The wines of Júlio Bastos/Dona Maria, from Portugal’s Alentejo
Júlio Bastos is one of the leading winemakers in Portugal’s Alentejo region, and his family property, located near Estremoz, is
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Features
Leading English sparkling wine producer Nyetimber are almost through with their vintage, and it’s one of the earliest and best ever
Back in 1988, American couple Stuart and Sandy Moss changed the face of English wine forever. Back at this time
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Paying more for quality, and the crisis of affordability in wine
It costs money to make wine. Quite a bit of it, if it’s done well. The chief problem is this:
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Visiting Aya Estate for the opening of their winery: Bulgarian wine playing at a new level
Website: https://ayaestatevineyards.com/en/ I’m just on my way back from the Struma Valley in southern Bulgaria, where I was attending the
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Bonhams is auctioning off the cellar of Locanda Locatelli, and a few of us get to try some of the gems over lunch
Back in January 2025 well known Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli closed the doors on his London restaurant Locanda Locatelli rather
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A quick guide to New Zealand wine
New Zealand is a relative newcomer in the roll call of significant wine-producing countries. It wasn’t until the mid-1980s that
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Tablas Creek and Château Beaucastel: a Wine Society tasting telling the story of how a leading Rhône domaine fell in love with California
Jason Haas of Tablas Creek and Andrew Bayley (GM of Beaucastel’s UK operation) presented this really interesting tasting, telling the
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Tasting some wines from Bolivia: Jardín Oculto and Yokich
I’ve tasted a lot of wines before, but this was the first time I’d tried any from Bolivia. Nayan Gowda,
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Champagne Salon and Delamotte: the 2015 Salon release, and a look at the current Delamotte range
Champagne Delamotte is based in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, a grand cru village in the Côte des Blancs. It was founded back
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Icelandic pharma-titan, Robert Wessman of Maison Wessman in Bergerac and his Wine Director, Lise Sadirac, fight for a new Issigeac micro-appellation with musical backing from Nora Jones
Wessman seeks vinous validation for Issigeac and Conne-de-Labarde, which lie on a clearly defined limestone plateau and merit their own micro-appellation according to Vineyard Director Lise Sadirac, who is working hard to convince the INAO. The layered limestone plateau of D’Issigeac took 1.5 million years to form. Vines take a decade to root in the fissured rock, where soil is a mere 20cm deep. Bergerac has 13 appellations and no distinct identity. Fine wine would benefit from a perceptible point of difference and a dose of celebrity stardust.
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