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Yearly Archives: 2024

The Denbies wine estate, viewed from Box Hill | Box Hill is …

Box Hill is a summit of the North Downs in Surrey, approximately 31 km (19 mi) south-west of London. It is named after the ancient box woodland found on the steepest west-facing chalk slopes overlooking the River Mole. The western part of the hill is owned and managed by the National Trust, whilst the village of Box Hill lies on …

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‘I Just Want a Zinfandel’ Wins Wine Spectator’s 2024 Video Contest

Steve Jacobson was not about to throw away his shot to win Wine Spectator’s annual video contest for a third time in a row. While the 2024 competition was incredibly close, “I Just Want a Zinfandel” (a parody of the opening number to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s boundary-breaking Broadway musical Hamilton) won the viewers’ votes and cemented Jacobson’s “Hall of Famer” status …

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Book Review: Port and the Douro by Richard Mayson

This is the 4th edition of Richard Mayson’s detailed treatise on the Douro, first published in 1999.  It is an extensive reworking of the previous edition with updates on the vintages, the producers and the Douro wine industry.  However, the focus of this book is clearly on Port.  Mayson has written another book, The Wines of Portugal, that puts the …

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Ready, Willing, and Benable

The post Ready, Willing, and Benable appeared first on 1 Wine Dude. (image: Benable.com) As I prepare for jumping into a longer series of pieces covering my recent trips to Italy’s Asolo Prosecco Superiore region, as well as highlights from another trip to nearby Cortina for the fantastic VinoVIP tasting, today I’m throwing out a quick hit to let you …

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Casa Real 2021: A dream year for a Chilean legend

Casa Real 2021, from Chilean winery Santa Rita, is set to be released via the prestigious La Place de Bordeaux marketplace from September 2024. Expectations are high: it looks to be a phenomenal year for Chile and for this legendary Cabernet Sauvignon from the Alto Jahuel area of Maipo. Perfect conditions With the ideal combination of cool nights and warm, …

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Balkan winemaking at a glance

Balkan winemaking at a glanceAlbania Albania is the Balkans’ rough but stunning diamond: a growing winemaking sector blending the modern with the charmingly rustic. Roughly 8,000ha of vineyards are planted here, producing almost 3 million litres of wine, 65% of it bottled. Most Albanian wine is consumed domestically; just 20% currently goes abroad. This is sure to rise, however, with …

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Walls: A tale of two Gallets

Vineyards of Côte-Rôtie. No matter how carefully you study a region, sometimes it’s luck, spontaneity or serendipity that leads you to the most exciting discoveries. I was reminded of this during my last visit to Côte-Rôtie. Les Epicurieux in Ampuis is one of my favourite local places to eat and drink, it’s a wine bar, restaurant and shop all rolled …

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Where to eat in Barbaresco

Village of Neive in Langhe. Whether you eat at a white tablecloth restaurant or a humble trattoria or osteria, you will find numerous dazzling wine and food combinations in Barbaresco, typically at very reasonable prices. Offering among the finest dining experiences in all of Italy, the quality of the local ingredients is the equivalent of the zone’s most revered wines. …

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Perfect Pairing: Fig anchoïade

When cooking with fruit, let simplicity be your guide. Honest cooking begins with fresh, flavourful ingredients. It’s easy to improve almost any dish by tasting the ingredients first. In the case of fruit, this means tasting for ripeness and flavour. In the opinion of a dear friend who’s a sommelier, the best way to learn about wine is to drink …

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Fattoria di Fèlsina Chianti Classico Berardenga Riserva 2021 $40 (95 points)

The core of cherry, pomegranate and raspberry fruit is detailed with Tuscan scrub, iron, vanilla and tobacco notes as this intense red builds in power to the expansive conclusion, where its fruit, mineral and wild herb flavors converge. Shows fine balance and length; this just needs time to absorb the oak. Best from 2027 through 2043. 5,000 cases made, 2,000 …

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Wine News: What I’m Reading the Week of 9/22/24

Hello and welcome to my weekly roundup of the wine stories that I find of interest on the web. I post them to my magazine on Flipboard, but for those of you who aren’t Flipboard-inclined, here’s everything I’ve strained out of the wine-related muck for the week. How Was Wine Blindsided by Recent Trends in Consumption and Demand? Pick a Reason.Jeff …

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California’s Other Cabernet Valley

Even in a theoretical future dramatically reshaped by climate change, it seems unlikely for Napa to lose its pre-eminence as the home of California’s most beloved Cabernet Sauvignons. Though the spotlight seems destined to remain trained on the ever-more-rarefied Napa, outside the gilt-edged glare of that performance, an understudy diligently waits in the wings, working twice as hard for half …

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France proposes €120m plan to uproot vines

Vineyards in France. France’s agriculture ministry has announced plans for a new scheme that would pay winemakers to uproot vines in the country. Global wine production outstripped demand by 10% in 2023, according to figures from the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV). That has contributed to a significant wine surplus, which has pushed down prices and threatened the …

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Malvasia: A guide to this ancient grape and its sprawling worldwide family

The sun-drying of grapes for the production of Monemvasia-Malvasia wines. It seems that everywhere you turn in the wine world, you’ll find a grape called Malvasia – according to the ultimate scientific grapevine database VIVC.de, there are as many as 290 of them. And many are delicious, so are definitely worth exploring. The name ‘Malvasia’ is widespread across the Mediterranean …

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Pacific Northwest 2024: Wine harvest snapshot

Chardonnay harvest is underway in the Willamette Valley. Living in the Pacific Northwest, I think of 2024 as a relatively steady, somewhat cool summer, with a few hot days but no notable anomalies. I recognise that the weather where I live in Seattle is a bit different than that they receive in the Willamette Valley, and vastly different than that …

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