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 2024 Eye-Roller’s Guide to the Wine Enthusiast Holiday CatalogEverything you don’t need for …
Read More »
Reims Cathedral Driving through the countryside of Champagne, I try to put a name to the exact shade of rapeseed yellow that intersperses the lush green of the vines. Sadly my wine-shade lexicon proves unhelpful in this situation and I have to settle on the rather underwhelming: vivid. Vivid, as it turns out, is a rather good description of the …
Read More »
Hommage au Baron Philippe – the label for Château Mouton Rothschild 2022, illustrated by Gérard Garouste. The label pays tribute to the 100th anniversary of Baron Philippe de Rothschild’s arrival at the family-owned Bordeaux winery in 1922. In his 1981 autobiography, Vivre la Vigne, Baron Philippe wondered whether anyone would celebrate his centenary. That question has now been answered, as …
Read More »
Almudena Alberca MW is a judge at the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA). DWWA Judge, Almudena Alberca MWAlmudena Alberca MW Almudena Alberca MW is the first woman in Spain to achieve the title of Master of Wine. After graduating in agriculture engineering, she continued her studies gaining a degree in oenology and a master in viticulture. Her first harvest was …
Read More »
Gate at the premises of Barton & Guestier French wine distributors It wasn’t an easy time to be a négociant, in eighteenth-century France. Years of overproduction had brought the wine market to its knees – it’s said the French Government ordered producers to rip up their vines, in a desperate effort to protect plummeting prices. Yet Irish-born Barton saw the …
Read More »
Château Sainte Marguerite’s palm-ringed farmhouse Brigitte and Jean-Pierre Fayard’s decision to buy Château Sainte Marguerite in 1977 was very much made with the heart. The palm-ringed farmhouse and its seven hectares of vines, although charming, needed some love and attention. The easy choice would have been to settle for making something simple and easy-drinking. But instead, the couple committed from …
Read More »
New figures from the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) suggest that global wine production will reach just 231 million hl this year. Giorgio Delgrosso, head of statistics at the OIV, said: ‘This would represent a 2% drop from the already historically low 2023, and a 13% decline compared to the last 10-year average. ‘To find a smaller vintage than …
Read More »
Northern Rhône overall vintage rating: 3.5 / 5 Fresh, supple and drinkable reds at the southern pole; more concentration in the northern reaches, making for some very fine Côte-Rôtie. Vibrant, fresh whites, particularly good in Hermitage. Red wine of the vintage: Stéphane Ogier, Lancement, Côte-Rôtie 2023 White wine of the vintage: M Chapoutier, L’Ermite, Hermitage 2023 Not a subscriber? Sign …
Read More »
Exploring Alentejo – It’s Évora Waiting for a flight with fellow wine writers, Évora, Portugal was patiently waiting. So many events had our names on them, more than we could have imagined. This trip was clearly well planned by Tiago Caravana, the director of the Vinhos do Alentejo. We were about to be really well […] The post Exploring Alentejo …
Read More »
Querol grapes at Familia Torres, whose technical team found the variety in Penedès in 1998. As a result, Spain is home to a huge wealth of varieties ‘frozen’ in time, often in remote locations outside the perimeter of current designations of origin (DOs). Crop specialisation and consolidation caused a considerable reduction in genetic diversity, reflecting a global pattern in recent …
Read More »
Just a few miles from the Tyrrhenian Sea, Monteverro benefits from cooling onshore winds. Credit: Leif Carlsson ‘I met the Weber family when making wine at [Napa Valley’s] Newton Vineyard,’ explains Jean Hoefliger, now consultant winemaker at Monteverro. ‘When they returned nearly three years later, they brought me an old Bordeaux as a thank-you for hosting them.’ Hoefliger, having worked …
Read More »
Millésime BIO, the world’s largest organic wine fair. For any wine professional with a serious interest in organic wine, a ticket to Millésime BIO is de rigueur. Developed for producers, by producers, Millésime BIO exists first and foremost to champion those who cultivate under the organic certification. In 2025, exhibitors from more than 20 countries will be attending: promising a …
Read More »
Alvaro Palacios. Credit: David Arnoldi. In 1998, I won a scholarship for my results in the WSET diploma exam. The prize was an excellent – and looking back, formative – self-drive tour to wineries right across northern Spain, finishing in Barcelona. I can still recall the discussion with the organiser. He said: ‘There is a place you could visit on …
Read More »
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 past week included a trio of nice white wines from Northern California, beginning with …
Read More »
Pruning the vineyards at Kumeu River Kumeu River Winery is a cornerstone of New Zealand’s winemaking legacy. It stands as a testament to the vision and dedication of the Brajkovich family, beginning with the migration of Mick and Kate Brajkovich from Croatia to New Zealand in 1907. Settling initially to dig kauri gum in the small settlement of Kumeu, 20km …
Read More »
Art or insanity? Sometimes you look at the effort that humans have put into planting grapevines and you shake your head in wonder. This is a close-up of a few autumn rows of many hundreds that have been dug (and in some cases, blasted) into the hillside at Quinta da Manoella, in Portugal’s Douro Valley INSTRUCTIONS:Download this image by right-clicking …
Read More »
Domaine des Escaravailles, Rasteau.Vinsobres It was a very good vintage in Vinsobres, the wines expressing all the classic markers of this terroir: bold, punchy tannins and concentrated, dense fruit. Acid and alcohol levels were more balanced here than further south. If you’re unfamiliar with this cru, 2023 is a good year to explore it. Not a subscriber? Sign up today …
Read More »
Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is one of the most revered properties on Bordeaux’s Left-Bank. Dating back to 1720, this St-Julien estate has been in the top-echelon of wines of the Médoc for several centuries, confirmed with Ducru’s second-growth classification in 1855. Those lucky to attend this fascinating masterclass were able to taste Ducru’s second and third label wines (La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou and …
Read More »
Tignanello 1971 was first released in 1974. Two bottles of the debut Tignanello 1971 vintage sourced directly from the Tuscany-based estate each sold above their high estimates at a Christie’s auction in London on Tuesday 26 November. One fetched £813 and the other £750, including buyer’s premium, versus a pre-sale estimate range of £300 to £500 per bottle. Christie’s hosted …
Read More »
Seven wine styles to drink with pork: White wine Riesling Viognier Chenin Blanc Red wine Sangiovese (Chianti Classico) Mencia Grenache / Garnacha (red or rosé) Gamay (Beaujolais) Decanter Premium is the ideal last-minute gift for wine lovers! Red or white wine with pork? There are many juicy red wines and richer white wines with a backbone of refreshing acidity that …
Read More ». . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . %%%. . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . . . .