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Benoit Touquette (left) and Scott Becker of Realm. Credit: Realm. The days of valley-newcomer and family-founded winery projects like Warren Winiarski’s Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars or Jim Barrett’s Chateau Montelena and their self-made tales of slow growth into the storied brands of Napa seem about as anachronistic today as an eight-track cassette player. The door for such start-up wineries in …

Good wine books are few and far between. There are brilliant reference guides and a few classics that deserve to be read in full, but it’s rare to find a wine book that you want to dip into before bed, sink into an armchair with, or bask under on a sunny day. A handful of recent releases, however, break the …

The dramatic vista of Roussillon’s vineyards. Roussillon and the southern Rhône have many things in common. They share the same four main red grapes: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Carignan, and both regions endure hot, dry summers. But while the white wines surrounding Avignon tend towards generosity and richness, those around Perpignan have a distinct crispness and clarity. The key, it …

The Remírez de Ganuza range reflects the company’s trajectory and philosophy: a combination of classicism and rebellious inventiveness, at the crossroads of which some of Rioja’s most loved labels were born. Each wine is a product of, firstly and foremost, the fruit from Rioja’s best vineyards, and also of the daring spirit and technical inventiveness the company is known for. …

Katherine Cole is the author of five books on wine, as well as host and executive producer of James Beard Award-winning podcast The Four Top. Katherine Cole profile picture credit: She Saw Things The first anti-industrial, anti-chemical farming movement, predating organics by a couple of decades, biodynamics was a timely reaction to the agrarian population’s recent abandonment of cover crops, …

The original Zacharias Bergweiler-Prüm estate in Wehlen, Mosel Valley. Today, the Mosel is a region steeped in deference to its history. New generations of winemakers rarely stray from family recipes, which have helped establish some of the top Riesling houses with hundreds of years of winemaking pedigree. Even in this special part of the wine-growing world, Ernst Loosen‘s new Zach. …

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. Call it a slower-than-usual summer wine news week. The best new rosé wines aren’t …

Year after year, as spring and summer roll round again, wine drinkers just have to scratch their rosé itch. With such varying styles to choose from, there’s little chance of getting bored. Rosé is a particularly brand-led category, with many endorsed by celebrities and flooding social media. As a result, for many rosé has become aspirational, a lifestyle choice. While …

Ruinart cellarmaster Frédéric Panaïotis. Credit: Ruinart ‘The 2013 Chardonnays are beautiful, lean and sizzling,’ says Ruinart Chef de Cave Frédéric Panaïotis as we taste the new vintage of one of Champagne’s fastest-ascending prestige cuvées – Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs. The previous release, 2010, is a hard act to follow. Acclaim for this otherwise under-the-radar vintage came from all quarters. …

Views of Delaire Graff Estate’s vineyards and Simonsberg Mountain Stellenbosch is in many ways the nerve centre of South African wine. The country’s largest and second-oldest wine region, it’s home to Stellenbosch University, where many of the country’s winemakers honed their craft. It’s the birthplace of the country’s signature Pinotage, where the country’s first wine route was established in the …

A string of extreme weather events continues to wreak havoc in Spain, this time in the northwestern regions of Bierzo and Valdeorras. A storm on 25  June hit Valtuille de Abajo and the surrounding areas, pummeling between 500-600 hectares of Bierzo’s most prized vineyards with hailstones the size of golf balls, crushing grapes, tearing leaves off vines and even damaging …

Pierre Gimonnet’s Cuis premier cru Croix-Blanche vineyard. Aurélien Suenen is pouring vins clairs, the still base wines from the 2023 harvest that have yet to become sparkling Champagne. ‘It’s a new world,’ he says, raising an eyebrow. ‘The wines are opening up so fast compared to the last two decades. I really enjoy what I taste – but maybe too …

The barrel room at Bodegas Vibe There’s a particular quality about wines made with their gastronomic potential in mind. A combination of aromatic depth, textural complexity and drinkability are the attributes that have defined the stylistic approach of Bodegas Vibe and that distinguish them from many of their counterparts. Unsurprisingly so, given the background of the winery’s founders, a family …

The very simple answer is that the Left Bank and Right Bank are two Bordeaux winemaking regions separated by an estuary and two rivers. Situated on the west coast of France, Bordeaux is split in two by the Gironde Estuary, which divides into the Dordogne and Garonne rivers. When looking at a map of the region, the area to the …

Miami skyline. Say Miami, and most people will think of pool parties, salsa dancing and supercars. They wouldn’t be wrong. Anyone who has walked along lively Ocean Drive in South Beach or danced the night away in one of Calle Ocho’s Cuban bars will agree that this city has energy. It has not, however, always been famed for its wine …

Facebook Research, “Blue Booze And Wine Bottles.” I wrote, “Wine marketing question. I already have my own thoughts, which I’ll disclose. For now, though, what do you think of these bottles? Just curious. I had a deliberate reason for choosing them to photograph (obviously) at Oliver’s Market. Responses from my Facebook pals became really revealing; […] The post Blue Booze …

Château La Mission Haut-Brion Château La Mission Haut-Brion is situated next door to the Bordeaux 1er Grand Cru Classé Château Haut-Brion, in the rather unlikely location of Talence, a residential suburb about 20 minutes from Bordeaux city centre. In many vintages, it rivals (and in certain years, exceeds) its more famous neighbour. Yet La Mission continues to fly ‘under the …

As a kid, I spent a lot of time in libraries. They’re still among my favorite places in the world, though now the appeal of air conditioning, free wi-fi, and public restrooms have become as much a part of the appreciation as the love of reading they support. Of course, these days, there’s another kind of library that is close …

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 few nice bottles of Chardonnay. Let’s start with two from …

I met Alois Lageder and head winemaker, Jo Pfisterer, in April this year at Summa, the annual wine event which Lageder host at their property in Magré, in the Alto Adige in northern Italy. Alois is in his early 70s; tall, with slightly receding, wiry hair, a polyglot with a consummate command of English, charming, quiet mannered, a vegetarian, and …