Distilling Krug’s Clos du Mesnil with chef de cave Julie Cavil
From grower champagne to unfortified sherry, resurrected indigenous varieties from Corsica to the Canaries, and the many faces of new school Burgundy, contemporary wine culture has changed, forcefully redefined by irreverent outsiders and trailblazing pioneers. Whilst the preponderance of this change has been a great good—there has surely never been a better time to enjoy […]
The new benchmark non-vintage champagne: Billecart-Salmon Le Réserve
Founded in 1818, Maison Billecart-Salmon has a long, sustained history of entrepreneurism and innovation, successive generations have overcome varied challenges, and elevated the house to increasing heights. When seventh generation Mathieu Roland-Billecart returned home to Mareuil-sur-Aÿ in 2018 to take the helm at this family-owned and managed estate, he initiated a programme of agronomic, winemaking, […]
Preserving identity at Château Montrose
Etienne Théodore Dumoulin planted the first vines at Montrose in 1815 on an uncultivated patch of land covered in pink heather which gave this great estate its name. Encouraged by the estate’s classification as second growth only four decades after its founding, Etienne fervently expanded his landholdings, leaving his heirs a contiguous 95-hectare parcel largely situated […]
La Renaissance d’Anjou
In 582, historian Grégoire de Tours, who wrote frequently on the wines of France, recorded that the then sitting Count of Anjou and the local Catholic administration had planted and managed vineyards around Château de Chalonnes, less than 20 kilometres from Angers. Besides scattered vines planted by earlier Roman settlers in Nantes, this is generally considered […]
Irrigation at Paolo Scavino: confronting drought in Barolo
2022 was Italy’s driest recorded year since 1800, 2023 has been equally dry. In Barolo, irrigation trials are firmly underway at Paolo Scavino.
Billecart-Salmon: enduring history, evolving savoir faire, and six decades of Nicolas François
By 1844, Champagne’s grand marques were already measuring global shipments in millions of bottles. Following phylloxera, consecutive troublesome vintages, and two devastating wars, they acquired vast swathes of land from countless small growers and offered stable long-term contrat de vendange to many more. Subsequently, production grew and consolidated; between 1900 and 2000, production exploded, totalling […]
Chiara Condello: classicism, daring and reviving Predappio
Italy’s economic woes took their toll on Predappio. Today, Chiara Condello has enthused collectors and critics, and is helping revive regional winegrowing.
Carema: heroic viticulture, sudden demise, and a fervent revival
Some two thousand years ago, the first Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, instructed the construction of Via delle Gallie, a significant road enabling Roman military and political expansion towards the Alps. Carema occupied a strategic position along the road, which intersected the small town at the southern end of the Aosta Valley. Some historians suggest the […]
Timorasso: origin, viticulture, winemaking, and more
Between 1489 and 1493, famed Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci occasionally worked as a wedding planner, organising lavish, eccentric weddings and operetta for wealthy Italian nobility. At the marriage of Duke Giovanni Galeazzo to Isabella of Aragon in Naples, Da Vinci gifted the couple a large wheel of montebore, an ancient cheese of Val Curone, […]
Langhe Chardonnay: origin, viticulture, winemaking, and more
Dramatic change characterised the late twentieth century in Piedmont. By 1980, Altare et al. had thrown tradition to the wind in Barolo, so too had Angelo Gaja in neighbouring Barbaresco. Angelo, a recalcitrant, audacious young man, began working at the family winery in 1961, aged 21. Following several trips to France, Angelo set about revolutionising […]