A vintage piece featuring multiple vintages of the Barry family’s finest Clare Valley Rieslings. By Ken Gargett To complement Ken Gargett’s magisterial two-part survey of Australian Riesling published on worldoffinewine.com this week, we have returned to an article first published in WFW68 in June 2020, in which Sarah Ahmed reported from the Barry family’s 60th-anniversary… Read More »

For United by their love for wine, Michael Roets and winemaker Ryan Mostert embarked on an intriguing wine journey, birthing Silwervis and Terracura, two brands from the heart of Swartland, South Africa. My first encounter with Ryan and Samantha Suddons was at Reyneke, where I had the pleasure of tasting an exquisite yet unlabeled wine… Read More »

The natural disaster has wrought destruction on homes, roads, and bridges, with the muddy brown water reaching as high as rooftops in some places. Over 250 individuals have been injured and at least 111 are missing according to the state’s civil defense unit, indicating that the death count may increase. ‘This level of rainfall in… Read More »

Ken Gargett profiles the sites and winemakers responsible for the finest Antipodean Rieslings. By Ken Gargett In the second part of his in-depth survey of Australian Riesling, Ken Gargett profiles the most significant regions, producers, and wines. Australian Riesling: An underrated, pristine joy If any region in Australia is synonymous with great Riesling, it is… Read More »

Château Mouton Rothschild 2023, deemed a possible 100-point wine by Georgie Hindle at Decanter’s, has followed the course of annual price reductions in the Bordeaux en primeur campaign, having been offered at €324 per bottle ex-négociant on Monday, May 6. This equates to a 37.2% reduction on the kick-off price for Mouton 2022 from the… Read More »

My main role in wine communication isn’t as a critic who scores every wine in a region, but rather sharing my experiences and insights on them. Although Robert Parker wasn’t the first wine critic, he undoubtedly played a significant role in the rise of wine criticism. Initially, he was able to cover most of the… Read More »

The first chapter of Ken Gargett’s comprehensive two-part analysis of the distinguished white grape variety’s past, present, and future in Australia. By Ken Gargett Although Riesling may still be striving for mainstream acceptance, it has demonstrated its potential to produce exceptional wines in Australia, as Ken Gargett explains, condensing the history and contemporary trends of… Read More »

The two prestige cuvées from Black Chalk have undergone ageing on lees for 26 months. Though, this duration is seemingly short for wines of such high aspirations. Nevertheless, the major focus lies on fruit quality which in turn determines the base wine quality. In conversation with winemakers Jacob Leadley and Zoe Driver, they unveiled their… Read More »

It’s not uncommon to pause before using the term natural wine without quotation marks, due to the complexity of defining this type of wine. Putting literal definitions aside, there is a broad consensus that natural wine should be produced from organically grown grapes, with little to no additives. Furthermore, it should undergo natural fermentation and… Read More »

Professor Michael Summerfield makes the case for the great English evolutionary biologist’s profound influence on wine. By Michael Summerfield For Charles Darwin, the grapevine was exceptional in illustrating so powerfully his theory of the modification of species. But did his work, in turn, play a crucial role in overcoming the phylloxera crisis and saving viticulture… Read More »