into hedgerows, back for arable, back for draught horses, then walkers, then runners and then cyclists. Their blossoms in spring smell sweet and gentle, cloudy with promise and also like nectar with a hint of cat wee. In summer they smell green and sweet with shade and the scratch of lichen. In autumn they smell and taste so singular, so 'crab apple': tannic, tart, aromatic, bitter; but also honey, lettuce milk, basil, golden tobacco leaves not yet dried, dried pear skin. A little wild, a little tame. This is a wine that is all this, the spring, summer and autumn of a crab apple tree on a canal tow path. (TC)"