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First taste: Sassicaia 2022

[ad_1] Following on from the exceptional 2021, Sassicaia 2022 has big shoes to fill. ‘The perception [of 2022] is of a really hot year giving masculine, powerful wines, but that’s not actually the case,’ said UK importer Armit’s MD, Brett Fleming. Bolgheri’s microclimate, close to the sea and cooled by the woodland, helps to mitigate temperature extremes, but despite this, …

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Spanish Icons: Marqués de Murrieta, Castillo Ygay Blanco

[ad_1] Marqués de Murrieta, Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial Blanco, Rioja First vintage: 1917 It’s difficult to capture in words the experience of tasting Marqués de Murrieta’s Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial Blanco. Not only does it offer a singular, complex combination of aromas and flavours, but it also brings the essence of wine to the forefront: a product of …

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Wine News: What I’m Reading the Week of 2/9/25

[ad_1] 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. In Memoriam: Martine Saunier, Founder of Martine’s WinesRIP. One of a kind. Lightest …

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What is sur lie ageing, and what does it do to wine?

[ad_1] Bottles sparkling wine resting sur pointe, with the lees concentrated in the neck of the bottle Ageing ‘sur lie’ (the french for ‘on the lees’) is an important tool at the disposal of winemakers. It’s integral to the character of multiple wines, and even to the core identity of certain appellations and styles. But what are lees and what’s …

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Martine Saunier, Pioneering Wine Importer and Filmmaker, Dies

[ad_1] Martine Saunier, who brought the wines of Burgundy’s Henri Jayer and Domaine Leroy and Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s Château Rayas to America as a trailblazing importer, died Feb. 9 from lung cancer. She was 91. Saunier had an exceptional palate for wine, a clear vision and a fierce determination to follow her own path. For more than 30 years, she imported some …

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Ontario’s boycott on US wine: A crisis paused but not averted

[ad_1] While the immediate imposition of broad-reaching tariffs has been postponed, the Canada-US trade war is far from over. Trump stated that the pause is meant to ‘see whether or not a final economic deal with Canada can be structured [that is fair].’ So while Canada’s concessions on border security spending appear to satisfy some of Trump’s demands, he continues …

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Spanish Icons: Alvaro Palacios, L’Ermita

[ad_1] Alvaro Palacios, L’Ermita Gran Vinya Classificada, Priorat First vintage: 1993 It’s difficult to be indifferent to the trademark purity of fruit, chiselled tannins and intense minerality of L’Ermita. Hailing from the eponymous 1.44ha plot in Gratallops, in the heart of Priorat, the wine quickly became Alvaro Palacios’ most sought-after, following its first release in 1993, four years after the …

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Winery tastings and tours: 14 top picks to discover

[ad_1] Arguably the biggest changes in wine over the last decade have not come in the bottle, but in the accessibility of the wineries themselves. It’s not that long ago that visits used to be largely of the ‘phone ahead, cross your fingers and hope for the best’ variety. Now the vast majority of producers are open for tastings and …

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Vinography Unboxed: Week of 2/2/25

[ad_1] Hello and welcome to this week’s 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 past week included a bunch of really delicious wines, starting with the very …

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Expert’s Choice: 18 of the best new-wave Airén from Spain

[ad_1] Airén vines in #garagewine’s vineyard in Toledo. In the early 1990s, Airén was the world’s most widely planted wine grape, with almost 480,000ha in Spain. But according to the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, by 2023 the surface under vine had decreased dramatically to 190,000ha. EU subsidies for grubbing-up and vineyard restructuring are to thank for this. In 2022, Tempranillo …

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Best Press Releases for 02.07.25

[ad_1] My love of far-off travel, cultural diversity, and wine in general is showing, based on incoming Emails: CROATIA, AUSTRIA, GREECE, CALIFORNIA, and DIVERSITY Official Website of Croatia: Croatia Sets Tourism Records in 2024; Looks to 2025 with Focus on Year-Round Travel, Sustainability, and Inland Destinations Austrian Wine: Austria continues to set benchmarks in environmentally conscious […] The post Best …

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