Known worldwide as the ultimate back-breaker of the Tour de France, Mount Ventoux’s reputation has been growing in other ways in recent years, gradually sprouting a reputation as the place to watch for interesting cool climate wines from the Southern Rhône.
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Western Australia has long staked its reputation on the premium quality, sustainability and diversity of its wines. Although geographically isolated and remote (Sydney is four hours by plane, London 16), this unique location is a magnet for oenophiles from all corners of the globe. They flock to cellar doors, fortifying themselves before hiking across the exquisitely beautiful Karri forest, or perhaps they'll attempt to conquer Western Australia's legendary surf. The summers are reliably warm and dry, moderated (especially in the south) by cool afternoon breezes courtesy of Antarctic currents and a maritime climate – factors vital in maintaining freshness and acidity in the wines.
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Michèle Shah charts the fortunes of grape variety reaching new heights, despite the challenge of climate change.
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The Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité (INAO) has formally approved the use of four new red and two new white grape varieties for official use in Bordeaux as the region makes strides to future proof itself against the effects of climate change.
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Among many insightful climate-related sessions at the Future of Wine Forum 2020, the plenary discussion on what wine industry leadership should look like stood out. Andrew Catchpole reports
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In Napa, John Williams, winemaker and the owner of Frogs Leap, is a winemaker in the minority. Around 6-7% of his land is devoted to crops other than vines. It’s a move that makes him stick out like a sore thumb surrounded by Rutherford’s rolling valleys where there’s barely a fruit tree in sight. In a region where a single hectare costs on average $1m, why devote a single plot to anything else?
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Spanish producer Ramón Bilbao has begun the three-year process of converting its Rioja and Rueda vineyards to organic production methods.
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Catalonia-based wine producer Familia Torres has hit its target of reducing carbon emissions by 30%, when measured against levels in 2008, a year early.
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Does glass have a place in the world of tomorrow as the main container of wine – and do consumers even want a glass bottle anyway?
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“Don’t grub up bush vines!” was the resounding advice from Pedro Ballesteros MW at the new Barcelona Wine Week this week, where he cited Catalan Garnatxa producers as examples to follow in the need for a new approach in viticulture to tackle climate change.
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The extent to which climate change is impacting the production of styles of Furmint was highlighted at recent Wine of Hungary masterclass, where participants were told that making sweet wines will be the “challenge” for Tokaj over the next decade or even century.
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Climate change researchers have pegged Essex and Norfolk as the next major areas to plant as warmer summers extend the area where grapes can be grown productively in the UK.
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As we flew into her native California last month, my wife was confused. The captain had announced we would be landing in 20 minutes, but looking out the window, she saw an unfamiliar sight. “That’s weird,” she said. “Looks like we’re only just passing over Utah – there’s the salt flats.” Don’t tell me we’ve been diverted, I thought… No, all was on track, and we touched down safely at LAX 20 minutes later. Turns out the vista that had so disoriented my wife was, in fact, the scorched earth of the Golden State, dry beyond recognition.
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McGuigan Wines has revealed a blueprint to focus on its cool climate messaging in order to continue to transform Australia’s reputation at the premium end from “in your face wines” to wines of “flavour, intensity, structure and length”.
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Global warming cost Champagne over 10% of its potential harvest this year, the Champagne Bureau has revealed.
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“Phew. What A Scorcher!” I’m old enough to remember June 1976, when we had 15 consecutive days above 32°C. The Sun’s headline captured some of the excitement I felt as a teenager. In those days British summers were frequently cool, overcast affairs and all of a sudden Kent felt like the Costa Brava. What was scorching then seems almost temperate now. Last week Cambridge sweated through the second hottest day ever at 38.1°C, just behind Faversham’s UK record of 38.5°C in August 2003.
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A new members association is underway to highlight the unique terroir of up and coming wine region Leyda and its surrounding vineyards as a destination for premium coastal climate wines.
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Vinegrowing and winemaking worldwide could look very different in the next 30 years, a climate change expert has announced, as the planet accelerates towards a temperature crisis fifty years earlier than expected.
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Things are heating up in the Douro, with yet another port house following up 2016 with another vintage year.
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Soon to be released research carried out in Sussex could help unlock the secret of yields – and discover why they fluctuate so wildly from year to year in the UK.
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