Austria’s prowess in delivering complex, terroir-driven white wines from key grape varieties in several regions was on full display at Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2026. Geological diversity and winemaking skill make Austria a superb source of high-quality, site-specific white wines, such as iterations of Grüner Veltliner and Riesling across neighbouring Kamptal, Kremstal and Wachau, northwest of Vienna in Niederösterreich.

Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) is another variety to watch in Wachau, despite constituting just 1.5% of planted vineyards, according to the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. To the south and southeast of Vienna, Burgenland’s relatively warm climate also offers complex white wines alongside its superb reds. All feature among the top medals at DWWA 2026, following a rigorous judging process with leading experts.

Master Sommelier Stefan Neumann, DWWA Regional Chair for Austria (and Switzerland) highlighted ‘simply stunning’ Kamptal wines, in particular, praising ‘the ultimate balance of power, elegance and sheer joy in the glass, regardless of grape, vintage or site’.

Overall, Neumann said, ‘many wines beautifully showed a strong sense of place – a magical triangle: grape, vintage and winemaker in perfect harmony.’

Top awarded Austrian white wines at DWWA 2026

Best in Show

Birgit Eichinger, Grüner Veltliner Ried Lamm 1ÖTW, Kamptal 2024

Best in Show, 97 points
£38 Justerini &Brooks
This is the first-ever Best in Show appearance by a wine from Austria’s Kamptal, and the judges who had a chance to assess this wine were impressed by its texture, layering, complexity and what one judge called its ‘strength of fruit’. Grüner Veltliner is never a forceful or focused aromatic variety, but the soft melding of apple, yellow plum, wild meadow flowers and gentle crème anglaise notes (all hints, nothing spelt out) makes for a winning aromatic profile. On the palate, the wine is richly textured and powerful, tumbling and unfolding over the tongue; it retains an orchard fruit focus while at the same time hinting at something a little more exotic and high-summery. The acidity is soft, tender and drips with fruit intensity. Magnificently limpid winemaking with raw materials that must surely come from a fine site or combination of sites. Alcohol 13%

Domäne Roland Chan, Wösendorf Alte Reben Weissburgunder Smaragd, Wachau 2023

Best in Show, 97 points
domaene-rolandchan.at
This is the second appearance of a Wachau wine in our Best in Show selection, and the first for an Austrian Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) wine from any region. It’s bright gold, with rich, warm aromas in which the fruit notes (apple, pear, melon and peach) are sketched out with the discretion and restraint typical for this variety. On the palate, though, the wine is more Wachau than Weissburgunder, and crafted in ripe, Smaragd style. This word literally means ‘emerald’ and refers to the green lizards that frequent the Wachau terrace walls in summer; it’s used for wines made from the ripest musts, generally given some bottle age. You’ll find all of that in the plush palate profile, with its ample textures and long, clean, comforting finish. For all that, it’s a Smaragd of some delicacy, and amenable to a wide range of food partnerships. Alc 14%

Burgenland

Gesellmann, Chardonnay Ried Steinriegel 2023

Gold, 96 points
gesellmann.at
Complex notes of crunchy yellow apple, toasted almond and wet stone minerals with expertly handled citrus acidity and a topping of summer blossom to end. Alc 13.5%

Salzl Seewinkelhof, Grüner Veltliner 2025

Value Gold, 95 points
salzl.at
Passion fruit, white apple puree and creamed peach entwine with orange sherbet acidity and a wonderful waxy texture. Delicate peppery spice drives a long finish. Alc 13%

Niederösterreich

Birgit Eichinger, Riesling Ried Heiligenstein 1ÖTW, Kamptal 2024

Platinum, 97 points
£46 Justerini & Brooks
Citrus blossom, peach, apricot and dried mango peel on the nose and mineral palate, buffered by searing lime acidity. Tense and focused; one for the long haul. Alc 13%

Gritsch, Grüner Veltliner Ried Singerriedel, Wachau 2024

Platinum, 97 points
gritsch.at
Pear, mango, cantaloupe melon and honeyed nectarine on both the nose and palate, with lime blossom and fresh grapefruit. Creamy and full, exhibiting the ripeness and power of Wachau. Alc 13.5%

Weingut Müller, Grüner Veltliner Ried Gottschelle, Kremstal 2024

Platinum, 97 points
weingutmueller.at
Grilled green asparagus and fresh garrigue herb aromas lead into white peach and apricot. Chalky texture brings backbone and precision, while superb grapefruit acidity gives benchmark vitality. Alc 13%

Domäne Wachau, Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Ried Achleiten, Wachau 2024

Gold, 95 points
domaene-wachau.at
Intense ripe stone fruit, camomile tea and cashew nut aromas. White grapefruit acidity and a delectable saline grip give tension. Wine with attitude. Alc 13.5%

Laurenz V, Friendly Grüner Veltliner, Kamptal 2024

Top Value Gold, 95 points
laurenzfive.com
Graceful linden flower, sweet pea and camomile tea merge into peachy, orchard-fruit opulence along with zesty acidity and a white pepper finish. Alc 13.5%

Rabl, Rote Erde Riesling Ried Steinhaus, Kamptal 2024

Gold, 95 points
weingut-rabl.at
Delicious sweet nectarine, salted lemon and floral perfumes mingle with the smoky, mineral structure and appetisingly bright acidity. Expressive and inviting. Alc 13.5%

Sax, Grüner Veltliner Alte Reben Reserve, Kamptal 2024

Gold, 95 points
winzersax.at
Full of rich apricot, peach and honeyed melon characters with plenty of zesty citrus backbone. Lively, waxy and lustrous with a tea-infused finish. Alc 13.5%

Steiermark

Krispel, Weissburgunder Ried Neusetzberg, Vulkanland 2023

Gold, 95 points
krispel.at
Lively citrus, plump yellow apple and fleshy white peach notes bustle over a strong mineral core with chiselled acidity and a chalky texture. Lengthy and floral. Alc 13%

Discover full results at awards.decanter.com

If the Champagne region, navigating a testing period of slowing sales and financial pressures, needed a reminder of just how resilient its top producers can be, the house of Louis Roederer would fit the bill.

The company is celebrating its 250th anniversary, and the 150th anniversary of its emblematic cuvée Cristal.

Cristal was created for Tsar Alexander II, emperor of Russia, in 1876. Its clear bottle with a flat base was supposedly designed to ensure it could harbour no hidden poisons, or weapons, when brought to the table.

The secret to the house’s success?

Independence, according to CEO Frédéric Rouzaud.

‘Independence is a state of mind,’ he says, ‘it enables us to take a long-term view’.

Roederer’s success today, which includes owning vineyards not only in Champagne but also in California, Provence, Bordeaux and most recently Burgundy, was hard-won.

‘When my grandmother inherited the house in 1932 it was nearly bankrupt,’ he says.

Yet the ability to rebound remained, thanks to the ultimate long-term play: the acquisition by the founder himself of much of what is known as the ‘Cristal Estate’ of formidable vineyards in today’s grand cru villages of the north of the Montagne de Reims, Côte des Blancs and Grande Vallée.

This vine-to-glass mentality has stuck, with the house enjoying more ownership of its grape supply than any other major Champagne house.

The visionary cellar master

The protagonist in the success story of this house over the last 30 years has been Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon.

A mercurial figure, he is responsible for everything from viticultural renewal, climate change resilience, organics and biodynamics, the preservation and study of historic variants of Champagne’s Pinot and Chardonnay, to the house’s precise, forward-thinking cellar work itself.

The newest release: Cristal 2018

All the single-vintage wines at Roederer are essentially ‘grower Champagnes’ made entirely from the house’s own vineyards.

The latest release of 2018 shows off the exceptional Pinot Noir resources in the northern Montagne de Reims villages of Verzenay and Verzy in particular.

The harvest began in August in 2018, and the vintage is remembered for its bountiful generosity.

This will likely be reflected in the coming years in a bountiful supply of vintage and prestige cuvées.

The generous yields presented a challenge for a wine usually built on intensity and longevity, though.

‘We had to look for freshness…there were plots lacking salinity, a bit diluted, and we needed more depth and concentration,’ says Lécaillon.

The solution was to forgo making the house’s fine Blanc de Blancs, and instead use that Chardonnay – alongside younger vines of Pinot Noir from the fresh, chalky village of Verzy – to ‘go for a cooler, more mineral’ expression, says Lécaillon.

Has this flexibility paid off? With Roederer’s whole estate worked under either organic or biodynamic viticulture, yields in 2018 were not as excessive as elsewhere in Champagne.

The resulting wines – not only Cristal, but also the vintage and the Brut Nature – all show a notable step up in depth and drive from many wines of the year that relied on fruit more susceptible to dilution.

There’s no doubt this is quite a different Cristal to the tighter, more inward 2016 or the more classical 2013.

Unlike some 2018s, though, Cristal holds enough substance and tension to set it on a path that will last as long – indeed decades – as its top vintages.

How does Roederer celebrate 250 years?

Befitting a celebration of this importance, Roederer is offering a series of rarer, long-aged releases of Cristal from the exquisite 2008 and 2002 vintages.

Both the white and rose Late Release bottlings from 2008 feature an unusual technique: ‘poignettage’.

By shaking the bottles as they age on their lees every three months, the wines receive a boost to all the savoury depth and texture that comes from this stage of ageing.

It’s like adding Marmite to Cristal, Lécaillon jokes (although any fans, or otherwise, of Marmite should take the comparison figuratively).

With 2008’s natural acidity, tension and energy, the end results are dramatic.

Finally, the house’s other programme of limited-edition Cristal releases offers the majestic 2002 Cristal Rosé Vinothèque.

It is what Lécaillon terms an ‘essentia’ of Cristal, made with a programme of shaking that lasts longer than the Late Release – four to five years – followed by 11 years on lees and seven on cork.

An ode to Pinot Noir, Cristal Rosé relies heavily on grapes from the grand cru village of Aÿ, extracting colour and aroma through a gentle infusion technique rather than via the more standard addition of a red wine to the blend.

Despite the allure of such rarities, though, the qualities of the straight, unadorned 2018 Cristal tell just as strong a story about the advances already revealing themselves by this time – and those which remain, tantalisingly, to be discovered in vintages to come.

Roederer releases: 2018 Cristal and more

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Having grown up in an Asian household, I love that rich umami and moreish, savoury depth found in soy sauce, fermented tofu, miso and seaweed broth, as well as the comforting aromas of freshly steamed rice – and I absolutely enjoy these flavours when I find them in sake.

Sometimes, however, these qualities can be a bit of a hurdle when I try preaching sake to my wine-loving friends – for some of them, past experiences might have shown them the more savoury, bitter and richly ‘ricey’ side of sake, which they found alien and hard to understand.

But do not fear – as I tell them – there is also a floral, fruity and elegantly mellow side of sake that can be easily embraced by wine lovers. You just need to know how to pick.

The magic percentage – the secret behind rice polishing ratio

Broadly speaking, sake rice tends to have a larger grain than typical short-grain Japanese table rice – like the sushi rice found in supermarkets – although there are also sakes made using table rice. Many varieties can also develop an opaque, starchy heart called the ‘Shinpaku’ within the otherwise translucent grain.

The outer layers contain more proteins, fats and minerals, which can ultimately contribute to sake’s richer, more savoury flavours. Therefore, technically, the more you polish off the outer layers and get closer to that starchy core, the more likely the sake is to show a clean, delicate, fruity and floral style.

And the polishing ratio, or ‘Seimaibuai’, describes just how much of the rice is left after the polishing process.

For sushi rice found in supermarkets, the polishing ratio may only need to reach 90% (10% of the brown rice is polished off). But for ultra-premium sake, that ratio can drop below 10% – yes, that’s over 90% of the rice polished off, leaving only the purest starchy core.

One thing to stress is that higher polishing ratios by no means indicate inferior quality – it’s very much a stylistic choice. But if what you are looking for is refreshing, fragrant fruit, a lower polishing ratio can be one of the key indicators.

You can usually find the polishing ratio on the label, while the kanji characters ‘吟醸’ (Ginjo – 60% polishing ratio and below) and ‘大吟醸’ (Daiginjo – 50% polishing ratio and below) directly hint at the percentage.

Mind you that if the label has the word ‘Junmai 純米’ attached to either of these two terms, that means the sake is made purely from rice, without additional alcohol – let’s talk about that next.

For the lift – the magic of added alcohol (‘Aruten’)

I know what you’re thinking but no, we’re definitely not in similar territory to fortified wine and no, added alcohol isn’t necessarily associated with boosting strength or cutting costs in sake making. In fact, for premium sake, added alcohol can be an important stylistic option.

Not a huge amount, but just a gentle dash of alcohol (for quality sake, or Tokutei Meishoshu, the amount added is limited to 10% or less of the weight of polished rice used) generally helps to release and enhance the more volatile floral, fruity aromas in sake.

I find that these alcohol-added, or ‘Aruten’, styles of sake, especially when combined with a low polishing ratio, tend to yield sakes with a limpid, ethereal feel, with floral qualities and some herbal freshness that reminds me of bamboo leaves, pine needles and green tea.

Try out a Ginjo or a Daiginjo (the absence of the word ‘Junmai 純米’ subtly hints at the alcohol-added style on the label) and see if you agree.

More apple and banana – the secret in the yeasts

To further geek things out (just a bit), there are specific modern yeasts that help to boost fruity aromas – especially apple (usually associated with a chemical compound called ethyl caproate) and banana (isoamyl acetate).

If you ever go to a sake tasting, you might hear brewers talking about the yeast strains they are using – sometimes they may specify a number, which usually refer to ‘Kyokai yeast’ (yeast strains distributed by the Brewing Society of Japan).

Without getting too much into the science, just take a mental note that, similar to wine, some of these yeast strains can encourage the production of aromatic esters that give us those pretty aromas. Cerulenin-resistant yeasts, for example, have been developed to boost ethyl caproate and therefore those lovely apple-like aromas.

Cooler fermentation temperatures, just as when making white wines, also help to preserve and retain those fruity esters.

If you can get hold of the spec sheet when shopping, look out for aromatic yeast strains such as Kyokai No.1801 (K-1801), as well as regional strains such as Alps Yeast (developed by Nagano Prefecture). Not to say that other yeast strains can’t produce beautifully aromatic sakes, but at least these give you some hints when you can’t try before you buy.

Kimoto and Yamahai – approach with caution

Sakes made using the traditional, labour-intensive fermentation starters, namely the Kimoto 生酛 or Yamahai 山廃 methods, have a devoted following among sake lovers – myself included, but this can be more adventurous territory for beginners.

Generally speaking, these styles tend to have higher acidity (in sake terms) and a more pronounced savoury character, and can lean towards richer, earthier, lactic and sometimes even cheesy flavours.

I have no doubt wine lovers can handle that subtle acidity, but those complex, accentuated savoury flavours can be rather impactful – so if you see ‘Kimoto 生酛’ or ‘Yamahai 山廃’ on the label, even if they come with ‘Ginjo’ or ‘Daiginjo’ at the same time, make sure you try before buying.

The myths: sweetness, ‘nama’ and rice variety

The sweetness of sake is often indicated by the SMV, or Nihonshudo. Counterintuitively, an SMV reading in the minus zone indicates a sweeter sake, while the further the reading moves into the ‘+’ zone, the drier the sake tends to be.

But drier doesn’t mean fruitier or higher in acidity for sake. At the same level of sweetness, a sake can be rich in yogurty acid and cheesy savouriness, or elegant and floral, singing with delicate fruit – we simply can’t tell from the SMV alone.

Another myth will be the ‘nama 生 (literally ‘raw’)’ category – these unpasteurised sake – usually served chilled – can be vibrant and fruity, yet it can also be rich, cereal-like and powerful.

Finally, rice varieties (those fascinating names like Yamada Nishiki, Gohyakumangoku, Dewasansan…) don’t tend to influence the flavours of sake in the same way as grape varieties do in wine – and I think you already know why by the end of this piece: polishing, water softness and the meticulously detailed choices made during the production process tend to have a more significant impact on the style of the final sake.

That said, the intrinsic qualities of the rice – such as the size of its grain and starchy core, and how easily it dissolves in the fermentation mash – can indirectly influence the final flavours.

If you’d like to try out your tasting skills here, find a sake made using Yamada Nishiki and another made using Gohyakumangoku, with similar polishing ratios and production methods, and see if you can tell the difference in texture and breadth of mouthfeel – just like evaluating the body of a wine… Well, let’s leave that for another day, and kanpai for now!

Spot the fruity sake – eight to try

Shichiken, Furin Bizan Junmai

七賢「風凛美山」純米

Polishing ratio at 70%, Alc 15%

Green apple, pineapple and banana peel on the nose. Lovely richness and melon roundness on the palate, garnished with yoghurt and cream.

£24.95 at Ministry of Drinks

Shichiken, Junmai Ginjo

七賢「天鵞絨の味」純米吟醸

Polishing ratio at 60%, Alc 15%

Made using Yume Sansui rice. Elegant white fruits and green apples on the nose. A polished palate with a pinch of spice and hints of red berry. Velvety creaminess throughout, leading to a savoury finish.

£28.5 at N.D.John

Zaku Miyabi no Tomo

作「雅乃智」

Polishing ratio at 50%, Alc 15%

A bright, pretty nose of citrus pith and banana bread. Rounded and limpid on the palate with white peach and honeydew melon. More depth of steamed rice lead to a clean finish.

£43 at Mai Sake

Gekkeikan, Horin Junmai Daiginjo

月桂冠「鳳麟」純米大吟醸

Polishing ratio at 50%, Alc 16%

A brilliantly fragrant nose of citrus, golden apple and freshly peeled banana. More banana porridge and green melon on a soft, creamy palate, lifted by gentle acidity and finishing clean.

£15 for 300ml at Japan Centre

Akashi-Tai, Daiginjo Genshu

明石鯛大吟醸原酒

Polishing ratio at 38%, Alc 17%

‘Genshu’ means the sake hasn’t been diluted with water. Green melon, fresh lime and a gentle hint of bamboo. Crisp and slightly peppery on the palate with elevating acidity, but the finish is mellow and sweet.

£42.50 at Master of Malt

*Also try Akashi-Tai’s Junmai Daiginjo Genshu for comparison:

£26.95 at Lea & Sandeman

Tamagawa, Galapagos Oneness Junmai Daiginjo

玉川酒造「ガラパゴス ONENESS」純米大吟醸

Polishing ratio at 50%, Alc 16%

Aged under snow, the newly released Junmai Daiginjo features a perfumed nose of mango, sliced green apple and green melon, backed by rice pudding. Lovely acidity on a peppery palate, with a crisp finish.

Yoshinogawa, Seiryubi Junmai Ginjo

吉乃川「清流美」純米吟醸

Polishing ratio at 60%, Alc 15%

Crafted using Gohyakumangoku rice in Niigata Prefecture, it gives a gentle and elegant nose of green apple and star fruit. Crisp and linear on a dry, savoury palate, finishing clean and short – true to the regional style.

Tenzan, Shichida Junmai Daiginjo

天山酒造「七田」純米大吟醸

Polishing ratio at 45%, Alc 16%

Perfumed white blossom, lychee and yoghurt on the nose. A mellow, silky palate of sour cream, melon and zesty freshness, with a savoury undertone. Extremely food-friendly.

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Welcome to the Decanter magazine October 2026 issue

Italy in depth

Leader by editor Amy Wislocki

When I met the three Italian Masters of Wine behind Marsala’s Salt West project (see our Italy guide) a couple of years ago, I was amazed that they were the country’s only MWs.

The number has since risen to four, but still – how can a country as significant on the world wine stage not boast a higher quota of professionals holding this prestigious qualification?

Anyway, when they described how they were working to help transform Marsala, I wanted to taste the fruits of their effort immediately, ideally in situ!

James Button, Decanter’s Regional Editor for Italy, visits the country regularly, of course. And each autumn he brings together some of the stories he and our expert writers have discovered in our Italy guide, enclosed with this issue.

I always come away from it with resolutions. This year: taste Cartizze again (the best Prosecco you can get); buy the five southern Italian recommendations sold at Waitrose, the most costly just £16; travel the Via Chiantigiana; buy better balsamic vinegar; and finally try those wines from Marsala. What will yours be?

In my glass this month

Nyetimber is among the best-known English sparkling wines, but the beautiful estate (home to Anne of Cleves in Tudor times) only opens to the public on limited open days.

I visited in mid-September, the day before they started picking – its earliest harvest – grapes fat and juicy on the vine. At the tasting of four wines, Cuvée Cherie MV demi-sec (£43 Majestic) charmed – all patisserie, ripe apricot, honey and citrus, but oh so fresh.

Inside Decanter magazine's October 2026 issue

In focus

• 2024 Barossa Shiraz: 20 top picks David Sly celebrates the switch from big bruisers to wines of real elegance
• Decanter Hall of Fame Award 2026: Lalou Bize-Leroy Charles Curtis MW profiles one of Burgundy’s most revered residents, this year’s winner of our major award
• Decanter Rising Star Award 2026: Ramiro Ibáñez and Willy Perez Ines Salpico meets a pair of history- obsessed Jerez mavericks
• Ribero del Duero latest releases The best new wines, as chosen by María José Huertas and Ines Salpico
• Northern exposure Scandinavia is one of Europe’s most exciting wine frontiers, says Åsa Johansson
• Malta’s hidden wine story Sylvia Wu discovers the island’s wine scene
• Forgotten France: Irouléguy Chris Howard on a tiny Basque appellation
• My other passion: Motorbiking Ines Salpico hears all about Rafael Palacios’ need for speed

Spirits

• Distilled Spirits news & cocktails
• Mezcal: terroir vs varietal Which is more important, asks Chris Madigan

Food & travel

• What to pair with Italian classics Victoria Moore offers wine matches for beloved pasta dishes and beyond
• Wine lover’s guide to Niagara Canada’s largest vineyard area seduces Alicia Miller with its rural charms
• 6 ways to see the Luberon Geordie Torr’s tips for visiting a Provençal gem

Learning

• Books etc Sophie Thorpe dips into a new global history of wine
• Wine wisdom Expert advice to help you on your ongoing wine journey

Buying guide

• Introduction
• Editors’ picks Decanter staff share highlights from their recent tastings
• Panel tasting: Southern Rhône cru whites A category on the rise more than delivers the goods: 105 wines tasted, 14 rated Outstanding
• Panel tasting: Alentejo reds High-quality wines from a Portuguese region in search of an identity: 137 wines tasted, 2 rated Outstanding
• Expert’s choice: German & Austrian premium Sekt Caro Maurer MW introduces 18 must-try top-tier Germanic sparkling wines
• Weekday wines Decanter’s tasting team brings you 25 top picks, ready to drink now and priced at £30 or less
• Weekend wines Priced £30-£60, seven standout buys to impress
• DWWA 2026 Pitch-perfect medal- winning Austrian white wines

Collecting & investing

• Marketwatch Auction news and new releases, plus market overview

Regulars

• Writing this month Meet four of the authors who contributed to this issue
• News The latest from the wine world
• The brief Ideas and inspiration
• Andrew Jefford’s column
• Katherine Cole’s column
• Guest column Cyndal Petty on Margaret River’s secret weapons
• The ethical drinker We can all do our bit to help improve the stewardship of the land, says Natalie Earl
• On the rack: CJ McCollum The American pro basketball player talks wine with Adam Morganstern

Inside our Italy Guide 2026

Contents

• Welcome Decanter’s Italy Editor James Button opens the guide
• Writing on Italy A spotlight on four of this year’s expert contributors
• What’s new in Italy Recent news in wine and wine tourism – Chianti rosé, new restaurant in Barolo, and more
• Guest column Michaela Morris explains why she’s fed up with Italian wines being described as ‘Burgundian’
• Southern Italy: 20 great buys Jason Millar trawls the UK shelves to pick out a selection of good-value buys that showcase the diversity of the south
• Decade of change: 2006 & 2016 Raffaele Mosca reflects on two vintages that bookend a decade of significant, positive change in Italian winemaking, across the country
• Prosecco buyer’s guide This is a category of wine that is more complex – and can be more rewarding – than you may think, explains Abbie Bennington
• Amarone 101 Lauren Mowery encourages readers to discover this full-bodied dry style of Valpolicella
• Roero The red wines from this corner of Piedmont have been transformed since the 1990s and can offer incredible value, says Tiziano Gaia
• Sicily James Button focuses on two very different but equally dynamic parts of the island, Etna and Marsala
• Panel tasting: SuperTuscans under £50 78 wines rated. ‘A great deal of pleasure and midweek drinkability’
• The other Lambrusco Sarah Lane looks at top-quality balsamic vinegar, made from Emilia Romagna grapes
• Travel the Via Chiantigiana Emily O’Hare suggests a 70km journey along the SR222 from Florence to Siena
• A drink with Ilaria Felluga The young Friuli winemaker on Pinot Bianco and wine communication

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London is packed with must-visit bars for cocktail-lovers. From iconic classics like Dukes – inspiration for James Bond’s Vesper Martini – to cutting-edge venues like the Bauhaus-inspired A Bar with Shapes for a Name.

The good news is you’ll be able to find a drink to suit any taste; whether you’re looking for a decent Old Fashioned or a brand new molecular mixology creation. But where to start? Our edit offers a diverse snapshot of London cocktail bars across the city.

Best London cocktail bars

A Bar with Shapes for a Name

232 Kingsland Rd, Whitmore Estate, E2 8AX

Yellow triangle, red square, blue circle. Look for the shapes on the signage out front and you’ve found the right place. This achingly hip, minimalist bar is inspired by Bauhaus concepts and certainly looks the part with staff in chic boiler suits, retro furniture and cocktails that are almost too cool to drink. Even the ice cubes are works of art. There’s a short list of six House Cocktails – including the Pastel (vodka, rhubarb, recomposed lime, capreolus raspberry) and Birne (whisky, pear, olive) – plus six Classic Drinks with a house twist: think Negronis with coconut oil. Make a reservation for tables on the weekend.

Explore the excellence of one of Chile's most iconic wine producers – book your place at the Seña masterclass at Decanter Fine Wine Encounter London 2026

Bar Termini

7 Old Compton St, W1D 5JE

Proof that good things come in small packages, Termini may be tiny but it’s a star of the Soho bar scene. It only does two things – coffee and cocktails – but does both extremely well. Founders Tony Conigliaro, bar supremo, and Marco Arrigo, head of quality for Illy, took their inspiration from classic Italian train station buffets of the 1950s. Expect excellent espressos and Italian mixes such as the house Negroni or Marsala Martini (Beefeater Gin, Marsala wine, vermouth and almond bitters). Walk-ins are welcome if you’re feeling very lucky, but it’s best to book one of the hour-long slots to guarantee a table at this bijou bar.

Lyaness

Sea Containers London, 20 Upper Ground, SE1 9PD

The endlessly creative Ryan Chetiyawardana – AKA Mr Lyan – is the brains behind Lyaness and a string of other top international bars. (His lo-fi Seed Library in Shoreditch is also well worth a visit.) The current list is the Collaboration Menu. Mr Lyan explains: ‘Collaboration is at the heart of what we do at Lyan… We work with other bars and restaurants, material scientists, agronomists, food scientists, alongside other industries and experts, to marry their insight with our own to create something neither of us would have done in isolation.’ This translates into 12 one-of-a-kind ingredients at the core of the menu, including Lego Olive Oil – deconstructed olive oil. Leave your preconceptions at the door and dive in.

Nightjar

129 City Rd, EC1V 1JB

An unassuming doorway off Old Street roundabout is your portal to this award-winning speakeasy that celebrates its 15th birthday this year. After its opening in 2010, husband-and-wife founders Edmund Weil and Rosie Stimpson went on to launch Oriole and Swift (see ‘10 more…’ below), both echoing Nightjar’s signature mix of Jazz Age style and cutting-edge cocktails. Low lights, dark wood and gleaming mirrors envelop you in a cosy boozy cocoon as you enjoy slick table service and a soundtrack of live blues, jazz and swing. Reservations are essential.

Side Hustle

NoMad Hotel, 28 Bow St, WC2E 7AW

Crowned Best International Hotel Bar at the Spirited Awards in New Orleans earlier this year, Side Hustle belongs to the London outpost of NoMad. It’s housed in a Grade II-listed building formerly home to Bow Street Police Station – though today the focus is on serving great drinks at the bar, rather than putting bad guys behind bars… Expect a Latin American vibe, with accomplished cocktails from a list that focuses on agave spirits. Favourites on my last visit were the Classic Mezcal Martini (Siete Misterios Doba-Jay, Tapatio Blanco, Dolin Blanc) and Sexy Olivia, a seductive combo of Altos Blanco Tequila and manzanilla Sherry.

The Connaught Bar

The Connaught, 16 Carlos Place, W1K 2AL

It’s hard to beat the effortless glamour of this chic London hotel bar. Boasting a design inspired by 1920s Cubism, it’s a shimmering shrine to mixology, with a team of world-class bartenders, creative cocktails and decadent canapes. But the jewel in the crown is the sleek Martini Trolley. ‘The secret of a perfect Martini is the sound,’ smiles head of mixology Ago Perrone, as he slowly stirs Tanqueray No. Ten over blocks of hand-cut ice, mixed with the house vermouth and a choice of seasonal bitters to create a bespoke Martini for every guest.

9 more London cocktail bars to try:

Amaro – 15 Kensington High St, W8 5NP

Artesian – The Langham, 1C Portland Pl, W1B 1JA

Donovan Bar – Brown’s Hotel, 33 Albemarle St, W1S 4BP

Dukes Bar – 35 St James’s Pl, SW1A 1NY

Oriole – 7-9 Slingsby Pl, WC2E 9AB

Satan’s Whiskers – 343 Cambridge Heath Rd, London E2 9RA

Scarfe’s Bar – Rosewood London, 252 High Holborn, WC1V 7EN

Swift – 12 Old Compton St, W1D 4TQ

The Fumoir – Claridge’s, Brook St, W1K 4HR

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A collective ‘oooh’ rippled as the plates were brought out: gleaming nuggets of gold batter with precisely piped globules of sauce (ketchup, sweet chilli and an oniony mayonnaise flavoured like Monster Munch crisps).

Next came wine glasses wafting floral and mandarin notes. The collective silence that followed was applause enough.

Chicken nuggets had met their soulmate, and it wasn’t a syrupy pop, or soda, from a machine, but an elegant Slovenian orange wine.

More unorthodox pairings ensued (including a McDonald’s burger with a spicy Bulgarian red blend, and gloriously crispy fish and chips with Danbury Ridge’s English fizz from Essex) but none could top this.

From bubblegum-pink jumpsuits to Y2K denim waistcoats, the clientele looked more like they were heading to a Dua Lipa concert than a wine tasting.

But this was no ordinary wine tasting: it was Crystal Palace Wine Club’s sell-out junk food and wine pairing night, which, since it was founded in 2022, has become a major hit with London’s cool young epicures.

‘We have tote bags saying, “Wine without the bullsh*t”,’ says Tom Grater, the bar’s owner. ‘People often feel intimidated going to a wine bar. We want to democratise that experience. That dovetailed really nicely with the junk food pairings. After all, it’s just a bit silly, isn’t it?’

Industry reports seem to take perverse delight in proclaiming that young people aren’t drinking, heralding the death of wine as we know it.

However, the booming popularity of new, more irreverent event formats – from wine raves to Taylor Swift-themed tastings – would suggest otherwise.

Wine to a new beat

One example is Bêvèrãgęš (@nybeverages). Launched by DJ and creative director Jake O’Donnell and his friends five years ago, it’s described as Brooklyn’s rowdiest natural wine party.

The wine rave pops up at different venues across New York throughout the summer and regularly attracts more than 1,000 people with its combination of ‘natty’ wines and dance music.

‘There were too many stuffy, sit-down, quiet, boring wine bars. We knew the city needed something different,’ O’Donnell explains. ‘Our parties start at around 3-4pm. By 8 or 9pm, it’s ripping. Then we finish about midnight. It’s usually a nice mix of wine nerds and party people.’

London is in on the trend, too. Jake Norman and Joshua Bratt, general managers at two of London’s trendiest restaurants (Trullo and Carousel, respectively) started their own wine rave, Close Ties, as a roving party for their hospitality trade mates on rare days off. However, it has evolved into one of the hottest tickets around for young gourmands.

‘We try to curate , taking over spaces and bringing together best-in-class food, drink and DJs,’ Bratt says.

‘We tend to stick to lesser-known regions to try to offer quality wines we’re excited about and that people are on board with price-wise. This has led to a big focus on Central and Eastern Europe throughout the years. It’s a great thing to see people who aren’t into wine getting excited about a glass of Blaufränkisch or Furmint.’

Norman adds: ‘It’s definitely a young crowd with people who are into wine to some degree, but who might not know about the producers that people in the trade are excited about. Close Ties events are a space for anyone who likes tasty things and a good time to get together and let loose.’

Creative approach

If one evening of raving isn’t enough, whole festivals are emerging dedicated to pairing good wine with modern music. Electronic Wine in Koblenz, Germany, is for die-hard club music fans (especially those who also enjoy a good Riesling – the city sits at the confluence of the Mosel and Rhine rivers).

It attracts around 14,000 people, most under the age of 40. Meanwhile, in northern Spain, MUWI La Rioja Music Fest blends performances by indie, pop and electronic artists with guided tastings and visits to local wineries in Rioja’s main city of Logroño.

Unconventional food and wine pairings are going viral on social media and translating to real-life footfall – whether that’s hot dog and wine matching nights at Le Vignoble, a wine bar in central Bristol, in England’s southwest; or the queues of TikTokers lining up for the hit ice cream and wine bar experience at Folderol in Paris and The Dreamery in north London.

Even more traditional wine companies are getting in on the action. In the UK, members’ club retailer The Wine Society has been piloting fresh event formats aimed at attracting a younger crowd.

‘Themed evenings such as our Fried Chicken & Champagne night proved that wine exploration can be fun, social and joyful,’ says Tim Schwilk, the Society’s head of tastings and events.

The Wine Society has also experimented with DJs and self-pour ‘discovery stations’, which some drinkers might find less intimidating than the traditional pouring station with a staff member standing behind it.

‘People say Gen Z doesn’t drink, but I haven’t seen those people. Everyone I know drinks just as much as older generations,’ says Thomas Wright, a 26-year-old wine lover from London. ‘It was the cost-of-living crisis that meant we’ve maybe been drinking a bit less.’

Even so, he believes it would help if wine was promoted as something to enjoy while watching sport or during live music.

‘Get wine associated with things young people actually do: beer companies have been so successful with that. Doing events that are more fun and funky makes a difference, too. You realise you don’t just have to have wine with cheese.’

Thirst for knowledge

Yet anything that veers into ‘patronising gimmick’ territory risks having the opposite effect and it’s impossible to paint a whole generation with the same brush.

‘I personally am only interested in super-serious wine events,’ says Cokie Ponikvar, a 25-year-old sommelier and wine influencer based in Canada. Young people want to be taken seriously, and when there’s a wine event that does that, they really appreciate it.’

Ponikvar’s Instagram account (@cokiesworldofwine) has about 500,000 followers. Her videos, where she documents her journey studying for both the Master Sommelier and Master of Wine exams simultaneously, regularly get 10 million views or more – with around 90% of those from people under the age of 35.

‘What people get wrong is thinking that young people are different from anyone else,’ she adds. ‘If you just make something that’s easy to understand, everyone will like it. It just so happens that more young people are on social media.’

Unfortunately, Ponikvar has faced poor behaviour from others in the wine world because of her age.

‘People just don’t take you seriously as a young person. I’ve left crying from wine experiences three times because the people were so inhospitable. One incident happened at an incredibly well-regarded winery, another at a top restaurant. Someone once yelled at me – even though my behaviour was completely appropriate and polite. It makes wine uncomfortable, it’s rude and it’s mean.’

Luckily such examples are also notable for their rarity and most wine companies are acutely aware of the need to welcome in the next generation.

For someone in their 20s who’s interested in but a bit intimidated by wine, Ponikvar suggests getting a copy of Wine Folly: The Essential Guide to Wine by Madeline Puckette and Justin Hammack (Avery, 2015: £23 winefolly.com), a book aimed at beginners with funky infographics and colourful explainers.

‘Also get certified and take some exams: knowledge is power in wine,’ she adds.

Overall, then, the picture is positive. Wine isn’t losing a generation, it’s being reimagined by one, in louder rooms, with odder pairings and fewer rules.

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Collectors competed for a piece of Bordeaux history at a Sotheby’s auction in Paris on 1 October, as Château Haut-Brion released wines from its cellars spanning 90 years – celebrating stewardship by the Dillon family since American financier Clarence Dillon bought the property in 1935.

Sotheby's said total sales reached €3.4m (US$3.9m; estimate range €2.5m to €3.5m) in a further sign that buyers remain very much alert to opportunities despite an uncertain economic backdrop.

Several lots soared above high estimates. A magnum of Haut-Brion 1935 fetched €8,750, including the buyer’s premium, almost double its pre-sale high estimate of €4,500.

A five-litre Jeroboam of Haut-Brion 1989, considered one of Bordeaux’s 20th century benchmarks, sold for €62,500 (high e: €22,000). That’s a new auction price record for the wine in this format, said Sotheby’s, which also claimed several other records in the sale.

Charles Curtis MW described Haut-Brion Rouge 1989 as a ‘masterpiece’ after tasting it for Decanter in 2023, although it’s the white wine – Haut-Brion Blanc – from this vintage that is part of Decanter’s Wine Legend series.

Twelve bottles of Haut-Brion Blanc 1989 sold for €43,750 (high e: €32,000) in the Sotheby’s auction.

Bordeaux’s lauded vintages of 1982 and 1961 were also represented.

Three bottles of Haut-Brion 1961 sold for €62,500 (high e: €38,000), while a double magnum of Haut-Brion 1982 sold for €16,250 (high e: €5,000).

Several headline lots in the sale featured a mixture of wines and one-off experiences.

A whole barrel (barrique) of Haut-Brion 2025 was offered alongside a behind-the-scenes experience at the estate for six guests – including a private lunch and dinner, plus overnight stay at La Mission Haut-Brion. It sold for €162,500 (e: €100,000 – €200,000).

Another lot featured a limited-edition ‘Linley Console’, previously created to mark 75 years of Dillon family ownership, alongside a visit to the property and exclusive look at the new chais – plus eight Haut-Brion wines spanning 1935 to 2009 and including the lauded 1959 vintage.

This lot sold for €125,000, slightly below its estimate range of €130,000 – €260,000.

Nick Pegna, global head of wines and spirits at Sotheby’s, said, ‘This auction offered collectors a truly exceptional opportunity to acquire wines and experiences that could only come directly from Château Haut-Brion.

'The strength of the results reflects the enduring global appeal of this historic estate and collectors’ enduring appreciation for wines of impeccable provenance and extraordinary rarity.’

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Terroir, or sense of place', is one of wine’s most enduring ideas. While many drinkers equate it with soil and climate, indigenous-owned wineries across California offer a broader interpretation of what terroir can mean.

Drawing on long-standing traditions of stewardship and care for the land, these producers are expanding the conversation around sustainable farming while crafting distinctive wines and visitor experiences.

At Bellacana Vineyards, owned by the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, the vineyard – whose name combines ‘beautiful’ in Italian and ‘river’ (‘cana’) in Southern Pomo – is part of a much older story.

The tribe has 55 hectares (138 acres) planted in Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley, and Lisa Lellis, board member and tribal member, describes the property as more than a vineyard.

When she looks across the vines, she also sees wildlife, a salmon run and native plants and oak trees that fed her ancestors.

'The vineyard is really the newest chapter in a much older relationship with this place,' she says.

A centuries-old introduction to wine

That idea that a vineyard can be incorporated into a much older relationship with the land is important when considering California’s wine history.

While indigenous tribes foraged from wild grapevines, Spanish missionaries began planting the first recorded wine grape varieties in the state and making wine in the 1770s, as part of the Mission system.

Often left out of that story are the native hands that planted and tended those vines.

For Chris Lobo of Native Hands Wines, that history is personal. His ancestors, members of the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation, built the mission at San Juan Capistrano.

Hundreds of his family members are buried there, and it has been the site of marriages, baptisms and funerals for generations of his family.

‘The mission system has been an extremely sensitive topic‘, he says, ‘But I don’t have the luxury to not talk about it.’

Rather than avoiding that history of coercion and exploitation, Lobo, who can trace his lineage for nine generations through the mission’s sacramental records, wants to bring greater historical accuracy to the story.

An ancient connection to the earth

For indigenous producers, re-establishing a relationship with the land does not necessarily begin with planting a vineyard.

At Séka Hills, owned by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, agriculture is at the centre of the tribe’s enterprises.

In their Patwin language, 'séka' means 'blue', referring to the Blue Hills along the west side of the Capay Valley in the tribe’s homeland, northwest of Sacramento.

Jim Etters, the Nation’s director of land management, has spent 23 years working with the Tribal Council to develop agricultural operations that include almonds, tomatoes, olives, wine grapes and other crops, as well as cattle ranching.

The tribe has 11ha (29 acres) planted to grapes, but does not handle winemaking.

Etters reports monthly to a committee of 15 tribal citizens who share their vision and insight.

He describes the Nation’s relationship with the land as ‘unlike anything I’ve ever seen – it’s bigger’.

He also goes on walkabouts with tribal elders. ‘To walk with them, and to watch them, as they look over the landscape, it’s really something special,’ he says.

Terroir as a living ecosystem

That idea of interconnectedness also informs the wines of Tara Gomez, a member of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and owner of Camins 2 Dreams with her wife, Mireia Taribó.

The couple makes minimal-intervention wines, partnering exclusively with organic, biodynamic and regenerative vineyards in San Benito and Santa Barbara counties, with a focus on Sta Rita Hills.

For Gomez, terroir extends beyond soil, climate and geography. It also includes animals, farmers and vineyard workers, as well as the generations that came before.

The goal is not simply to take from the land, but to work in harmony with it and give back.

Darin Winton, owner and winemaker at Cellar 13 Winery in Livermore, is one-quarter Cherokee and a registered, voting member of the Cherokee Nation.

Winton looks at the vineyard holistically as an ecosystem rather than something to be controlled.

When dealing with pests, he does not want to eradicate one species – squirrels, for example – only to harm another animal such as owls, which play a role in the vineyard environment.

On the label and in the tasting room

Culture also shapes how these wineries tell their stories. At Séka Hills, the checkered pattern incorporated into the logo references the basketry for which the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation is known.

Bellacana’s logo centers on a Pomo basket based on an actual basket from the tribe, incorporating grapes to represent abundance, along with oak branches and acorns.

The native oaks are part of the landscape around the vineyard, and acorns were an important food source for the tribe’s ancestors.

At Cellar 13 Winery, Winton incorporates Cherokee names for the wines and original label artwork by his uncle, John Balloue.

Native Hands gives each wine an English name and a Native name, with the labels representing a time, place, ceremony or position of the Mission Indians before first contact.

Lobo’s grandmother was one of the last fluent speakers of Uto-Aztecan from the Takic Branch.

At Camins 2 Dreams, Gomez approaches the visitor experience through ‘restorative hospitality’, a core element of her tribe.

It is about welcoming people into their space, sharing what they have, and sending them home with something they learned.

‘I try to incorporate my culture in a way that feels natural and not forced,’ Gomez says.

For her, language and the stories behind the wine names offer a way to share a little of her Chumash culture and where she comes from.

Perhaps that is another way of thinking about sense of place. It is not simply what you can taste in a glass, or what you can measure in soil, climate and geography.

It can also be the history, people, language and relationships that connect a vineyard to the place where it grows.

7 California wines from Indigenous wineries

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With over 10,000 different grape varieties grown worldwide, Vranec/Vranac might be one you’ve not yet heard of, but this red grape variety is one that has started to gain international recognition beyond its native borders.

Vranec finds its roots in the Balkan Peninsula, primarily in Montenegro where it accounts for more than half of all vineyard plantings, as well as parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Croatia and Serbia. The name ‘Vranec’ roughly translates to ‘strong black’, a fitting tribute to its darkly-coloured grapes and powerful wine character.

Typically produced varietally, Vranec wines are deep red in colour, full in body and rich taste, ranging in flavours from cherry and blackcurrant to herbs and oak-derived chocolatey notes.

Due to the berries’ high sugar content, Vranec wines are typically high in alcohol, adding to the wines’ body, and balanced by high tannins and pleasant acidity. These structural qualities make it ideal for oak and bottle ageing.

Scroll down to discover 10 award-winning Vranec dominant wines from DWWA 2026

At Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2026, one Vranec-dominant wine from Montenegro was awarded a Gold medal and 95 points. Plantaže, Cuvée Terroir Stari Podrum 2020 was highly awarded by the judges for its intrepid blackberry, plum, sweet spicy aromas and meaty texture. Montenegro received four more Silver medals, while Croatia surprised with two Silver medals.

From North Macedonia two varietal wines received a Silver medal with Wine Cellar Popovi, Dark Horse Vranec, Tikvesh, Povardarje 2022 scoring 92 points and recognised by the judges for its expressive and perfumed violets scents and ripe silky tannins.

To familiarise yourself with benchmark examples of Vranec, below discover a selection of awarded Vranec dominant blends from DWWA 2026. Search more results at awards.decanter.com

World Vranec Day: DWWA-winning wines to try

Croatia

Divina, Vranac, Primorska Hrvatska, Coastal 2022
Silver, 92 points
Some minty character with aromas of ripe blackberries, loganberry, sweet spices and tobacco touches. Full body, with lots of grainy tannins. Alcohol 15%

Grabovac, Riserva Vranac, Dalmatinska Zagora, Coastal 2020
Silver, 90 points
Very powerful style, with aromas of dark chocolate, graphite, black cherries and cedar. Spicy on the palate, with angular tannins. Alc 15%

Montenegro

Plantaže, Cuvée Terroir Stari Podrum 2020
Gold, 95 points
Intrepid blackberry, cherry, plum and sweet spice aromas fold into the fulsome palate, furnished with meaty texture, graphite tannins and racy acidity. Long and rounded. Alc 15%

Plantaže, Barrique Vranac 2021
Silver, 92 points
Expressive nose, showing aromas of oregano, blackcurrant jam, Ribena and roasted coffee. Well structured on the palate, juicy and vibrant. Alc 14.5 %

Plantaže, Réserve Vranac 2018
Silver, 91 points
Attractive nose of blackberries, dark cherry, prunes, and intensive but integrated oak. Juicy and vibrant on the palate, lightly savoury. Alc 14.5%

Plantaže, Stari Podrum Vranac 2018
Silver, 90 points
Developing nose with savoury forest floor and dark cherry aromas. Juicy and bold, with a vibrant crisp acidity, seductive and appealing. Alc 14.5%

Vida, Cuvée 2023
Silver, 90 points
Elegant and pure on the nose, vibrant aromas of blue fruits, sweet spices, tobacco and smoky undertones. Elegant and rounded finish. Alc 13.16%

North Macedonia

Wine Cellar Popovi, Dark Horse Vranec, Tikvesh, Povardarje 2022
Silver, 92 points
Expressive and perfumed, displaying violet scents with prominent moka and oak spices, notes of aronia. Ripe and silky tannins. Alc 14.5%

Tikves, Bela Voda, Tikvesh, Povardarje 2022
Silver, 90 points
Deep blackberry and blueberry nose with savoury undertones of meat and bacon. Powerful, with a tightly wound structure of tannins. Alc 15.96%

Serbia

Vinarija Unikat, Vranac, Mlava, Šumadija-Great Morava 2019
Silver, 90 points
Expressive aromas of cherry liqueur, blackberries, pomegranate, vanilla, liquorice and chocolate. Solid freshness, well shaped and juicy. Long finish. Alc 14%

Search all DWWA 2026 results

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The heart on the label may be Château Calon Ségur’s most famous symbol. But after 20 years at the Saint-Estèphe Third Growth, technical director Vincent Millet is increasingly preoccupied by the less romantic issue of water shortages.

More precisely, he is interested in the clay beneath Calon’s gravel and its ability to retain water as Bordeaux faces hotter, drier growing seasons.

Millet arrived in July 2006 and, by 2008, had begun paying closer attention to variations within Calon’s 55-hectare vineyard.

Today he points to Terrace 3, towards the southern part of the estate near its historic wall, where the estate’s geologist has identified more argile lacustre, or lacustrine clay.

The prized geological gravel layer of Terrace 4 running close to the Gironde estuary receives more attention historically in the Médoc, but ask Millet which matters more in our era of climate change, and he compares the debate to something that would keep lawyers or economists arguing indefinitely.

More important is what the clay can do. ‘It is our hydric reserve,’ he says.

Put to the test

The 2026 growing season provided a test. After a wet winter replenished reserves, spring and early summer turned hot and dry.

Just 22mm of rain fell in June and 26mm in July. As in 2025, Millet says, the lack of water contributed to very small grapes.

August brought relief: 42mm fell during the first 25 days, followed by another 49mm in the final six.

The rain came too late to increase berry size, but he says: ‘It certainly helped unblock ripening.’

More revealing was where the vines coped better. Despite temperatures well above seasonal norms compounded by water deficit, Millet observed no significant differences in yield between Calon’s various soil types ‘but as long as we have clay’.

On sandy soils, by contrast, ‘the vine suffers’.

For Millet, adapting to climate change is not yet primarily about planting different authorised grape varieties.

Water management is the immediate concern. If irrigation were required – subject to authorisation and depending on the age of the vines – Calon has a potential resource: a natural reserve collecting winter rainwater on the estate.

As Calon considers how it needs to adapt for the future, change is not new for an estate where continuity and evolution have long gone hand in hand.

Heart of the matter

Calon’s origins have been associated with the Gallo-Roman period, its name thought to derive from calones, small craft that once navigated the Gironde.

Its modern identity owes much to the 18^th-century Marquis de Ségur, the celebrated ‘Prince of Vines’, who also owned Lafite and Latour and is credited with declaring: ‘I make wine at Lafite and Latour, but my heart is at Calon.’

The heart eventually appeared on the château and, later, its labels. The vineyard itself offers another continuity: its footprint has remained largely unchanged since 1855, with a mere 0.4 hectares acquired from Château Domeyne in 2026 representing what Millet calls a ‘logical extension’ of Calon’s terroir.

The vineyard may have changed little in extent, but much has changed in how it is managed.

Since Millet’s arrival, the vineyard has increasingly emphasised Cabernet Sauvignon. Currently representing around 56–57% of plantings, it is intended to reach ‘roughly 70% by 2032’, he says, as the château continues a long-term programme of replanting, increased vine density, and massal and clonal selection.

‘I prefer the finesse of the Cabernet to the Merlot,’ Millet says, particularly Cabernet grown on Calon’s clay-gravel soils.

Of equal importance is precision. From 2008, Millet developed more detailed parcel and intra-parcel selection, allowing an increasing proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon into the grand vin.

That philosophy received a technological boost after Suravenir, a subsidiary of Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, acquired Calon-Ségur and neighbouring Château Capbern from the Gasqueton family in 2012.

Extensive investment followed.

Finding balance

In 2016, a new gravity-fed vat room and renovated ageing cellar came into service. Production did not increase, but the number of vats doubled.

Today 75 stainless-steel vats, ranging from five to 120 hectolitres, permit grapes from individual plots, massal selections and even sections within a parcel to be vinified separately.

Grapes are destemmed, hand-sorted and cooled before descending by gravity into the vats, minimising the use of pumps and helping preserve intact berries.

The grand vin is subsequently aged for around 18 to 20 months.

The result, Millet says, is greater precision, but without losing the identity that has made Calon distinctive.

That balance between change and continuity defines the estate today. Climate has introduced a new variable, yet Cabernet is gaining ground and increasingly sophisticated tools allow Millet and his team to divide the vineyard more precisely.

The heart is Calon’s enduring symbol but, as it turns out, the real heart of the estate has indeed been its terroir all along.

Six older vintages of Château Calon Ségur

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Elegance, energy, nuance, sophistication. A fresh set of descriptors immediately springs to mind while I’m tasting through all of the 2024 Barossa Shiraz wines submitted for the annual Decanter vintage report.

A wind of change is evident in a raft of beautiful, medium-bodied wines that embrace complexity in addition to power.

Winemakers at the vanguard of a movement that celebrates Shiraz differently include Michael Hall, Alex Head of Head Wines, Amelia Nolan at Alkina, Craig Stansborough of Purple Hands Wines and, appropriately, Michael Corbett of The Vanguardist.

I first identified these new-school wines three years ago, during Decanter’s inaugural vintage report tasting for the 2022s, which profoundly heralded the arrival of the new Barossa.

Change was overdue. I won’t lie; I had grown weary of Barossa’s early millennium obsession with brutish power, with exaggerated ripeness amplified through assertive oak and fierce tannins.

Daring to differ

However, global warming has prompted radical vineyard transformations. Improved soil health and vineyard management provide grapes with better balance and fruit that retain acidity while reaching optimal ripeness.

Wines no longer need to speak at an exaggerated volume to show their strength.

As Torbreck winemaker Ian Hongell succinctly puts it: ‘We can have great beauty and power in the same glass.’

This is certainly evident in his wines The Struie (a blend of Barossa and Eden Valley fruit) and The Gask (from the Eden Valley) – but they represent only a portion of Barossa’s new elegance.

A raft of favourites have caught my attention. Purple Hands celebrates the earthy vitality of the southern Barossa in three vivacious Shirazes.

Alkina has plugged into the complex geology of its Greenock vineyard to reveal onion-layers of complex, savoury berry and mineral notes in wines of filigree beauty.

Biodynamic viticulture profoundly influences Yalumba’s The Steeple Shiraz and Kalleske’s estate Shiraz.

Variety of expression

There’s also a great variety of expression. Michael Hall lets each vineyard tell its own tale: Flaxman’s Valley Syrah shows an energetic mid-palate laced with blueberry and black plum; while stern Stonewell Road Shiraz has a fleshy texture held taut by sooty tannins.

Barr-Eden from Mengler’s Hill proudly displays gnarly Shiraz character in tightly wound blackberry, tempered by a lick of granite.

It stands in stark contrast to The Cutting’s deliciously savoury take on old-vine Stonewell Shiraz, embracing red fruit and earthiness in long, languid flavour lines.

Vanguardist’s BV Syrah from Ebenezer has solid, earthy structure and crisp fruitiness, being serious and playful in the same moment.

Embracing new expressions

It takes a certain amount of courage to embrace this new expression.

Winemaker Reid Bosward left Kaesler Wines, noted for its weighty old-vine Shiraz, and has adopted a strikingly different approach for his own Bosward Wines.

His 2024 Shiraz is a delight – bright and engaging, yet with firm tannins and resonating bass notes to show substance that matches its lively spirit.

Such fresh interpretations of Shiraz provide a window into a vivacious, new, optimistic Barossa.

Get some in your glass and marvel at the difference.

Barossa 2024: David's top 20

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When a vintage provides challenges rather than perfect conditions, that’s when you learn just how keenly winemakers know their region to still produce superb wines.

Barossa’s 2024 Shiraz vintage can be measured by this yardstick. Harvest was preceded by an especially dry winter, isolated frost events during bud burst and flowering that reduced grape yields.

There were also picking challenges due to rain events scattered during grape picking.

'Distinctive elegance and poise'

It resulted in fewer dazzling superstars – yet an especially strong strata of superb wines have emerged that show distinctive elegance and poise.

From the 110 wines submitted to Decanter’s annual Barossa Shiraz vintage tasting, it proved very difficult to isolate the Top 40, such was the breadth of consistency, stylistic harmony and balance among the most attractive and worthy wines.

Challenging yields from the 2024 vintage have not compromised quality output – a statement clearly made by rising star winemaker Belinda van Eyssen of The Cutting.

She barely had enough Shiraz grapes from her Stonewell Vineyard to fill a 500-litre barrel, but her keen attention to detail has produced exceptional wine – which is only being sold in magnums to ensure this vintage’s tiny output will be celebrated in a grand manner.

Streamlined style

This is evident at Torbreck. Winemaker Ian Hongell has cleverly amplified the vitality and freshness of Shiraz from old vines that in a previous era were overly weighty, marked by extravagant oak usage.

No more; Torbreck Shiraz now has immediate appeal. ‘It’s all about achieving balance,’ says Hongell. ‘It can be big and beautiful at the same time.’

Hongell doesn’t achieve this in isolation. He works year-round with Torbreck viticulturist Nigel Blieschke, who is fixated on rejuvenating the health and productivity of old vineyards.

‘Look at the length of those vine canes – all consistent,’ Blienschke says, long after vintage has finished and leaves have fallen from the 1958 Gnadenfrei Vineyard at Marananga in the Barossa, which supplies fruit for The Laird.

‘That’s a picture of health, showing vines that are completely in balance.’

New energy

This is exactly what veteran winemaker Reid Bosward is searching for. Having left Kaesler Wines in 2023, Bosward now buys berries from a variety of growers for his own eponymous wine brand, and is making an irresistible brand of lively modern Shiraz.

‘I want serious fruit to speak of freshness, so that people can love drinking it now,’ says Bosward.

There is now an impressive fraternity of like-minded Barossa winemakers pursuing elegance and structural strength in their delicious medium-bodied Shiraz – Michael Hall, Alex Head, Amelia Nolan at Alkina, Michael Corbett of The Vanguardist (who also makes Whistler Wines) and Craig Stansborough’s Purple Hands Wines.

They are not alone. Yalumba’s Octavius, Dean Hewitson’s Monopole and Barr-Eden Estate are notable as big-bodied wines sourced from intense old-vine fruit, that now show more sympathy in their youth, without sacrificing any of their sturdy longevity or depth of flavour.

Even some of the heaviest mainstays of big Barossa Shiraz – such as Hentley Farm’s The Beast and Kaesler’s Old Bastard – are more nimble, and underline a dynamic new energy at the core of Barossa’s best modern Shiraz.

Barossa Shiraz 2024: 20 more noteworthy wines

Some vintages are lauded for their outstanding quality, while others represent a pivotal moment; the last two vintages ending in ‘6’ fit firmly into the latter category, marking the opposite ends of a decade of profound transformation for Italian wine.

The 2006 vintage fell within a transitional phase. Established appellations were beginning to drift from the heady, modernist trends of the 1990s and early 2000s towards a quest for greater transparency.

Meanwhile, then-unsung regions, such as Etna and Colli Tortonesi, were laying the groundwork for their own subsequent rise.

By contrast, 2016 embodies the fruits of that decade-long refinement – a period that involved a systemic rethinking of viticultural methodology and greater commitment to sustainability.

Looking back 20 and 10 years on, respectively, both vintages offer outstanding wines that highlight this stylistic evolution while sharing a similarly compelling combination of depth and energy.

2006: A pivotal year

Although less celebrated upon release than 2001 or 2004, 2006 still sparked considerable enthusiasm, with several leading critics of the day defining it as a benchmark vintage.

Still, it fell short of a ‘classic’ season. A cold winter delayed bud break, then a warmer than average spring accelerated vegetative growth.

A hot, dry midsummer raised concerns over hydric stress, while an erratic August brought frequent showers – particularly in northern Italy – and a temperature drop that temporarily slowed ripening.

A mixed September followed, with some areas of Italy experiencing a prolonged ‘Indian summer’. These weather patterns anticipated the climatic challenges that would become increasingly common in the decade to follow.

Success in 2006 relied on proactive choices. The lessons learned during the scorching 2003 vintage proved valuable, as wineries applied a stricter grape selection than they would have done in the past.

‘That was essential to avoid both greenness and overripeness in 2006 – which stemmed less from peak temperatures than from elevated nighttime lows,’ explains Carlo Paoli, technical director at Tenuta San Guido in Tuscany.

Sassicaia in particular is an outlier in this vintage, characterised by vibrancy while other notable Bordeaux blends – including Frescobaldi-owned Ornellaia – sport a fleshier profile, though often with surprising balance.

As for Sangiovese-based wines, Montalcino wineries returned to a more classical style following the infamous so-called ‘Brunellopoli’ scandal that came to light in 2008, in which several wineries were found to have illicitly blended international varieties into their Brunello di Montalcino (required by regulation to be 100% Sangiovese).

Contemporary reports noted that the wines would require time to shed some of their tannic grip, but today those tannins have softened while the fruit and acidity remain intact.

2006 Brunello from the northern sector – cooler and less celebrated then than it is now – particularly shines. In the rest of central Italy, bold, inky wines still enjoyed considerable momentum.

Montefalco Sagrantino benefited from optimal late-season weather, yielding impressive, ageworthy expressions such as Arnaldo Caprai’s 25 Anni.

In the south, Aglianico fared particularly well, as evidenced by benchmark producers such as Perillo, who released a special 2006 Riserva Taurasi.

A mixed message up north

Further north, in Piedmont, the 2006s are a little more uneven – and also quite elusive.

‘Not only due to the growing season but also because many producers declassified part of the production to cope with the 2008 [economic] crisis’, explains Andrea Marchetti, co-owner of Marcarini.

Opinions of the 2006 vintage and its wines varied considerably: Roberto Conterno deemed it outstanding, releasing a highly coveted Barolo Monfortino Riserva, while Bruno Giacosa skipped it entirely, unconvinced by the results.

As in Montalcino, cooler or clay-rich sites generally performed better, giving fully integrated expressions of Nebbiolo that are still far from full maturity even now.

The same holds true for Alto Piemonte: ‘It was a rather warm vintage in Gattinara and a milder one with copious rainfall in Ghemme,’ says Mattia Donna (pictured, opposite), head winemaker at Torraccia del Piantavigna.

‘While everyone preferred the wines from Gattinara early on, Ghemme performed better in the long run.’

In Valpolicella, in the Veneto region, mild temperatures and moderate rainfall through November and December favoured flawless appassimento – the process of partially drying grapes after harvest over a period of months, in order to concentrate the flavours.

At a time when many wineries were still pushing ripeness to the extreme, the best examples resist that temptation, such as Tedeschi’s gently mature entry-level Amarone, and a surprising La Fabriseria Valpolicella Classico Superiore, which demonstrates that appassimento isn’t obligatory to achieve longevity.

Even the remaining bottles of white wine from this era surprise today. La Colombera’s stunning Timorasso is testament to the variety’s potential even before its recent surge in popularity.

2016: Reaching the pinnacle

The 2016 vintage possesses a superior pedigree to 2006. It stands as the pinnacle of its decade, outshining the warmer and much-loved 2015 and rivalling the legendary 2010.

Crucially, where 2010 relied on individual achievement, 2016 impresses for its remarkable overall consistency.

A textbook season began with a relatively cold winter, followed in most areas by a mild spring with significant but not excessive rain showers.

Summer brought above-average temperatures and dry conditions, but without extreme heat spikes as seen in more recent years. Most importantly, noteworthy day-night temperature swings in September favoured an extended ripening period yielding perfectly balanced fruit.

Ultimately, 2016 turned out to be one of the last classic seasons before a full decade defined by climatic extremes.

Tuscany’s 2016 reds are highly coveted. In Bolgheri, Sassicaia stood out in a homogenous lineup, earning unanimous critical acclaim.

Now starting to open up after a silent phase it still demands time, while Ornellaia from the same vintage proves more accessible.

For Sangiovese, 2016 emphasised the grape’s inherent vibrancy, with less austerity than in past top vintages.

Chianti Classico and Brunello di Montalcino from the latter appellation’s northern sector remain more backward than wines from warmer areas; excellent tannin integration is the common thread across Tuscan Sangiovese in this vintage.

Most wines are approachable now, yet lifted acidity ensures a long trajectory ahead. In Piedmont, low pH levels resulted in protracted fermentations [higher acidity levels can inhibit yeast activity and lead to ‘stuck fermentation’], risking high levels of volatile acidity but also yielding uncanny complexity where well managed.

The wines jump out of the glass but vary significantly in texture: Barolo and Barbaresco from sandier and warmer, earlier-ripening sites are already seamless, while examples from areas with higher proportions of clay – most notably Serralunga d’Alba – require additional time in the bottle to soften.

Personal favourites in this vintage include GB Burlotto’s Barolo Monvigliero and Giovanni Rosso’s Vigna Rionda Barolo Ester Canale Rosso, yet 2016 also offers several lower-key options, including a gorgeous La Serra by Marcarini, blending immediacy and long-running tension.

Set for the challenge

When tasting beyond the most coveted appellations, the evolutionary shift from 2006 to 2016 becomes even more evident.

‘What really improved over the last 10 years is producers’ capability of managing macerations to achieve more polished tannins,’ suggests Donna, while pouring a pure, silky Vigna Pellizzane Ghemme 2016.

This greater finesse is also demonstrated in Arnaldo Caprai’s 25 Anni Montefalco Sagrantino 2016 – assisted from 2015 by the late winemaking consultant Michel Rolland.

And what about southern Italian reds? For those appreciating classically structured wines, 2016 Aglianico and Primitivo prove solid, but they were outperformed by Etna Rosso, which had gained the edge in terms of prestige by this point.

Etna 2016s were highly praised upon release, although the wines are currently in an awkward phase, the fruit slightly dulled while the acidity and tannins remain mighty. Only more time will tell if they’ll return to balance.

There are also many compelling white wines in 2016 that reflect these remarkable qualitative improvements, shining for their mineral complexity and even a touch of kerosene in their development: Cortese, Nascetta, Verdicchio, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Fiano and Carricante all show these hallmark features.

Some of the biggest surprises in 2016 come from cooler, off-the-radar sites. For instance, Valle Reale’s Popoli vineyard, at about 350m among the mountains of Abruzzo, yielded a stunning Montepulciano showing a modest 12.5% alcohol but with enough complexity for long-term performance.

Looking ahead, it is precisely these cooler microclimates in Italy – along with a restrained approach to winemaking – that will be required to defy heat-related challenges.

2006 and 2016 compared, north to south

Wines are listed 2006 first, then 2016

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The long days in Biarritz followed the same perfect rhythm: a morning surf, lunch and a siesta, then an evening surf followed by dinner.

Salty and sunkissed, we would slide into the local bars for pintxos and the catch of the day. Surfing leaves one hollowed out in a good way, and nothing filled that hollow like the local fare paired with the local white wines – sharp, saline, electric things that tasted like a perfect synthesis between the Atlantic out front and the Pyrenees behind.

These wines of Earthsea, I learned, were from Irouléguy, a hidden appellation east of Biarritz. With mysterious names, grapes and scripts, they open yet another dimension of French wine.

Irouléguy is the only AP within the Pays Basque – the French Basque Country, in that vast, undifferentiated region known as Southwest France.

A sliver of vines covering just 270ha or so, scattered across 15 villages in the foothills of the western Pyrenees, around St-Etienne-de-Baïgorry and St-Jean-Pied-de-Port, the latter a storied pilgrim town that marks the start of the Camino Francés, the most popular route of the Camino de Santiago.

It’s French on the map and not far from Spain, but it’s Basque through and through: the bottles carry wording in Euskara, the Basque language, the villages are whitewashed and red-shuttered, the people, wine and cuisine speak their own vernacular.

Decline & rebirth

Vines have grown here since monks from the Abbey of Roncesvalles, on the Spanish side, planted them to refresh pilgrims on the route to Santiago de Compostela around the 11th century.

When the Treaty of the Pyrenees redrew the border in 1659, the vineyards ended up on the French side and passed to local farmers. Yet phylloxera and two world wars reduced the already small appellation to a mere 30ha of vines by 1950.

Almost forgotten, a handful of growers rallied to found a cooperative in 1952 and an AOC (now AP) was granted in 1970.

Independent domaines have since multiplied – from a dozen a decade ago to more than 20 today – in one of the more striking grassroots revivals in contemporary French wine.

The renowned geologist Yves Hérody, who spent seven years mapping Irouléguy’s soils, refers to the Basque Country as ‘a giant accordion that has been playing music for nearly a billion years’.

Red sandstone dominates, with pockets of ophite, a dark volcanic rock, and schist and limestone.

Most of the vines cling to hand-carved terraces on slopes that can almost be called cliffs. This is heroic viticulture in the most literal sense, every harvest done on foot, by hand, often on a rope.

Eight in 10 vignerons farm these bright green hills organically, a remarkable commitment given the relentless rain.

The Atlantic sends about 1,500mm of rain a year on average, far more than Bordeaux (roughly 900mm), yet the Pyrenees send back a warm, drying autumn wind known as the haize hegoa (‘south wind’).

Elemental wines

That elemental balance is palpable in these wines, shaped equally by mountain and sea. Rustic yet increasingly refined reds built mostly on Tannat and Cabernet Franc – dark, structured, slow to soften – account for the majority of production.

But it’s the electric white blends of Gros Manseng, Petit Manseng and Petit Courbu that have driven the appellation’s resurgence over the past decade.

Domaine Arretxea, organic since the early 1990s, when the banks and local restaurants alike doubted them, remains one of Irouléguy’s key reference points, along with a new generation of proudly Basque producers – Bordaxuria, Goienetxea, Apelxenia, Etxondoa – who are finding their way into top restaurants across France and beyond.

But perhaps the best place to taste them is in a small restaurant in Biarritz, with some pintxos and calamari, saltwater drying on your skin.

Mountain-born, ocean-rinsed, these are elemental wines in every sense.

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From 'mini aperitivo' to a small nightcap

Tapping into the trend for tiny tipples, Turkish glassware brand Nude has launched a set of four 70ml Welcome Drink glasses (£28 Nude).

Part of the Bar/Giani range created by Giorgio Bargiani, assistant director of mixology at the Connaught Bar in London (left), the glasses are made from lead-free crystal.

‘Consumers are drinking more intentionally, choosing quality over quantity. Smaller serves make premium cocktails more accessible without compromising on the experience,' said Bargiani.

[They] are also a great way to introduce guests to new flavours, giving them the chance to experiment and discover something new.'

Bargiani added that the glasses have a wide range of uses, ‘from creating a memorable first impression with a mini aperitivo before the main cocktail to serving a small nightcap or digestive, or even offering your guests multiple tastings’.

Cocktail hour: Bitter Nights Dream

Introducing the Bitter Nights Dream

Vivien, Edinburgh, UK

Speakeasy-style bar Vivien has a short menu of creative cocktails, including this rye whisky mix.

‘I’m often drawn to the depth and structure of a classic rye-based serve, but I wanted to explore how far you can push that richness while softening its edges and adding layers of complexity,’ says bar manager Rebekah George.

‘The brown butter fat-wash brings a round, silky feel that makes the drink more approachable, while the cocoa nibs add a chocolate note that plays against the spice of the rye and the bitterness of the amaro and vermouth.’

For an at-home alternative to the butter-washing, she suggests using two drops of Foodie Flavours Butter Natural Flavouring (£5.99/15ml Foodie Flavours), while the homemade plum syrup can be swapped for a ready-made version such as 1883 Maison Routin Premium Umé Syrup (£8.98/1L The Syrup Shop).

How to make a Bitter Nights Dream

Ingredients

• Glass Nick & Nora
• Garnish Lemon peel
• 30ml cocoa nib and brown butter-washed rye whisky*
• 15ml Punt e Mes
• 5ml dry vermouth
• 15ml house plum syrup**

Method

• Add all of the ingredients to a mixing glass with ice and stir gently to mix.
• Strain into a chilled glass.

*To make cocoa nib and brown butter-washed rye

• Brown 175g butter lightly on the hob
• Combine with 700ml rye whisky and leave to infuse at room temperature for a couple of hours.
• Freeze until the butter solidifies then strain with a coffee filter.
• Add 7g cocoa nibs and infuse overnight before fine straining.

**To make plum syrup:

• Combine 500g white caster sugar, 500g plums and 5g citric acid in a Kilner jar
• Leave for 24 hours or until the sugar has dissolved then fine strain

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Lalou Bize-Leroy, a pioneer of biodynamic methods in Burgundy who founded Domaines Leroy and d’Auvenay – and has also been co-director of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) – received Decanter’s Hall of Fame award for 2026.

Since 1984, Decanter has each year recognised a key figure for their outstanding contribution to the world of wine.

This accolade is now accompanied by Decanter’s Rising Star award, with Ramiro Ibáñez and Willy Pérez the latest recipients of this accolade.

Lalou Bize-Leroy enters Decanter’s Hall of Fame

Born in Paris as Marcelle Leroy in 1932, ‘Lalou’ Bize-Leroy has been at the forefront of Burgundy's wine scene for most of her adult life. She trained with her father, Henri Leroy, at Maison Leroy and began buying the wines for the négociant business in 1955 – aged 23.

‘Few winemakers have had as lasting an impact on Burgundy and the larger world of winemaking as she has,’ wrote Charles Curtis MW, Decanter’s Burgundy correspondent, in an in-depth article published in Decanter magazine’s October 2026 issue, and online for Decanter Premium subscribers.

‘Her leadership on biodynamic grape-growing has influenced generations of growers,’ writes Curtis, who also highlighted her much-admired commitment to ‘producing concentrated wines through low yields and rigorous sorting’.

Her decision to create her own domaines in 1988 was a key moment.

‘Although the négociant wines Mme Bize-Leroy bought for Maison Leroy were brilliant, her lasting contribution to the art of winemaking stems from the rigour and precision she brings to grape-growing and winemaking at her two domaines,’ Curtis said.

Bize-Leroy became co-director of DRC in 1974, succeeding her father – who had acquired a 50% stake in the producer in 1942 – but she resigned in 1992 to focus on her own domaines. Perrine Fenal, Bize-Leroy’s daughter, took on the DRC role.

Domaine Leroy and Domaine D’Auvenay are today among the most sought-after Burgundy names by collectors.

More broadly, Curtis wrote that Bize-Leroy’s staying power at the pinnacle of Burgundy winemaking ‘has left us a vinous legacy that will surely stand for decades’.

Read the full article on Lalou Bize-Leroy receiving Decanter's Hall of Fame 2026 award.

Rising Stars: Ramiro Ibáñez and Willy Pérez

This year’s Rising Star Award goes to ‘Jerez mavericks’ Ramiro Ibáñez and Willy Pérez, whose scholarly approach to the region’s history and identity has made them the face of a quiet revolution.

Ines Salpico, Decanter’s regional editor for Spain, Portugal and South America, described the duo as arguably the buen aficionados of their generation; a term reserved for particularly gifted growers in the Marco de Jerez (the demarcated area within which Jerez Sherry and brandy are produced).

‘Through painstaking research work, relentless digging into archives and informed dissent, [Ibáñez and Pérez have] inspired a new generation of producers and opened a discussion about Jerez’s history, identity and future,’ wrote Salpico, in an in-depth article and interview with the pair, featured in Decanter magazine's October 2026 issue and online on decanter.com.

Having met at university, Ibáñez and Pérez pursued their own ‘day jobs’ while jointly exploring the history of the region’s vineyards, wines and people – culminating in the rebirth of the historic De la Riva brand.

Their efforts have helped to bring context to a challenging period for the region, and for fortified wines more generally.

A key aspect of their work has been the rebirth of unfortified wines known as vinos de pasto, underpinned by an understanding of the history and profile of vineyards.

Pérez said, ‘Now we’re living in a great moment for white [unfortified] wines, but these new wines need to be connected to all the work and wines – sweet, oxidative, biologically aged – that came before. All of it is Jerez. If they are not connected to tradition, these white wines [vinos de pasto] will not succeed.’

Read the full article on Ramiro Ibáñez and Willy Pérez receiving Decanter's Rising Star award for 2026.

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Introducing the Decanter Rising Star 2026 award winners

Decanter's Rising Star Award for 2026 goes to Jerez mavericks Ramiro Ibáñez and Willy Pérez, whose scholarly exploration of the region’s history and identity has turned them into the charismatic faces of a quiet revolution that serves as a blueprint for winemakers the world over.

Along with the Decanter Hall of Fame celebration of a lifetime’s achievements, our Rising Star award recognises talents whose impact on the wine world is in full bloom.

In Sanlúcar de Barrameda in southern Spain, Ramiro Ibáñez tells me, the best growers are known as aficionados, a word usually used to refer to a subject’s fervent lovers. ‘The geniuses, the gifted ones that come once in a generation, are called buen aficionados.’

He offers the explanation to outline how viticultural expertise in the Marco de Jerez (the demarcated area within which Jerez Sherry and brandy are produced) is so inextricably linked to emotions and identity.

It’s the same afición with which Ibáñez and his friend and business partner Luis ‘Willy’ Pérez are invested in their shared quest, made material in the maverick rebirth of the De la Riva brand.

The pair are arguably the buen aficionados of their own generation, having – through painstaking research work, relentless digging into archives and informed dissent – inspired a new generation of producers and opened a discussion about Jerez’s history, identity and future.

Ibáñez and Pérez’s work is fuelled by equal amounts of passion and intellectual inquisitiveness; according to both, one is inseparable from the other.

Rebels with a cause

Pérez (born 1982) and Ibáñez (born 1980) grew up in relative proximity, in Jerez de La Frontera and Sanlúcar de Barrameda respectively, but their paths didn’t cross until they both went to the same university in the 2000s, part of a small group of oenology students.

‘It was a time when there was this fascination with international varieties, intensity, wood... Jerez was not really on trend,’ says Ibáñez.

Perhaps that played a part in fostering their deep interest in their own region, ‘especially for its historical weight,’ says Ibáñez.

Having finished their studies, Pérez returned to the family winery (Bodegas Luis Pérez) and Ibáñez started working at a local cooperative before starting his own project, Cota 45.

Meanwhile, the pair embarked on a shared journey of research and exploration. ‘We had many questions that the modern version of the Marco de Jerez didn’t provide answers to,’ says Pérez.

‘We started studying – history, soils, wines, people – seeking an old knowledge that predated a modern understanding of the wines [from Jerez] exclusively from the point of view of the winery.’

The pair systematically tasted, visited vineyards, engaged with producers and growers, went through historical archives and rummaged through old cellars. ‘At some point we felt the need to put all this knowledge into practice.’ In 2015, De la Riva was thus born.

‘We were very clear that we wanted to work with a historical brand,’ Pérez explains.

M Ant de la Riva (Manuel Antonio de la Riva) had been owned by historic Jerez wine and brandy house Pedro Domecq – for whom Pérez’s father, the renowned enologist and professor Luis Pérez, worked before starting his eponymous winery in 2002.

As part of the dismemberment of Domecq in 2005, the brand was acquired by multinational Beam Global and left dormant.

Luis had judiciously kept De la Riva’s records, saving them from ending up in a skip, giving Pérez and Ibáñez a remarkable source of practical, first-hand knowledge.

‘Recovering a historical, once highly regarded brand was in itself a declaration of intent,’ Pérez continues, pulling one of the historical ledgers, from the mid-19th century, from the shelf and opening it to reveal daily field and winery annotations.

‘This is just an example of the information we’ve been lucky enough to have access to. We’ve gone through the archives of so many wineries. It’s pure gold.’

Nuance as a manifesto

Beyond the stricter parameters they’re bound by in their ‘day jobs’, De la Riva has given Ibáñez and Pérez liberty to explore different vineyards, styles and techniques – a laboratory of their ongoing scholarly quest.

‘It’s a universe where we have fun and don’t set ourselves any limits,’ says Ibáñez. ‘And it allows us to interpret all the historical data.’

Their philosophy, they say, primarily involves the refusal of a winemaking of ‘immediacy and obviousness’ in favour of one of ‘nuance, understood through the lives and knowledge of those that touched the parcels before us’, as Pérez explains. ‘The real work is to produce a historical, cultural web of the Marco de Jerez.’

This means pursuing wines led by the history and profile of the vineyard rather than a particular style or ageing category. Chief among their explorations has been the rebirth of the unfortified wines known as vinos de pasto.

Their efforts started against a backdrop of crisis, in Jerez as elsewhere, as the world economy contracted, demand for fortified wines declined and production costs increased significantly.

‘For the last 20 to 30 years, the vineyard didn’t seem to matter and the answer [to increased pressure] seemed to be formulaic work in the winery,’ Ibáñez says.

‘We had to go back to the books, the elderly growers and the old bottles to find what we were looking for – those nuances of the wines [that were] made in the vineyard.’

In the records from the past they’ve found ‘echoes, clues and lessons from other crises – recurring problems and recurring solutions,’ Ibáñez says.

Pérez continues the thought: ‘Different causes, different protagonists, but always the same consequence – usually the creation of a different style that can easily become obsolete, disconnected from the reality and problems it was meant to address.

‘Now we’re living in a great moment for white [unfortified] wines, but these new wines need to be connected to all the work and wines – sweet, oxidative, biologically aged – that came before. All of it is Jerez. If they are not connected to tradition, these white wines [vinos de pasto] will not succeed,’ Pérez concludes.

Past, present & future

Having found themselves in a period of deep change, Ibáñez and Pérez felt the need to put it into context, acknowledging the cyclical nature of history.

‘Understanding why certain wines were produced at a given time – be it because of technical limitations, different interpretations of terroir or the sensibility of winemakers – and identifying their fundamental elements is what really allows us to capture the essence of a given place,’ Pérez explains.

In practical terms, this informs their decisions about which styles to produce from a given site.

‘Even if we produce [an unfortified] white from El Corregidor, for example, we’ll always be influenced by Sandeman’s Oloroso 7a Criadera from 1940 – it’s the ultimate expression of that plot,’ he continues.

By exploring what they call the ‘liquid and human history’ of Jerez’s vineyards, they’re building a canon of sites and wines that transcends styles and trends – perhaps even time.

‘We always interpret the past through the perspective of the present,’ Pérez concludes. ‘We can always find the answers we want to find.’

Put simply, their work aspires to create a vision of the future through the lens of the past, liberated from the prejudices dictated by the present.

Faces of a movement

Willingly or not, the pair have become the face of a quiet revolution – a blueprint for how producers, in Jerez and beyond, can leverage legacy while remaining true to themselves, evolve without compromising identity, experiment with style without losing the essence of the vineyard.

It’s impossible to think of the renewed energy found in Jerez today without acknowledging the role played by Ibáñez and Pérez.

While they’re not in it for myth-making, their charisma has been a big part of their effectiveness. Pérez’s polished eloquence and striking, leading-man looks; Ibáñez’s earnest directness and rugged erudition – it’s an ideal, complementary casting for a headline duo.

Managing the spotlight hasn’t always been easy. ‘We need to be mindful of what we say,’ explains Ibáñez.

‘We try to focus on what we do rather than criticising others. We may not agree with certain sensibilities and ways of doing things, but we try to understand the motivations behind them. A bit like when we try to understand how things were done in past generations.’

‘If we’re sitting here today it’s also because of those with whom we don’t agree,’ Pérez continues. ‘There’s definitely a responsibility not to make statements that shed a negative light on others. We’ve lived through 15 years of so many challenges and changes; it’s important to contribute with a positive outlook.’

Their authority has been hard won, through plenty of legwork, scholarly precision and the softening of some of the harder edges of youth. It’s also imbued with a palpable sense of wonder, pleasure and fun.

‘It’s been a blessing to be able to taste wines made 90, 100 years ago from parcels we’re producing wines from now,’ Ibáñez concludes. ‘It’s an incredible source of information but also of motivation. It’s not history for its own sake.’

In the future, there will be a chapter in the history of the Marco de Jerez dedicated to the changes catalysed by the nerdy, restless, determined rummagings of these two university friends. Many will also find in it clues on how to live a good life.

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Visitors to Domaine Leroy are greeted with a version of a quote attributed to Salvador Dali: ‘Those who know how to taste no longer drink wine but taste secrets.’

Many would doubtless be delighted to learn the secrets of the proprietor, Madame Bize-Leroy, one of the wine world’s most successful entrepreneurs. Leroy has long been a name with which to conjure.

Maison Leroy was created in 1868 by François Leroy and developed by his son Joseph and grandson Henri, who took charge in 1919.

The present pinnacle of the house’s renown, however, is due to both Henri and his daughter Marcelle, known to the world as 'Lalou'.

Few winemakers have had as lasting an impact on Burgundy and the larger world of winemaking as she has.

Hers were the first notable estates in Burgundy to adopt biodynamic viticulture, and she has produced wines of hitherto inconceivable concentration and power.

Her leadership on biodynamic grape-growing has influenced generations of growers, with many implementing elements of this philosophy, even as the number of certified-biodynamic domaines remains fairly modest.

Lalou also inspired many with her commitment to producing concentrated wines through low yields and rigorous sorting, although her success here was often admired but seldom imitated, since few domaines could command the prices she did, which made this approach economically viable.

First steps

Born in Paris in 1932 to Henri Leroy and his wife Simone Brun, Lalou always longed to work beside her father.

Her dream didn’t take long to materialise – he gave her control of the négociant business in 1955 at the age of 23.

The family had long owned vineyards, and had developed other businesses as well, buying and selling both wines and spirits.

Henri’s great passion, however, was the wines of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC).

He had been a devoted customer and friend to proprietor Edmond Gaudin de Villaine throughout the difficult years of the Great Depression (1929-1939).

When de Villaine’s business partner Jacques Chambon decided to sell his half of the domaine in 1942, Henri Leroy leapt at the chance to purchase it, and in the years that followed, he lavished his attention on it.

As his daughter notes: ‘Henri Leroy made this domaine one of the jewels of Burgundy.’

Perhaps inevitably, his négociant business received less of his attention, and in 1955 his young daughter began to buy the wines for Maison Leroy.

She has long been famed for her acuity as a taster and, judging by the results, she did a remarkable job, even from the beginning.

I have had the extraordinary good fortune to taste many vintages of Maison Leroy wines from the 1960s and 1970s with collector friends, providing indelible wine experiences during the years I was living in Asia and later.

Bottles of 1962 La Romanée, 1966 Grands Echezeaux, and 1971 Corton from Maison Leroy were just a few of the spectacular wines from that era that I still remember vividly.

Frédéric Roemer, the maison’s sales director and Mme Bize-Leroy’s right-hand man, explained at the time that she looked for a classic style, remarking that 'the 1955 is the reference standard of where the house wants to be with the Chambertin, while 1949 is the reference for Musigny’.

Grand holdings

In 1974, Mme Bize-Leroy was named co-director of DRC upon her father’s retirement, working alongside Aubert de Villaine.

Then in 1988, she purchased Domaine Charles Noëllat in Vosne-Romanée and Domaine Philippe Rémy in Gevrey-Chambertin with the backing of Japanese partners, combining the vineyards to form the nucleus of Domaine Leroy.

At the same time, she purchased the interest of her sister Pauline Roch in the vines that they had inherited jointly from their parents and incorporated them into Domaine d’Auvenay, which she owns outright.

D’Auvenay is the home in the hills above St-Romain that she shared with her late husband Marcel Bize and where she still abides.

In 1992, she resigned from her role as co-director of DRC to focus on her two domaines; she was succeeded in this role by her daughter, Perrine Fenal. Domaine Leroy focuses on red wine.

Mme Bize-Leroy is quite specific about its dimensions, stating that ‘it currently comprises 22ha, 19 ares and 85 centiares’.

It includes eight village-level vineyards and eight premiers crus (see box). The pride of the domaine, however, are the nine grands crus.

At Domaine d’Auvenay, on the other hand, the focus was initially on white wine.

She began with vineyards in Auxey Duresses and Meursault, to which she added holdings in PulignyMontrachet and Meursault, including grands crus Chevalier-Montrachet, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet, with red wines from Bonnes-Mares and Mazis-Chambertin thrown in for good measure.

Biodynamic from the start

Although the négociant wines Mme Bize-Leroy bought for Maison Leroy were brilliant, her lasting contribution to the art of winemaking stems from the rigour and precision she brings to grape-growing and winemaking at her two domaines.

From the beginning, these domaines have been cultivated organically and biodynamically.

Her conversion to biodynamics in 1988 was among the first in Burgundy, and she led the way for a great many others.

Today, many of the region’s top domaines are certified biodynamic, including Domaine Leflaive (certified in 1997), Domaine Trapet Père et Fils (2009), Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair (2012), and DRC (2016), among others.

Mme Leroy specifies: ‘Among other treatments, the vines receive herbal teas and plant decoctions tailored to the season, weather and temperature.’

Bottling is done according to biodynamic principles, on ‘fruit days’ – when the moon is passing through the ‘fire constellations’ of Aries, Sagittarius and Leo (her preference is for the latter two).

When necessary, vines are replanted one by one using massal selection (taking cuttings from a diverse group of the healthiest, highest-quality old vines) rather than replanting an entire block – a technique called repiquage in French, preserving the older vines and increasing the vineyard’s average age.

See articles on previous Decanter Hall of Fame Award recipients

Meticulous methods

The domaine also led the way in introducing a technique known as tressage to Burgundy.

Vines grown in this way aren’t hedged in the more common method; instead, the vine tips are folded back over themselves (tressage translates as ‘braiding’ or ‘plaiting’).

Mme Bize-Leroy believes this reduces the trauma to the vine from the traditional hedging, explaining that the vine tip or apex is ‘the force that pulls the vine from the ground’.

Once the shoots are set, in an effort to encourage photosynthesis the canopy isn’t trimmed. In her words: ‘Le soleil grille, les feuilles nourrissent.’ (‘The sun scorches, the leaves nourish.’)

Some winemakers resist using the technique, arguing that the larger canopies it provides can hold humidity and increase disease pressure, particularly in a humid year.

In all likelihood, however, disease pressure is diminished in the generally hot, dry climate of global warming, and tressage may be the way of the future.

If some decry this labour-intensive technique because it can triple the staff required to work a vineyard, Bize-Leroy values it for producing tiny, concentrated berries.

Some winemakers also suggest that sugar levels are naturally lower when tressage is used, which can be beneficial in a hot, dry year.

She goes on to describe another pillar of her philosophy: ‘Yields are controlled through strict pruning,’ noting that the canes are pruned to three or four buds.

Even in an optimal year, this will yield only 15-16hl/ha, dipping to 10hl/ha or less under problematic conditions.

Yields this low are possible only for exorbitantly expensive wines, and Domaine Leroy has some of the region’s lowest yields.

Leroy fans find that such yields give wines of intense concentration, although some top domaines prefer the equilibrium of wines made from higher yields.

After sorting at the end of the Pinot Noir harvest, the central stem (rachis) is removed with scissors, but the bunches are either left whole, re-shaped with scissors, or snipped with scissors and sorted berry by berry.

Above all, the grapes are left whole to preserve the yeast and other microflora on their skins. They’re gently trodden by foot as needed to release the juice.

Chardonnay clusters are also kept whole until they are pressed in a pneumatic press.

After a gentle fermentation in wood, the wines are racked by gravity into lightly toasted oak barrels from François Frères (made from wood that has been air-dried for three years) for ageing.

No comparison

In the vineyard and in the winery, Mme Bize-Leroy is fiercely true to her own principles.

Although she has many admirers, none have reached the same heights of renown or succeeded in fully implementing the full range of her techniques.

Many have followed her down the path of biodynamics. Fewer implement the laborious tressage technique, or are willing to sacrifice yields to the extent that she has or put in place the rigorous sorting and grape-reception methods that she uses.

Her methods are sometimes compared to those of Jean-Yves Bizot, but Bizot is organic (not biodynamic) and uses less sulphur than Domaine Leroy.

Mme Bize-Leroy prefers stable wines – when asked about ‘natural wine’, Gilles Desprez, her sales manager at Domaine Leroy, commented: ‘She has no interest in natural wine.’

Others have remarked on the influence that Mme Bize-Leroy has had on Charles Lachaux, but their paths have diverged as well.

Lachaux (like Bizot) employs tressage in the vineyard and keeps yields at a draconianly low level, but he eschews extraction and, since 2022, has moved away from ageing in barrel, now ageing his wines entirely in ceramic vessels.

Another vigneron who practices tressage is Olivier Lamy, but here the comparison is less apt, since he’s known for high-density planting in contrast to Leroy’s repiquage at standard density.

Similarities but also striking differences are found with other biodynamic powerhouse domaines such as Domaine Leflaive and even DRC, where the Leroy family still owns a 50% stake.

Perched at the pinnacle

One common point among the aforementioned domaines is the stratospheric prices of their top cuvées, which put these wines out of the reach of everyday wine lovers.

This unfortunate state of affairs is perhaps inevitable, given the attention to detail, extraordinarily low yields, high-touch vineyard and winery techniques, and a luxurious maturation regimen lavished upon all the wines at Domaine Leroy, from the Aligoté to the Musigny.

This is not a domaine that struggles to sell its wine, even when the economy slows.

It’s a testament to the rare ability of Lalou Bize-Leroy that she has maintained her perch at the pinnacle of Burgundian wine through good times and less good times, and, in doing so, has left us a vinous legacy that will surely stand for decades to come.

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There’s arguably never been a better time to explore the ‘land down under’. Australia’s depth and breadth of fine wines only seems to increase, despite myriad challenges ranging from climatic extremes to swingeing tariffs in major export markets.

While the country’s presence on the global fine wine secondary market remains relatively limited, savvy collectors can – and do – fill their cellars with both historic and new-wave labels.

This introductory guide draws on market data and exclusive tasting reports published for Decanter Premium subscribers to offer a broad overview of the landscape.

Click here to download a PDF copy of this report

Producers to know

Wine-Searcher’s 15 most popular Australian wines

Wine-Searcher rankings offer one indicator of prominence. Its list of the 15 most searched-for Australian wines is dominated by Penfolds ‘bin’ numbers, demonstrating this producer’s importance on the market.

It also features other key producers, such as Henschke, Leeuwin Estate, Giaconda, Torbreck and Bass Phillip.

There are so many more names to explore, of course.

Auction house and retailer Langton’s produces a ‘Classification’ of Australian fine wines – a useful reference for any serious collector.

Its eighth edition, published in late 2023, features 21 ‘First Classified’ and 79 ‘Classified’ wines.

It’s impossible to name everyone in this guide, but a few other top producers to know include:

South Australia: Wynns Coonawarra Estate | Jim Barry | Grosset | Grant Burge | Sami-Odi | Standish Wine Co | Wendouree | d’Arenberg | Yalumba | Peter Lehmann | Shaw + Smith

Victoria: Mount Mary | Yarra Yering | By Farr | Giant Steps | Paringa Estate | Tahlbilk | Bindi | Best’s Great Western

Western Australia: Moss Wood | Cloudburst | Cullen | Vasse Felix | Pierro | Cape Mentelle | Xanadu | Frankland Estate | Woodlands Wines | Stella Bella

New South Wales: Tyrrell’s | Clonakilla | De Bortoli | Lake’s Folly | Brokenwood | Mount Pleasant | Philip Shaw

Tasmania: House of Arras | Tolpuddle | Domaine A

Grape variety melting pot

Trade body Wine Australia said more than 150 grape varieties were ‘crushed’ by wineries in the 2025 harvest.

Many represent only a tiny amount of wine, yet it’s a neat indication of the country’s dynamism and diversity.

Shiraz is Australia’s signature red variety. Cabernet Sauvignon thrives in several areas, from Coonawarra’s ‘terra rossa’ soils to Margaret River, while Grenache is a key grape in McLaren Vale.

Modern Australia is also about cooler-climate Pinot Noir, not to mention Italian varieties like Sangiovese and Nebbiolo.

This report is heavy on red wine, but terroir-driven Chardonnay is a white wine trend to watch.

There’s also long-lived Hunter Valley Semillon and Clare Valley Riesling. And one cannot ignore after-dinner, fortified delights, such as Seppeltsfield in Barossa and producers in Victoria’s historic Rutherglen.

Recent five-star vintages

Generalisations are a dangerous game in the wine world, even within a single region, and top producers often show their mettle in challenging years.

Caveats aside, though, South Australia’s 2021 vintage is a notable standout. Decanter’s Tina Gellie said Penfolds’ Grange is ‘a corker up there with headline years 2018, 2010 and 1990’.

In Western Australia’s Margaret River, expert Cassandra Charlick said in Decanter vintage reports that 2023 and 2022 were five-star years for Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon respectively.

Two Shiraz icons: Penfolds, Grange | Henschke, Hill of Grace Vineyard

Penfolds, Grange (Bin 95) and Henschke, Hill of Grace Vineyard are among the most expensive Shiraz / Syrah wines in the world, and the most famous – rivalling the great names of France’s Northern Rhône (Grange was labelled ‘Grange Hermitage’ until the 1990 vintage).

Building a cellar of Aussie all-stars

A collection of Australian all-stars would today encompass Pinot Noir, and the small-production wines of Gippsland-based Bass Phillip are particularly well-regarded.

Its Reserve Pinot Noir 2010 found notable acclaim (US$1,314 per bottle, Wine-Searcher global average retail price ex-tax). The winery has been owned since 2020 by Burgundy vigneron Jean-Marie Fourrier.

For Chardonnay, Giaconda in Beechworth is a star name for those in-the-know. Its Estate Vineyard Chardonnay is one of several Australian wines released via La Place de Bordeaux, with Ets. JP Moueix the exclusive international distribution partner since October 2023.

Tasting ‘La Place’ releases last year, Decanter’s Georgie Hindle gave 99pts to the 2023 vintage, writing: ‘Super sophisticated and just a gorgeous wine from the coolest vintage since 2017.’ Hindle also gave 100pts to Margaret River’s Cloudburst, Chardonnay 2023.

Decanter Wine Legends

With Grange 1955 and Hill of Grace 1998 already cited, here are more Decanter Wine Legends through the decades for your all-star cellar.

Wine-Searcher.com’s global average retail price per bottle (US dollars, ex-tax) in September 2026 is given as a guide, but prices will vary – particularly for rare wines at auction.

Penfolds Bin 60A, Coonawarra / Barossa Valley, South Australia 1962

Price today: US$16,112 (ex-tax)

Dubbed Australia’s greatest ever wine, this blend of Coonwarra Cabernet with Shiraz from Barossa’s Kalimna vineyard won 19 wine show trophies. Around 5,100 bottles were produced, although never commercially released. Prince Charles, now King Charles III, enjoyed a taste during a tour of Australia in May 2015.

Moss Wood, Cabernet Sauvignon, Wilyabrup, Margaret River, Western Australia 1975

Price today: N/A

Moss Wood is one of Margaret River’s pioneers. ‘The 1975 has long been considered one of the greatest red wines produced in the region,’ wrote Stephen Brook, author of Decanter’s Wine Legends series.

Clonakilla, Shiraz-Viognier, Canberra District, New South Wales 2001

Price today: US$185

Born in 1992, Clonakilla Shiraz-Viognier quickly garnered plaudits but 2001 – from a large crop showing rich flavours and good concentration – is particularly lauded. Brook reported that journalist and wine writer Max Allen declared in Decanter in 2002 that the wine represents a ‘new benchmark for cooler-climate Australian Shiraz’.

Wynns Coonawarra Estate, John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra, South Australia 1982

Price today: US$248

Bordeaux’s 1982 vintage is legendary, yet it was also exceptional in Coonawarra and marked the first bottling of this wine. Brook tasted the ‘82 alongside Sue Hodder, Wynns senior winemaker, in 2013. ‘The colour was deep, the blackcurrant nose lush and generous,’ he wrote, with fine acidity giving ‘intensity and freshness’.

Three more Decanter Legends:

Cape Mentelle, Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, Western Australia 1983 | $68 (last available June 2025)

Jim Barry, The Armagh, Clare Valley, South Australia 1999 | US$205

Tyrrell’s, Vat 1 Semillon, Hunter Valley, New South Wales 1994 | N/A

Finding such rare wines might be tricky, of course. Always check provenance and bottle condition as carefully as possible. As the old cliché goes: if the price looks too good to be true then maybe it is.

Hunting value

Value is a relative concept. Some regional heroes are relatively affordable in a global context and shopping through a top producer’s range can also yield gems, for instance.

Beyond that, don’t discount lesser-explored regions and varieties for drinking pleasure. That could be Malbec in Langhorne Creek, Nero d’Avola in South Australia’s Riverland or Riesling in Western Australia’s Great Southern.

Three value reds under US$50* for the cellar:

Kooyong Estate, Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria 2023 (95pts)

Sourced from four distinct vineyard blocks, wrote Decanter’s Julie Sheppard in 2025. ‘Harmonious and elegant palate layered with cherries, raspberry and strawberry, with a twist of spicy orange peel and herbal earthy notes beneath.’ Drink 2025 to 2030.

Penfolds, Bin 28 Shiraz, South Australia 2023 (94pts)

A multi-regional blend led by Barossa Valley fruit showcasing ‘ripe, powerful warm-climate South Australian Shiraz’, wrote Decanter’s Tina Gellie after tasting it in 2025. ‘Really impressive already, with more to come.’ Drink 2025 to 2043.

d'Arenberg, d'Arry's Original Shiraz Grenache, McLaren Vale, South Australia 2020 (90pts)

‘A 50:50 blend of Shiraz and Grenache from low-yielding 19th century vines,’ wrote Sheppard. ‘Easy-drinking now with lots of spicy, herbal, minty dark fruit, fresh acidity and well-balanced tannins, but will also keep nicely in your cellar.’ Drink 2025 to 2032.

*Wine-Searcher global average retail price per bottle, ex-tax, US$.

Australia on the fine wine market

Pricing snapshot

Wine-Searcher global average retail prices (per bottle, ex-tax) in US dollars suggest Giaconda and Bass Phillip have risen relatively strongly in the past five years, despite difficult conditions for the global wine market.

Fine wine prices vary by market, currency and merchant, so data is best seen as indicating a broad direction of travel.

*Data source: www.wine-searcher.com. Prices represent Wine-Searcher’s global average retail price per 75cl bottle, ex-tax, in US dollars.

Prices also vary between vintages. Wynns’ ‘John Riddoch’ 2010 (99pts, Decanter) is a top year and was US$150-a-bottle, while the 2018 vintage (97pts) averaged US$97.

Giaconda’s Estate Vineyard Chardonnay 2016 was up particularly strongly, but Penfolds’ Grange 2014 dropped (See chart below).

While Grange 1990 was up over five years, the data showed it was more expensive 15 years ago (averaging US$802 in June 2011).

Market context

Pricing is only part of the market picture. Trading on the global fine wine secondary market is largely dominated by blue-chip French and Italian wines, plus top Californian labels.

Collectors clearly do dive in for Aussie gems, especially when they come up for auction via key domestic players, but its presence in global terms is relatively limited.

Geraint Carter, of international merchant Bordeaux Index and the LiveTrade online trading platform, told Decanter: ‘For us, it’s a small and narrow secondary market [for Australian wines]; a bit of Grange and Henschke.’

He said there is broader demand for new releases, highlighting Bass Phillip plus white wines from Giaconda, Leeuwin and Pierro.

Penfolds’ Grange was the only Australian entry in the latest Power 100 index of influential brands on the secondary market, published by Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade.

Grange in a tough market

A boom on the fine wine secondary market boiled over in 2022, leading to an era of falling prices on many top-tier names that has only recently shown signs of stabilisation.

The headline Liv-ex 1000 index, which tracks prices on some of the world’s most collectible wines, was down 5.3% in five years to 30 April 2026, in pound sterling currency.

Its Rest of the World 60 sub-index, which includes the 10 most recently-released vintages of Penfolds’ Grange, saw a sharper drop of 9.6% in the same period.

While most Liv-ex 1000 region sub-indices have shown greater stability in the past six months. (See Chart 1), the Rest of the World 60 has underperformed.

It dropped 1% in April 2026, with Grange components collectively falling 2% for the month, said Liv-ex in May.

Although trading conditions remain challenging in a highly uncertain macroeconomic landscape, eagle-eyed collectors may also find opportunities.

Last year, Liv-ex cited a UK in-bond release price of £4,584 (12x75cl) for Penfolds, Grange 2021. It said several previous vintages were available for less, including Grange 2014, which was ‘entering its drinking window’.

It’s still possible to find vintages from Grange’s extensive back catalogue. The highly acclaimed Grange 1990 was available in the UK (£516.67 per bottle ex-VAT, Hedonism Wines), for example.

Auction trends

Despite reports of challenging market conditions, collectors have increasingly been turning up for mature, ready-to-drink wines at auction in recent months, according to Nick Pegna, global head of wine and spirits at Sotheby’s, in Decanter’s Market Watch.

Michael Anderson, head of auctions at Langton's in Australia, also reported upward momentum in 2026.

‘Our key performance indicators – active bidder numbers, bid volume, clearance rates, and fresh-to-market supply – are all trending upward compared with last year.’

He said collectors viewed Langton’s in-person and online auctions as ‘an essential vehicle for portfolio management and liquidity’. Consistently at weekly auctions is encouraging, he said.

‘When the right wine hits the market, be that Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, La Tȃche 1999 or a “birth year” bottle of 1986 Wynns John Riddoch, the demand is as fierce as ever.’

If you’re considering wine as an investment, remember:

1. The pool of investment-grade wines is small and prices can go down, as well as up.

2. A wine’s condition and provenance can affect value, so consider professional storage in bond (IB).

3. Wine investment is unregulated. Only buy wine from reputable sources, and check provenance and condition as carefully as possible before buying.

4. Factor in costs, such storage and possible selling fees. Storage is often charged at a fixed annual rate.

5. If unsure, always seek professional advice.

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This month’s book has been sitting on my desk for some time – undeservedly having to wait its turn to appear here.

Written by Andrea Lonardi MW and Jessica Dupuy, Italianity: The Culture of Italian Wine (£40 Greenleaf, April 2026) is unlike any wine book I’ve come across before – and it will enchant lovers of Italian wine.

The book sets out to explore what defines Italian wine – ‘the layered interplay of flavour, terroir, tradition and quiet innovation’, the distinctive character that runs through the wines.

Although Italy and its wines are hugely varied, there’s a uniting factor: ‘Italianity’, which Lonardi describes as ‘a shared language spoken in a thousand dialects’.

The main body of the book is divided into key styles or grapes, with each section broken into bite-sized essays and a sprinkling of recipes.

Alternating between the voices of the native Lonardi and foreign Dupuy, these range from spotlights on restaurants and key industry figures to cultural musings and snippets of travelogue.

The insider-outsider duo, combined with Lonardi’s in-depth knowledge of both Italian wine and the broader global context, makes for a work that’s expert but accessible and, crucially, deeply evocative.

The penultimate section looks to the future of Italianity, offering something of a rallying cry for the industry on how to protect and preserve what sets Italy’s wines apart.

This is followed by personal essays on the meaning of Italianity from wine writers and sommeliers in the US, Canada and Italy.

The book is – as you might expect of an Italian offering – stylish: a beautiful hardback with gorgeous photography that brings Italy’s wine regions to life, and soft, earthy tones throughout.

There are some frustrating typesetting errors, but they’re minor imperfections. Each spread has text written in English on the left and Italian on the right, making it ideal for aspiring Italian-speakers.

This isn’t a guide to Italian wine, to the regions, grapes and producers, offering instead a flavour of what Italian wine is about. ‘A flavour’ doesn’t really do it justice, given its depth – but it is, like the concept of Italianity itself, hard to pin down.

As nebulous as it might seem, the book captures Italianity beautifully. It will leave you lusting not just for a glass, but for a trip to dive head first into all the things that make Italy (and its wine) so irresistible.

Also on our reading list: A new supermarket wine guide

Treasure in the aisles

Supermarket shelves are home to some brilliant wines at brilliant prices – and some rubbish wines, too.

While I’d always encourage wine lovers to frequent independent shops when they can, a new book by Helen McGinn, The Supermarket Wine Guide (£14.99 Ebury Press, May 2026), ensures you don’t fall foul of seductive discounts during your weekly shop, highlighting the best bottles from the UK’s biggest supermarkets.

Aimed at those who don’t (yet) have a Decanter subscription, the book showcases the variety and value on offer – from Bonny Doon’s orange wine in Tesco to an M&S Moschofilero and Roditis blend.

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Left Bank Bordeaux: When it comes to discussions about changing styles in the region, St-Emilion’s modern evolution is referenced a lot. Less discussed are the changes that have happened on the Left Bank.

Panos Kakaviatos highlights several leading estates that have transformed their approach to oak and alcohol levels.

Visiting Napa: Our Napa correspondent Joanthan Cristaldi kicks off a new series on how to experience this emblematic Californian region at different stages of your life.

From lodging, tasting opportunities and activities, to dining and late night entertainment (and what it will cost you), we begin with how 20-somethings might approach a first expedition.

Oregon: In a double-header, Pete Holland looks at the southern half of the Willamette Valley, home to some of its less-celebrated but no-less intriguing AVAs and producers.

Meanwhile, Jesse Fukumoto looks at the key wineries producing Oregon’s ‘other’ Burgundy variety – Aligoté.

South Africa: As climates shift, more producers are casting their eyes upwards in the Cape.

Malu Lambert takes us for a hike in its high altitude vineyards to explore the wines being produced in the lofty terroirs of Citrusdal, the Cederberg, Sutherland and more.

Canadian Cab Franc: Around the Great Lakes of Canada, we often hear about their prowess for Riesling, Chardonnay and even a dash of Pinot Noir.

Magdalena Kaiser lets us in on a little secret – it’s also an emerging spot for great Cabernet Franc. She tracks the best bottles to be found across the lakes.

PLUS: We'll have articles from our regular columnists; Matt Walls on the Rhône, Tom Hewson on Champagne and Richard Baudains on Italy.

Furthermore, Chris Howard visits the Burgundian appellation of Maranges, Caro Maurer MW tastes the new crop of Grosses Gewächs from Germany's best producers, and Jillian Dara looks at some exciting white wines emerging across various US regions.

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Knox Alexander and Isabelle Clendenen inherited more than a family winery. Au Bon Climat, founded by their father, the late Jim Clendenen, helped establish Santa Barbara County as a serious source of cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, building a reputation far beyond California.

Now, the siblings are carrying that legacy forward while finding distinctly different places within it.

International markets have long been central to Au Bon Climat, known to fans simply as ABC.

Today, around 45% of sales are exports, with Japan its largest international market, followed by the UK. For Knox and Isabelle, that international identity was part of childhood.

‘Dad could be away travelling for as many as 200 days a year,’ Isabelle remembers. ‘He’d always bring back stories and souvenirs from the places where he was introducing Au Bon Climat to the world.’

One destination in particular captured Isabelle’s imagination.

Learning Japanese

Her fascination with Japan began with little figurines her father brought home from his travels.

Eventually, she convinced him to take her along. There, she found herself surrounded by people eager to interact with her, but with whom she could barely communicate.

She returned to California determined to learn Japanese.

Jim released the first vintage of Isabelle, his barrel-selection Pinot Noir named for his daughter, in 1995, when Burgundy remained the benchmark for Pinot Noir and the influence of Parker-era criticism reinforced the prestige of French fine wine.

By the time Isabelle began travelling to Japan around 2007, Japanese wine lovers were beginning to look beyond Burgundy for more affordable expressions of cool-climate Pinot Noir. Au Bon Climat offered precisely that kind of alternative.

That connection shaped what came next. Isabelle majored in Japanese, and spent a semester in Japan working with one of ABC’s distributors.

She realised then that a life in wine did not necessarily mean following her father into the cellar; it could be built around language, relationships and creating shared experiences. Isabelle joined Au Bon Climat full time in 2018.

‘I wouldn’t speak Japanese without wine, and I wouldn’t be in the wine industry without Japanese,’ she says.

The call to action

Today, Isabelle is one of ABC’s principal faces in Japan, strengthening distributor relationships and hosting wine dinners and events.

She says Japan’s share of the winery’s sales has roughly doubled, from 7% to 15%.

While Isabelle found her place at ABC by following the winery outward, Knox arrived at his role from almost the opposite direction.

Growing up in Santa Barbara wine country, where seemingly everyone was a winemaker or connected to the industry, Knox became ‘numb to the concept’ and initially wanted something different.

He journeyed through an odd sequence of experiences before finding his way back to wine: working security at a concert venue and, while studying journalism at Temple University’s campus in Japan, picking up voice-acting gigs for commercials and a video game.

Jim’s death in 2021, during Knox’s junior year, brought things to a crossroads.

‘That was a call to action for me’, he says, ‘a realisation that I had the opportunity to take part in something that was beyond just me, a continuation of a legacy.’

The succession question

After graduating, Knox returned for his first harvest in 2022 and has since worked alongside winemakers Marc Piro and Sarah Atwood in production.

Knox resists the expectation that a new generation must remake a family winery in its own image.

‘I think about this business as a passing of the torch,’ he says. ‘It’s the same flame and all.’

While Isabelle describes herself as a ‘crystallised version of Dad’, venturing outward to build within, Knox expresses succession differently – at home and in the cellar.

Asked where he hopes ABC will be in 10 or 20 years, he answers: ‘Hopefully the same, just with a few more grey hairs.’

Au Bon Climat remains committed to freshness and acidity in its wines, barrel fermentation for its whites, French oak for the barrels and the food-friendly style on which Jim built its reputation.

But preservation does not mean keeping everything in amber. Isabelle’s less romantic example of generational change?

‘The first thing I did was finally update our company website,’ she laughs.

A reassuring presence

Abroad, the evolution is more substantial. ABC has produced private labels for distributors in China, Japan, Denmark and the UK, while food, language and personal relationships increasingly shape how the wines are presented.

The siblings grew up with wine and food intertwined, particularly through the famously diverse daily winery crew lunch their father established.

Today, Isabelle carries that tradition into wine dinners around the world, pairing her namesake Pinot Noir with crispy duck bao (steamed buns) in China; Hildegard with matsutake gohan (seasoned rice with wild mushrooms and dashi) in Japan; and Los Alamos Chardonnay with tom kha gai (coconut milk chicken soup) in Thailand.

For the Clendenens, taking Au Bon Climat forward is less about reinventing their father’s wines than finding new places for them.

‘We aren’t rushing to mechanise our production. We aren’t straying away from our utilisation of French oak,’ Knox says.

‘We’ve realised these are the wines that we love, just like Dad did. In a world that is constantly changing, I think it’s somewhat reassuring to have something that stays the same.’

10 Au Bon Climat wines to try

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'Peruvian flavours are bold and consistently delicious'

Drawing from a bountiful pantry that stretches from the lofty peaks of the Andes to the generous Pacific ocean and the little-trodden Amazon region, Peruvian flavours are bold, tasty and consistently delicious, whether you’re eating at an award-winning fine-dining establishment, devouring grilled beef heart skewers from a street food cart or savouring a refreshing cebiche on a warm day at home.

Beloved ingredients include the nation’s more than 6,000 potato varieties, a copious assortment of chilli peppers and abundant seafood, used in a variety of tasty regional dishes, from arroz con cabrito (slow-cooked kid goat and rice) from Lambayeque in the north to rocoto relleno (meat-filled peppers) from Arequipa in the south.

Then, there’s cebiche, prepared up and down the coast using the catch of the day – be it black clams, sea urchin or squid – marinated in the spicy, pearly lime juice-based sauce known as leche de tigre (‘tiger’s milk’).

And outside Peru, home cooks are beginning to explore this delicious culinary landscape, which necessarily begs the question of which drinks to pair with it.

What to drink with Peruvian food: Pisco to Semillon

Cebiche in all its guises (only eaten at lunchtime), ají de gallina (a spicy chicken stew), causa limeña (potatoes in a creamy yellow chilli sauce), lomo saltado (stir-fried beef) and tiradito (sashimi) are all firm favourites on menus in the capital Lima, an outstanding gastronomic city that’s home to Central and Maido, both of which have topped the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

And while sweet-toothed Peruvians will likely order golden, lemon verbena-flavoured Inca Kola with these day-to-day classics, sommeliers enjoy showcasing locally produced wines and spirits.

Peruvians also revere the fermented grape distillate pisco, knocking back 80% of production in Sours, Chilcanos and the Manhattan twist El Capitán, but a blossoming wine scene is reviving the eight ancestral varieties used to make it.

José Garma, sommelier at La Mar Cebichería, uses the wines as inspiration during uni season – the period, from June to October, when artisanal divers harvest red sea urchins along Peru’s southern coast; uni is the Japanese word for the urchin’s edible parts.

‘Bodega Murga’s [skin contact] Joyas de Murga Blend,’ Garma says, ‘made from Black Criolla, Quebranta and Albilla, complements sea urchin cebiche’s creaminess and freshness alongside the characteristic fruitiness of these heritage grapes, which have spicy notes and refreshing acidity.’

Meanwhile, Kyra Bruning, sommelier at Mérito, opts for fresh whites with cebiche.

‘Semillon is a great ally – a light one but with enough body to hold its own alongside the seasonings and ingredients, such as lightly fried squid or raw prawns,’ she says.

As the preceding makes clear, Peruvians are rather partial to proteins. Rotisserie chicken is wildly popular, as are cuy chactado (fried guinea pig) and pork or beef rice dishes.

Northern classic arroz con pato (duck marinated in dark lager and served with rice) pairs beautifully with St-Emilion, according to Iván Mestanza, sommelier at renowned Lima restaurant Siete.

‘Medium acidity balances out the duck,’ he says, ‘while its intensity doesn’t compete; rather, mature fruit and tertiary evolution complement the dish’s toasty umami notes.’

Asian flavours

Alongside its own regional cuisines, many of Peru’s favourite dishes bear both Japanese and Chinese imprints – known respectively as Nikkei and Chifa – thanks to diasporas from both countries.

A marriage between Japanese culinary techniques and Pacific goodies, standout Nikkei dishes include tiradito and pulpo al olivo. The latter is made for a Pisco Sour, each citrusy sip cleansing the palate after a bite of octopus and olive mayonnaise.

As for Chifa, many dishes are wok-prepared, such as tallarín saltado (stir-fried noodles) and arroz chaufa (stir-fried rice).

As mentioned above, lomo saltado is particularly popular. ‘I’d pair it with Cabernet Franc, because [the wine’s] herbal notes and tannins will help clean the [dish’s] fattiness,’ says Sebastián Córdova, sommelier at Shizen, a Nikkei restaurant in Lima.

Also consider a juicy red such as Malbec, which, while not quintessentially Peruvian, waves the Latin American flag.

Three top pairings to try

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The wines of Pommard were once thought of as structured and substantial, but somehow impassive and mute; the antithesis of the flashy and expressive wines from neighbouring Volnay.

A new generation in Pommard, however, is making wines today that are engaging and approachable when young, but substantial enough to age gracefully.

Today, even the ‘old guard’ Pommard domaines are updating their game.

The 400 year-old Domaine de Courcel has a new director, Pierre Clair. Courcel’s neighbour, Domaine Comte Armand, has also recently seen a changing of the guard, with Jane Eyre taking over as manager from Paul Zinetti.

Below are eight key producers leading this renaissance, each demonstrating how modern winemaking techniques, organic practices and thoughtful stewardship are reshaping the reputation of Pommard.

Domaine de la Commaraine

The new generation is already well underway at Domaine de la Commaraine. The domaine traces more than nine centuries of history and a succession of owners.

Most recently, it was sold in 2017 to Americans Denise Dupré and Mark Nunnelly, whose partner and manager, Jean-Luc Vitoux, hired Paul Krug as director.

Paul is the son of Olivier Krug, who worked with Burgundy superstar Louis-Michel Liger-Belair and soil specialist Pedro Para, both of whom collaborated on early stages of this new project.

Early tastings with Paul amply demonstrate both the quality of the terroir and his ability as a winemaker.

Château de Pommard

The Château de Pommard is another venerable property, founded in 1726. The estate was sold to American entrepreneur Michael Baum in 2014.

Baum appointed Paul Négrerie as head winemaker in 2021, who led the estate to organic and biodynamic certification.

The vineyard, rechristened the Clos Marey-Monge, is huge at 20ha. Négrerie and his team realise that the entire surface is not of equal quality, and they manage it in seven different parcels as outlined by former consultants Claude and Lydia Bourguignon.

Results are encouraging, and the top wines seem destined to restore the estate's lofty 19th century lustre.

Domaine Lejeune

The Lejeune family is another longstanding presence in Pommard, founded in 1753.

Although diminished over time from the 50ha Lejeune amassed, the family achieved organic certification in 2021 before selling to Louis de Belleroche and investors in 2023.

De Belleroche honed his craft with the accomplished Jacques Devauges at Domaine des Lambrays.

His first vintage was 2023. Moving away from the estate’s former tannic style, De Belleroche now uses only the ripest stems and extracts more gently to deliver a modern Pommard style.

Domaine Joannès Violot-Guillemard

Another passionate member of the new generation in Pommard is Joannès Violot-Guillemard, who took over in 2015 from his father Thierry.

Joannès is restlessly experimental. He began returning to his grandfather's whole-bunch fermentations, while retaining his father's very gentle extraction.

He is now maturing half the wine in ceramic containers called Clayvers and half in barrel.

He is very optimistic about the long-term potential of the vintage: ‘2025 is particular, [but] I think it will be one of the best vintages ever in Burgundy.’

Domaine Yvon Clerget

Thibaud Clerget is among the brightest stars of the young winemakers in Pommard, even though many of his wines come from Volnay.

The domaine is located in Pommard, however, and its largest holding is in Pommard Rugiens premier cru, where they farm two parcels totalling almost a hectare.

Thibaud, the family's 28th generation of winemakers, took over in 2015. He has reduced the percentage of whole bunches in the fermentation and tells me he ‘has not punched down since 2019,’ keeping the grapes moist by gentle pumping over.

This careful treatment brings a supple, velvety texture to the wines. They are a pleasure to drink and are approachable when young, a key attraction to his style.

Domaine Georges Joillot

Based in the centre of Pommard, Domaine Georges Joillot offers a selection of the better terroirs from Pommard and elsewhere, including the Pommard premiers crus Les Charmots and Les Epenots among others.

The new generation has been making the wines since 2019: Jeanne Joillot, the founder's great-granddaughter, her husband Grégoire Guidot, and her half-brother Simon Goutard.

The grapes are picked by hand, destemmed and carefully fermented in concrete with minimal punching down before ageing in barrels with a modest amount of new oak.

Domaine Jeanson-Parigot

Jeanson-Parigot is a new domaine founded by Florent Jeanson and Anaïs Parigot in 2019.

The pair met while Jeanson was working at the estimable Domaine Parigot in the Hautes-Côtes with his brother-in-law Alexandre Parigot.

The pair are now based in the village of Pommard, and their wines show promise.

These organic wines are carefully made with moderate extraction and modest use of new oak to keep them approachable. It will be interesting to follow this young couple as their domaine develops.

Domaine AF Gros

Domaine AF Gros still lists an address in Pommard, even though the wines have been made for some time now in Beaune.

It is well worth a detour to taste their delicious Pommard, now being made by Mathias Parent and his sister Caroline.

The style is elegant and modern; in ripe years there is no punching down, with moderate maceration, and maturation is done half in barrels and half in ceramic Clayver vessels, for an admirably ‘updated classic’ style.

The ‘bodybuilder’ style of the Pommard of former times has a charm of its own. I regularly seek out top names from the 1950s and 1960s, which still drink well and can offer stellar value.

But with a new generation making wine in Pommard, you no longer need to wait 70 years to enjoy top wines, so it's time to discover – or rediscover – this Burgundian classic.

Eight Pommard wines that define a new era

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The windswept limestone plateau of Carso, overlooking the Bay of Trieste, is home to Friuli-Venezia Giulia’s smallest functioning DOC.

Carso-Kras, or simply Carso, has a mere 57 hectares of vines officially registered to the denomination, with production in 2025 of 199,000 bottles.

Yet these figures do not tell the whole story: only a small number of wineries in the area claim the DOC as most bottle their wines under the regional Venezia Giulia IGT.

Properties in Carso are small. Castelvecchio, the only relatively large estate, has 36 hectares, while Edi Kante has 17.

None of the other 21 members of the local growers’ association works with more than 10 hectares, and several have fewer than five.

Wines shaped by rock

Carso is an area of extreme viticulture, with native varieties strongly associated with the region.

It is also a border region, closely connected to neighbouring Slovenia through culture and language.

Place names sound Italian, but family names are Slovene, and Slovene is the language most often spoken at home.

The environment puts strict limits on what can be cultivated in Carso. With bare rock often at the surface, little besides olive trees and vines can survive.

Luca Tomasig of the Castelvecchio estate recounts that it can take more than a month to break up the stone and prepare one hectare for a new vineyard. Consequently, vines are planted in small plots wherever soil can be found.

The deep underground streams typical of limestone karst do little for the surface. Thin soils retain little water, so drought is a constant threat.

These challenges, however, come with a silver lining. Doline – sinkholes where deep banks of red ferrous soil accumulate – provide soil that can be scooped up and used to prepare ground for cultivation.

And extraordinary underground cellars, such as those of Skerk and Zidarich, are carved into the rock to depths of up to 25 metres.

Two prominent features shape Carso’s climate: the nearby sea, which moderates summer temperatures, and the almost constant winds, which bring clear skies and high solar radiation.

These conditions also mean fungal disease is almost entirely absent. ‘I wouldn’t know what downy mildew looks like,’ producer Martin Merlak told me.

Together, Carso’s soil and climate produce naturally low yields of healthy, ripe grapes.

The resulting wines are vibrant, with low to medium alcohol, tense acidity and a distinctive mineral character.

The grapes of Carso

Chardonnay and Sauvignon were introduced to the area in the 1970s, when Friuli-Venezia Giulia’s wine industry was undergoing modernisation.

Although these varieties can make wines of great personality – Edi Kante, for instance, makes an outstanding Chardonnay – they have a marginal presence.

The grapes that define Carso are Malvasia Istriana, the native white Vitovska, and the red Terrano.

A skin contact tradition

Wine-growing on the karst plateau has a long history. Pliny the Elder wrote of a wine called Pucinum from the northern Adriatic and associated it with Livia, the wife of Emperor Augustus.

In the 20th century, the region was devastated during WWI, but recovered enough for the Istituto Centrale di Statistica to estimate 1,606 hectares of specialised vineyards in 1938.

Production, however, declined again WWII, and recovery only really began in the 1980s. The Carso DOC was approved in 1985.

Traditionally, as in neighbouring Slovenia, all white grapes were crushed together and fermented with their skins.

When I asked Benjamin Zidarich when he had started macerating his white wines, he looked surprised and replied that he had always done it that way.

Edi Kante was the first to depart from tradition, making single-variety white wines using conventional modern vinification. Today, the two styles exist side by side.

Alongside Kante, the excellent Castelvecchio ferments white grapes without their skins.

Almost all the small artisan producers, however – including leading names such as Kocjancic, Lupinc, Merlak, Milic, Skerk, Skerlj and Zidarich – macerate their wines for varying lengths of time.

Skerk, Skerlj and Zidarich favour an extracted style with long skin contact, while others, such as Martin Merlak, macerate for shorter periods to preserve varietal freshness.

‘It might be macerated, but it still needs to taste like a white wine,’ Merlak argues. When handled sensitively, both styles work in Carso.

Although a handful of the most representative producers export small quantities, the best way to get hold of a few bottles is to visit this remarkable region – something I highly recommend.

Below is my selection of wines from Carso to look out for.

Wines from the Carso plateau

Wines are grouped by grape variety

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When fabled Champagne house Moët & Chandon first decided to open a winery outside France, it set its sights on South America.

Chile had been making sparkling wine since 1879, Argentina since 1902 and Brazil since 1913.

All three countries were considered, but Moët & Chandon ultimately settled on Mendoza after experimental harvests in the late 1950s.

Chandon Argentina was formally established in Luján de Cuyo in 1959; its Brazilian sister estate followed in 1973.

These were among the first major modern multinational wine investments in South America, and it’s no minor detail that they were for sparkling wine.

Over the past half-century, South America has become a growing force in sparkling wine production.

A thirsty local market has long celebrated life’s highs and lows with bubbles and most production stays close to home.

But as Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Uruguay gain renown abroad, some of their top sparkling wines are finally beginning to make their way into international markets.

Pushing the limits

When Chandon first invested in Mendoza, the vineyards were mostly at the lower, more accessible elevations, but as the region shifted from volume to quality in the 1990s, Chandon began to look for cooler climates, which meant planting higher.

The company was among the pioneers of Gualtallary, first planting vineyards there in 1990 at more than 1,200m.

Although the region is now better known for Malbec, some of its earliest modern plantings were Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, destined for sparkling wine.

The high-elevation Uco Valley remains one of the key sources for Argentina’s top bubbles today.

In Chile, the quest for a cooler climate has focused primarily on the Pacific coast, where the Humboldt Current brings low temperatures that lock vibrant acidity and crispness into the fruit.

The regions of Limarí, San Antonio, Casablanca and Aconcagua are especially important for sparkling wine, and are home to some of the country’s key vineyards for bubbles.

Uruguay, too, looks to the (Atlantic) coast for its coolest climates, notably in Maldonado and Canelones.

The other frontier lies further south.

While Chile’s Secano Interior has been a focal point for sparkling País for more than a decade, through Miguel Torres’ Estelado, Torres and others have increasingly looked to Malleco, Osorno and Lago Ranco.

These cooler, wetter, volcanic-lake regions offer racier styles, with sharper acidity and greater tension.

In Argentina, producers are pushing further south in Patagonia, most thrillingly in Chubut, where Otronia is making some of the continent’s most sophisticated sparkling wines.

Meanwhile, Brazil has taken sparkling wine as its emblem, with several houses and families specialising in bubbles.

Perhaps the most notable is Família Geisse, whose work in Pinto Bandeira helped define one of South America’s most important sparkling terroirs – and its only DO entirely focused on the style.

Brazil’s traditional-method sparkling wines are often autolytic, toasty and savoury, while Italian immigration left a deep mark through Moscatel, Brazil’s joyful answer to Asti-style bubbles, as well as Prosecco-inspired tank-method wines from aromatic varieties.

South America's best sparklers

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A variety, not a style

Malbec is mostly associated with the steak-friendly, sweet-fruited, often heavily oaked styles that became a staple in pubs and steakhouses in the early 2000s.

This is not, however, a true representation of the variety’s character and potential.

It can deliver beautiful aromatic nuances, with herbal and savoury touches over crunchy fruit, that make it delicious and elegant.

Elegance beyond wood

One of the best ways to explore Malbec’s true character is to delve into one of the most significant explorations around the variety in the last half decade: the use of a variety of fermentation and ageing vessels.

So seek out expressions vinified in ceramic and concrete, and prepare to be surprised.

Terroir matters

With the increasing understanding of the nuances of terroir across South America – not least in Mendoza – site-specific examples of Malbec convey the variety’s expressiveness and potential for nuance.

Instead of buying nondescript cross-regional blends, spend a bit more on bottles that clearly state a sub-region or even a specific vineyard.

Diverse complexity

Single-variety, single-clonal vineyards (and the resulting wines) are a modern invention, and South America is home to fascinating old massal selections (vines grown from cuttings taken from different high-performing, healthy plants within an existing old vineyard) of Malbec; their genetic diversity translates into more complex wines.

Do a bit of research on the producers that own this type of old vineyard and seek out their wines.

The right temperature

Malbec might be a summer barbecue must-have but it’s often served too warm. Make sure you chill it, bringing the bottle down to 14-16°C before opening.

Don’t be shy about leaving it in the ice bucket.

Make space in the cellar

Benchmark Malbecs have remarkable ageing potential – they’re among the fine wine world’s most overlooked marathon runners.

If you splash out on top Malbecs, patience will bring you great, unexpected rewards.

Pour similar-aged Cabernet Sauvignons alongside them to surprise your guests and challenge their assumptions.

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If you’ve ever shaken, stirred – or in any other way served up – a cocktail, you probably have a grasp on the key formats. There’s the Golden Ratio in drinks like the Margarita: two parts spirit, one part sweet and one part sour. Then there’s highball classics like the Moscow Mule, with roughly two parts spirit to five parts mixer. And among a slew of other options there’s the iconic Negroni, Corpse Reviver No2 or Blood & Sand – all made of precisely equivalent measures.

Successful cocktails made of equal parts – whether 1:1, 1:1:1, or 1:1:1:1 – are few and far between, but when they work, they really work. What exactly makes them so special, and how can you create your own at home? I spoke to leading bartenders to find out…

Equal Parts, a cocktail icon

There’s clearly a certain magic to an equal parts cocktail. ‘It’s the idea of someone discovering how beautiful supporting ingredients work together,’ says Erik Lorincz, co-owner of Kwãnt Mayfair in London.

‘When I first read about the Negroni I didn’t want to try it – it just sounded like a lot of booze. But when I tasted it there was something more behind it; the balance between the sweet vermouth, bittersweet Campari and gin.’ In short, these are cocktails that are definitely more than the sum of their parts.

Carina Soto, bar director of the aptly named Equal Parts bar in London’s Hackney, says the appeal lies not only in how the elements work together, but the fact that no single one of them is dominant. This is a relatively rare thing given that we speak about most cocktails being ‘based’ in one kind of alcohol or another. ‘It’s the different layers of flavour. It is not about one specific ingredient or profile but about the result of all these layers.’

Marc Sarton du Jonchay, co-founder of another Hackney bar, Circle13, has a more practical take on the popularity. ‘People remember cocktails that they cannot mess up. Equal parts cocktails are the prime template for that, as all you have to do is remember the ingredients. You don’t even need a jigger to make it, just a utensil to measure equal parts.’

Breaking down the equal parts components

Of course the template behind every equal parts cocktail is the same – but the variations are infinite. The Paper Plane, for example, is bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino Quintessentia and lemon. The Last Word features gin, Green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur and lime. Getting the combination right isn’t simple – but what are some of the rules for success?

Soto points out that as well as the obvious balance between sweet, bitter and dry elements the overall drink abv is a driver. ‘The Negroni is generally between 21-25% abv dependent on the ingredients you choose to prepare it,’ she explains. Lorincz agrees that you need to think about overall abv but notes it’s also important to pay attention to specific flavour elements, as it can lead to some unexpectedly delicious combinations.

‘When I was at the Savoy I made an equal parts cocktail which used mezcal and Cognac. They were both high abv but with very different flavour profiles, and actually the smoke and peatiness supported each other,’ he says.

Lorincz finds that equal parts cocktails are often most successful in the dark spirits category. Sarton du Jonchay thinks sours tend to work best, as they include a big acid component to stand up to the equally large measure of booze.

Making your own equal parts creation

It’s not easy to create a new equal parts drink masterpiece – life-long bartenders are still working on crafting such perfection. Sarton du Jonchay puts his hand up as someone who is still chasing ‘the dream’ of nailing his own equal parts serve, and not through lack of trying.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t explore and see what you discover. The more you get to know the bottles you’re working with, the more you’ll understand the harmony that exists between different ingredients and feel confident experimenting.

‘I always tell people to start with the existing recipes and identify what they like about them,’ says Soto. ‘Play slowly, replacing one or two ingredients.’ She recommends not using more than four individual elements to achieve balance and says not to forget you need to consider the impact of ice dilution.

Balancing the building blocks

Sarton du Jonchay suggests thinking about the elements in terms of blocks. ‘It’s all about balance between the blocks: sour, sweetener and spirit.’ The blocks have a minimum of one ingredient, but can be composed of several. ‘When we look at all the equal parts sours,’ he says, ‘the sweetener block is almost always two ingredients.’

He also points out that cocktail definitions vary, and ultimately you should drink what you like. ‘Even though the Negroni’s original recipe is equal parts, it doesn’t have to be. Technically the cocktail belongs in the Martini family – a cocktail balancing aromatised wine and spirit – and in this family there are no real rules about ratios,’ he explains.

‘As a matter of fact, there is a strong debate within the bartending community around whether the traditional Negroni is balanced or not. Many bars around the world change the spec for their house Negronis, cutting down the Campari or upping the vermouth to reach what they consider a more balanced cocktail.’

In short, the classic equal parts cocktails may be icons – but that doesn’t make them immovable. It just means you’ve all the more reason to find a way to make them your own.

Equal Parts recipes to try at home

Norman Conquest

Created by Erik Lorincz

Ingredients: 25ml Calvados, 25ml bourbon or Scotch, 25ml sweet vermouth

Glass: Rocks

Garnish: Orange slice

Method: Stir all ingredients with ice and serve in a rocks glass filled with ice.

Naked and Famous

Created by Joaquín Simó at Death & Co, recommended by Carina Soto

Ingredients: 25ml mezcal, 25ml Yellow Chartreuse, 25ml Aperol, 25ml fresh lime juice

Glass: Coupe

Garnish: Lime slice

Method: Shake with ice and double-strain into a coupe.

Equal Parts Martini

Recommended by Marc Sarton du Jonchay

Ingredients: 50ml gin or vodka, 50ml dry vermouth

Glass: Martini

Garnish: Lemon twist or olives

Method: Stir with ice and strain into a Martini glass.

The Final Ward

Recommended by Marc Sarton du Jonchay

Ingredients: 25ml rye, 25ml Green Chartreuse, 25ml maraschino liqueur, 25ml lemon juice

Glass: Coupe

Garnish: Lemon twist

Method: Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled glass.

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California vintner Jean-Charles Boisset has acquired Artesa Estate from Raventós Codorníu, adding one of Carneros’ most distinctive winery properties to a Napa and Sonoma portfolio that includes Raymond Vineyards, Flora Springs, Buena Vista Winery and DeLoach Vineyards, among others. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition includes the 350-acre (142ha) property, with 155 acres (63ha) planted across Napa’s Los Carneros and Mt. Veeder appellations, along with Artesa’s distinctive pyramid-shaped winery.

The deal’s timing has a striking historical parallel. Spanish producer Raventós Codorníu established Codorníu Napa amid another difficult period for the US wine industry. Reporting on the winery’s opening in September 1991, the Los Angeles Times noted falling wine sales and mounting surpluses, while questioning the timing of a $23 million investment in a new winery devoted exclusively to sparkling wine.

A sparkling wine producer’s legacy lives on

Thirty-five years later, Boisset is investing in the same property against a remarkably similar backdrop. US wine sales by volume fell by an estimated 2% in 2025, according to Silicon Valley Bank’s 2026 State of the US Wine Industry report. The sector continues to contend with excess inventory and softer demand, while the report also indicated declining tasting-room visits among smaller, hospitality-focused wineries. (The same day the Artesa sale was announced, historic Sonoma winery Gundlach Bundschu filed for Chapter 11.)

‘The challenges facing our industry are real. But my responsibility is to look beyond this moment and help create the future we believe in. America has given me the freedom to dream. These investments express my love for this nation, this state, for Napa Valley, and my commitment to its next chapter in wine,’ France-born Boisset told Decanter.

The Artesa acquisition follows another substantial Napa investment for Boisset. In July, he and his wife, winemaker Gina Gallo-Boisset, reopened Flora Springs Winery in St. Helena after an extensive redesign that incorporated more than five million hand-laid glass mosaic tiles.

Sergio Fuster, CEO of Raventós Codorníu, called Boisset ‘the ideal custodian’ for Artesa, saying his knowledge of the local market would help ‘unlock Artesa’s extraordinary potential even further, while ensuring the continuity of its legacy’.

The vision for Artesa’s future

Originally called Codorníu Napa, the sparkling wine producer was renamed Artesa as its emphasis expanded to still wines, including Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and the Spanish varieties Albariño and Tempranillo. Boisset intends to build on that sparkling wine history under the Artesa name and through his JCB Collection (which makes nearly two dozen bubblies), while continuing to develop its still wines.

‘Artesa brings extraordinary cooler-climate vineyards, a sparkling wine heritage and an estate home for JCB where my Burgundian roots meet my California dreams,’ Boisset told Decanter. (From Burgundy’s winemaking Boisset family, he and his sister founded Domaine de la Vougeraie before he invested in Sonoma County, with the 2003 purchase of DeLoach.)

Boisset also plans to develop Artesa as a cultural destination combining wine, architecture, nature and contemporary art. Its dramatic hilltop winery, designed by Barcelona architect Domingo Triay, is a stunning visual draw for visitors.

‘The business vision begins with exceptional wines’, Boisset told Decanter. ‘Art, nature, architecture and hospitality broaden the invitation, giving new audiences reasons to discover wine and build a lasting connection with our estates’.

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Fine wine prices have been pretty flat in 2026, although some top names are up slightly over 12 months after a gentle rally in late 2025, said Geraint Carter of international merchant Bordeaux Index and the LiveTrade online trading platform.

Data on prestige Champagne, one of the better-performing market segments, illustrates the point (see table, below). Miles Davis of Vinum Fine Wines offered a similar sentiment: ‘I think overall prices are stable, but it’s still a buyer’s market,’ he said.

‘You can still get deals.’ Vinum saw a notable uptick in Champagne sales in July, Davis said, led by Salon; other top sellers included Cristal Rosé, Krug and Jacques Selosse.

At Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, the multi-region Liv-ex 1000 index was up 1.2% in 12 months to 30 July. Its Champagne 50 sub-index outperformed, rising 0.9% in July and 2.6% in a year.

It was also up 8.7% in five years, although it hasn’t been a straight road.

For example, Liv-ex analysed Salon and said the 2012 vintage was ‘trading actively’ at £7,000 to £8,000 (12x75cl, in bond), noting it was released in 2021 at £5,800 and swiftly climbed to £13,300 before a subsequent market downturn.

Carter said top-tier Champagne has ‘taken its pain’, adding: ‘It’s a great time to be a Champagne buyer with such quality out there.’

Yet, he doesn’t expect prices to surge in the near-term, citing ongoing available stock levels. One general area to watch this autumn is the US auction scene.

Charles Antin, global head of auctions at Zachys, told Decanter that recent sales have been exceptionally strong.

‘We are having to revise our estimates upwards to keep up with a buoyant market, which is a strong sign for sellers.’

Zachys’ mid-year review reported a surge in demand for ‘super second’ Bordeaux this year, including Château Montrose, and stronger collector thirst for leading California wines.

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com

Champagne conundrum

The Champagne market finds itself in an awkward, if familiar, position. After the manic exuberance of 2020-2022 and the swingeing correction that followed, prestige Champagne prices have settled into what has the makings of a prolonged rut.

At the mass-market end, things are arguably even less comfortable, with consumption and shipments continuing to decline.

The priority, more than ever, is getting consumers drinking again. In this context, price hikes ought to be off the table. This is not an easy message for the Champenois.

Costs have risen substantially over the past decade, while the increasingly extreme weather of recent years is a clear warning that, over the longer term, Champagne will need higher prices simply to compensate for the volatility of a more challenging production environment.

But that’s longer-term. For now, the stellar vintages of 2018, 2019 and 2020 are working through the system and will add considerable supply at the prestige end.

Total volumes may be falling, but that doesn’t automatically create pricing power when demand is, at best, flat and existing stocks remain plentiful.

The finer end cannot indefinitely act as a cash cow for shortcomings in the broader market.

Champagne rarely volunteers restraint; more often, the market imposes it. For now, keeping a lid on prices and getting corks popping ought to be the overwhelming priority.

Higher prices may be inevitable, but not yet.

Auction record for Judgement of Paris wine

A new world record auction price for a California wine that shot to fame in the 1976 Judgement of Paris tasting 50 years ago has been announced by Christie’s.

A bottle of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars’ Stag’s Leap Vineyard (SLV) Cabernet Sauvignon 1973 sold for $22,500 (£16,657), including buyer’s premium, at a Christie’s online auction of wines sourced directly from the Napa Valley producer’s cellars.

That’s a record auction price for the wine, which eclipsed a pre-sale high estimate of $6,000 in the Los Angelesbased sale, Christie’s said.

The 1973 vintage is famous for having outshone top Bordeaux reds in the Judgement of Paris blind tasting organised by Steven Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher in the French capital in 1976.

Half a century later, supplies are relatively scarce. A Christie’s spokesperson told Decanter that, after this year’s 50th anniversary celebrations, there will be 19 bottles of the SLV Cabernet Sauvignon 1973 left at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.

Another lies alongside a Californian white wine star of the same tasting, Chateau Montelena 1973, in the Smithsonian collection of American historical artefacts.

Juan Muñoz-Oca, estates director at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, said the recent Christie’s auction result is ‘a powerful testament to the enduring legacy of the 1973 SLV Cabernet Sauvignon and the vision of our founder Warren Winiarski’.

In 2022, Heritage Auctions sold a bottle of the wine for $12,300, a record auction price at the time.

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In Nova Scotia’s rolling Annapolis Valley, a gentle breeze riffles the vines. A consequence of the world’s most dramatic tidal swings in the nearby Bay of Fundy, this near-constant airflow prevents diseases and insulates this cool-climate appellation when winter temperatures drop below freezing.

Running through western Nova Scotia and demarcated by the pragmatically named North and South Mountains, the Annapolis Valley is a tight-knit community of family-owned farms.

Around a dozen wineries, most practising regenerative viticulture, cluster around the small towns of Grand Pré and Wolfville.

The valley is rich in tourist stops. There’s the UNESCO-inscribed Landscape of Grand Pré, the Bay of Fundy, and the heritage-rich Evangeline Trail driving route, dotted with lobster shacks and historic forts. Even in high summer, however, it can feel wonderfully undiscovered.

Tradition and innovation

Its wine scene has overcome past missteps by leaning into its strengths: vibrant, high-acid whites and world-class traditional method sparkling wines. Three to four years on the lees is the average for the region's sparkling output, even for non-vintage bottles.

In 2012, its regional appellation wine, Tidal Bay, was created to showcase the bracing acidity and minerality that typifies the region’s output.

All expressions of Tidal Bay, which make up about half of Annapolis Valley’s total production, have the low alcohol (around 11%) typical of Nova Scotian wines.

With a warming climate and sparkling output, the Annapolis Valley draws comparisons to southern England.

But whereas English wine makes use of its geological kinship to Champagne, many Nova Scotian winemakers, growing in predominantly sandy loam soil, hold true to their iconic hybrid variety, L’Acadie Blanc.

There are acres of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir here as well, planted alongside hardy, quick-ripening varieties like Lucie Kuhlmann and Ortega.

This mix has led to a region full of delicious surprises for wine lovers.

My perfect day in Annapolis Valley

Morning

If it’s the weekend, begin with a lobster roll and a chilled Domaine de Grand Pré Tidal Bay at Longfellow Restaurant in Grand Pré. As you wait for the vineyards to open (from 10am), explore Wolfville’s pretty waterfront trails with a free bike or e-bike from Wolfville Recreation Centre.

Lunch and Afternoon

Either hire the knowledgeable Stephanie Duchon of Wine & Vine Tours for a private, tailored itinerary; hop-on-and-off the Magic Winery Bus, or go it alone.

A lunchtime flight of wines at Lightfoot & Wolfville Vineyards is a must, paired with salt-sharp East Coast oysters and indulgent bacon and bay scallops.

Drive to L'Acadie Vineyards in the Gaspereau Valley for the region’s finest sparkling expressions of L’Acadie Blanc.

Alternatively, return to Grand Pré for afternoon High Tea (book ahead) in the tranquil gardens concealed behind Tangled Garden’s preserves and liqueur shop.

Evening

Return to Grand Pré for your reservation at the stand-out Le Caveau. Plump for the four-course tasting menu, with dishes like Parisian Tartare paired with the creamy red fruit of the winery’s luscious Brut Rosé.

Your Annapolis Valley address book

Accommodation

The Inn at Grand Pré Winery

Located in a historic UNESCO-designated district, this six-room inn set on a vineyard offers modern comforts, warm apple scones for breakfast, and a bed in walking distance of the valley’s most sophisticated restaurant.

Queen Anne Inn

At the western end of the valley in historic Annapolis Royal, check in to the Queen Anne Inn – a handsome mansion attired in period gilt and lace. Highlights include a three-course breakfast, four-poster beds, and outstanding water pressure.

Restaurants

Le Caveau

Acclaimed winery restaurant at Domaine de Grand Pré ideal for elegant terrace lunches or wine-paired dinners.

The regional fine-dining menu highlights seasonal Nova Scotian seafood and farm-to-table produce, with a wine list offering local as well as global coverage.

Hall's Harbour Lobster Pound

Several storeys of lobster-eating goodness set above a pebble beach rich in driftwood.

Grab a famed lobster roll or choose a small-to-jumbo lobster from the tanks. If you’ve arrived at low tide, marvel at the harbour filling rapidly with the incoming Bay of Fundy tide.

Shopping

Stop by Fox Hill Cheese House for artisanal maritime cheeses and washed-rind local heroes like Valley Gold.

If flying out of Halifax, look for Liquid Assets post-security; this shop offers a good selection of Annapolis Valley wines to carry onto your flight.

Pair it with a live carry-on lobster available from the airport’s Clearwater Seafoods.

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At the table with Yalumba's Lucy Hill-Smith

Lucy Hill-Smith will host an exclusive, intimate lunch alongside Decanter's regional editor for Australia, Julie Sheppard, at this year's Decanter Fine Wine Encounter London, running from 6 to 7 November. Yalumba wines will also be available to taste at the event's Grand Tasting.