Time to Reflect on Provence in Times Past
1 April, 2020
I am in lockdown in my house in southeast France, and, like so many of the wine trade, unable to get out to taste and visit vineyards. So I am doing what I never have time to do, going through …
Tribute to Michael, from Simon
23 March, 2020
(From left) Simon McMurtrie, Valerie Smallwood, Michael Broadbent and Bartholomew Broadbent at the Académie du Vin Library launch party, celebrating Michael’s new book and his 92nd birthday. When I was a young publisher at Mitchell Beazley (I was 25 …
Breaking the Merlot-Cabernet Hegemony
23 March, 2020
Château d’Haurets vineyard. Photo credit: Jonathan Ducourt @jonathanducourt Bordeaux’s massive red vineyard is dominated by the Merlot-Cabernet axis. Of the 98,888 hectares (2018 figures) of red plantings (89% of the total AOC surface area) 66% are planted to Merlot, 22% …
Chateau Musar
23 March, 2020
‘Wine is not human life, but it is real life all the same.’ – Serge HocharChateau Musar, The Story of a Wine Icon Serge Hochar’s skills as a winemaker were legendary. He not only crafted wines under the most difficult …
Memories of Michael Broadbent
19 March, 2020
How does one remember someone who was a role model in the wine world and a benchmark as a teacher and communicator? Michael has been part of my life since I first met him at Christie’s in 1966, soon after …
The Burgundian Dream…Still Flourishing
12 March, 2020
The Harbour Family: Colleen, Madeleine, Jack and Nicholas Burgundy is mecca for many wine collectors and lovers. From its rolling vineyards flow mineral-driven, ethereal wines that enchant. Understandably, this magic comes at a price. According to SAFER, the agency that …
The Cape Climate Change Experience
11 March, 2020
Theewaterskloof Dam Before and After the Drought. Photo Credit: www.dailymaverick.co.za Climate change has become the most pressing social, economic and political issue of the 21st century, with the wine industries of the world implicated in several ways. They are held …
Mexico
11 March, 2020
Geography: Located north of the 30th parallel, Baja is Mexico’s major wine region with 4,000 hectares devoted to wine varieties. The climate is Mediterranean, and the dry, arid growing season is tempered by morning fog and cooling breezes from the …
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 …