Piemonte
28 February, 2020
Piemonte Geography: Located in the northwest corner of Italy, Piedmont borders west with France. It is surrounded by large Alpine masses (north and west) and the Apennines (south) that influence the typically continental climate, characterized by wide thermal excursions between …
Greece
26 February, 2020
Geography: Located between the 34th and 42nd parallels, Greece has a true Mediterranean climate and is surrounded by four different seas, with more than 3,000 islands. According to the Wines of Greece Association, there are nearly 1,300 wineries, 61.5 thousand hectares of …
Eat, Drink and Be Sherry No 4
26 February, 2020
There is usually a valid historical reason why some wine regions in Europe produce sparkling or fortified wines, or indeed spirits, instead of regular wine styles. In most cases it is because the ensuing wine is not very good. Champagne’s …
Mexican Wine: A New Beginning
25 February, 2020
The five partners of Madera 5 in Baja California In The Wines of America (1972, revised 1985), wine historian Leon Adams devotes several pages to Mexico. After verifying that Mexican wines began in the 1590s, making them the oldest in …
Bodega Garzón – Uruguay’s Icon Winery
25 February, 2020
Entrance to Bodega Garzón Compared to its neighbours, Argentina and Brazil, Uruguay is tiny, with just over three million inhabitants, half of whom live in the capital city Montevideo. Yet it has the widest river – Rio de la Plata, …
Barolo Bussia: in Praise of Balance!
24 February, 2020
Oddero Estate and Winery in the autumn The Bussia vineyard district, located mostly in the township of Monforte d’Alba, is arguably one of the five greatest sites in all of Barolo, and its wines have long enjoyed a lofty reputation. …
Montpellier Goes Green
7 February, 2020
Every year the world of organic wine descends on Montpellier in the last week of January for Millésime Bio, now the largest professional wine fair in the world. Millésime Bio started in a small way 27 years ago in Montpellier …
Armenia
5 February, 2020
Area and production: Vineyard area (2018): 15,840 ha. Number of wineries/distilleries: 40 to 50. Wine production (2018): 9.7 million litres Grape varieties: 400 native varieties, 31 grown for wine and brandy. Key native varieties: Areni (Noir) aka Sev Areni, Voskehat, Haghtanak aka Akhtanak, Kangun, Kakhet, Karmrahyut, …
Modern Armenia Meets the Roots of Wine
5 February, 2020
Noravank, a 13th-century Armenian monastery A decade ago, Armenian wine was barely on anyone’s radar – it was only in 2011 that Zorah winery revealed its first wines and started to show that there is something special about this country. …
Alice Feiring and the Rise of Natural Wine
5 February, 2020
Alice Feiring The wine industry, in case you haven’t noticed, has entered a moment of reckoning. Earlier this month, Silicon Valley Bank’s Wine Division released its 19th annual State of the Wine Industry Report, an authoritative forecasting and trend-analysis guide. …
Loire: Frost and Frost Protection
30 January, 2020
Frost damage in Bourgueil April 2016 Over the last decade spring frosts in the Loire, especially in April, have unfortunately become so common that #f***legel is now a hashtag (le gel being the ice). Because of the northerly latitude of …
Historic British Vineyards
29 January, 2020
Castle Coch in Cardiff When vineyards first became part of the rural landscape of the British Isles is not known. It is often claimed that the Romans planted vineyards, but real evidence is hard to find. In all probability vines …