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How Valais put the charm in Chasselas

Simon J Woolf
Features
7 min read
When Michel Chapoutier mentioned in 2011 that he was considering planting a Chasselas vineyard in the UK, some may have thought this was the ultimate insult to “le vin Anglais” - the famously neutral variety is increasingly ostracized in French vineyards, and is so disliked that even when it appears

Fifty Shades of Grenache

Roger Morris
Features
5 min read
A multifaceted grape gets not-so-tough love at a Roussillon competition. Outside our jury room, where we are sequestered in a restaurant on the outskirts of Perpignan, the February sun is fighting to overcome the chill of the night before. On another day, the room might be hosting a boisterous wedding

Are you sure you’re an epicure?

Evan Dawson
Features
7 min read
Epicurus would not have given a damn about “how to cook your Thanksgiving turkey like a Peking duck.” He would have found the prices and boasting vulgar if he could see the menu (95 euros for macaroni stuffed with truffles and duck foie gras) at Epicure restaurant in Paris. He

Is Coffee the New Wine? Embracing Coffee’s “Third Wave”

Evan Dawson
Features
6 min read
How’s this for a tasting note? “Cherry, roasted cashew, baked apple, and chocolate.” Or this: “Toasted nuts, caramel, milk chocolate and tobacco.” The first is difficult to place. The second sounds like a modern Bordeaux with about ten or fifteen years of age. But we’re not talking about wine. We’re

Has Italian Rose Finally Arrived?

Fabian Jauregui
Features
2 min read
Italy is currently the world's number one producer of wine, and the top exporter to the US, yet Italian rosé hasn't been more than a bit player in the pink market. Though actually the world's second-largest exporter, much of Italy's contribution has, in the past, fallen in the cheap, bulk