Every culture has a drink it grew up with. Mine was not wine.

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Wine arrived unannounced - at a dinner table, slightly overdressed, expecting everyone to know what to do with it. Nobody did. But nobody asked it to leave either. And somewhere between the awkward first encounter and the quiet familiarity of a weeknight glass, something interesting happened.

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That something is what my blog is all about. The Second Pour by Baxicius observes wine meeting a new audience in India, the Gulf, and South-East Asia - curious, anxious, aspirational, occasionally hilarious. Not all floral bouquets and strawberry notes. Occasionally tannic, mostly dry, bubbles frequently. The second pour is always the better one. Less ceremony. More enjoyment.

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It asks questions conventional wine writing avoids - why does ordering wine remain one of the last ways to feel out of depth in public? Why does an expensive label change the taste? Why are European pairing rules expected to survive chilli and cardamom?

 

Series 1 (2025) is here. Check out some of the posts:

Monsoon books and wines

Becoming a wine professional

Wine pairing with Indian food

 

Series 2 launches April 2026, on this site, every Sunday.

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Each post is exactly 750 words. Drop a comment if you figure out why.

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Finally, why “Baxicius”? That’s for a blog sometime later.