The inevitability of falling wine sales
This decade, wine commentators have incessantly bemoaned both wine’s ‘dwindling allure’ amongst younger drinkers, and the phenomenon of falling sales more broadly. Naysayers hypothesise all manner of causes, ranging from wine being stuffy and elitist, to sluggish innovation, failing to connect with the values of younger drinkers, and a lack of ‘inclusivity’—which has been a […]
The great scourge of supermarket wine
In 1962, changes to retail licensing laws allowed supermarkets to begin selling alcohol. Ten years later, supermarket wine sales had grown from 5% of off-trade wine, beer and spirits to 25%, this staggering expansion was largely attributable to Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose and the Co-Op, who were first to exploit an aspirational middle class increasingly preoccupied with continental luxuries. […]
The redundification of appellations
Since Virgil praised Falernian in his epic poem, the Aeneid, certain regions in varying nations have been revered for producing fine wines. The reasons why those places have excelled are broad, ranging from geographic factors to cultural and political influences on trade and economic opportunity. Long before Virgil, winemakers and bureaucrats in ancient Mesopotamia had […]
The Vinfluencers we deserve
This article was reproduced from a mailshot previously shared with Word on the Grapevine email subscribers. Join my free mailing list here for articles like these directly to your email before publication online. I’ve been around long enough to remember the fiery and vitriolic Vinfluencer affair of late 2020, including the notorious ‘Wine Bit*h’ lampoons published […]
In defence of wine scores
This article was reproduced from a mailshot previously shared with Word on the Grapevine email subscribers. Join my free mailing list here for articles like these directly to your email before publication online. Between 1935 and 1978, various authors, professors and critics proposed scorecards and scales for grading wine. These scales varied in composition, ranging […]
2019 Barolo: a modern vintage, classic wines and changing tides
2019 beckons welcome acclaim and widespread success in Barolo. Amidst an undeniably modern vintage, two important insights define the vintage.
Regenerative Viticulture: the ‘new viticulture’ or a backward step?
Humans have been farming for at least 12,000 years, advancing from nomadic hunter-gatherers to settled farmers independently in numerous disparate territories. Nomads domesticated animals first, followed by the founder crops of neolithic agriculture. Early farmers implemented rudimentary irrigation systems, used simple ploughs, and practised companion planting. Improvements continued in earnest during the Middle Ages; iron […]
Wine’s paradox of polarity
Today, ‘conventional’ and ‘natural’ wine are more alike than any urbanite millennial or snooty boomer would dare admit, each woefully depriving. Natural wine—atavistic and pure—laments intervention, believing wine to be born, not made, chastising an increasingly exhaustive list of allegedly sinful practices. Meanwhile, traditional oenological training, well-suited to making ‘clean’ and consistent wine, has distanced […]
2019 Barbaresco: unhurried vines make classic wines
Enticing maxims aside, the best winegrapes are seldom grown in extreme environments. Whereas mild water and nutrient deficiencies can help reduce excessive vegetative growth—which may compete with fruit and buds for resources—severe climatic perturbations make grapegrowing impracticable. Intense rainfall encourages rampant canopy growth, promoting disease and retarding ripening; meanwhile, prolonged, intense drought limits photosynthesis, delays […]
The tasting at Clerico’s: a defining moment in contemporary Langhe history
In 1986, Domenico Clerico brought together like-minded growers and sympathetic activists at his home in Monforte d’Alba. After this moment, everything changed.