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Outstanding value in St. Chinian

Simon J Woolf
Feature Stories
3 min read
Developing a taste for fine wine can sometimes be more a curse than a blessing. There are moments when drinkability alone isn't enough. Simple fruit-driven wines fail to satisfy. Perhaps you crave more sophistication, character, elegance or complexity – a wine that goes beyond being mere liquid, providing contemplation into

Marsanne goes solo in Australia

Lisa Johnston
Feature Stories
5 min read
Marsanne is on the up. Slowly, but surely. The reality is that globally so few bottles containing this erstwhile grape declare it loud and proud. It’s enough to give a grape a self-esteem issue. In its homeland, along the Rhône River, it may be blended to form a savory-edged partnership

The Grapes of What?

Michelle Locke
Feature Stories
3 min read
Sicily's wine revolution and the challenge of marketing unfamiliar grapes  I'm sitting in a Sicilian fish restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean, a glass of white wine in my hand that pairs perfectly with a plate of seafood yanked out of the water just hours ago. Clean, crisp and versatile, the wine

Out in the Fields Drinking Old Vine Zinfandel

Ben Carter
Feature Stories
4 min read
The Lodi Native Project highlights non-interventionist winemaking and individual style. When I headed off to Lodi for a press visit, I got some ribbing from other wine writers.  All good natured, but if you’re already irritated by the stereotypical California style of wine, Lodi might seem to be the worst

Wine at the Rodeo means Big Competition

Mike Riccetti
Feature Stories
4 min read
That one of the world’s biggest wine competitions is associated with a rodeo might come as a surprise.   The images of an oenophile studiously judging wine and one of a cowboy flailing atop a frantically bucking bronco across a dirt-laden corral are a bit discordant, but the fact that the

The Ghost Grape: Renaming “Tocai”

Elisabetta Tosi
Feature Stories
5 min read
Surrounded by a sea of vineyards with a few rural houses sprinkled here and there, a tall white tower rises up in the countryside close to the small village of San Martino della Battaglia. The setting is Northern Italy, near Venice. Here on the 24th of June 1859, a bloody

Rías Baixas: Spain’s Little Green Giant

Roger Morris
Feature Stories
4 min read
Using a patchwork system of thousands of growers, Rias Baixas makes certain you are never without a glass of Albariño. It is the third evening of my recent tour of Rías Baixas, and there is again a gentle drizzle as we walk the narrow, ancient streets of Pontevedra en route to