News

The ideal environment for enjoying well-aged Burgundy wine is quite often at home. The wine’s cellar conditions, provenance and service are assured and – given current market prices for Burgundy – it’s bound to be a bargain if you’ve cellared it yourself. These advantages beg the question, however, of what to cook to accompany it. I recently set out to …

Marcelo ‘Reta’ Retamal Winemakers in South America are embarking on a new era – one of quiet self-confidence and curious self-discovery, bringing forth some of the most exciting and individual wines yet. Distinctive regional personality is at the core of this new movement and it highlights a strong departure from the varietal- and style-driven wines that dominated the South American …

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. Can oxygen resurrect wine into something truly special?Just breathe. Natural wine shouldn’t be a …

A celebration of 20 years and record results for Chinese wine producers, on 6th September more than 100 attendees gathered in Changsha, Hunan for a first-ever Decanter World Wine Awards award ceremony and medal-winning wine showcase in China. In collaboration with Wine China, honourees from 44 wineries and 10 wine-producing areas in China were awarded a DWWA certificate to mark …

Stéphane Montez of Domaine du Monteillet looks down on the bridge over the Rhône at Chavanay. In the 1960s, Viognier nearly died out completely. Many Decanter readers would be horrified by this scenario, but certainly not all – it is, after all, one of the most divisive of grapes. Its birthplace is Condrieu, and the new president of the appellation, …

Variety is the spice of life, so they say, yet most consumers tend to stick to the tried and true when it comes to their wine consumption. Wine producers and grape growers whose livelihoods depend upon selling their yearly efforts can hardly be blamed for following their lead when it comes to what they plant and make. In the last …

Hubert Trimbach, the sales director of his family’s winery in Alsace for more than 50 years, has died. He was 85 years old. His family announced his passing on Sept. 14. Today Maison Trimbach is a well-known and venerated name from France’s northeastern Alsace region. But that wasn’t the case when Hubert joined his older brother Bernard, Trimbach’s winemaker, in …

Tranquilo is the latest addition to the bustling Broadway Market, joining an impressive lineup of international venues, catering to a discerning audience of foodies. With the great responsibility of introducing Mexican food in a street renowned for its long-standing French-, Argentinian-, Italian- and Spanish-focused restaurants, Tranquilo is already making waves for its authentic cuisine and welcoming service. In the kitchen, …

Amanda Barnes, Vincenzo Arnese and Ben Gubbins tasted 149 wines, with 5 Outstanding and 61 Highly recommended. American Cabernet Franc: Panel tasting scores 149 wines tasted Exceptional 0 Outstanding 5 Highly recommended 61 Recommended 69 Commended 8 Fair 6 Poor 0 Entry criteria: Producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest-release dry, still red wines made from a …

Matthew Spaccarelli of Fjord Vineyards. ‘As a farmer, especially as a Finger Lakes grape grower, you have to be unendingly optimistic. This year is no different in that respect,’ said vineyard manager Tim Hosmer of Hosmer Winery. Difficult years like 2023 are nothing new to Hosmer, who oversees 28ha for his family’s Cayuga Lake property. Hosmer Winery, which sustained minimal …

This week included a rockstar white wine from Bedrock Wine Company, run by Morgan Twain-Peterson, the son of pioneering Zinfandel winemaker Joel Peterson. Morgan has become one of the state’s specialists in heritage vineyards and is the owner of the ancient Bedrock Vineyard, one of California’s greatest viticultural treasures. Bedrock (the wine brand) makes wines from several old vineyards around …

Paul Hobbs Nathan Coombs estate vineyard QUICK LINK: Napa Cabernet 2020: full vintage report and top-scoring wines As Coombsville, east of the town of Napa, is among the coolest of the Valley’s 16 sub-AVAs, the region benefited from the intense heat of 2020 that plagued sites up-valley. Andy Erickson of Favia Erickson Winegrowers reminds us that in 2017, the fires …

The Quintessa Esttate. QUICK LINK: Napa Cabernet 2020: full vintage report and top-scoring wines It was longtime Beaulieu Vineyard winemaker André Tchelistcheff who described the ‘Rutherford dust’ quality of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes grown on the benchlands and ancient riverbeds of the Rutherford region. Whether appearing as a dusty mineral note on the nose or as grainy-dusty-tannins on the palate, the …

Salon Champagne It’s back to business as usual at the sought-after producer of blanc de blancs from the grand cru village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger after two unusual releases: the ripe and open 2012 which was released after a change of heart by the house, and the 2008 which was only released in magnums. Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for …

Slow and steady, with what photographer David Sawyer says is “Amazing attention to detail” the team at Domaine Mee Godard sorts through a vintage of Gamay in the Morgon region of Beaujolais. Godard is a recent newcomer to the region, having established her winery just in 2013. INSTRUCTIONS:Download this image by right-clicking on the image and selecting “save link as” …

Cecilia Beretta was established in the 1980s, on the eastern edge of Valpolicella, integrating the prized Mizzole and San Felice vineyards owned by Pasqua since the 1940s. The estate was named after the daughter of Conte Giuseppe Berretta, a seventeenth-century agronomist and poet, who was one of the first female art patrons of the time. Meant as a centre of …

Château Margaux. Château Margaux has long been an enigma to me. It has a very high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in its vineyards—more than any other first growth save Château Latour—and Cabernet often dominates the wine. Both the 2000 and 2010 vintages are 90% Cabernet. Yet despite the preponderance of this grape, the word that springs most readily to mind …

Buzzing about biodiversity James Button Up high on the west side of the Trentino valley, one of Ferrari Trento’s organic vineyards I visited in April had been home to a handful of beehives – until a bear wandered down from the steep wooded slopes above and smashed them all up in search of honey. Today, the replacement hives are protected …

Grassy and citrussy. Clean and fresh. Floral and fruity. They’re words you might associate with a characterful blanco tequila, the white spirit made with blue agave. But they’re also qualities often found in white rum – a category long underappreciated by spirits connoisseurs due to widespread preconceptions about its quality and profile. ‘Rum is the most diverse spirit category there …

Grenache vines at WeatherEye vineyard on Red Mountain. Grenache can be a tricky grape variety. While it is slow to ripen and requires a long growing season, it also happens to bloom early, keeping wine-growers waiting seemingly forever. Of Spanish origin, where it’s called Garnacha, its roots were most likely in Aragón in the country’s northeast. The Kingdom of Aragón …