Assessing the best young and mature red wines from the Central Portuguese region. By Richard Mayson The Dão has improved enormously over the past 30 years, with the best wines now making good on their considerable promise, says Richard Mayson, after a tasting shared with Simon Field MW and Andrew Jefford and featuring additional commentary… Read More »
The third day in Canada’s Niagara wine region. Judging was solid: I was with Jeremy Bonia (who runs restaurants in St Johns, Newfoundland) and Sharon McLean (over from Victoria, BC). It went quickly, and we had some nice wines in the varied flights we tasted. Jeremy and I then headed out to explore the beer… Read More »
The best wines to pair with the satisfyingly rustic Chilean vegetable stew. By Joanna Simon I can’t imagine that anyone ever visits Chile’s Secano Interior—Maule, Itata, and Bío Bío—without eating the vegetable stew porotos granados; probably several times in the summer when the principal ingredients, borlotti beans (aka cargamanto, cranberry beans, or Roman beans), maize… Read More »
A few decades from now, young sommeliers may be learning about Benedicto and Moribel, along with Tempranillo, Graciano, and Mazuelo. Spanish researchers at the Institute of Vine and Wine of Castilla-La Mancha (IVICAM) found the two grape varieties showed promising results where adapting to climate change is concerned. Tests have suggested Benedicto and Moribel, parent… Read More »
Newly released results for the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2024 include 117 coveted Platinum medals, representing just 0.64% of all wines tasted in this year’s competition. With more than 18,000 entries blind-tasted by nearly 250 world-leading experts in a rigorous, multi-stage judging process at DWWA 2024, consumers can be confident that Platinum award winners… Read More »
A solid day of judging wine followed by a tasting of Prince Edward County wines and dinner at the Two Sisters Winery in the Niagara River sub appellation. It was good to be back judging in the National Wine Awards of Canada competition, which is really well organized. 1800 wines this year, with a team… Read More »
Margaret Rand heads to newly fashionable wine-growing corner of Essex. By Margaret Rand Margaret Rand visits England’s most densely planted corner to discuss with John Atkinson MW the benefits of the area’s clay-rich soils and Burgundy-like climate, as well as the enormous strides made by the Danbury Ridge winery. “It was obvious 20 years ago… Read More »
It’s good to be back in Canada again. I arrived in Toronto late afternoon and drove through a thunderstorm to Big Head winery in Niagara, where I met up with fellow judges from the National Wine Awards of Canada for a welcome evening. It involved an informal tasting of the wines of five producers, followed… Read More »
Family-owned Antinori joined forces with Ste. Michelle to establish Col Solare as a 50-50 joint venture in Washington State in 1995. They have collaborated on the project for the past 29 years, but the parties have now announced that Antinori will take full ownership of the estate. Shawn Conway, CEO at Ste. Michelle, said: ‘It… Read More »
Last year was described as a ‘near perfect year’ in a recent report released by the Wines of Great Britain (WineGB) trade body, authored by Stephen Skelton MW. Data from the Food Standards Agency Wine Team indicated that total production hit 21.6 million bottles, nearly twice the volume of the previous year. Skelton predicted that… Read More »