iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 18/08/2026

Before I read the comments I was definitely going to say Alsace. Wouldn't have had a clue which village though.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 06/08/2026

This is definitely the first time I've heard Cabernet Sauvignon described as esoteric!

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 05/08/2026

An important petition created by a natural winemaker in Slovenian, to fight against a ridiculous change in Slovenian wine law which came into force this February. If you enjoy artisanal wines from Slovenia, please have a read and sign the petition. And share widely! www.change.org/p/a-petition...

change.org

Sign the Petition

A petition to change the new wine law and protect natural wine makers in Slovenia

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Reposted by Simon J Woolf

Guardian US @us.theguardian.com · 04/08/2026

"It’s as if we launched a war against nature, and that has turned place after place into something that resembles a war zone," writes @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social. "The climate movement is a peace movement, a movement to end this war and its casualties."

theguardian.com

We launched a war on nature. Now we are in a climate warzone | Rebecca Solnit

Summer is not what it once was. We have been robbed of one of life’s great joys

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 05/08/2026

This is not good. From joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/projects-and...

Graph showing the amount of land in the EU burnt by wildfires in 2026, compared with 2025 (the previous worst year on record, now significantly exceeded in 2026) and the 20 year average.

As of 29 July 2026*, the area affected by fires has reached 434 976 hectares.

This exceeds both the area recorded by the same date in 2025 (the worst year on record) and the long-term average of the last 20 years (2006–2025).

*Data updated from EFFIS on 30 July 2026 at 8:18 CET.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 27/07/2026

I really need to have a cat in my life.

Picture of a glass held in someone's hand with some beer in it. Engraved on the glass is the text "IT'S NOT Drinking alone IF THE CAT IS HOME"

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 22/07/2026

Everywhere in Netherlands is what you quaintly call "tap to pay" (we call it contactless). Italy, Austria, Slovenia, pretty much everywhere too. I was hiking in the mountains in Calabria, visited a mountain hut in the middle of nowhere. Tap to pay, no problem at all.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 13/07/2026

This is every restaurant in the Netherlands. Serving staff here are like "oh sorry, we're busy wiping tables/chatting to our co-workers/taking unecessarily long chatting to another table, can't you see we're busy?"

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American Association of Wine Economists AAWE @wineecon.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Regional Organic Vineyard Area in Italy, 2023

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Reposted by Simon J Woolf

David Round MW @davidroundmw.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

I think we need a month-long campaign of getting everyone to make a big effort of encouragement by liking and reposting maybe a dozen or more posts a day. And following a few more people. It might create a virtuous circle of more activity and engagement being rewarded.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 11/06/2026

Clearly where I'm going wrong, I must start using headlines like this.

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Jane Mayl🍷n 🍇 @janetrad.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

"Ever wondered how a baking hot region with 40C summer temperatures could produce fresh-tasting white wines?" @simonjwoolf.com reveals all

open.substack.com

Acid Freak

The intervention no winemaker wants to talk about.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 10/06/2026

I always wondered how Palamino Fino could feel so fresh.... having read that it has naturally low acidity. I've heard plenty of BS about the "minerality" or the "saltiness" giving you the feeling of acidity or freshness. Nope. It's simply Tartaric!!!

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 10/06/2026

Someone ticked me off for link-dumping my articles. But I haven't done it for a while and I think this one is rather fun. themorningclaret.com/p/no-one-wan...

themorningclaret.com

Acid Freak

The intervention no winemaker wants to talk about.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 09/06/2026

Damned autocorrect. I didn't notice it at all, until Jane replied!

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 08/06/2026

Acidification is the topic no winemaker wants to discuss or admit to. But it happens all the time. And from reading your article, it sounds like it was enthusiastically embraced in Bordeaux for the 2025 vintage.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 08/06/2026

whoops, total typo. Let me try that again.....

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 04/06/2026

Still looks and sounds delicious

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 04/06/2026

I hope the sauce was ridiculously spicy. Nothing quite as delicious as eggs + chilli burn 🌶️🌶️🌶️

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 02/06/2026

Let alone tetrapak'ed wine.....

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 02/06/2026

I guess a few of those Napa producers are still dining out on the result....

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 31/05/2026

Wow, it's been a while since I had a bottle of the 2015. It was one of my all time fave vintages from Grawü. Hope it's ageing well!

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 09/05/2026

I guess it's comparable to what happened in NL when Geert Wilders' party came to power two years ago. But here, enthusiasm for far right politicians with no government experience and no ability to govern seems to have waned . . .

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 09/05/2026

UK, you are going to hell.....

UK local council election results, showing a massive gain for Farage's Reform UK party and a massive loss for Labour. The only bright point is the gain in the number of Green councillors

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 08/05/2026

It's so much easier to stare at people in public these days. They're all looking at their phones with earphones in. They don't even notice.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 04/05/2026

Fair point. Said a bit tongue-in-cheek admittedly 😉

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 03/05/2026

Where do I send the invoice? 🤣

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 03/05/2026

If you slide into my DMs asking for winery recommendations and treat me like an unpaid tour guide, rest assured the first thing I do is go check if you've subscribed to my site. If you're not a paying subscriber, I will either not respond at all, or I might just feed you misleading information.

media.tenor.com

a man in a white shirt is standing in front of a pink fence

Alt: Man shrugging as if to say 'not my problem bro'

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 02/05/2026

Tbh, I find that many well made natural-ish white wines can last a very long time open in the fridge. Mainly ones with a pinch of added SO2. One caveat: I believe this wine was lightly filtered (although unfined). Maybe the lack of any lees/solids is important?

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 02/05/2026

I know! And it has only 15mg/L added sulphites.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 02/05/2026

Love it when I discover a bottle at the back of the fridge with a glass left .. and after 10 days open, it's delicious - better than it was on the first day This is Domaine Didon's Bourgogne Blanc 2022, a natural wine from husband and wife David and Naïma Didon, who farm 2ha in Beaune.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 01/05/2026

The sun is shining and I am invited to a barbecue tonight. All is well with the world.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 30/04/2026

I tried my best, did find some pretty tasty things.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 30/04/2026

It's all good, I just decided to fight back today, don't know why. Usually I wouldn't bother.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 30/04/2026

Sadly not. I could see it was such a tiny group of people and I lost heart I'm afraid. I only have so much energy. Most of it goes into writing, very little left for promotion.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 30/04/2026

Lucky you. I'm talking about normal retail prices though.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 30/04/2026

oh the shame.... how could you?

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 30/04/2026

I run my email on CWP Pro so I'm stuck with some RPM flavour. Almalinux is great though!

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 30/04/2026

I appreciated it anyway. 🤣🤣🤣 I have switched to Almalinux for all my other servers, if that makes you happy.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 30/04/2026

So if I posted a link like this: themorningclaret.com/why-is-domai... (which I perfectly well could) I could fool you into clicking on it 😂😂😂

themorningclaret.com

Is Domaine des Miroirs Worth the Money?

I bought a bottle of the Jura's most hyped wine to find out

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 30/04/2026

If you knew me, you'd know I care about ethics. My OS has been Linux for the last 15 years, I run my own Mastodon server, I don't use any Microsoft or Apple products. I didn't order from Amazon for 5+ years. I don't have a Spotify account, I don't use ANY AI tools. I see its not enough. So hate me.

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 30/04/2026

He wasn't kidding. He's gone already!

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Simon J Woolf @simonjwoolf.com · 30/04/2026

Thank you for a bit of realism here Andy.

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