News

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. The perils of investing in a boutique winery in ChinaOr anywhere. How Sweden’s young …

Over 2,000 wine lovers gathered near Seattle on a sunny weekend to raise a toast to Washington State’s burgeoning wine industry and raise money for several good causes. The 36th annual Auction of Washington Wines (AWW) pulled in more than $4 million for children’s medical care and winemaking research from Aug. 10 to 12. That total was nearly identical to …

Castiglion del Bosco’s winemaker Cecilia Leoneschi. Just ahead of the release of Brunello’s highly anticipated 2019 vintage, Castiglion del Bosco’s winemaker, Cecilia Leoneschi, has announced that Elena Penna and Luca Currado have teamed up with the estate’s long-time consultant, Beppe Caviola. Earlier this year, the duo resigned from renowned Piedmont property Vietti, which they sold in 2016 to American businessman, …

Domaine des Escaravailles, Rasteau. If you’re looking for punchy, muscular Grenache, look no further than Rasteau. It’s a wild terroir with an abiding heat haze that only rarely struggles to ripen its crop. A series of scorching vintages in the southern Rhône however have occasionally pushed some wines from handsomely well-built to something you’d see on the cover of Iron …

The emergence of alternative packaging, in wine and far beyond, is a response to the contemporary need for convenience, sustainability, and innovation. As the world evolves, so do our lifestyles, preferences and mindsets – and as global wine quality improves, is it time to consider this quality when poured from non-traditional formats? In its 20th year, DWWA said yes. Bag-in-box, …

The Fladgate Partnership has launched its first table wine division after purchasing around 200 ha of vineyards in Vinho Verde, Dão and Bairrada. The company, which produces Taylor’s, Croft, Fonseca and other port brands, purchased the quintas from Ideal Drinks for an undisclosed sum. They include the 53 ha Quinta da Pedra, one of the leading estates in Vinho Verde, …

The Douro river is the beating heart of Portugal’s Port wine region. Terraced vineyards are planted on its steep valley slopes and for centuries it was used to transport barrels from the wineries downstream to the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia for ageing. So there’s no better way to get acquainted with the region than by visiting the river. …

There’s a new episode of I’ll Drink to That!. Episode 494 features Alicia Towns Franken, a Co-Founder of Towns Wine Co. and the Executive Director of Wine Unify. What if you got your dream job, delivered successful results for years, had an amazing time at work, built a community amongst co-workers and clients, grew personally from the experience, and then …

Aligoté vineyards around the village of Bouzeron. Aligoté gets no respect. While Chardonnay is extolled as giving a wine of elegance, finesse, complexity and length, and has been called the world’s finest white wine grape, Aligoté is often considered inferior: Anthony Hanson MW noted in his influential 1982 work Burgundy (Faber & Faber), ‘…its wine has higher acidity and less …

La Nin?a’s extended three-year run of 2020-2022, with its largely beneficial cooling effects for southern hemisphere viticulture, has ended; a warming El Nin?o phase is back, and the UN predicted in May 2023 that there is a 66% chance we will see 1.5°C of warming for at least one year in the next half-decade. Crossing that threshold (according to the …

Despite being known around the world surprisingly few people actually know much about Sherry. There are many styles, ranging from the driest of dry wines to the complex ultra-sweet, and each has its own unique character. There truly is a Sherry for every occasion, making it an excellent gastronomic wine. All Sherry wines have three things in common. Firstly, they …

Hello and welcome to my weekly dig through the pile of wine samples that show up asking to be tasted. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some of the better bottles that have crossed my doorstep recently. This week features a number of interesting California wines, ranging from classic to hip. In …

Boxes of Cabernet Sauvignon catch the early morning light, as the grapes prepare to be sorted before processing at Anomaly Vineyards in Napa Valley. In northern California, the harvest is looking to be a little later than usual, but warm sunny weather means the red grapes are making their way towards final ripeness, and some white wines have already begun …

Considered a master of Chenin Blanc in the Loire Valley, Jean Baumard of Domaine des Baumard passed away on Aug. 8. The Baumard family has been cultivating vines on their Anjou estate since 1634, but Jean was responsible for the quality surge of the domaine’s modern era—and for restoring prominence to the dry wines of Savennières and sweet wines of …

  You can access the wines that I reviewed as a text wine list with my complete tasting notes, scores, food matches. If you are a Paid Member, you can add my wine picks to your custom shopping list with one click and access that list on your smartphone to find the stock for each wine in your closest LCBO store. You can also see my wine …

If there is one part of Santa Barbara County that most embodies everything that makes the region special, it’s the Sta Rita Hills American Viticultural Area (always appearing as Sta Rita Hills on wine labels thanks to a compromise made with Chilean producer Santa Rita). It fully deserves its own tasting article both because its wines alone made up nearly …

Domaine de Chevalier reflects the charismatic nature of tireless owner Olivier Bernard, 63, whose energy impresses everyone who meets him. ‘Olivier is a great connoisseur with a mouthwatering way of life,’ says Michael Grimm, of German importer Bacchus Wines. ‘You taste and enjoy his vision to produce one of the most delicious and best Bordeaux wines for clients and connoisseurs …

An agave field for Pistola production Imagine the scene, some 20 years ago, when a fresh-faced, enthusiastic salesperson walked through the doors of one of Glasgow’s most revered Scotch whisky bars. In their hands, a case of Japanese whisky: a spirit already popular in its domestic market, but one which had next to no profile in the UK. To the …

Actor Kyle MacLachlan presents a magnum of his wine Pursued by Bear at the gala event. The most recent events took place between 10-12 August and included an awards dinner, barrel auction and gala evening. The fundraising proceedings – combined with the ‘Bid for Bottles’ auction, which was held in April – raised $4m, matching the total raised in 2022. …

Gerhard Bauer, 73, faces up to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a mail fraud scheme, which saw him steal from his employer. Bauer was the CEO and president of the unnamed international company’s US subsidiary, and his activities raised suspicion. Prosecutors said that he created fake invoices and wrote company cheques in order to steal the …