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When sommelier Jaime Smith drinks a Châteauneuf-duPape, he sees blocky, heavy red and blue pentagons approaching him – clumsily bumping together. Alcohol drips from above, pushing the muscular shapes out of the metaphorical ‘box’ in his mind. Smith, the first director of wine at the famous MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas and twice named best sommelier in America by …

Perhaps the most iconic and controversial aspects of the biodynamic farming regimen are Preparations 500 and 501, which involve packing a cow horn with either manure or pulverized quartz and burying it over a winter or summer. The horns are dug up half a year later, and the materials inside are added to water to make sprays designed to improve …

Susana Balbo’s Signature White Blend That Susana Balbo has been a pioneering force in Argentine (and South American) wine goes without saying. Her talent as a winemaker, entrepreneurial spirit, resilience in the face of many challenges and the way in which she has reframed the possibilities for women in the wine industry make her one of the sector’s most respected …

Decanter brings you the first in a new series of articles celebrating great buys by wine category from UK supermarkets and wine merchants. We’re focusing on bottles chosen for their great value and taste whilst also highlighting a few curveballs with points of difference to discover. The collection kicks off with a look at great-value sparkling wine, with a price …

Opportunistic buyers have been replenishing their cellars with blue-chip Burgundy at lower prices in recent months, according to merchant commentary cited in the Market Watch section of Decanter magazine’s new-look January 2025 issue. The monthly Market Watch pages, also published on Decanter Premium, are sponsored by international merchant Bordeaux Index and its LiveTrade online trading platform. It’s been a subdued …

Sri Lanka in the mix Award-winning bartender Ryan Chetiyawardana, aka Mr Lyan, has launched an innovative range of cocktail seasonings that pay homage to his Sri Lankan heritage. He has joined forces with Amal de Silva Wijeyeratne, MD of Sri Lanka’s oldest distillery Rockland Distilleries, and Dilhan Fernando, CEO of Sri Lankan tea producer Dilmah, to create Three Families (Alc …

Matthew Stubbs MW, DWWA Regional Chair Matthew Stubbs MW achieved the Master of Wine title in 1996, earning the Bollinger Medal for the best tasting paper. Since then, his contributions to the Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) has been invaluable, serving as a practical examiner, seminar lecturer, and currently as the practical Chair for the IMW Education Committee. With …

There are public wine tastings dedicated to individual grape varieties. Others are dedicated to the wines from a particular region of the world. Some are dedicated to only organic wines, or natural wines. But to my knowledge there’s only one dedicated to the whole category of white wines, and it’s taking place next month in the bucolic Anderson Valley. In …

Ryan Gowhari and his team at Spruzzo Restaurant & Bar had been open for business for just half an hour on Jan. 7 when the call to evacuate came. Located in the Pacific Palisades, sandwiched between nearby hillsides and the Pacific Ocean, the restaurant lay right in the path of the Palisades fire, the largest of the wildfires to sweep …

William Lowe MW is a judge at the 2025 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA). DWWA Judge, William Lowe MWWilliam Lowe MW With over a quarter of a century in the trade, William Lowe MW is both a master distiller and master of wine. Currently writing a PhD at the University of Cambridge on the “Chemistry of Quality in Wines and …

Victoria Anderson is a judge at the 2025 Decanter World Wine Awards. Victoria Anderson, DWWA JudgeVictoria Anderson Victoria Anderson began her career in the wine industry after discovering a love of wine while living in Madrid. She spent seven years in London with fine wine merchant Armit Wines becoming one of their buyers, responsible for developing exclusive agency relationships for …

Opportunistic collectors have been replenishing their cellars with blue-chip Burgundy wines at lower prices, but the market’s near-term outlook has remained uncertain. Buyer interest in certain top-tier Burgundy producers picked up in 2024, within a challenging fine wine trading environment, according to some merchants. Bordeaux Index reported ‘a big recovery’ in trading volumes of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) and …

Cincinnati-based attorney Michael L. Cioffi, founder of Monteverdi Tuscany, a luxury boutique resort located in Tuscany’s Val d’Orcia region, has acquired Tenuta Valdipiatta in Montepulciano for an undisclosed price, Wine Spectator has learned. The deal includes nearly 75 acres of vines, 5 acres of olive trees and the winery facility and cellar. Valdipiatta produces an average of 6,600 cases each …

Dror Nativ MW is a judge at the 2025 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA). Zvonko HercegDror Nativ MW As a wine buyer at Marks & Spencer, Dror is responsible for Champagne & sparkling wine, England, Bordeaux, Burgundy and South America. Dror’s career in the world of drinks started in the hospitality industry, opening and running the first Irish pub in …

Saranno Famosi nel Vino 2024 in Florence. Saranno Famosi nel Vino is a walk-around wine tasting held in Florence which takes its name from a popular Italian TV talent show called ‘Saranno Famosi’ which, literally translated, means: ‘They will be famous’. Now in its third year, the event aims to offer visibility to lesser-known wine producers from all over Italy, …

South Australia is home to some of the world’s oldest surviving vines. It’s here in the famous Barossa Valley that old Shiraz vines dating back to 1854 produce Yalumba’s ‘The Octavius’ Old Vine Shiraz, a wine with true pedigree and history. This is a special wine indeed, and one which – with each vintage release – maintains the winery’s connection …

Glendale Ranch is a rare listing in the heart of Napa Valley. Pitched as a hidden gem of Napa Valley, the historic Glendale Ranch estate near to St. Helena has been listed for sale after being in the same family since 1938.  Buyers will need deep pockets to meet the asking price of $100m, yet the estate offers 809 contiguous …

‘You can’t deny that when you’re into wine, the shadow of the reaper just keeps popping up,’ says Matt Walls. Happy New Year! Let’s talk about death. Don’t worry, this column isn’t going to be relentlessly depressing. I wouldn’t do that to you in January. Quite the opposite, I hope. But you can’t deny that when you’re into wine, the …

Chef Daniela Soto-Innes opened her long awaited new restaurant RUBRA with a wine dinner from Austrian producer Gut Oggau. Ever more mainstream, the long-held stereotype of natural wine as flawed and funky is full of more holes than Swiss cheese these days. As wine consumers have continued to embrace these wines for a combination of their farming and winemaking ethos, …

The Whale Bar at The St. Regis, where guests can enjoy a fine selection of international wines and dinner pairings, as well as the resort’s daily Champagne sabering ritual. Picture this: a swirl of 2005 Bordeaux in your glass, the soothing lull of ocean waves as your soundtrack, a soft sea breeze brushing your skin, and a sky alight with …