In 1925, Professor Abraham Perold planted four seeds in his Stellenbosch garden. The chemist-turned-viticulturist could hardly have imagined they would grow into South Africa’s signature red grape.

Pinotage now covers more than 6,000 hectares of the Cape, and it has put down roots further afield too, from Brazil and California to New Zealand and Zimbabwe. However, its ascent has been far from smooth, as the grape endured decades of neglect and criticism before finally earning respect on the international stage.

Today, the grape even has its own global celebration: International Pinotage Day, held on the second Saturday of October.

Why is Pinotage Day on the second Saturday of October?

The second Saturday of October falls in mid-spring in South Africa, when the weather warms up and the beloved braai season moves through the gears. A smoky glass of Pinotage beside an open fire is a quintessential South African ritual. In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s just as enjoyable as the nights turn cooler and heartier dishes return to the table.

The first International Pinotage Day took place on 11 October 2014. Its biggest champion is the Pinotage Association, which producers founded in 1995 to raise the grape's profile and defend its reputation.

A narrow escape

Perold crossed Pinot Noir with Cinsault, which South Africans then called Hermitage. He is thought to have wanted a grape that combined the finesse of Pinot Noir with the robust, reliable nature of Cinsault – one that could thrive in the Cape's warm climate.

The experiment was a success, but it was almost lost. In 1928, Perold left Stellenbosch for a post at the KWV cooperative in Paarl and left the seedlings behind. As the story goes, a clean-up crew was about to clear the overgrown garden when a young lecturer named Charlie Niehaus passed by, recognised the plants and rescued them.

Perold’s successor, CJ Theron, grafted the young vines onto rootstock, and the pair later settled on a name: Pinot plus Hermitage equals Pinotage. CT de Waal made the first Pinotage wine at Elsenburg Agricultural College in 1941, and growers planted the first commercial vineyard at Myrtle Grove, near Sir Lowry’s Pass, two years later.

From ugly duckling to national treasure

Pinotage made its commercial debut in 1961, when the first bottles bearing its name appeared under the Lanzerac label. Early success sparked a wave of plantings across the Cape, but the grape soon fell out of fashion. Plantings slumped in the 1970s and 1980s, while South Africa’s isolation during the apartheid era kept its wines off most international shelves.

When export markets reopened in the 1990s, many overseas critics were unimpressed. Poorly made examples gave Pinotage a reputation for harsh, volatile flavours, with tasting notes likening it to burnt rubber and paint.

However, South Africa’s winemakers refused to give up. Kanonkop’s Beyers Truter became the grape's most passionate champion, and a new generation of producers followed his lead, taming its rougher edges with gentler extraction and more careful oak ageing. Many now draw on the Cape’s old bush vines to craft wines of remarkable depth and finesse, while the mocha-scented 'coffee Pinotage' style has also won over a new audience.

The results speak for themselves. Top Pinotages now earn glowing reviews and high scores, and examples from Swartland and Walker Bay have claimed Platinum medals at the Decanter World Wine Awards in recent years. The grape is also a key component of the Cape Blend, which pairs Pinotage with Bordeaux varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

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

Beyond the Cape

Pinotage remains a South African success story – it’s among the country’s most planted red grapes, thriving in Stellenbosch, Swartland and Paarl – but its passport has been filling up. New Zealand was an early adopter, and small plantings can now be found in California, Oregon and Virginia in the US, as well as Brazil, Israel and Zimbabwe.

Wherever it grows, Pinotage keeps its calling cards: dark fruit, a whisper of smoke and a generous, full-flavoured character. International Pinotage Day is the perfect excuse to fire up the barbecue and celebrate the grape that refused to fade away.

South Africa

Du Toitskloof, Granite Pinotage Swartland 2024
Platinum, 97 points
Authentic and honest, capturing the personality of the grape flawlessly. Primary characters of wild berry, cherry and spice flow over the sandalwood structure and fine tannins. Supple and approachable with a herbal top note to end. Alcohol 14.5%

Survivor, Reserve Pinotage, Swartland 2023
Silver, 94 points
Dark berry, black plum and mocha aromas with smoked liquorice lift over juicy fruit, expressive spice and layered length. Alc 14%

Spier, Seaward Pinotage, Coastal Region 2023
Silver, 93 points
Pencil lead, potpourri and dark berry aromas with gentle spice, revealing restrained fruit, fine tannins and elegant acidity. Alc 14.6%

Groot Phesantekraal, Pinotage, Cape Town 2024
Silver, 92 points
Savoury braai spice, purple fruit and sage aromas unfold into juicy tangy fruit, luxurious depth and opulent concentration. Alc 14.3%

Diemersdal, The Journal Pinotage, Durbanville, Cape Town 2023
Silver, 92 points
Top-notes of blackberry, bay leaf and vanilla spice flow into sweet fruit, dark chocolate richness and velvet texture. Alc 14.5%

Bellingham, The Bernard Series Bush Vine Pinotage, Coastal Region 2023
Silver, 91 points
Cherries and strawberries burst through vanilla spice and scented oak, leading to dense fruit, driven by focused, linear minerality. Alc 14%

Cape Five, Reserve Pinotage, Coastal Region 2023
Silver, 91 points
Brooding violet, mulberry and blueberry aromas wrapped in smoky oak lead into juicy fruit, poised acidity and seductive depth. Alc 14.5%

Durbanville Hills, Collectors Reserve The Promenade Pinotage, Durbanville, Cape Town 2024
Silver, 91 points
Cocoa, coffee and dark fruit aromas with lemon-thyme lift, opening to concentrated fruit, juicy freshness, ripened tannins and elegant texture. Alc 14.2%

Simonsig, Redhill Pinotage, Stellenbosch 2021
Silver, 91 points
Delicate raspberry, blackcurrant and cigarbox tones with vanilla spice perfume over supple texture, poised fruit and refined structure. Alc 14%

Marks & Spencer, Peacock Tail Pinotage, Swartland 2025
Silver, 90 points
Pretty hibiscus and creamy oak frame ripe dark fruit, while mulberry freshness and dusty tannins shape an opulent palate. Alc 13.5%

Search all DWWA 2026 results

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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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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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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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Champagne’s brands and blends may be better known than its villages or vineyards, but if there’s one place in the region that has broken through it is Le Mesnil-sur-Oger.

What makes the Chardonnay grown in this sleepy Côte des Blancs village just south of Épernay ascend to such mythical status?

Perhaps it’s the famous names dotted discreetly around the village. Krug’s Clos du Mesnil and the house of Salon yield two of Champagne’s rarest blanc de blancs, often commanding bottle prices that exceed the cost of entire cases of other prestige cuvées.

Meanwhile, the famous Chétillon vineyard that straddles the road beneath the village was responsible for catapulting Pierre Péters’ Les Chétillons to fame and desirability, attained by few grower Champagnes during the 2000s.

At the heart of the question is time. Le Mesnil’s legendary longevity makes time an essential ingredient in almost all of the region’s blended Prestige Cuvées from the famous houses, from Taittinger’s Comtes de Champagne and Charles Heidsieck’s Blanc des Millénaires to the likes of Dom Pérignon and Cristal.

Even if it would placate their bank managers, the vignerons of Le Mesnil have to wrestle with the truth that the village’s wines can’t be turned around quickly.

Perfection can't be rushed

At Guy Charlemagne in the village, sisters Justine and Marie are just a few years into their journey to transform and modernise one of the great estates of the village.

Their entry-level wine has, somewhat remarkably, spent six years on the lees – more than double a normal time for a non-vintage Champagne.

‘You can’t drop the ageing, though,’ says Marie, ‘for Le Mesnil, you need time’.

When Eugène Salon released his first wine in 1905, the concept of a blanc de blancs was almost unheard of. Chardonnay was still primarily viewed as a blending variety for Pinot Noir rather than a standalone star.

At Salon, with no oak and no malolactic fermentation, it is time alone that reveals the village’s secrets: it ages on lees for around a decade and then often decades more afterwards.

Rodolphe Péters of Champagne Pierre Péters notes that the village’s austerity serves it well amid risks of overripeness elsewhere.

‘People mistake it for high acidity,’ he says. ‘But the freshness is driven by a crispy, electric perception from the chalk, alongside an iodine-like minerality that can feel almost metallic.’

Some, like both Marine Zabarino at Domaine Vincey and Paul Girard at Domaine Girard-Bonnet, suggest that Mesnil is slightly less sunny, and more exposed, than neighbouring Oger, explaining the more inward style of wines.

There’s a chalky austerity here which can’t really be explained away just by looking at the slope, or the aspect, though.

Péters explains that the chalk is ‘dryer’ here than in other villages, and has been more subject to crumbling under the surface thanks to repeated freezing and thawing.

‘There’s no science behind it,’ he continues, ‘but there are deep veins of fragmented chalk here, and the vines go deeper in search of water and mineral sources,’ he believes.

Heart of the terroir

The good news, though, is that the village’s treasures are more accessible than in the past thanks to the riper, fruitier grapes found in today’s warmer vintages, and a new generation of growers unlocking them.

Paul Girard of Domaine Girard-Bonnet manages the austerity with super-ripe grapes, careful oak vinification and plot selection, believing that some parts of the village can yield more accessible wines.

He feels the very lowest vineyards, such as Hautes Mottes, can be ready in three years, whereas the heart of the terroir – the ‘cœur du terroir’ as the Charlemagne sisters refer to it – needs longer.

Views differ, though, and unlike Burgundy’s love of the mid-slope, the flatter vineyards nearer the bottom of the Côte des Blancs are often viewed as the classical, long-lived terroirs thanks to the closeness of the chalk just beneath the surface.

The vines of the village are also severely hit with the court-noué virus in the historical mid-slope sector, which dramatically intensifies ripeness and drops yields.

Girard notes he may harvest only 2,000 kg/ha in the famous Volibarts plot (which, with its intensity and ripeness also makes Louis Roederer’s still white Coteaux Champenois), whereas Hautes Mottes can yield 12,000 kg/ha.

‘Of course, you’re going to say that Hautes Mottes is better!’ he jokes.

Ripples and bumps mean that adjacent vineyards even on the same slope can have markedly different topsoils, and markedly different wines.

At Pierre Péters this is the source of the contrasting Les Montjolys cuvée, a companion piece to famous, chalky Chétillons that always offers a little more juicy breadth thanks, Péters believes, to the deeper topsoil that collected in the foot of one of these undulations.

‘Mesnil is very wavy thanks to erosion,’ he says, with Chétillons and Montjolys on ‘two extremes of soil’.

Blends and barrels

Girard, too, blends some of the purer chalk sites with those richer in colluvium for his Mon Village cuvée, aiming to keep the strictness and refreshment value in the wine but also yield something approachable (and sellable), with around three years on lees.

The strength of the village’s wines means he opens them up with 70% of the blend going through oak, something he feels a less structured, austere village such as neighbouring Vertus couldn’t take.

‘If I did this with Vertus,’ he says, ‘the wine would be dead’.

For some such as Girard, Zabarino or Mesnil expert Robert Moncuit, opening up the wines with a little oak helps soften the wines a little.

Adrien Dhondt, too, works with the higher part of Chétillon, Chétillon de Haut, which is richer with more clay than the famous Chétillons.

The beautiful concentration and oak fermentation yields a heady, intense yet not austere wine in the forcefully sunny 2020 vintage.

For more established names, though, reserve wines can help tame Le Mesnil’s force.

At Péters (where there’s no oak in the cellar), the family has maintained a perpetual reserve of base wines since 1988.

For Rodolphe, this is ‘security,’ not only smoothing out vintage variation but also allowing wines like his Cuvée de Réserve (two-thirds Le Mesnil Chardonnay) to achieve complexity without requiring extensive lees aging.

It’s a benefit, too, as the Côte des Blancs faces a second consecutive heatwave vintage in 2026, challenging its identity as the racy, restrained backbone of Champagne.

With frost wiping out some of the higher yielding parts of the village beneath the road – ‘the parts we usually use to compensate for the court-noué,’ Péters explains – the quantities of top blanc de blancs produced in both 2026 and naturally low-yielding 2025 are undoubtedly down on top years of the past.

More scarcity might drive up prices in an already elevated terroir, but thanks to the new growers on the scene this village’s mystical appeal is, for now, still relatively easy to access.

Eight Champagnes from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger

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Grenache is the engine that quietly powers some of France’s most famous wines, from the powerful reds of Châteauneuf-du-Pape to the pale rosé of Provence. It’s just as important in Spain – where it’s known as Garnacha – yielding celebrated reds in Priorat, starring in the deeper-hued rosados of Navarra and softening the blends of Rioja.

The grape also thrives around the world, from the old vines of McLaren Vale and Barossa in Australia to the sun-drenched vineyards of Paso Robles, California.

Scroll down to see DWWA 2026 Grenache-dominant wines this International Grenache Day

Winemakers, merchants and wine lovers celebrate International Grenache Day on the third Friday in September each year.

Why is Grenache Day on the third Friday of September?

In 2010, more than 250 Grenache producers gathered at a restored monastery in the Rhône Valley for the first International Grenache Symposium. The co-chairs were French critic Michel Bettane and the late Steven Spurrier, the celebrated Decanter columnist who co-founded the Decanter World Wine Awards.

The organisers wanted to champion Grenache, a grape that was widely planted yet often undervalued. This event attracted Grenache producers from over 20 countries, plus an assortment of journalists and wine experts.

The organisers wanted to champion Grenache, a grape that was widely planted yet often undervalued. This event attracted Grenache producers from over 20 countries, plus an assortment of journalists and wine experts.

One of the guests, Nancy Gilchrist MW, proposed an International Grenache Day to capitalise on the momentum created by the symposium. The organisers also created the Grenache Association, a non-profit that celebrates the grape.

Later that year, the Grenache Association held the first International Grenache Day. They chose the third Friday of September, as it’s harvest time for Grenache across much of the Northern Hemisphere.

Retailers, restaurants and wine bars ran special tastings and tailored menus to highlight the grape’s quality and versatility. International Grenache Day proved to be a hit, and it has been held on an annual basis ever since.

Garnacha, Grenache or Cannonau?

Grenache goes by different names, and its origins are still politely disputed. Most evidence points to Spain, where the grape emerged as Garnacha in the rugged, sun-scorched region of Aragón. From there it spread with the medieval Crown of Aragon, whose territories stretched across the Mediterranean to Roussillon in France and the island of Sardinia.

The Sardinians, however, tell a different story. There the grape is called Cannonau, beloved by the island’s famous Blue Zone centenarians, and locals insist it’s a native son that travelled in the opposite direction. The scientific consensus favours Spain, but the argument endures.

The great team player

Grenache loves company. Its soft tannins, ripe red fruit and generous alcohol make it the perfect foundation for blends, most famously alongside Syrah and Mourvèdre in the “GSM” trios of the southern Rhône and Australia.

Arguably its greatest stage is Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the storied appellation named after the 14^th-century popes who ruled from nearby Avignon. Grenache typically leads the blend there, and in the hands of cult producers it can fly solo to spectacular effect.

Grenache is also a rosé superstar: it provides the delicate red fruit at the core of pale pink wines from Provence, the Languedoc and various other regions, while it also stars in the darker rosados of Navarra in Spain.

A grape for our times

After decades in the shadows, Grenache is enjoying a renaissance. In Spain, the old-vine Garnacha of Priorat – grown on steep slopes of glittering slate – produces some of the country's most collectable reds, while the grape’s Aragón heartlands of Campo de Borja and Calatayud offer superb value. In France’s Roussillon, it forms the base of the region's sweet fortified wines, including the chocolate-friendly Banyuls and Maury.

In Australia, the Barossa Valley is home to some of the oldest productive Grenache vines on the planet, with plantings dating back to the 1840s, and its silky, perfumed examples are winning comparisons with fine Pinot Noir. It’s also flourishing in the warm Mediterranean climate and unique sandy soils of the McLaren Vale. California's Rhône-inspired producers have embraced the grape too.

Grenache has one more advantage: it’s highly resistant to heat and drought, making this sun-loving survivor one of the wine world’s best-placed grapes for a warming climate.

International Grenache Day is the perfect excuse to discover what the fuss is about. Pour a glass and join the toast.

International Grenache Day: award-winning wines to try

Australia

Heirloom, Alcalá Grenache, McLaren Vale, South Australia 2025
Gold, 96 points
A spectrum of red cherry, savoury spice and cocoa antics encircled by subtle oak structure, tactile tannins and sleek perfumed acidity. Very long and impressive. Alcohol 14%

Wakefield, Jaraman Grenache, Clare Valley & McLaren Vale, South Australia 2025
Silver, 92 points
High-toned, spiced berry aromatics with grilled meat aromas follow through to a bold, full-bodied, peppery palate with ample tannins and ageing potential. Alc 14.5%

France

Chêne Bleu, Abélard, Ventoux, Rhône 2017
Gold, 96 points
Glowing with mellow maturity, emanating damson compote and malty, oaky charm. Softly sumptuous and plush with tempering tannins, melting acidity and a lavish umami finish. Alc 14.5%

Château D'Espeyran, La Cantatrice, Costières de Nimes, Rhône 2025
Gold, 95 points
Unmistakably Mediterranean, threading fronds of blackberry, damson, fig and liquorice through the supple tannins and strong mineral core and onwards to the long, breezy finish. Alc 14.5%

Château La Borie, Côtes du Rhône Villages Suze-la-Rousse, Rhône 2024
Gold, 95 points
A flawless expression of Grenache; rounded and generous oozing delectable strawberries, raspberries and violet florals. Zingy cranberry acidity bursts though and sings at the end. Alc 14%

Grand Boise, Liberté Chérie Grenache, Vin de France 2023
Gold, 95 points
Lithe, delicate strawberry fruit and floral aromas light up the nose and define the ethereal texture. Supple tannins and white pepper spice add to the elegance. Alc 13%

Camille Cayran, Les Voconces, Cairanne, Rhône 2023
Silver, 94 points
Mellow damson fruit, red cherry and bramble fruit palate, with a fragrant wild herb overlay, adding a touch of charm. Rich, but fresh and focussed. Alc 14%

Pauvre Diable, Vieilles Vignes Grenache, Vin de France, Rhône 2024
Silver, 93 points
An elegant wine, with a lifted floral nose, ripe black cherry and dried plum palate and a lifted mineral finish. Alc 14%

Château La Verrerie, Grand Deffand Grenache, Luberon, Rhône 2022
Silver, 92 points
Rich and full bodied with a dark fruit, fragrant wild herb palate. Complex and with a real sense of its origins. Persistent and finely seamless. Alc 15%

Domaine Royal de Jarras, Favet 9/10 Téte de Cuvée Gris, Sable de Camargue, Languedoc-Roussillon 2024
Silver, 92 points
Savoury character with notes of spicy oak and ripe berry touches. Round and spicy palate, with a great texture. Alc 12.5%

Florès, Absolu, IGP Côtes de Thau, Languedoc-Roussillon 2025
Silver, 92 points
Restrained smoky character with touches of lovely juicy red fruits. Stylish on the palate, with a light body, easy to drink. Alc 12.3%

Lafage, Nicolas Grenache, IGP Côtes Catalanes, Languedoc-Roussillon 2024
Silver, 92 points
Subtle aromas of wild berries with touches of black cherry and floral undertones. Refreshing and smooth texture, spicy finish. Alc 14.5%

Spain

Señorío De Sarría, Garnacha Navarra 2025
Value Gold, 95 points
Thrillingly pink with multitudes of raspberry, strawberry, plum and watermelon fruit piled high on the delicious, joyful palate. Blood orange acidity oozes through to the finish. Alc 14%

United States

La Valentía, Fire Oak Vineyard Grenache, Texas 2024
Silver, 94 points
A compelling interplay of bitter chocolate and cool mint sets the tone, with nuances of roasted coffee. Chalky tannins, full-bodied. Alc 14.8%

1 Mill Road Winery, Grenache, Washington State 2024
Silver, 92 points
Inviting aromas on the nose, touches of watermelon, strawberry, tangerine and mineral undertones. Smooth and supple on the palate. Alc 12.3%

Search all DWWA 2026 results

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It’s a moment that Alejandro Vigil, oenologist at Catena Zapata and El Enemigo, remembers very well: ‘We started to separate out parcels in Gualtallary so we could tend to each consistently in its own way.’

For decades, he has been making wines with grapes from separate parcels that, while they might sit a metre or two apart, produce wildly different wines.

Vigil’s findings have changed the discourse in Argentine wine. For years, Mendoza sold Malbec as a monolithic product.

The key factor in its promotion was the winemaking regime and the star oenologist behind it, while the place, or places, from which the grapes came was only mentioned to add a little local colour.

‘Argentina now finds itself at a point where it must define who it wants to be,’ says Edgardo del Popolo at PerSe Wines. Winemakers in Argentina have moved on from just making the best wine they can to making the right wine for the right place.

This is especially true in the sub-regions of Gualtallary, Paraje Altamira and Los Chacayes.

‘People are often amazed that the difference in Mendoza is so marked even within a relatively short distance,’ says Madeleine Stenwreth MW, an expert in Argentina’s wines. Her Master of Wine dissertation on the effect of altitude on Malbec in Mendoza earned her the Quinta do Noval Award for best research paper in 2008.

From valley to mountain

This shift was initiated by changes in the vineyard rather than in the winery. Andrés Vignoni at Raquis sums it up well: ‘We’ve moved on from valley viticulture to mountain viticulture.’

In the past, land was levelled to allow for mechanisation, but that practice has been abandoned – levelling involves stripping away the original soil, which is precisely what winemakers want to preserve.

With the new approach, the rows of vines follow the terrain and the local flora is maintained in order to ensure that all the conditions required to conserve the wine’s authenticity are met.

‘It makes you a vine-focused oenologist,’ says Vignoni.

Sebastián Zuccardi outlines a succinct hierarchy: ‘The climate first, then the soil.’

Geophysicist Guillermo Corona author of the book Raíces del Vino (‘The Roots of Wine’, October 2025), explains how this comes through in the glass: ‘The climate is reflected in the fruit and on the nose, the soil in the mouth.’

Gualtallary

Rising from 915m to 1,600m over a distance of just 16km within the Tupungato region, Gualtallary’s alluvial soils contain calcium carbonate in markedly shifting quantities and forms, which can produce radical changes in the resulting wine within just a few hectares of space.

Researchers and producers have identified a range of further potential subdivisions, but none has official recognition as yet: to date, Gualtallary itself hasn’t even been granted Geographic Indication status.

Vigil pithily sums up the texture obtained as ‘tension and verticality’. ‘Many of the wines here seem to extend upwards rather than to the sides,’ he says.

Del Popolo adds: ‘When we began to understand how the climate interacts with the soil, we started to produce wines with a sense of place. We weren’t simply looking to make a great wine, we were looking to make a Gualtallary wine.’

Malbec continues to dominate in Gualtallary, but the district is increasingly drawing attention with its Chardonnays, which are some of the most precise in the country, and Cabernet Francs.

Paraje Altamira

The landscape in Altamira, a highly regarded sub-region in the San Carlos department of the southern Uco Valley, can be misleading: the continuous plots of vineyards and rows of poplars make it difficult to believe that the area is actually a desert.

This was the first terroir in the valley where the prevailing sense of place was backed up with hard scientific evidence.

In 2013, it was named the first Geographic Indication in Argentina, a sub-region defined not by administrative borders but by the natural terrain, soil samples, climate data and laboratory testing.

The vineyards here grow at an elevation of 975m-1,100m, generally lower than those of Gualtallary.

However, the climate isn’t warm: cool air flows down the slope to gather at the bottom, meaning that the fruit takes longer to ripen and spring frosts endanger the harvest.

‘Putting it down to elevation alone isn’t enough,’ says Federico Gambetta of Altos Las Hormigas.

Calcium carbonate combines with lime in the soils to produce wines that possess rounded tannins and a texture that Gambetta describes as a mouthful of chalk.

Paz Levinson, co-founder of wine events company Argentina Reloaded and the DWWA Regional Chair for Argentina & South America, expands upon the aromatics: ‘Altamira produces more floral notes, violet, dark fruit and a little red fruit. It has a potent freshness but isn’t as sharp [as the feel in areas further north].’

Malbec is the principal medium, but old-vine Semillons are one of Paraje Altamira’s best kept secrets: these venerable vineyards produce whites with a depth rarely seen elsewhere.

Los Chacayes

A latecomer to Argentina’s wine region scene it may have been, but Los Chacayes, on the western side of Uco Valley’s Tunuyán department, grew rapidly.

The GI was declared in late 2017 and the area went from barely having any vineyards to being one of the most rapidly expanding districts in the valley.

With vineyards growing at about 1,100m-1,400m, the landscape is more open than in Altamira but is pressed up against the mountains.

The wines here tend to be relatively spicy and potent. ‘We haven’t yet seen the best of Los Chacayes,’ says Vignoni.

Stenwreth caught a glimpse when she tried a Riccitelli wine from one of the higher vineyards:

‘It’s quite different from what I was expecting from Los Chacayes,’ she admits. The highest part, she discovered, is a whole other world compared to that further down in the same GI.

Malbec heads up the planted area, but there are also plots of Garnacha, Syrah and Mourvèdre – Mediterranean varieties that thrive in the rocky terrain, which isn’t found elsewhere in the greater valley.

Cru or not?

In its original usage, in the vineyard classification of the Burgundy region in France, a cru is a formally delineated, named plot of land where centuries of experience show that the wines produced are of superior quality and character.

Mendoza’s Gualtallary, Paraje Altamira and Los Chacayes aren’t ‘crus’ in the strict sense of the word, therefore.

But the three do introduce a discourse based around a sense of place – one that bears more resemblance to the broader Burgundian concept of ‘village wine’ than that of classified parcels.

Zuccardi advises caution: ‘The worst thing we can do is get ahead of ourselves. These are just the foundations on which the future will be built.’

Vigil is more welcoming of the ‘cru’ term, though with caveats: ‘If it helps us to think in terms of place, then it’s very constructive. If it misleads us into thinking we know it all already, then it’s a trap.’

However, Stenwreth points to the unfinished business: ‘It is a nightmare when I hear someone say, “This tastes like Argentine Malbec.” The time has come to move towards a place-based logic, because these localities already stand for quality.’

Great terroirs aren’t declared, they emerge after decades of painstaking work. The language of Argentinian crus is being written now, vintage by vintage, parcel by parcel.

Wines from three Argentine crus in the making

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Whenever I speak to wine professionals – whether they’re somms, buyers, winemakers, journalists or marketers – an unusually high proportion will inevitably namecheck Riesling as one of their go-to grapes.

This – anecdotally, at least – seems to contrast strongly with a regular (non-trade) wine drinker’s taste; none of my family or my non-wine friends, for instance, would ever dream of sipping a glass of Riesling unless it was forced on them (say, by me…). The grape doesn’t seem to feature particularly heavily on the shelves either, at least here in the UK.

Over the years I’ve developed this theory about why Riesling is so adored and so under-hyped in equal measure, and it revolves around the grape’s terroiriness on one hand – a high barrier to entry – and its legacy reputational damage on the other hand.

It makes sense that the difficult-to-love high acid and crisp, limey fruit profile, along with a variety of sweetness levels depending on style, would appeal more to the drinker looking for challenging, complex wines rather than someone just looking for a Thursday night bottle of white wine below £10 (nothing wrong with that, of course).

And it also makes sense that those of a certain age will still recall the terribly sweet and cheap German whites hitting our shores with a shiver.

And, interestingly, I think it’s the same for the Negroni. A delicious (IMO) and highly regarded, but again rather challenging concoction of equal parts Campari, gin and vermouth. It offers layers of flavour complexity when well made but is perhaps too far on the bitter spectrum to appeal to those looking for more of an easy sipper.

What binds these two drinks together? Cut. Both drinks are fantastic palate cleansers; Riesling with its innately high acid, and the Negroni with its striking bitterness.

Both drinks trade on exactly what you see: there’s no oak, no artificial flavourings to hide any rough edges. They both rely on high quality ingredients (I’ve had enough Negronis made using subpar, oxidised vermouth and spirity, entry-level gin to attest to that) to carry their respective stories – and often, it’s only the connoisseur who has time to listen.

What do you think? Drop us a line at editor@decanter.com

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Pinot Noir has been cultivated almost as long as Malbec in Argentina, Cabernet Sauvignon in Chile, or Tannat in Uruguay.

Yet only recently have South American winemakers begun making Pinot Noirs that stand confidently alongside their flagship reds.

For much of the 20th century, the continent’s simple viticulture and robust red-wine traditions suited the hardier Bordeaux and Basque varieties better.

Pinot Noir demanded another level of precision in the vineyard and winery.

That learning curve has taken more than two decades to navigate, but it has positioned South American Pinot Noir in its most exciting phase yet.

A shift of focus

‘When we arrived in Chimbarongo [in Colchagua], we found these really old vines of Pinot Noir and knew we had a treasure on our hands – old vines, and a variety that no one was focusing on in Chile at the time,’ recalls Matías Ríos, winemaking director at Cono Sur one of the world’s largest producers of Pinot Noir and a key champion of the variety in Chile since the mid-1990s.

‘Our first experiences were a little traumatising, though,’ he admits. ‘We were treating it like a Bordeaux variety! But then we started getting advice from winemakers in Burgundy, and focusing on different winemaking.

'But most importantly, we started looking for different terrains – going to cooler regions and looking for the right clones to plant there.’

That shift – away from simply planting Pinot Noir anywhere and towards understanding what those specific vines needed – was decisive.

The first leap in quality in Chile became apparent in the early 2000s, as much of the original genetic material, often better suited to sparkling wine, was replaced with clones selected for still Pinot Noir and for specific terroirs.

The story was similar in Argentina.

‘The first major lesson was understanding which plant material works best under our conditions,’ explains Roy Urvieta, winemaker at Domaine Nico, Laura Catena’s boutique Pinot Noir project in Mendoza.

Some early assumptions proved wrong. Clones that had become fashionable elsewhere, such as Dijon 777, weren’t always the best fit for Argentine conditions, while other clones and massal selections (from cuttings from existing vine stocks) began showing greater promise.

If I’ve lost you at clone, the point is simple: South American producers have invested heavily in understanding not only where Pinot Noir should grow, but what Pinot Noir should be planted there.

That, combined with the search for cooler sites and a deeper understanding of South America’s unique geographies, has driven the recent quality boom.

Quest for cool

Today, the focus for Pinot Noir is on cooler climates, whether through coastal influence, latitude, elevation or some combination of all three.

Chile’s coastal regions have seen the greatest expansion. Casablanca and San Antonio were the first focal points, where coastal hills receive the cooling influence of the Humboldt Current and morning camanchaca fog, which keep average temperatures low while allowing bright, sunny afternoons.

‘We have great luminosity and solar radiation in the coastal regions, but also these really cool temperatures,’ says Ríos, whose top-of-range Ocio Pinot Noir comes from vineyards in San Antonio.

‘That is the fingerprint of Chilean Pinot Noir. With low yields, the right clones and the right sites, we get vibrancy and freshness but also complexity.’

The search has since moved both north and south along the coast.

From Aconcagua Costa, the next coastal wine region north of Casablanca, the Errazuriz Las Pizarras bottling has emerged as a sanguine Pinot Noir grown on schist soils (pizarra literally meaning ‘slate’); while in Limarí, some 250km further north, Tabalí’s calcareous marine terraces have become one of Chile’s most exciting sources of taut, chalky Pinot.

Even the coastal Atacama, in the form of JP Martin (winemaker José Pablo Martin’s own project) and Ventisquero’s Tara wines, is beginning to show promise, its desert luminosity tempered by cold Pacific influence.

Atlantic influences

In Uruguay, too, the focus for top-quality Pinot Noir has moved closer to the cooling influence of the coast, albeit facing the more moderate Atlantic than the cold Pacific.

With its clay-calcareous soils, Canelones – Uruguay’s main wine region surrounding capital Montevideo – has long been considered well suited to Pinot Noir, but Maldonado – the neighbouring coastal region to the east – has come increasingly to the fore, with breezier conditions and a diverse range of soils, from granites and schists to calcareous and gneiss.

Site selection alone, however, hasn’t been enough. Producers have also had to refine viticulture, learning where the variety’s tipping points lie.

In Uruguay, third-generation winemaker Santiago Deicas of Familia Deicas says yield has been one of the most important lessons.

‘Following many tests, on different soils and microclimates,’ he says, ‘we believe you can’t produce Pinot Noir at more than 5,000 kilos per hectare in Uruguay, otherwise it loses its finesse.’

In a country better known for the structure and generosity of Tannat, Pinot Noir has required a different approach, one based on restraint, balance and precision.

New heights

In Argentina, Pinot Noir was one of the varieties that drove the first high-elevation plantings in Mendoza’s Uco Valley in the 1990s.

Although much of the production was initially destined for sparkling wine, cooler temperatures at altitude soon became a focus for still wines, too.

Today, some of Argentina’s top Pinot Noirs come from the Uco Valley, particularly Gualtallary, Paraje Altamira and San Pablo. Elevation doesn’t only bring cooler temperatures.

‘Each parcel has different soil, plant material and climate conditions,’ explains Urvieta, whose Domaine Nico wines each have the relevant parcel’s elevation marked on the label.

‘Every parcel was selected because it was clearly different from the others. In Villa Bastías, at around 1,100m, the profile is more black fruit, earthy, with more concentration and finer texture; whereas Le Paradis at about 1,500m is a very cold site with stony-calcareous soils and the profile is more austere and floral, with a finer and slightly richer texture and marked acidity.'

Chile’s Pinot Noir is more coastal than Andean, but there are exceptions.

Laberinto in Maule and Sierras de Bellavista in Colchagua both show how cooler mountain sites can produce refreshing, lightly herbaceous Pinot Noirs, shaped by elevation and the biodiversity found on the lusher Chilean side of the Andes.

Pushing into Patagonia

The other frontier is towards the far south. Patagonia is becoming one of the most thrilling territories for cool-climate varieties, especially Pinot Noir, with projects on both sides of the Andes.

On the Chilean side, the rainier climate does make viticulture more challenging, but Malleco, Ranco and Osorno are producing increasingly exciting Pinot Noirs from producers including Undurraga, Morandé, Trapi del Bueno, Casa Silva and Vinos Baettig.

Further south, in Chiloé and Chile Chico, the wines emerging are still few, but they point towards an even cooler future for Chilean Pinot Noir.

On the Argentine side, Río Negro has long been synonymous with top-quality Pinot Noir.

The old, ungrafted vines of the region, which lies at a similar latitude to Malleco in Chile, inspired Sassicaia heir Piero Incisa della Rocchetta, to establish Bodega Chacra in 2003 – its single-vineyard wines, including ’32 and ’55, named for the year the vineyards were planted, helped set a modern benchmark for Argentine Pinot Noir internationally.

Further south still, Otronia is pushing the limits in Chubut with one of the southernmost commercial vineyards in the world.

On the shores of lake Musters, lying at about 45°S, the cold climate and intense luminosity combine to produce Pinot Noir with electric acidity, pure fruit and floral lift.

It remains extreme, with winds rising to 150km/h and repeated frost events, but it’s also one of Argentina’s most promising new sources of Pinot Noir.

In the cellar

Understanding where to plant Pinot Noir, and which clones to use, was only part of the challenge. Equally important has been learning how to approach the variety in the cellar – not by replicating Burgundy or any other Pinot region, but by finding what works for each specific site.

‘Our Pinot Noir for Escaleras de Empedrado is on slate soils, which gives us much darker colour and more acidity,’ says Eduardo Jordán, technical director at Miguel Torres Chile, whose dramatic Empedrado vineyard is planted on slate terraces in Maule Costa, some 120km southwest of Curicó.

‘Over the years, I learnt that you have to respect the place. In our terroir, you can’t try to make a lighter Pinot Noir like Burgundy does. Empedrado always has a deeper colour and more tannin.’

For Jordán, this has changed both cellar and vineyard decisions. Maule Costa may be cooler than Burgundy in terms of average temperatures, but higher peaks of heat and luminosity can produce firmer tannins and sharper acidity in the wines.

The response has been greater sensitivity: gentler extraction, more precise picking decisions and protective canopy management. These lessons haven’t been learned in isolation.

Working together

One of the advantages of Pinot Noir’s recent quality push is that it has largely happened in the hands of a new generation of winemakers, many of whom are open to tasting, sharing and learning together.

In Uruguay, a group of winemakers have met each February for almost a decade to taste Pinot Noir blind, including wines from around the world alongside experimental lots from their own cellars.

‘It has really helped us discuss the wines openly, exchange ideas and understand what we were each doing,’ says Santiago Deicas, who instigated the tasting. That shared learning has built confidence.

‘In the winery, we used to fear macerating Pinot too much,’ he adds. ‘But by working with the skins more, we have learnt how to extract more, but in a delicate way. Without being scared.’

This growing confidence – in viticulture, in cellar work, and above all in interpreting Pinot Noir via South American terroirs rather than European templates – has driven the recent leap in quality.

The clonal investigation and exploration of new regions came first. Now the continent is beginning to see the fruit of that labour, tantalisingly in parallel with greater experience in the cellar.

‘Each year we notice the quality of our Pinot Noir improving,’ says Deicas. ‘Not because we are necessarily changing anything dramatically in the winery now, but because the vines are getting older – and Pinot Noir is a variety that really shows the benefit of vine age.’

Steady progression

The same sentiment is echoed across the continent. The steepest learning curves have already been climbed.

New vineyards have been planted, many existing vineyards entirely replanted, and sites shaped by the accumulated knowledge of the last two decades are only just starting to reach maturity.

For Urvieta at Domaine Nico, the lessons today are more subtle than they once were.

‘Since we started the project, we have not made many dramatic changes, but every year we learn something new – it is part of understanding how we can interpret each place so as to express our landscape more clearly,’ he says.

‘The vines are getting older, and so are we.’

That combination of vine age, accumulated experience and a deeper understanding of South America’s cool-climate terroirs means Pinot Noir is not only enjoying its strongest moment on the continent so far – the best may still lie ahead.

For wine lovers, that is exciting news. South American Pinot Noir remains remarkably affordable compared to many other regions, yet the quality gap is narrowing with every vintage.

The secret is no longer hidden. The only question is how much longer it will remain one.

Upper echelon: Amanda’s pick of 12 South American Pinot Noirs

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The world’s newest grape variety is, paradoxically, centuries old.

Sémillon Gris, a true Cape original, has been formally recognised by the OIV, with South Africa designated as its country of origin.

Andrea Mullineux crouches over a stok-by-paaltjie (échalas or vine-by-post) vine in the Sémillon Gris mother block at the Roundstone estate in Swartland.

It’s early spring, the Riebeeksrivier slopes ripple behind her, splashed with yellow canola.

Rich in shale, schist and underground water, the ward is often greener than the rest of the Swartland.

‘Sémillon Gris is part of the Cape’s viticultural DNA,’ says Andrea. Though subject to apocryphal ruminating, what we do know for sure is that the grape is a naturally occurring pink-skinned mutation of Sémillon.

And that it is largely unique to South Africa. Anecdotally vineyards are said to exist in Australia and California, and possibly Bordeaux, but none officially registered.

Championing Sémillon Gris

Founded by Andrea and Chris Mullineux, Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines incorporates Mullineux at Roundstone as well as Franschhoek-based Leeu Passant.

Andrea heads winemaking and viticulture, while Chris runs the ‘entire business side of things’.

For the past 14 years they’ve been advocating for the formal recognition of the historic Cape grape.

In 2012 cuttings from a 1960 Paardeberg vineyard underwent in-vitro thermotherapy to eliminate pathogens, followed by propagation, evaluation and certification.

This culminated in the mother block in 2022 – and with it healthy, certified material now available to growers worldwide.

Making things official proved complicated as there was no roadmap. Unlike imported grapes, which enter through an established quarantine process, the Mullineuxs were effectively starting from scratch, while the Department of Agriculture and Wine and Spirit Board developed protocols alongside them.

As Andrea puts it: ‘There was no manual.’

A grape of mystery

South Africa now has two grape varieties it can claim as its own: Pinotage and Sémillon Gris.

While Pinotage was crossed intentionally, Sémillon Gris emerged spontaneously. That, for Andrea, makes it particularly significant, but also something of a mystery.

No one knows what triggered the mutation in the first place.

To this end a department at Stellenbosch University is stress-testing cuttings, manipulating soil pH, UV and temperature and looking for genetic markers.

They’ve already answered some questions.

‘One was whether the colour was caused by virus,’ says Andrea. In fact, virus-free vines produce the darkest grapes.

They’ve also established that it’s a one-way mutation: Sémillon Gris doesn’t revert to blanc when propagated, nor does it need to be an old vine.

One theory is that the gris is a kind of ‘sunblock’ for Sémillon, which originally hails from the much cooler climate of Bordeaux.

Planting the seed

So how did the fascination begin for her? When Andrea joined the Cape Winemakers Guild (CWG) in 2012, a fellow winemaker suggested she make a bigger, more heavily oaked version of her Syrah for the auction.

‘That just didn’t sound like me. I’m more of a nerd.’

Sémillon Gris has been recorded in South Africa since the 1800s.

‘That’s significant. I thought: “How can we find some of this?”’ she says.

Through the Old Vine Project, she discovered the 1960-planted Paardeberg vineyard that would make a wine called The Gris.

A gris history

Sémillon has been in the Cape since the very beginning of its winemaking history; it’s thought to have arrived with Jan van Riebeeck in the 1650s.

It was so common it was simply referred to as groendruif (greengrape). In 1822 it accounted for 93% of the vineyards, growing from around one million vines in 1795 to 22m.

Both white and gris were commonplace, and, originally, not really seen as distinct from one another.

The two were interplanted, harvested and crushed together, while other evidence suggests that rooi groendruif aka 'red greengrape' may have been more prevalent than the white.

Then came phylloxera, and with it goodbye to groendruif. By 1979 Sémillon accounted for just 3.4% of the national vineyard, with Gris not even referenced.

Today there are some 873.74ha of Sémillon, including Gris, which will be reported on separately from 2027.

The survivor

Yet it survived, like so many jewels hidden among old white vineyards. Eben Sadie’s ’T Voetpad in the northern Swartland is a notable example.

Dating to 1887 it’s South Africa’s oldest ungrafted field blend.

There are also several examples in the grape’s spiritual home of Franschhoek, including La Colline, planted in 1936, Rickety Bridge in 1905 and Eikehof in 1902.

Its survival among these veterans fed the myth that the mutation was an old-vine phenomenon.

However in 2013, viticulturist Franziska Wickens proved the theory incorrect by planting a new vineyard propagated from rooigroen, also the name of a Swerwer wine made by her husband, Jasper Wickens.

Tasting Sémillon Gris

Back in the present, it’s now time to taste the wine from Roundstone’s mother block. We head to Paarl, meeting Chris for lunch at winemaker haunt, Noop.

Andrea pours the 2018 and 2024 vintages of The Gris, first made for the CWG in 2013 from the old Paardeberg vineyard; the maiden Roundstone Sémillon Gris (vintage 2025); and as a counterpoint, the Leeu Passant Sémillon 2025, from a dry-farmed Franschhoek Sémillon blanc vineyard planted in 1963.

Andrea points out the distinction between Sémillon Gris grown on Roundstone’s schist and the Paardeberg’s granite-derived soils.

‘On schist you hit the ground running with quality,’ she says. ‘Granite soil is much easier to establish, but you have to wait a little longer for the same level of character.’

For the time being production from the Roundstone mother block will remain small, with fruit either going into the farm’s white blend, the Roundstone Blanc, as well as for a varietal wine for the CWG.

Buttery kingklip fish is served, its large, firm flakes balm with the gris wines. It’s something of a coming-out party.

After centuries of hiding in plain sight, Sémillon Gris finally has papers of its own. And, as Andrea points out, its claim to South Africa is unusually profound.

‘Pinotage was created here, which is incredible, but Sémillon Gris created itself. It just happened.’

Five Sémillon Gris to try

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Chianti is made in the sun-drenched hills of Tuscany and enjoyed in candle-lit trattorias around the world. It remains the ultimate partner for a bowl of pasta, which has helped Chianti establish itself as Italy’s flagship red wine.

Why is Chianti Day on the first Friday of September?

An importer called Santa Margherita USA established Chianti Day in 2020. The Miami-based company, which represents several Chianti Classico estates, created the annual event “so people can officially celebrate this fantastic wine region with loved ones.”

The first Friday in September is the ideal occasion to enjoy Chianti, as the nights are drawing in and the weather is turning cooler. In Italy, the region’s producers are preparing for harvest, while wine lovers are ready to ditch the refreshing whites and rosés for something a little more robust.

It may have started out as an American campaign, but wine lovers across the globe have now fully embraced Chianti Day, which falls on 4 September in 2026.

If you’re joining in online, the hashtag is #NationalChiantiDay.

Seven centuries in the making

Chianti takes its name from a specific region in the rolling hills between Florence and Siena, where wine has been made for at least seven centuries. The villages of Castellina, Gaiole and Radda joined forces to create the League of Chianti during the Middle Ages.

The region lays claim to one of the oldest legal definitions in the wine world. In 1716, Cosimo III de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, issued an edict setting out exactly which villages could call their wine Chianti.

That made it one of the world’s first officially protected wine zones, nearly two centuries before France drew up its famous appellations. In 1872, Baron Bettino Ricasoli – a formidable statesman who also served as Italy’s second prime minister – settled on a blend built around the local Sangiovese grape, setting the region on a path to greatness.

In the 19^th century, the term “Chianti” began to be applied to wines produced outside the original boundaries, covering a much larger area in Tuscany. This upset some wine lovers, who felt that the brand was being diluted.

Nowadays, the original delineated area is the more prestigious Chianti Classico DOCG, which was established in 1996. Wines from this area must contain at least 80% Sangiovese, and they must be aged for at least 12 months. Riserva wines need to be aged for a minimum of 24 months, while Gran Selezione wines need to be aged for at least 30 months.

The Chianti Classico DOCG covers around 6,800 hectares, and it has a reputation for producing complex, structured and age-worthy wines.

Meanwhile, the broader region is the Chianti DOCG. It covers around 15,500 hectares and spans a far more diverse range of terroirs. Sangiovese must make up at least 70% of these wines, and they aren’t subject to quite as stringent ageing requirements.

Basic Chianti wines are enjoyed young, but there are high-quality Superiore and Riserva wines from the Chianti DOCG. Some of the most respected sub-regions include Chianti Rufina and Chianti Colli Senesi.

Scroll down to see 10 award-winning Chianti wines from DWWA 2026

The black rooster and the straw basket

The Chianti region has two famous icons: the black rooster and the straw basket. Legend has it that medieval Florence and Siena agreed to settle their border dispute with a race. A knight would set off from each city when the cock crowed, and the boundary would be drawn where they met.

The cunning Florentines chose a black rooster and starved it, so that it crowed well before dawn, and their knight galloped off early. He met his rival close to the gates of Siena, and Florence claimed most of the Chianti hills. The black rooster – Gallo Nero – is now displayed on the neck of every bottle of Chianti Classico.

Once upon a time, Chianti was served in a fiasco. Diners were accustomed to a squat bottle wrapped in a straw basket, which sat on tablecloths from Rome to New York. However, it came to symbolise an era when quantity trumped quality, so it was all but abandoned.

From the 1980s onwards, the region reinvented itself. Regulations were tightened, and the fading of the fiasco symbolised Chianti’s rebirth (although it has had a mild hipster revival in recent years).

Today the region is responsible for some of Italy’s most celebrated reds, with Chianti Classico Gran Selezione comfortably sitting alongside Barolo and Brunello on wine lists.

However, you don’t need to break the bank to enjoy a delightful glass of red wine on Chianti Day. The region offers impressive wines at a wide range of price points, so take this opportunity to open a bottle and enjoy it with some delicious Italian food.

DWWA 2026: See award-winning Chianti wines

Castello di Cacchiano, Gaiole Millennio, Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2021
Platinum, 97 points
Regal and imperious: a gamut of black plum, cherry and spicy tobacco mottles the nose and inhabits the palate alongside grasping tannins and vibrant sweet and sour acidity. A steadfast mineral backbone drives the powerful finish. Alcohol 14.5%

Castello Del Trebbio, Vigneto Lastricato Terraelectae, Chianti Rùfina Riserva 2021
Patinum, 97 points
An elegant pas de deux of blue and black fruit dancing amid smoky mineral and mellow oak nuance. Weighty and elaborately textured with smoothed out tannins and vibrant pulsating acidity. Very long and infinitely enjoyable. Alc 13.5 %

Castello Di Radda, Vigna Il Corno Radda, Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2020
Gold, 95 points
Voluminous and layered displaying abundant red cherry, balsamic and dried mushroom aromas over zingy acidity and satin tannins. Beautifully textured with a long rose petal finish. Alc 14.5%

Carus, Baldero, Chianti Classico 2021
Gold, 95 points
Packed with vim, verve and high-tone aromatics: red cherries, plums, raspberries and damsons with a lick of juniper. Assertive tannins and ample structure portray ageing potential. Alc 14%

Melini, Tesco finest*, Chianti Classico Riserva 2021
Value Gold, 95 points
Capacious red plum, sour cherry and dried floral notes within a finely-tuned structure of smooth tannins; there’s a balsamic edge to the long finish. Alc 13.5%

Tenute Fusi, Torre Prumiano, Chianti Classico 2022
Gold, 95 points
Authentically portrayed, displaying subtle floral, plum, clove and woodsmoke aromas over the ample structure, with energising sour cherry acidity and bold tannins surrounding. Long and fulfilling.
Alc 14.5%

Pieve Di Campoli, Cortine, Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2020
Gold, 95 points
Laden with red berries, cherries, savoury herbs and cured meats that bound over the vibrant palate, gathering hearty tannins and structure as they go. Very long. Alc 15%

Poggio Petroso, Chianti Classico Riserva 2021
Gold, 95 points
Shimmering aromas of red cherry, oregano, sage and iodine, underpinned by clove and woodsmoke nuances. Proudly energetic with driving acidity and rustic texture. Wonderful typicity. Alc 14%

Villa Di Rignana, Panzano, Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2021
Gold, 95 points
An incredible expression of red cherries, cranberries and aromatic green herbs mingled with smoky vanilla and clove spice. Smooth and slick with endless gastronomic power. Alc 15%

Fattoria La Vialla, Vino Del Babbo Sant'Apollinare, Chianti Riserva 2021
Silver, 93 points
Elegant and savoury, pepper and spice notes mingle with ripe red cherry, black plum and blood orange. Modern and rich style. Alc 14.5%

Search all award-winning Chianti wines from DWWA 2026

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Cabernet Sauvignon is the world’s most widely planted wine grape, covering around 340,000 hectares of the planet. To put that into perspective, if you took every Cabernet vine and bunched them into one continuous vineyard, it would be the size of Long Island, Mallorca or Goa.

The grape thrives across the globe, from the gravel banks of Bordeaux to the sun-baked slopes of Napa Valley and the foothills of the Andes in Chile’s Maipo Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon produces bold, structured and age-worthy reds that dominate many fine wine lists.

When is Cabernet Sauvignon Day in 2026?

Cabernet Sauvignon is so popular that it has ended up with two annual celebrations. Rick Bakas, a Napa Valley marketer, launched #CabernetDay in 2010. This event falls on the Thursday before Labor Day each year, which means it is 3 September in 2026.

Labor Day is a US national holiday, which is always observed on the first Monday in September, marking the unofficial end of summer. That’s the ideal time to enjoy a glass of Cabernet, as it signals the onset of the heartier red wine months.

Meanwhile, International Cabernet Sauvignon Day settled on a fixed date of 30 August. It’s conveniently close to the American celebration, and it also capitalises on the changing of the seasons. Whichever date you choose, the spirit is the same: open something structured, dark and delicious to toast Cabernet Sauvignon.

A happy accident

Cabernet Sauvignon has flourished on almost every continent, but it owes its existence to pure chance. A red Cabernet Franc vine crossed with a white Sauvignon Blanc vine growing nearby at some point in Bordeaux during the 17^th century. The offspring turned out to be something special.

The mystery of its parentage endured for centuries until the 1990s, when DNA testing at the University of California, Davis finally cracked the case. The tests revealed that the king of red grapes is, remarkably, half white.

That accidental pedigree gave Cabernet Sauvignon a winning combination of traits: small, thick-skinned berries packed with colour, tannin and flavour, growing on hardy vines.

The result is a wine of deep intensity and firm structure, which softens and gains haunting complexity over years – and sometimes decades – in the bottle.

Bordeaux, Napa and the tasting that changed wine

Cabernet Sauvignon made its name on the Left Bank of Bordeaux, where it leads the blends of legendary appellations such as Pauillac and Margaux. They’re home to some of the most celebrated and collectable wines on the planet.

Cabernet is blended with the softer Merlot and the perfumed Cabernet Franc to deliver the classic Bordeaux signature: blackcurrant and cedar, graphite and tobacco, wrapped in fine, firm tannins.

For centuries, Bordeaux had no serious challenger to its supremacy, but that all changed one afternoon in 1976. The late Steven Spurrier – a wine merchant, long-time Decanter columnist and co-founder of the Decanter World Wine Awards – co-organised a blind tasting in Paris, which pitted a line-up of top Bordeaux against upstart Cabernets from California.

The panel of French judges awarded first place to a 1973 Cabernet from Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in Napa Valley.

The so-called Judgment of Paris stunned the wine world, put California on the fine wine map and gave every ambitious wine region on earth permission to dream.

Scroll down to see 15 top-scoring Cabernet Sauvignon dominant wines from DWWA 2026

The grape that conquered the world

Napa has never looked back: its lush, powerful Cabernets now rival Bordeaux in terms of prestige and price.

However, the pair don’t have a duopoly on world-class Cabernet. Chile’s Maipo Valley now produces polished, blackcurrant-scented wines that go toe-to-toe with the best examples from Bordeaux.

Elsewhere, Australia counters with the eucalyptus-tinged elegance of Coonawarra's terra rossa soils and the refined Cabernets of Margaret River.

In Italy, the grape stars in the famous Super Tuscans, while in South Africa it anchors the brooding reds of Stellenbosch.

The newest frontier may be the most surprising of all: Cabernet Sauvignon is now the most widely planted grape in China, where regions such as Ningxia are producing increasingly serious wines.

Wherever it grows, the grape keeps its calling cards: dark fruit, firm structure and an air of quiet authority. Cabernet Sauvignon Day is the perfect occasion to open a bottle. Pour a glass, give it time to breathe and join the celebration.

Celebrating International Cabernet Sauvignon Day: 15 DWWA 2026 awarded wines to try

Argentina

Trapiche, Terroir Series Laborde Cabernet Sauvignon, La Consulta, San Carlos, Mendoza 2024
Platinum, 97 points
Tremendous high altitude refinement, exuding mineral class and mellow blackberry fruit aroma. Opulent toasty oak frames the structure with keen, velvet tannins and a balsamic acidity providing ambience. Very long and silky with great potential. Alcohol 14.5%

Alfa Crux, Cabernet Sauvignon, El Cepillo, San Carlos, Mendoza 2024
Gold, 95 points
Open aromas of blackcurrant, tobacco and fragrant herbs, displaying mellow varietal character. Structured and intense with energising acidity, elegant tannins and a long, enjoyable finish. Alc 13.2%

Etchart, Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Cafayate, Salta 2025
Gold, 95 points
Brilliant shards of peppery blackcurrant, cherry and mountain herbs on a bed of toasty warmth. Highly concentrated with striking tannins and an intriguing umami finish. Alc 14%

Australia

Deep Woods, Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, Western Australia 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
No Australian region has been more successful than Margaret River in our Best In Show selection since its inception in 2015: this is the eleventh wine from this coastal region of Western Australia to fight its way into the Top 50, and the fifth Cabernet. All the Margaret River hallmarks of poise, complexity, refinement and balance are evident in what one judge called this ‘fluid and seamless wine’; drinkers can look forward to ‘loads of development to come’ here. It's dark black-red in colour, with blackcurrant and blackberry fruits lent fragrance by dried herb complexities. The palate is concentrated, with significant fruit intensity in ‘essence-of-Cabernet’ style. You'll find the fruit teasing, poised and mouthwatering, yet the wine is gratifyingly reserved and restrained in terms of its expressive articulation. The light drape of tannins adds gastronomic force and aids drinkability and digestibility, while the acids are attractively subdued rather than edgy and sharp. All the classicism of a great Cabernet site is evident in this aesthetically well-judged wine. Alc 14%

House of Cards, The Royals Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, Western Australia 2024
Platinum, 97 points
Deeply engaging layers of smoky red berry, dried herb and twists of nori seaweed unfurl onto a rich, seasoned oak frame ensconced in lavish, chocolate tannins and an emulsifying texture. Utterly gorgeous, exacting and long. Alc 14.3%

Oakridge, 864 Winery Block Cabernet Sauvignon, Yarra Valley, Victoria 2024
Platinum, 97 points
A magnificent Yarra style: articulate tiers of fresh red berries entwined with tempting cedar oak prowess. Seamless and weightless, expressing lithe tannins and a frisky line of acidity that dances across the palate. Wholehearted varietal elegance. Alc 13%

Suckfizzle, Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, Western Australia 2023
Platinum, 97 points
An illustrious intensity of dark cassis and elegant herbaceous characters bashfully tailed by a whisp of cinnamon. Soft and plush with sandy texture, an ambient oak frame and fresh berry acidity tumbling towards the finish. Alc 14%

Wynns, Wynvale Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra, South Australia 2024
Platinum, 97 points
Regional magnificence, combining power, finesse and fruit purity in one. Cool-toned cassis and fresh undergrowth souses the nose and delights the supple, creamy palate with weighty, svelte tannins and a beguiling floral note to end. Stunning. Alc 13.7%

Brown Hill Estate, Hannans Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, Western Australia 2024
Gold, 95 Points
Brimming with red fruit vitality brushed with strokes of graphite and tobacco. Fleshy and rich, offering polished vanilla tannins and cassis-imbued persistence to fuel the length. Alc 14%

Chile

Baron Philippe De Rothschild, Escudo Rojo Origine Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipó Valley 2024
Platinum, 97 points
A fabulous showcase of varietal pizazz: intense blackcurrant, dark plum, and fresh minty florals. Handsomely polished and silky with velvety, enveloping tannins and ultra juicy acidity encased in a divine toasty oak driven frame. Unbeatable. Alc 14%

China

Shangri-La, Holy Land Cabernet Sauvignon, Deqin, Yunnan 2019
Platinum, 97 points
Arresting cedar oak with an underlying core of blackberry, cassis and fresh herbs that fills the nose and palate to the brim. Sprightly and lofty with a flattering toasty structure and angular tannins. Very long. Alc 14.8%

France

Mouton Cadet, Rive Gauche, Bordeaux 2022
Platinum, 97 points
Quintessential Cabernet Sauvignon; pure blackcurrant, plum and blueberry fruit with fragrant floral edges. Youthfulness prevails over the complex structure, racy capsicum acidity and sleek, precise tannins imbuing the beautiful composure with a fine, graphite-infused length. Alc 14.5%

Serbia

Matalj, Kremen Kamen, Negotinska Krajina 2021
Platinum, 97 points
Outstanding complexity, manifesting labyrinthine aromas of blackberry, blackcurrant and plum fruit interlaced with cedar, coffee oak and earthy herbal tones. Elaborate structure, velvet texture, grainy tannins and seamless minty-fresh length verifies the world class elegance! Alc 14.5%

South Africa

Cavalli, Warlord, Stellenbosch 2022
Gold, 96 points
Labyrinthine aromas of black tea, blue and dark berries, toasted cedar and forest floor absorb the elegant tannins and bright acidity. A high wow factor! Alc 14%

United States

Clos du Val, Yettalil, Stags Leap District, California 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
This is the fourth time a Stag's Leap District wine has been elevated to Best In Show, and the second time that we've seen a Bordeaux blend rather than a wine that would qualify as a varietal Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc from this remarkable nested AVA within Napa. Our judges loved it: ‘powerful and persuasive’ said one; others found it ‘long, poised and eloquent’ and a wine of ‘notable finesse’. It's a saturated and opaque black-red in colour and aromatically articulate as well as intricate: behind the cascade of blackcurrant and blackberry you might find lavender, herbs, black pepper and eucalyptus, while the palate is packed out, beyond its powerful fruits, with graphite, earth, soft leather and liquorice root. The wine is a masterclass in tannin handling: fine suede on the tongue. Its acidity is a quiet undertow, giving the palate ample flow and swirl. This concentrated and authoritative Napa blend perfectly illustrates the virtues of a milder-than-usual vintage for the valley; it will age effortlessly for a decade or two. Alc 14.6%

Search all DWWA 2026 results

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In the rolling hills of the Langhe, one grape steals the show: Nebbiolo.

It's the variety behind the region's famed Barolo and Barbaresco wines, bringing such acclaim that it takes a certain audacity to plant anything else.

There are other, delicious, alternatives of course: Barbera, Dolcetto and Arneis are some of the best-established varieties, but beyond these exists another, more curious group of grapes; Piedmont's underdogs.

Here are five to watch out for.

Nascetta

By the mid-20th century, Nascetta had practically vanished. Temperamental and fussy, it was displaced by more productive varieties. Its survival to the present day is due to a handful of growers around Novello.

Golden in the glass, it shows exotic fruit, honeyed notes, and white flower fragrance, with a savoury, waxy weight in the mouth that few Piemontese whites can match.

Locally known as Nas-cëtta, its revival traces back to a 1993 tasting, when growers including Elvio Cogno and Valter Fissore joined journalist Armando Gambera to open bottles from the 1986 vintage.

The wine had aged with real finesse – someone in the room even likened it to Sauternes. Cogno’s first modern bottling followed the next year, beginning Nascetta’s gradual revival.

‘Nascetta shows its best with age’, says Enrico Rivetto – reason enough to seek out older vintages of this strikingly resurgent grape.

Producers to know:

• Elvio Cogno
• Le Strette
• Rivetto
• Braida

Pelaverga

Pelaverga Piccolo's story is less resurrection than stubborn survival. Confused for years with the grape grown around Saluzzo, it was eventually recognised as its own distinct variety.

Pelaverga’s tiny kingdom is Verduno, where it produces pale, expressive reds with notes of violets, cherries and peppery spice.

‘Pelaverga is the key to understanding the soul of Verduno’, says Vittore Alessandria of Fratelli Alessandria, who describes its character as spicy elegance – fragrant and featherlight yet unmistakably characterful.

The Verduno è Uno association has promoted Pelaverga since 1994, and increasing demand for graceful, lower-alcohol reds has moved it onto serious wine lists well beyond the scope of the village.

‘It fits this “modern-classic” profile perfectly’, says Alessandria. Once tasted, it's hard to forget.

Producers to know:

• Fratelli Alessandria
• Reverdito
• Sordo
• Arnaldo Rivera

Freisa

Freisa takes its name from the Latin word for strawberry, echoed in its wild strawberry, raspberry and floral aromas.

One of Piedmont’s oldest grapes, it has an established parent-offspring relationship with Nebbiolo. The resemblance is clear: vibrant acidity, formidable tannins, and an ability to age.

When given top-tier treatment, Freisa is a serious wine. And its resistance to heat and drought makes it an attractive prospect for mitigating the effects of climate change.

‘Historically dismissed as a light, sweet or fizzy everyday red, we completely flipped that narrative,’ says Francesca Vaira of G.D. Vajra.

Applying the same long maceration and patient cask ageing as the estate's Barolos, she explains, ‘we unlocked its true identity: sophisticated, structured, and profoundly ageworthy.’

It's what Vaira calls ‘a sommelier's wine’ – one that may require an introduction but is difficult to forget.

Producers to know:

• G.D. Vajra
• Cascina Corte
• Giacomo Fenocchio
• Borgogno

Rossese Bianco

Only seven wineries currently work with Rossese Bianco, says winemaker Sara Vezza of Josetta Saffirio – a grape permitted as a Langhe DOC single-varietal, yet with remarkably little profile.

At Saffirio, the choice was a nod to the past. Vezza's father wanted to plant Chardonnay, but her mother told him, ‘We should plant something different’. In the end, they chose the local Rossese Bianco.

For Roberto Garbarino, the appeal was ageability. ‘Because of the remarkable tannin of this grape, Roberto thought he could obtain a wine that would age very well,’ says his daughter Beatrice.

Reaction so far has brought ‘a lot of curiosity and interest,’ she adds – ‘a good sign for the future.’

In the glass there's something of Vermentino about it, but quieter and more textural: citrus, floral, lively acidity and a bitter-herbal edge. It remains elusive, but is well worth seeking out.

Producers to know:

• Josetta Saffirio
• Roberto Garbarino
• Manzone

Bian Ver

There are obscure grapes, and then there's Bian Ver. Gabriele Cordero came across this ancient Alpine grape in L'Autin's old vineyards in Barge, close to the Alps.

‘We fell in love with this variety’, he notes, however it wasn't authorised for vinification in Piedmont.

Cordero worked with Turin University and the regional body to secure its approval, gaining official recognition under Langhe Bianco.

The profile is immediately striking: aniseed, fennel and apricot behind a wall of acidity. ‘In a blind tasting, it would never be associated with an Italian variety,’ Cordero proclaims. ‘Its expression is much closer to Burgundy.’

Grapes like Bian Ver survive because somebody, somewhere, still believes they're worth the trouble. If you see it, taste it.

Producer to know:

• Gabriele Cordero

Grapes found in one small village, or only grown today thanks to the efforts of a handful of determined growers, is the epitome of the underdog; particularly in a region that's home to world-renowned Nebbiolo.

But as drinkers continue to seek freshness and a genuine sense of place in their wines, the Langhe's throwback varieties look remarkably current.

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On 15 July 2026, a single bottle of 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon sold at Christie’s for $22,500 (£16,724) – nearly four times its $6,000 high estimate.

Six weeks earlier, I drank another bottle from the winery’s dwindling library reserves.

It’s one thing to know the story of a wine that changed the course of its region’s history; it’s quite another – and deeply humbling – to taste it.

On 4 June at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars with owner Marchese Piero Antinori, Antinori CEO Renzo Cotarella, Stag’s Leap winemaker Marcus Notaro and two other prominent wine journalists, I was granted the opportunity to drink a couple of glasses of the 1973 Cabernet that is preserved in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History – a bottle that was named among the ‘101 Objects that Made America’.

At the time of our tasting, only 19 bottles reportedly remained at the winery.

Opening a wine time capsule

The wine earned its place in history on 24 May 1976, in a blind tasting of French and California wines organized in Paris by Steven Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher.

With mostly French experts judging, the 1973 S.L.V. finished first among 10 Cabernets from California and Bordeaux.

Notaro took on the task of opening the wine and, with the help of a Durand wine opener and a steady hand, extracted a beautifully intact cork.

Decanting the rare wine was just as nerve-racking, but everyone’s shoulders relaxed at the first sight of the still-dark robes of ruby red wine cascading down the glass, with only subtle bricking in the colour – the first hint that it was in impeccable condition.

Notaro also passed around an original copy of the Time magazine issue in which George Taber’s 'Judgment of Paris' piece appears.

I was shocked to see how short it was: just one column, four paragraphs, nearly run off the page and into the spine by a giant Armstrong Tires advertisement.

‘California defeated all Gaul’, declared the copy, yet astonishingly, in the fourth paragraph, Taber incorrectly identified the winning Stag’s Leap vintage as ‘1972’ instead of 1973!

What of it, I marvelled. A mere footnote, lost to the history of whatever the print circulation was for that one issue.

The full story of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars began when founder Warren Winiarski tasted Nathan Fay’s homemade 1968 Cabernet Sauvignon from the vineyard next door.

In that sample, he found the proof he needed that this corner of Napa could produce Cabernet worthy of fine wine.

Winiarski bought an adjoining prune orchard in 1970 and planted what became Stag’s Leap Vineyard, or S.L.V.

What did the 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet taste like?

As we sipped the ’73, each marvelling over it in our own way, Cotarella explained that the Judgment of Paris–winning wine had come from the third crop of grapes off the new vineyard.

'Young vines can produce extraordinary fruit at that stage, when yields remain naturally low and balanced, before their fourth-leaf ambitions outrun their still-developing roots,' he said.

As for the wine itself, extraordinary scarcely describes what wafted out of my glass. The 1973 offered up rich tobacco, charcuterie and black truffle notes, with sumptuous loamy earth, currant fruit and white pepper.

Yet its defining quality was freshness: a saline acid tension that made the wine feel not merely alive but positively energised.

Drunk with plates of shaved fennel, Hokkaido sea scallops with tarragon beurre blanc, and hanger steak with espresso jus, it kept gathering energy rather than surrendering it.

An accompanying bottle of 1987 S.L.V. was softer, warmer and fleshier, with resolved tannins, incense and currants.

The 1999 S.L.V. offered minty freshness, black fruit and rich tobacco, its beautiful density carried by featherweight tannins.

Together they made a persuasive case that Napa Cabernet’s reputation for longevity should not rest on one miraculous bottle.

Antinori acquired a 15% stake in Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in 2007 and became its sole owner in 2023.

During the luncheon, we also drank the 98-point 2023, the first vintage produced under full Antinori ownership; the wine struck Notaro as distinctly ‘Margaux-like’ with its perfumed violets.

Cotarella, reflecting on the reference to Bordeaux, said simply: ‘We are farmers. We have to control our vineyards to control our quality and style.’

If you could save time in a bottle …

I wish so many of you could have the opportunity to drink something as beautiful as the ’73 S.L.V. And, truthfully – you can.

Find a red wine that you love and store as many bottles as you can, in a cool, darkened place, for as long as you can stand it, if for no other reason than to share a glass with your grandchildren when they come of legal drinking age.

From Napa’s recent decades of wine, I would keep drinking and cellaring 2013 and 2021 for their profound structure and concentration; 2016 and 2019 for their black fruit and loamy earth richness; and 2018 and 2023 for their marriage of concentration and freshness.

As for the 1973 S.L.V., if allowed one final wine before shuffling off this mortal coil, I might choose it.

It was that good.

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As California led the United States to its best year ever at Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA), the state also marked several milestones in 2026 – including one of its wineries earning Best in Show for its third consecutive year.

‘This year's judging demonstrated the overall high quality coming from the US, giving it a well-earned place in the global wine pantheon,’ said James Tidwell MS, who serves as DWWA Regional Chair for the USA and Central America.

In all, California wineries took home 162 medals – a record for the state – across all categories: Best in Show, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze.

‘The US wine story is becoming broader and more interesting’, commented DWWA Panel Judge Bree Stock MW.

While California’s benchmark varieties reigned in the top tiers of the awards, she said, ‘One of the most exciting developments was seeing newer and less conventional varieties perform with real credibility and a clear sense of place/purpose’.

‘California's Assyrtiko and Moschofilero entries showed freshness and salinity’, she added, ‘with aromatic floral interest, suggesting that the conversation around US wine quality is expanding beyond the classics’.

Grapes from Italy, southwest France and Spain – including Albariño, Cortina, Tannat, Teroldego and Vermentino – all also earned medals.

A three-peat: Clos du Val takes the top award, again

Founded in Napa Valley in the 1970s and now in its third generation of family ownership, Clos du Val earned a Best in Show medal for the third year in a row – and for the second time with its Yettalil blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Merlot from the Stags Leap District. Last year, Clos du Val captured the top accolade with its 2022 Estate Cabernet Franc.

DWWA judges called the 2023 Yettalil ‘powerful and persuasive’ and a wine of ‘notable finesse’, illustrating the strengths of the ideal vintage in Napa Valley; the wine should easily age for a decade or two.

Three’s a charm: The Platinum elite wines

Clos du Val also notched 97 points and a Platinum medal for its 2024 Estate Sauvignon Blanc, which the judges said showed ‘superb varietal expression, shaped by thoughtful barrel influence and aromatic precision’.

California led the country in Platinum medals, with three in total, at 97 points each.

Among them was AvinoDos, with its ‘sumptuous’ 2022 Blanc De Blanc Extra Brut from Los Carneros. It's only the second US sparkling wine ever to receive Platinum at DWWA, after Chandon’s Etoile Brut in 2025.

Representing a new generation of wineries in Napa Valley, AvinoDos is based within the city of Napa, in a business park known as the Grape Crusher District for its collection of boutique wineries.

Owners Dan and Julie Dexter source their grapes only from growers with plots totalling 3.6 hectares or less – a size that, under Napa regulations, prohibits the growers from opening their own wineries.

New Mendocino County producer Brashley, started in 2017 by Ashley and Bram Palm, also impressed the judges with its 2023 Hacienda Sequoia Pinot Noir from an organically farmed vineyard surrounded by redwoods in the cool-climate Anderson Valley. The judges called it ‘a sophisticated Pinot Noir with a European accent.’

‘It’s a thrilling thing for a winery as small as we are’, said Ashley Palm. ‘To know that it was blind tasted so many times and it ended up where it was, it just blows me away. It helps confirm what we are doing – doing everything organically, doing everything by hand.’

Brashley winemaker Ashley Holland added, ‘For Anderson Valley, I know the appellation belongs on the world stage. I’ve worked so many places around the world. It is truly a phenomenal site for Pinot Noir.’

She describes the 0.8-hectare (2 acres), dry-farmed Hacienda Sequoia site, which sits on 100,000-year-old sandstone, as singular.

‘I knew when the wine was fermenting that it was really extraordinary. We used to waft the top of the fermentor because it smelled so good’.

Golden State Gold medals: Values and firsts

California collected 13 Gold medals in 2026, with two of the wines receiving 96 points from the judges: Sonoma County winery Marimar Estate’s ‘plush and zesty’ 2024 La Masía Don Miguel Vineyard Chardonnay from the Russian River Valley and Napa Valley producer Nichelini’s ‘vivid’ 2023 Petite Sirah. Nichelini’s 2024 Reserve Zinfandel earned another Gold and 95 points.

The state also secured the country’s only one of the 35 Top Value Gold medals given out this year, honouring the best wines globally in the under £15 (or $20) category.

That went to the plump, juicy 2025 Sonoma County rosé (95) from Angels & Cowboys, a winery founded in 2014 by Israel-born Yoav Gilat, who has started a handful of wine brands to fill what he saw as a gap in the market: high-quality California wines for $20 or less.

Angels & Cowboys winemaker Ondine Chattan described her reaction as one of ‘elation and gratitude’ that their delicate rosé, which she says has a ‘distinctive fruity/savoury interplay’, was recognized by the judges.

‘It is so rewarding to have one of my wines appreciated and understood for its style,’ she said, adding that she is grateful for ‘all our grape growers and winery team members who assisted at every step of the process to deliver the style and quality we set out to produce’.

Three other wines were designated as Value Golds at 95 points: Clos du Bois’s ‘indulgent’ 2024 California Chardonnay, Asda’s ‘gorgeous’ 2024 Exceptional Zinfandel from Lodi and Mina Mesa’s ‘flamboyant’ 2024 Zinfandel from Paso Robles region, which brought the region another Gold medal after an earlier win in 2022.

The Cienega Valley AVA, in western San Benito County within the Central Coast, celebrated its first DWWA Gold medals with Eden Rift’s 2023 Terraces Chardonnay, which has a ‘gorgeous penetrating acidity’, and ‘deeply concentrated’ 2023 Lansdale Slope Pinot Noir.

In another indication of the exceptional quality of Napa’s 2023 vintage, three varietally labelled Cabernet Sauvignons earned Golds: Navigator with its 2023 Napa Valley bottling, SOM’s 2023 Beckstoffer Bourn Vineyard selection from St. Helena and kosher wine producer Herzog Wine Cellars’s 2023 Special Edition from Rutherford.

On the Sonoma Coast, Three Sticks earned the award with its ‘deftly crafted’ 2024 Gap’s Crown Chardonnay.

A global guide to excellence: Decanter’s annual wine awards

Launched 23 years ago, DWWA has become the world’s largest wine competition, recognised as a global standard for quality.

The Awards combine international reach with a commitment to sustainability, a transparent tasting process and unsurpassed judging expertise. Of the 245 judges in 2026, more than one-third of them were Masters of Wine or Master Sommeliers.

‘The results of Decanter World Wine Awards are valuable because they provide both consumers and producers with a trusted and easily recognisable guide to quality in a crowded global wine market,’ explained DWWA Co-Chair Ronan Sayburn MS.

DWWA awards five tiers of medals: the 50 Best in Show – which represented just 0.3% of wines tasted this year – then Platinum and Gold (all scoring 95+ points), Silver and Bronze. In 2026, US wines won a total of 466 medals – nearly double the country’s previous highest tally.

Although California, Oregon and Washington remain the leading states, the 2026 awards reflected the diversity of wine within the US.

Texas took home its first Gold medals with four wines that show what the state can achieve with Portuguese, Spanish and southwestern French reds: Souzao, Tannat, Tempranillo and a Tempranillo-Petit Verdot blend.

Virginia added five more Golds, following two strong years in 2025 and 2024, with Cabernet Franc and Viognier among the standouts, along with blends containing Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

Pennsylvania also achieved its third straight year with a Gold medal – this time for a Chambourcin, a hybrid grape that does well in cooler climates. Wineries in Massachusetts, Missouri, Colorado and North Carolina claimed Silver medals.

The full list of 2026 winners from around the world can be found at awards.decanter.com.

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If you’re at a restaurant and you don’t have time to read the wine list from cover to cover, here’s an easy tip to remember.

If they have any 2016 Côte Rôtie, grab one. It should be a safe bet.

Is it the greatest vintage in the last 20 years? No, that’ll be 2015, or perhaps 2010. There are individual wines from these two that fly even higher.

But after tasting nearly 30 examples, what 2016 offers is this: quality, classicism and consistency.

And almost all are ready to drink.

Slow and steady wins the race

After a mild winter, the season got off to a fairly late start, with Bernard Burguad writing in his notes that ‘budbreak occurred quite late compared to the average of recent years’. Spring was mild and quite wet, leading to outbreaks of mildew.

Flowering took place unhindered in mid-May, leading to plenty of fruit; the showers, however, continued. The season wasn’t looking terribly promising until July, when hot, dry weather finally arrived.

‘Harvest took place under excellent conditions,’ Burgaud notes, ‘yielding grapes with perfect ripeness and sanitary health.’

He didn’t finish picking until mid-October, ‘something we hadn’t done in a long time,’ he remarks.

As long as grapes reach full ripeness, late harvests can be a good sign in Côte-Rôtie; slow and steady ripening often results in delicacy and precision.

Jean-Paul Jamet says: ‘I like this vintage a lot, thanks to its gradual ripening, harvesting between 28 September and 12 October, which conferred a lot of elegance and freshness.’

‘A great classic’

Coming after the bold, concentrated 2015 vintage, the 2016 was clearly less powerful, but was notable for its sense of balance, freshness and its classic proportions.

They’ve aged well – better than expected in fact – thanks to these qualities. At 10 years, they are largely beyond that awkward phase around seven to eight years of age and are ready to open.

Only a handful would benefit from a few more years in bottle. Julien Barge says: ‘I am very fond of this vintage; it is evolving beautifully.’

In fact, I would open the 2016s before the 2015s.

What I particularly appreciate about the 2016s is how frank and easy to read they are, clearly reflecting their origins and house style.

In the words of Jamet, the 2016 vintage ‘reflects the terroir of Côte-Rôtie magnificently. A great classic’.

Burgaud agrees: ‘It is the most sincere expression of Syrah from Côte-Rôtie.’

All the typical Côte-Rôtie markers are there, and are true to their soil type: those from the more southerly Blonde side are perfumed and elegant, those from the Brune side are darker and more intriguing.

The harvest might have been late, but there were clearly no problems achieving ripeness – there’s no greenness or bitterness and the wines are texturally very fine.

None that I tasted were past their best. If kept well, most will age for at another seven to eight years, and the best will endure twice as long.

Sign of the times

That these wines were made 10 years ago was clear from the tasting. Several had (non-dominating) hints of brett, which is less common today.

Use of smaller barrels and new wood was more common too in 2016 than it is today.

Some wines that appeared oaky when tasted from barrel have successfully swallowed it, but a proportion still display marked oak flavour and tannins that can blur some of the more subtle details of the terroir.

Barge is one of many winemakers who have changed their approach since then.

‘In the cellar, the ageing periods used to be longer – typically two years in demi-muids. Today, I prefer shorter ageing in foudres to better preserve the wines’ freshness and expression,’ he says.

He continues: ‘Paradoxically, my work has become more traditional over time. I have gradually come to appreciate the value of the practices handed down by previous generations.

‘My evolution, therefore, stems not only from personal exploration or technical advancements but also from a more conscious return to that heritage. What appears simple in winemaking is often the result of long, careful reflection.’

The summer felt very warm at the time, but compared to this summer it would feel decidedly comfortable. Tasting these wines made me pine for another 2016.

And today, with refined winemaking practices, more organic viticulture and vines that are 10 years older, the resulting wines would be even better.

But that doesn’t detract from what was achieved in 2016 – a great classic indeed.

Côte Rôtie 2016

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Puligny-Montrachet is, for some, the centre of the white wine universe.

Although it is endowed with the smallest vineyard area among the ‘golden triangle’ villages of Meursault, Chassagne and Puligny, it boasts some or all of no fewer than four grands crus: Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet and Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet.

From this epicentre of grands crus, top-notch premiers crus radiate north, and village-level vineyards stretch down the slope.

It is a compact, ideally situated terroir. Superlative wine, though, requires more than a brilliant site.

It also needs winemaking talent, and Puligny today enjoys a rich array of talent ranging from experienced domaines with deep traditions to newer domaines and innovative young winemakers that make this a truly exciting village.

Puligny: Five family names to know

Domaine Leflaive & Olivier Leflaive

Domaine Leflaive is among the finest producers of white wine – not just in Puligny, but in the world.

Despite a period from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s when the domaine struggled with premature oxidation, the wines are today better than ever, thanks to the efforts of previous winemaker, Pierre Vincent.

A recent tasting of the 2024s showed that his replacement, Amandine Brillanceau, is carrying the domaine forward in style.

The domaine farms an enviable portfolio of vineyards, from the grands crus of Bâtard-Montrachet and Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet (where it is the largest landowner), to Chevalier-Montrachet and on to the equally compelling premier cru offerings, making magical wines that age supremely well.

This domaine, however, is not the only Leflaive in town. Olivier Leflaive produces a range of delicious wines under his eponymous négociant business, alongside his brother Patrick.

Although Olivier became co-manager of Domaine Leflaive with his uncle Vincent in 1982, in 1984 he founded his négociant operation, and by 1994 he had departed the family business to focus entirely on this business.

The Olivier Leflaive négociant business has flourished; his Bourgogne Les Sétilles is among the most reliable entry-level white Burgundies.

He always makes wines from his own vineyards, marked ‘Récolte du Domaine’, which include Chevalier-Montrachet and the Puligny premiers crus Pucelles and Folatières.

The winemaking today is overseen by Solène Panigai, successor to Franck Grux, who had been the technical director for 35 years.

Chartron

Another luminous name in Puligny is Chartron. The domaine produces delightful wines throughout the range, but is known above all for its three clos: Clos des Chevaliers, Clos du Cailleret, and the Clos de la Pucelle monopole.

The family has owned these plots since the early 20th century. Portions have been replanted over time, and the oldest vines date to the 1950s and 1960s.

Jean-Michel Chartron is the fifth-generation owner and the winemaker. His style is elegant and sophisticated: the wines are concentrated and focused without showy amounts of reduction or oak, making them wines of restraint and timeless beauty.

The Carillon clan

The Carillon family has lived in Puligny longer than either the Leflaives or the Chartrons, tracing their ancestry to the 16th century.

Well into the years following World War II, however, the family was selling the majority of its production to négociants.

By the 1990s, the domaine, then known as Louis Carillon, was run by brothers Jacques and François. With the 2010 vintage, the brothers split the vineyards between them.

Jacques got the slice of Bienvenues-Bâtard Montrachet, premiers crus Referts, Champs Canet and some of the Perrières, and labels under Domaine Jacques Carillon.

François farms the Folatières, Combettes, Champs Gain and the balance of the Perrières and produces village-level wines from Enseignères, Aubues and Clos du Vieux Château, labelling under Domaine Franc.çois Carillon.

François’ sons Paul and Mathis have recently branched out on their own as Carillon Frères, and are producing delicious wines.

To date, there is the village-level Noyer Bret, and a premier cru Cuvée Loulou blended from the family sites and named for their grandfather.

Pernot

Another winemaking dynasty in Puligny is the Pernot family. The older wines from Domaine Paul Pernot age gracefully, while young Alvina Pernot is among the most exciting new voices in the village.

The granddaughter of Paul Pernot, she and her husband Philippe Abadie began their own domaine in 2018.

Alvina’s style is beguilingly taut, slightly reductive, with a racy finesse that suits the character of the village.

She presses the grapes as whole bunches without sulphur under the press and ferments with native yeasts in mostly used barrels.

The grands crus from Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet and Chevalier-Montrachet are superb, but the entire range bears investigation, particularly the premiers crus Peux Bois, Champs Canet Clos de la Jaquelotte, Clos de la Garenne, Clos des Folatières, Caillerets and Pucelles, and the village-level Rue aux Vaches and the Clos des Noyers Brets.

Thomas-Collardot

I was seduced on my most recent visit by the wines from another relative newcomer, Domaine Thomas-Collardot, whose vineyards were leased out until 2010.

The mother-and-son team of Jacqueline and Matthieu Collardot began bottling the wines under their own label in 2015 and received organic certification in 2023.

The wines are fermented and matured partly in barrels (mostly used) and partly in glass globes.

They produce delicious village-level Puligny wines from Enseignères, Nosroyes, Derrières les Velles, Houlières, Au Paupillot and Rue aux Vaches, along with a blended wine called Les Climats.

The range is completed by the premiers crus Hameau de Blagny and Folatières Au Chaniot.

Change is in the air in Puligny, and the village’s unique combination of established domaines and a new generation of players augurs well for the future of great white Burgundy.

Eight wines to try

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Don’t be in a rush to drink it

Most of us think of Sauvignon Blanc as an aromatic, early-drinking style, but Sancerre offers so much more.

Do as the growers do and wait a few years for the primary fruit characters to soften, revealing the complexities of the terroir.

The 2022 vintage is drinking beautifully right now.

Check out cuvées parcellaires

Small-batch wines from specific sites have proliferated in recent years, reflecting the appellation’s complex geology.

While there are no designated premiers crus in Sancerre, look out for wines from premium vineyard sites such as Monts Damnés, Cul de Beaujeu and Chêne Marchand.

The significance of silex

Following the success of the late Didier Dagueneau’s wine Silex, the name has almost become a brand in its own right, featuring on many Sancerre labels. ‘Silex’ is a reference to flint or silica.

These soil types make up a minority of the vineyard area in the region and produce wines said to possess a distinctive, powerful and smoky minerality.

It’s a great destination for wine lovers

One of the prettiest villages in France, Sancerre is perfect for a tasting trip. There are countless opportunities to visit and taste, often paired with a plate of the local goat’s cheese.

The vineyards are crisscrossed by a network of hiking paths and cycle trails for those wishing to get up close and personal with the vines.

Producer name is key

Sancerre sells at a premium these days, so it pays to seek out good producers.

Happily, there’s no shortage of winemaking talent, to be found at domaines Tabordet, Paul Prieur, Denizot, Claude Riffault and Jean-Philippe Agisson, to name a few.

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Five years ago in an article for Decanter I made a claim that Cinsault was the most underrated red grape variety in the world. I’ve held this belief for some time, and I stand by it still.

In 2021, I organised a blind tasting of Cinsaults from all over the world and it revealed countless brilliant examples of this wonderful grape.

So, five years later, it was time to repeat the exercise to see how Cinsault has progressed.

I was joined by two top tasters – Natalie Earl, Decanter’s regional editor for France, and author and podcaster Henry Jeffreys – and together we worked our way through 52 examples of this unsung grape.

A stellar variety

It turns out there has been an important development in the world of Cinsault since the last tasting. A group of like-minded winemakers has formed a body to promote this under-appreciated grape, called Les Cinsónautes.

One of the founders is Guillaume Baron of Clos de la Barthassade in Aniane, Languedoc. ‘I’ve always loved Cinsault,’ he says, ‘its drinkability, lightness, suppleness and its ability to translate terroir.’ He describes it as a cross between Gamay, Pinot Noir and Grenache.

He’s also part of Les Aligoteurs, a group formed in 2018 to promote another underrated grape – Aligoté. ‘I realised that Cinsault shared the same poor treatment that Aligoté suffered from in the past,’ says Baron, and so he wanted to help reverse its fortunes.

For too long, Cinsault has been widely considered a second-class grape variety, cropped highly to bulk out blends, make cheap rosé or basic vin de soif.

In fact, some believe the grape’s name comes from cinq sauts, meaning five buckets: if you crop it highly enough, one vine will give you that many grapes.

But with lower yields, gentle handling and appropriate care, Cinsault can make beautiful wines. What’s more, it ripens at just 11.5%-13.5% abv.

The tasting

Five years ago, it was South Africa that dominated the leaderboard. Since then, France has improved dramatically.

The top 10 this year contained five wines from each of these countries – but France took the top three places.

‘One of Cinsault's real strengths is its beautiful soaring fragrance,’ says Earl, ‘and that was really on show in the French wines… Many examples felt extremely well handled and cared for.’

Some of the French bottlings felt clunky and over-extracted last time, but now the grape’s innate delicacy and tenderness is being embraced and celebrated.

‘The French are clearly doing something exciting, they’re rediscovering it,’ says Jeffreys.

South African examples don’t seem to have progressed quite so quickly, and are stylistically more varied.

‘The South Africans weren’t as strong as last time but there were some absolute stand-out wines, especially from Natte Valleij,’ says Jeffreys.

There were very good individual wines from Chile and the USA, too.

Brightest stars

We all picked our top seven from the tasting, and occasionally our favourites overlapped. Four wines were chosen by two tasters:

- Domaine Allegria, Spirale, Pays d’Hérault, Languedoc, France 2024

- Mas Cal Demoura, Belle Fiolle, Vin de France, Languedoc, France 2024 (grown near Terrasses du Larzac)

- Leeu Passant, Old Vines Basson Cinsault, Wellington, South Africa 2023

- Domaine Sainte Marie de Crozes, L'Escapade, Vin de France, Languedoc, France 2024 (grown near Corbières)

Two wines were unanimously selected as favourites by all three tasters:

- Alain Chabanon, Cinq Saut, St Guilhem le Désert, Languedoc, France 2023

- Domaine du Pas de l'Escalette, Ze Cinsault, Pays Hérault, Languedoc, France 2024 (grown near Terrasses du Larzair

There was one main criticism however: the grape is prone to reduction, which caused certain bottles to show rubbery aromas on opening.

But there were fewer instances this time round, and usually a brief decant helps reduce this.

Cinsault doesn’t produce blockbusters or icon wines. Rather than structure, power and complexity, what it offers is freshness, aromatic precision, lacy tannins and a sense of purity and levity.

And it’s delicious on its own, lightly chilled.

‘They were incredibly drinkable, concentrated but not cumbersome or heavy, with refreshing acidity. A wine for modern times,’ says Earl.

The stars have aligned, and it’s Cinsault’s time to shine.

Matt Walls 20 highest-scoring Cinsault

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Anne Krebiehl MW, Freddy Bulmer and Roger Jones tasted 163 wines, with 6 Outstanding and 57 Highly recommended

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc: Panel tasting scores

163 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 6

Highly recommended 57

Recommended 90

Commended 10

Entry criteria: UK retailers and agents were invited to submit their latest release, still, dry Sauvignon Blanc wines from any region in New Zealand

Over two days, three of us tasted 163 New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs that presented a brilliant overview of what’s on the market right now.

Most wines, four-fifths in fact, hailed from Marlborough and most, just under two-thirds, from the 2025 vintage.

Two things stood out.

First: while Marlborough still rules the Sauvignon Blanc roost and provided all the top-scoring wines, other regions offer worthwhile alternatives. Second: the 2025 vintage is weaker than 2024 but still holds plenty of treasure.

Sauvignon Blancs submitted from Central Otago where temperatures differ between day and night scored really well, while wines from warmer Hawke’s Bay were weakest, showing that the latter is a better hunting ground for other varieties.

2025s are good to go

As regards the vintages, 2025 with its higher yields and tricky growing season, featuring a cool January, i.e. midsummer in the southern hemisphere, meant we could really tell the wheat from the chaff.

Vines needed careful handling and management to ensure full ripening and thus aromatic development of the crop load.

Roger Jones put it succinctly when he noted that ‘wines that had some love and care, with time on lees, or with some careful oak age, but not necessarily always with oak’, did best.

This means that you should enjoy the 2025 wines while they are young and alive with primary fruit and flavours.

Those who adore varietal Sauvignon Blanc aromas in the greener spectrum will be in for a treat, especially with wines from the Awatere Valley sub-region, which is vibrant in 2025 with pea shoot, lime and green asparagus.

Freddy Bulmer noted another clear and positive development, particularly pertinent for 2025.

He found the wines well-integrated ‘with relatively few that seemed to compensate for underripe fruit by adding sweetness, which has been a particular issue at the entry level in the past’.

See all notes and scores from the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc tasting

The judges

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc panel tasting results:

Wines were tasted blind

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Oregon and Washington helped lead the United States to its best performance ever at Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) in 2026, with an Oregon Pinot Noir earning one of only 50 Best in Show medals awarded globally. In addition, a Washington winery claimed its second consecutive Platinum award – the second vintage in a row that its Cabernet Franc has notched that honour.

The Awards helped solidify the reputations of two established Pacific Northwest appellations in particular, as their wines showed ‘a strong level of consistency’, according to Oregon-based DWWA Panel Judge Bree Stock MW. ‘Oregon’s best Pinot Noirs were very compelling, particularly from established Willamette Valley sub-AVAs such as Dundee Hills, where the wines showed aromatic definition, layered spice and the capacity to age’.

The Washington wine submissions showed ‘real strength and perform well, with Walla Walla Valley standing out for Cabernet Franc and Syrah that has depth, savoury complexity and a clear regional voice’, Stock added. ‘Royal Slope Riesling was another bright point’.

Oregon excellence: Pinot Noir, Cabernet and white wines

Domaine Serene, one of Oregon’s top producers, took home Best in Show – given to just 0.3% of the nearly 17,000 wines tasted in 2026 – for its 2023 Aspect Pinot Noir. The wine is sourced from the winery’s highest-elevation estate vineyards in the Dundee Hills, one of Willamette Valley’s prime winegrowing appellations. In fact, every one of the previous three Best in Show winners from Oregon (in the 2016, 2020 and 2023 competitions) has been a Pinot Noir from Dundee Hills.

The judges gave Aspect a score of 97 points, noting its ‘impressive craftsmanship’, ‘outstanding fruit’, supple palate and ‘textbook Dundee Hills aromatics of cherry cola and sassafras’. Domaine Serene also earned a Gold medal and 96 points for its ‘seductive’ 2023 Grace Vineyard Pinot Noir, a single-vineyard bottling from its Evenstad Estate, as well as Silver medals for three other Pinot Noirs and two sparkling wines.

To be recognised with a collection of medals ‘is deeply meaningful to our entire vineyard and winemaking team’, said Michael Fay, Domaine Serene’s vice president of winemaking and viticulture. ‘These awards reflect our commitment to wines expressing the character of the Dundee Hills and Willamette Valley while representing the world-class quality Oregon brings to Pinot Noir and sparkling wine. This recognition gives us an important opportunity to introduce more consumers to our wines and the remarkable region we are proud to call home’.

Another 2023 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, an ‘elegant’ and ‘stylish’ selection from Alexana’s sustainably farmed estate vineyard, won a Platinum medal, scoring 97 points. ‘I see it as a high water mark for us,’ said general manager Jeff Lewis.

‘It’s the coalescence of so many things’ – including the work of new head winemaker Tresider Burns, new director of viticulture Drew Herman, the estate’s conversion to organic farming and a shift in winemaking approach.

Being recognised as ‘one of the great wines of the world’, Lewis added, ‘is a validation of the direction in which our team – in terms of farming and winemaking – had been evolving after 20 years, continuing to push ourselves in a really meaningful way to make wines of unique personalities that express what we feel is so special about Alexana and the Dundee Hills’.

Oregon wineries also collected three other Gold medals, for a total of four, including for Amaterra’s excitingly complex 2022 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (96 points) and Watermill’s rich, supple 2021 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (95) from The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater in Walla Walla Valley, where Bordeaux varieties and Syrah thrive. And bhn’s compelling, layered, off-dry Oregon Riesling 2023 (95) became the first orange wine from the state to receive Gold at DWWA.

In all, the state racked up 72 medals, a new high.

Washington wine winners: Walla Walla and Wahluke Slope reds

Washington winery Echolands earned a Platinum for its ‘lush,’ ‘harmonious’ 2023 Blue Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Franc (97), from one of the coolest sites on the Washington side of Walla Walla Valley. This follows the same wine’s Platinum success last year for the 2022 vintage – quite an achievement for a winery that was founded in 2018 and released its first wines in 2020.

‘The Walla Walla AVA is an incredible place in the world to grow winegrapes’, said Echolands winemaker and general manager Brian Rudin. ‘There is a great diversity of options for winemakers: the higher-elevation, cooler and silt-laden slopes are a sweet spot for Bordeaux varieties, especially when aromatics and elegant textures are the goal’.

The state also saw its strongest-ever Gold medal performance in 2026, with five diverse wines achieving that honour. ‘Washington State continued to have a strong showing with their characteristic powerful styles of wine,’ said James Tidwell MS, DWWA Regional Chair for the USA and Central America. Its medal total for the year came to 46.

While most of the Washington winners were red wines, Echolands’ harmonious 2024 Frenchman Hills Vineyard Block 1 Riesling (96) became the first Gold medal winner from the Royal Slope AVA. ‘We’ve always revered these two vineyards [Blue Mountain and Frenchman Hills] as the best-suited sites in Washington for their respective varieties’, commented Rudin.

UpWest’s 2023 Syrah (95) secured another first: Gold for Washington’s Wahluke Slope appellation.

Two Washington icons also took home Gold. L’Ecole No. 41 demonstrated the benefit of working with a suite of mature vineyards with its 2022 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (95), from vines averaging more than 20 years old. That was just one of its four medals. Like Echolands, Spring Valley Vineyards put Cabernet Franc in the foreground in its 2023 Uriah (96), a blend with 40% Merlot, also from Walla Walla Valley.

Walla Walla’s parallel strength with red Rhône varieties was on display in the robust, meaty Francisca’s Vineyard Syrah 2023 (95) from Hoquetus Wine Co., a tiny producer with a wide range of wines, from Riesling to Roussanne and Nouveau-style Syrah to amphora-fermented Mencía.

Decanter’s annual awards: a guide to global wine standouts

Launched in 2004, DWWA is widely regarded as the global benchmark for wine quality based on its rigorous tasting process, its international reach and the expertise of its judges (245 of them in 2026, more than one-third of them Masters of Wine or Master Sommeliers). ‘With so many choices available, consumers often look for reassurance when selecting a bottle, and the DWWA medals help simplify the decision’, commented DWWA Co-Chair Ronan Sayburn MS.

Twenty-three years on, DWWA has become the world’s largest wine competition, awarding medals in five tiers: the 50 Best in Show, then Platinum and Gold (all scoring 95+ points), followed by Silver and Bronze.

In 2026, US wines won a total of 466 DWWA medals – nearly double the country’s previous highest tally. With two Best in Show wines, five Platinum and 32 Gold (one in the Top 35 Value Golds list), this is the biggest haul of top-tier medals the country has brought in at the competition.

Although California, Oregon and Washington continue to dominate, Texas took home its first Gold medals, while Virginia and Pennsylvania both achieved their third consecutive years with Gold medals. Wineries in Massachusetts, Missouri, Colorado and North Carolina claimed Silver medals.

The full list of 2026 winners from around the world can be found at awards.decanter.com.

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Albariño is lovingly known as 'the wine of the sea' in its birthplace, the rain-lashed Atlantic coast of north-west Iberia. Locals have enjoyed it with seafood dishes for centuries, but Albariño is no longer a well-kept Spanish secret.

This popular grape has emerged as one of the wine world’s great success stories, and it’s now thriving everywhere from Portugal and California to New Zealand and even England.

Why is International Albariño Day on August 1?

The date is a nod to the grape’s spiritual home. Every year, the Galician town of Cambados hosts the Fiesta del Albariño, a week-long festival of tastings, concerts and fireworks that culminates on the first Sunday of August.

This festival now draws crowds of around 150,000 people, but the party has surprisingly humble origins. In 1953, two local growers challenged each other to a friendly contest to decide whose wine from the previous vintage was the best.

Bernardino Quintanilla was a Vigo-based lawyer who tended a small Albariño vineyard that produced just a handful of bottles. His friend, Ernesto Zárate, was a local landowner and a far more experienced winemaker in the Salnés Valley.

Quintanilla, Zárate and seven other growers presented their wines at a dinner in a friend’s garden. The menu was suitably absurd: 28 kilos of lobster, six chickens, piles of crabs, nine bottles of Champagne and 32 litres of local red wine to wash down the Albariño they were supposedly there to judge.

After the blind tasting, the votes were tallied, and neither man won. The victor was José Rodiño, a farmer from the neighbouring town of Carballal, who wasn’t nearly as wealthy as his competitors. A rematch took place the following year, and this time Zárate won, with Quintanilla finishing second.

The rematch became an annual tradition, the tradition became a festival, and the festival helped propel Albariño to worldwide fame. International Albariño Day, which falls during the celebrations, invites the rest of the world to join in.

Monks, myths and the Camino

As with many great grapes, legend long clouded Albariño’s true origins. The romantic version held that medieval monks carried the grape to Galicia from France or Germany along the Camino de Santiago pilgrim route. Modern research tells a different story: Albariño is a true native of the Iberian Peninsula, cultivated in the region for centuries – possibly as far back as the 12th century.

Its heartland is Rías Baixas, the Denominación de Origen established in 1988 along Galicia’s fjord-like Atlantic inlets. Here, thick-skinned Albariño grapes shrug off the damp maritime climate, often trained high on granite pergolas to catch the breeze, producing whites of mouth-watering freshness with a signature saline streak.

Scroll down to see 15 award-winning Albariño wines to try

One grape, two names

Cross the Miño river into Portugal and Albariño becomes Alvarinho, a star grape of Vinho Verde. The finest examples come from the Monção and Melgaço sub-regions just over the border, where the style is typically light, aromatic and gently fresh, sometimes with a subtle spritz.

Further afield, the grape’s love of cool, coastal conditions has helped it flourish in various pockets of the world. California’s Central Coast and Oregon’s Willamette Valley produce vibrant, fruit-forward examples, while New Zealand and Australia are turning out zesty, aromatic takes of their own. It has even found an unlikely foothold in England, where the mild maritime climate of Kent echoes the conditions of its Galician homeland.

Wherever it grows, Albariño holds onto its calling cards: bright acidity, perfumed stone fruit and a whisper of sea air. International Albariño Day is the perfect excuse to pour something fresh and delicious.

Spain

Pazo de Señorans, Selección De Añada Albariño, Rías Baixas 2015
Best in Show, 97 points
This is the fifth appearance of a Rias Baixas Albariño in our Best in Show selection, and triumphantly endorses local traditions for long lees ageing followed by bottle age: the wine is now in its eleventh year since the fine 2015 harvest. Our previous winners had been aged for 9, 5, 2 and just 1 year; indeed the popularity of this ‘heroic viticulture’ category means that there is now intense commercial pressure to hurry the wines to market, so classical long-aged alternatives can be hard to find. Pour it into the glass, though, and you'll be amazed: the colour is still pale gold, while the aromas are fresh though complex: expect notes of nectarine, apricot, honeysuckle and citrus zest. The only clue to the wine's age is its mushroomy aromatic back-tones. On the palate, age has brought softness and amplitude but the cut-stone acidity has kept its buoyant freshness; the delicacy and charm remain uncompromised while the stony finesse almost seems to emerge more memorably with time. A masterclass in regional tradition. Alcohol 13%

Bodegas Aquitania, Aquitania Albariño, Rías Baixas 2025
Platinum, 97 points
A highly distinctive style, capturing both the white peach and pear fleshiness and incisive limey precision that defines the grape. Warming nutty tones are joined by a lip-smacking saltiness that glides towards the long finale. Alc 13%

Paco & Lola, Prime Albariño, Rías Baixas 2021
Gold, 96 points
Dazzling white peach, nectarine, orange and honeysuckle perfume underscored by a vivid saline sensation. Textured and refreshing with citrus acidity and a long. Alc 13%

Rectoral Do Umia, Alectum Albariño, Rías Baixas 2025
Gold, 96 points
Arresting aromas of fresh herbs, crushed shells, lime and tangerine energise the pithy consistency and rounded, pear-imbued structure and fuse with the long, saline finish. Alc 12.5%

Terra De Asorei, Selección Privada Albariño, Rías Baixas 2022
Gold, 96 points
Punchy and peachy, with hints of white tea cutting through the palate. Moreish and sapid with lots of chewy texture and expressive acidity carrying the fruit. Alc 13%

Eidosela, Albariño, Rías Baixas 2025
Gold, 95 points
Inviting sea salt and grapefruit pith on the nose, with white peach, plum and citrus peel filling the palate. Salivating and mineral with mouth-watering length. Alc 13%

Granbazán, Etiqueta Verde Albariño, Rías Baixas 2025
Gold, 95 points
Distinctive notes of honeyed fruit, candied lemon peel and steely minerals set the tone, emboldened by the weighty structure and pithy acidity. Fluid and rapturous. Alc 13%

Pazos de Lusco, Albariño, Rías Baixas 2025
Gold, 95 points
Resplendent aromas of orange blossom, honeysuckle and white peach with a haunting mineral drive. Refreshing and saline with a stunning lemon acidity rippling at the end. Alc 13%

Torre Penelas, Blanco Granito, Rías Baixas 2023
Gold, 95 points
High-tone floral aromatics of honeysuckle and peach blossom build the foundations with bounteous peach melba juiciness and tantalising lime zest acidity layered on top. Divine. Alc 12.5%

Celdina, Albariño, Rías Baixas 2025
Silver, 93 points
Delicate and focused nose, with varietal notes of citrus fruit, white peach and blossom. Nicely textured, crystalline palate. Alc 12.5%

Mar De Frades, Finca Monteveiga Albariño, Rías Baixas 2021
Silver, 91 points
Some aromas of grapefruit, rhubarb and green apple with saline nuances. Energetic and refreshing, powerful palate with a mineral finish. Alc 12.65%

New Zealand

Tohu, Whenua Matua Albariño, Upper Moutere, Nelson 2025
Gold, 95 points
A frisson of kaffir lime, orange oil and honeyed herbals patrols the nose, while saline mineral characters frame the palate. Gorgeous grapefruit sherbet charges the length. Alc 13.5%

Waimea, Albariño, Waimea Plains, Nelson 2025
Silver, 92 points
Peachy aromatics, a touch of creamy citrus. Characteristic varietal palate with mineral base notes, breezy acidity. Real energy. Alc 13.5%

South Africa

Spier Wine Farm, Villa Blue Albariño, Stellenbosch 2025
Top Value Gold, 95 points
Ripe red apple and mango with flecks of citrus zest. Broad, creamy and concentrated, offset by vibrant acidity and a lingering saline finish. Alc 13.5%

United States

New Clairvaux, St. James Block Albariño, California 2025
Silver 93 points
Fresh green apple and pear nose with white blossom undertones. Refreshing and vibrant with a tingling acidity. Persistent finish. Alc 12.4%

Search all DWWA 2026 results

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‘Everyday drinking’ is an important concept, but what, exactly, do we mean?

A topic such as this should write itself, yet I found the subject slippery while actually writing it.

Part of the reason is that it is necessarily a moving target, changing with the seasons and the weather, where one is located, and with whom one is dining.

The other difficulty is that one is spoiled for choice – how can the topic be narrowed to a reasonable scope if each day brings an exciting new possibility?

Below are my coups de cœur (heart throb) Burgundy producers, as the French would say; the vignerons I turn to for excellent mid-week drinking.

These personal choices are made on impulse rather than logic, and they are organised geographically for simplicity's sake.

The necessary criteria are quality, availability and price. To qualify for everyday drinking, it must be good, readily available in shops or restaurants, and at least reasonably affordable.

Chablis/Auxerrois

A quick look at my personal website reveals a profusion of Chablis. Once ridiculously undervalued, Chablis in recent years has taken off in renown, and in price, yet northern Burgundy still holds surprising value.

Domaine Jean-Hugues & Guilhem Goisot is not as well-known, particularly to anglophone drinkers, as the best Chablis producers, but it also sits at the top of the hierarchy.

It is based in the charmingly obscure town of St-Bris, where the appellation wines are Sauvignon de St-Bris, a close Kimmeridgian cousin of Sancerre.

The Goisot clan produces perhaps the most expressive versions available of this appellation (often on north-facing slopes, sometimes co-planted with Sauvignon Gris), but when the exposure or soils are better suited to Chardonnay (east-facing) or Pinot Noir (south-facing) these grapes are grown and bottled as Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre.

At an extraordinarily reasonable price point, they also produce a winning Aligoté that is widely available.

Côte de Nuits

The Côte de Nuits is the land of grand cru Pinot Noir and one might imagine a struggle to find everyday wines. Luckily, this is not the case at all.

Even top producers can still make wines here that are beautiful and affordable, and Domaine Trapet must surely be at the front rank.

Given the quality here, all the wines could qualify as reasonably priced, but the Passetoutgrain à Minima, a blend of Gamay and Pinot Noir from the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ in Gevrey, is a true bargain, as are the Gevrey village-level cuvées 1859 and Ostrea.

These are cuvées produced by Domaine Trapet Père & Fils, formerly directed by Jean-Louis Trapet, whose sons Pierre and Louis are now at the helm.

They have also launched their own label, Pierre & Louis Trapet, where they produce classic styles and some more experimental bottlings.

Worthy of note, the wines from Trapet’s cousin domaine, Domaine Rossignol-Trapet, are also of extraordinary value from superb terroirs.

For the summer months it may be useful to highlight Burgundy’s only ‘cru’ rosé from Marsannay. I often mark the beginning of summer by buying in a case of pink for hotter weather.

The classic producer is Domaine Bruno Clair, whose careful combination of direct press and maceration on the skins produces a delightfully elegant summer rosé.

Bruno’s cousins at Domaine Bart and his neighbour Sylvain Pataille also offer worthy renditions.

Côte de Beaune

The wines of Domaine Henri & Gilles Buisson are among the most frequent weekday visitors on my dinner table. The domaine is located in St-Romain, where they farm 19ha of certified organic vineyards.

Although the family has lived in the village since the 12th century and trace their work as vignerons to 1758, they have bottled wine under the family name only since 1947, the year in which the village received its own appellation.

Before 1947, St-Romain was considered part of the Hautes-Côtes, tucked away in a valley behind Meursault in the region’s upper slopes, which is why the village is less well-known to many.

The higher elevations meant that in the past the grapes ripened with difficulty, but with a changing climate, St-Romain has come into its own to produce wines with lush, forward fruit that still retain plenty of structure, making them excellent companions to food.

The vineyard-designated St-Romain wines are the star of the show at Buisson, but the red and white Bourgogne-level wines are delicious as well at an eminently affordable price.

Côte Chalonnaise

The Côte Chalonnaise is home to many diverse wine styles. One producer has mastered several: Bruno Lorenzon is producing some of the finest wines anywhere in the Côte Chalonnaise.

Although he is based in Mercurey, known for red wines, his 30 years at the family domaine have given him the experience to produce stunning wines in both colours.

He now produces wines from 9ha of vines, six in Mercurey and three in Montagny. As he noted: ‘I’m a white wine guy who makes Pinot Noir in a Chardonnay way.’

He sometimes delights in running counter to received wisdom, deriding the early-picked, reductive style currently in fashion for Chardonnay in very amusing terms, quoting Henri Jayer: ‘A wine must be good from the beginning’.

He presses whole bunches of Chardonnay delicately and vinifies in a minimalist way without chaptalising, acidifying, or adding sulphur, to sublime results.

In either colour or terroir, the master of Mercurey delivers beautiful wines of precision and impressive depth of flavour.

Mâconnais

The Mâconnais is a fertile hunting ground for the everyday value wines that often appear at my house.

The region is broad and varied, and numerous producers are making great wine at great prices.

Across the appellations of the Mâconnais, from Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru to Mâcon-Villages and beyond, however, the style pioneered by Jean-Marie Guffens and Julian Desplans at Maison Verget consistently delivers satisfaction.

They adapt the winemaking style to each cuvée across a broad range, but in general, the wines are concentrated and aromatic, with a slightly smoky, reductive edge imparted by the winemaking.

Despite picking fairly ripe fruit, the wines never lose their balance and retain a lively freshness that makes them refreshing even in a warm vintage.

Even in an era of skyrocketing prices, these producers show that Burgundy still offers abundant choices for everyday drinking.

Favourite Burgundy producers for everyday drinking

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Washington is a winemakers’ playground. Unburdened by strict rules, they can freely experiment with grape varieties, wine styles, vine-growing practices and blends to produce some of the most impressive wines in the US.

Here, Rhône varieties such as Syrah are transformed into wines that don’t mimic their predecessors, but rather express their own regional character or follow winemakers’ unbridled imaginations.

‘You’re free to make your own wine the way you choose,’ says Brian Rudin, winemaker and general manager of Echolands Winery, a two-time Decanter World Wine Awards Platinum winner that also makes multiple Syrah bottlings.

‘You don’t need to make it the way your grandparents did.’

Syrah has been a leader among these experiments since it was planted in Washington 40 years ago, with a rapidly developing range of styles true to the terroirs of the Walla Walla Valley, Red Mountain AVA and beyond.

The grape variety appeals to winemakers and wine lovers for creating approachable, food-friendly wines with ripe fruit flavours, complexity and general lushness.

The rise of Washington Syrah

‘Syrah can be a good introductory wine to newcomers – and we certainly need newcomers – but, at the same time, satisfy the needs of the most advanced wine aficionado,’ says Dick Boushey, a pioneering Washington grapegrower.

‘Syrah’s diversity and adaptability are its strengths. Syrah can take the increased heat that we have seen up and down the West Coast. So, it is a variety that is sustainable for the future.’

The first Washington Syrah plantings are credited to Mike Sauer and his family in 1986, in their Red Willow Vineyard in Yakima Valley.

By contrast, Cabernet Sauvignon was introduced to the state in 1941, with Merlot following in 1965, according to the Washington State Wine Commission, bringing the state renown with bottlings from the likes of Leonetti Cellars and Quilceda Creek.

However, Syrah is now a close competitor with Merlot for the second most-planted red variety, with more than 6,300 hectares to Cabernet’s 19,400+ hectares.

Besides being bottled as a single-varietal wine, Syrah is also used in many blends with other Rhône varieties or Cabernet, a decisive factor in its growth.

Producers such as Columbia Winery and now-closed McCrea Cellars encouraged the early plantings of Syrah, while the bold, modern wines from the likes of K Vintners and Cayuse Vineyards helped put Washington Syrah on the radar of a wider range of wine drinkers.

How Washington Syrah styles differ by region

Washington’s major wine regions yield several distinctive styles of Syrah, according to Boushey.

In the warmer parts of the broad Columbia Valley AVA, the wines tend to be inky, ripe and dark – similar to bold California wines.

In cooler areas, like the foothills of Yakima Valley, the wines show more acidity, savoury notes and lower alcohol levels.

In southeastern Walla Walla Valley, where the AVA spreads across the border between Washington and Oregon, Syrah has become the signature variety of The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater.

Here, the cobblestone-filled soils become the main story, leading to wines with signature notes of earth, meat, iodine and herbs.

‘The radiant heat from the exposed basalt stones contributes greatly to the profile that Rocks wines carry,’ says Trey Busch, winemaker of Sleight of Hands Cellars, a Washington winery that owns Stoney Vines Vineyard in The Rocks. (Because the district falls entirely within Oregon, many Washington wineries end up making wines from both states.)

Busch continues: ‘The vines spend more time "shut down" during the hottest days, preserving energy and simply surviving in such a harsh climate. The vine roots also go extremely deep since there is not much soil or moisture-holding capacity.’

How Washington Syrah styles are shaped in the vineyard

Straddling the windswept ridgeline of Red Mountain, WeatherEye Vineyards makes its own Syrah and provides fruit to wineries such as Liminal and MTN/ART.

There, vineyard manager Ryan Johnson has been fine-tuning the viticulture to coax out Syrah’s best qualities. Working with a little less than three hectares of the 16-hectare vineyard planted with Syrah, he became one of the few Washington growers to use the échalas system, with each vine is trained on its own tall stake.

Since Red Mountain is hot, windy and dry, Ryan increased the vine density, creating more natural shade to protect the fruit. As a result, he gets complex, singular wines from this site.

‘Syrah is very site-driven and also very strongly influenced viticulturally,’ Johnson explains. ‘You can farm it conventionally, you can grow it like Cabernet, you can treat it in the cellar like generic reds, and you'll get a generic red wine. But if you match the right training system, the right terroir and the right clone, and then manage your irrigation and nutrition at the highest level, you’ll get that ultimate expression.’

Responding to current market demands, more young Washington winemakers are turning towards lighter wines, Syrah included.

Since 2019, Kelsey Albro Itämeri of Itä Wines has been picking the fruit she sources from Les Collines Vineyard in southeastern Walla Walla very early to avoid overripeness.

That way she doesn’t need to make water or acid additions to adjust the alcohol level and balance of the wines. As a result, Itä Syrah comes in at only 12% abv, with low levels of tannins.

‘If you want to taste the place, Syrah does an excellent job of doing that,’ says Itämeri.

‘It is also delicious. It’s a little bit wild and a little feral and has some magnetism to it. It’s not just fruity. It is also savoury. It has the edge. It makes you think. As people grow in their love of wine, they don’t just want a fruit bomb, they want a wine that is interesting.’

11 Washington-made Syrahs to try

Wine selection and tasting notes by Gwendolyn Elliott

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Few grapes have travelled the world as successfully as Shiraz. Born in France, made famous in Australia and now thriving everywhere from South Africa to California, it’s one of the most widely planted red varieties on the planet – and one of the most versatile, capable of everything from savoury, peppery elegance to rich, velvety power.

Why the fourth Thursday of July?

A Sydney-based wine marketing agency called Mastermind Consulting established International Shiraz Day in 2020. The agency chose the fourth Thursday in July, as it falls in the depths of the Southern Hemisphere winter, when a glass of warming Shiraz feels just right. However, it also neatly coincides with barbecue season north of the equator.

If you’re posting about the event, the official hashtag is #shirazwineday, not #shirazday. The latter belongs to a different celebration entirely, held each May in honour of the Iranian city of Shiraz.

French roots, Persian myths

That Iranian connection is no coincidence. According to popular folklore, the grape originated in the ancient Persian city, before Crusaders or pilgrims brought it to France. It was a nice story, but DNA testing in 1998 finally settled the matter.

Shiraz is in fact a native French grape, the natural offspring of two obscure varieties from south-eastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche.

The grape’s spiritual home is the northern Rhône, where it is known as Syrah. It produces the legendary wines of Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie – savoury, perfumed reds layered with black pepper, smoked meat, olive and violet alongside the dark fruit. There’s a separate celebration, International Syrah Day, held annually on February 16, to honour the grape.

Two names, one global grape

Shiraz and Syrah are genetically identical, but the two names have come to signal two broad styles. ‘Syrah’ usually points to the restrained, savoury European model, while ‘Shiraz’ – the name adopted when the grape reached Australia in the 1830s – suggests a bolder, riper, fruit-forward wine.

Today the grape flourishes on almost every wine-producing continent. Australia remains its most famous New World home, from the old-vine blockbusters of the Barossa Valley to elegant cool-climate examples from the Adelaide Hills and Yarra Valley.

South Africa’s Stellenbosch and Swartland regions produce smoky, spice-laden wines that split the difference between the two styles, while California’s Paso Robles and Washington State lean plush and powerful. Chile and Argentina offer superb value, and even Spain, Italy and New Zealand have carved out their own takes on the grape. Wherever it grows, Shiraz keeps its signature: dark fruit, warmth and that unmistakable crack of black pepper.

International Shiraz Day is the perfect excuse to open something special. Fire up the barbecue, pour a generous glass and join the celebration.

15 award-winning Syrah wines to explore from DWWA 2026

Australia

Ferngrove, The Orchid Collection Dragon Shiraz, Frankland River, Western Australia 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
There's a lot more to Western Australia than just Margaret River, as all those who love Australian wines will know – but, until this year, no other region in this vast state has managed to win its way through to Best In Show. Happily, this outstanding Shiraz from Frankland River, one of the star zones in the vast expanse of Great Southern, has come bustling through this year to stake its claim. Our judges applauded the refinement, delicacy, purity and limpidity of this poised Shiraz midweight: floral perfumes suffusing red-fruit charm dominate the aromas, while the palate is ‘classy, effortless and long’, and sees the fruits modulating towards something just a little bit more savoury, though the full development of these characters will need to wait a year or two longer. It has texture, and acidity is well-judged, balanced and unobtrusive. Poise and refreshment await you. Alcohol 14.5%

Château Tanunda, 100 Year Old Vines Shiraz, Barossa, South Australia 2022
Platinum, 97 points
Generous blueberry, black pepper and milk chocolate aromas unravel onto the salivating palate, seamlessly integrating satin tannins and a warming shortbread backbone. Rippling violet florals gather steam ahead of the long, rousing finish. Definitive terroir portrayal. Alc 14.5%

E.J. McDougall, Old Vine Shiraz, McLaren Vale, South Australia 2024
Platinum, 97 points
A masterstroke of the Rhone-style in an Australian context, emanating dark floral, purple fruit and gun powder aromas. Intoxicating and intense with elegant structure and a quivering pink peppercorn nerve that captures the mood perfectly. Alc 14.5%

Hare's Chase, Vigilance Marananga Shiraz, Barossa Valley, South Australia 2022
Platinum, 97 points
Lashings of plum, blackcurrant and mulberry charm decadently complemented by a splash of soy sauce. Big and bold, furnished with velvety tannins, enriching fleshy texture and commanding pencil-shaving length. Plenty more to give in the future. Alc 14.5%

Katnook Estate, Prodigy Shiraz, Coonawarra, South Australia 2024
Platinum, 97 points
Bountiful blackberry, dark cherry, plum and damson fruit on a backdrop of eucalyptus and floral violet lift. Wonderfully silky smooth with a tangy acid momentum and fine, shapely tannins. Deliciously long, projecting incredible regional character. Alc 14.4%

Monteperle, Vineyard Selection Shiraz, Barossa Valley, South Australia 2024
Platinum, 97 points
An all-consuming blackberry, liquorice and tar fragrance sizzles implacably around the nose, conjoining with spine-tingling peppery spice on the palate. A contemporary style, with abounding plush juiciness enveloping the core and varnishing the powerful finish. Alc 15.1%

Argentina

Bodega Puna, 2600 Syrah, Cachi, Salta 2025
Gold, 95 points
Pungent blue fruit, violet and black pepper perfume shimmers across the nose, diving into the concentrated palate with its tense acidity and full, distinguished tannins. Alc 13.1%

France

Maison Delas Frères, Seigneur De Maugiron, Côte Rotie, Rhône 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
Eleven Best In Show appearances for the Rhône Valley but never a Côte Rôtie… until this year. It's a wine from the 2023 vintage – a very good one in Côte Rôtie, since the deluge of rain that affected other parts of the Northern Rhône in mid-September spared this northernmost appellation almost entirely, and the slow start to the summer accelerated gratifyingly during an August when the terraces genuinely roasted. We don't, as we taste, know the precise vineyard sources for this wine, but in style it seems more Brune than Blonde: dark in colour, with splendidly smoky, tapenade-like aromas (some found undergrowth and stone) rather than pronounced floral lift, while the palate is poised, lively and vivacious but underscored by ample backbone and tension, too. Look out for the salty finish behind the fruits and the attractively forthright tannins. It's both classic and generous and would make a good prospect for ageing – though there's nothing overly forbidding for those who would like to start sooner. Alc 13%

Domaine De Castelnau, L'Etendoir des Fées, IGP Pays d'Oc, Languedoc-Roussillon 2023
Platinum, 97 points
Sensational tapenade, black pepper and herb aromas lead the charge, colliding diligently with the blackberry juice intensity that flows liberally through to the finish line. Such amazing typicity, the sort of wine to dive right into. Alc 14.5%

Spain

Bodegas Piqueras, Nature Syrah, Almansa 2025
Gold, 95 points
Inspiring, fresh and approachable, combining black cherry and lifted floral aromas that flow continuously across the palate. Textural and fluid with polished tannins and appealing length. Alc 14.5%

United States

Hoquetus Wine Co., Francisca's Vineyard Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, Washington State 2023
Gold, 95 points
Earthy and robust with abundant tapenade, black pepper and dark berry aromas. Chewy oak tannins and meaty texture with a dusting of tobacco to end. Alc 14%

South Africa

Boschendal, Grande Syrah, Stellenbosch 2022
Gold, 95 points
A scrumptious array of beef rib-eye, mocha, dark cherry and prune aromas that swirl around the leathery texture and sleek tannins. Resplendent in charm and poise. Alc 14%

Kasteelberg, Carbonic Syrah, Swartland 2025
Gold, 95 points
Glorious blackberry, violet and rose petal aromatics tempered by a savouring black olive dimension. Crisp and bright with a glossy textural veneer. Evocative high altitude style. Alc 13.9%

New Zealand

Greystone Wines, Vineyard Ferment Syrah, Canterbury 2023
Platinum, 97 points
Wonderfully executed Syrah, spot on for its sense of place and character; black cherry, pomegranate, raspberry and black pepper spice thrives on the nose, tapered by the smart mineral core and effortless fluidity. Exquisitely long. Alc 13.%

Mudbrick Vineyard, Oscar, Waiheke Island, Auckland 2024
Gold, 96 points
Cool-toned dark cherry, blackcurrant and plum amplified by a black peppercorn and herbal elegance. Svelte and luxurious with salivating acidity and taffeta tannins to complete. Alc 14%

Search all DWWA 2026 results

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For New Zealand’s aromatic whites ‘small but mighty’ could become the catchphrase – excluding Sauvignon Blanc, which obviously needs no introduction.

Making up just a tiny fraction of New Zealand’s total production, and often representing a labour of love for those who champion them, these aromatic varieties are nevertheless behind some of the country’s most thrilling and distinctive white wines.

Collectively, they make up less than 8% of New Zealand’s total planted area (including reds), bolstered considerably by the rise of Pinot Gris, whose plantings are nearly five times that of Riesling (see box), which in turn dwarfs Gewurztraminer. Albariño, generating real excitement in recent years, still boasts just 65ha, while semi-aromatic Chenin Blanc has dwindled to a mere 22ha, albeit in dedicated hands.

There aren’t a lot of these wines around, but they offer exceptional quality and remarkable value for drinkers willing to seek them out.

Paul Pujol, winemaker and general manager at Prophet’s Rock in Central Otago – and formerly the winemaker at Alsace’s Kuentz-Bas, the first non-family member to hold the position in the domaine’s 200-year history – is a passionate producer of Pinot Gris and Riesling (alongside a soon-to-be-released four-variety blend including Gewurztraminer and Muscat).

‘Outside Europe, there aren’t many places you can achieve the vibrancy, purity, intensity and freshness, and the true cool-climate expression of aromatic whites that we get in New Zealand,’ he says.

He feels that the varieties have been overshadowed by Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc.

Perfect conditions

The quality and distinctiveness of these varieties stem from New Zealand’s southerly, largely maritime-influenced growing conditions.

These create long, cool, generally sunny seasons, often combined with significant diurnal temperature shifts, that intensify varietal expression while enabling a wide range of styles, from bone dry to botrytis-affected.

Most wines are made with at least a few grams of residual sugar, offset by vibrant natural acidity that gives the best examples appealingly clean finishes.

Winemaking is largely centred around the use of stainless steel containers to preserve fruit purity, though producers are increasingly turning to older oak, concrete and clay amphorae, with ageing on the fine lees adding texture and complexity.

At Framingham in Marlborough – renowned for producing half a dozen (or more) Riesling styles each season – winemaker Andrew Brown notes that the commercial realities remain challenging.

These wines largely depend on cellar door and retailer hand-selling to find their audience.

‘We are passionate about making the best examples of Riesling we can; the scope may be restricted if we didn’t have the cellar door as a sales channel,’ he says.

But he sees heads increasingly turning.

‘There are some really great examples coming out of NZ at the moment – more textural, restrained and ageworthy.’

Anna Flowerday (pictured, above) of Te Whare Ra, whose Riesling and Gewurztraminer vines are among Marlborough’s oldest, puts it simply: ‘We truly believe that aromatic whites are the unsung heroes. Overseas visitors are constantly blown away by the quality.’

New Zealand's finest non-Sauvignon aromatics

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Melania Battison, Andrea Briccarello and Bruno Besa tasted 61 wines with 3 Outstanding and 25 Highly recommended.

North Italian Pinot Grigio: Panel tasting scores

61 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 3

Highly recommended 25

Recommended 30

Commended 3

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their Pinot Grigio wines, from any vintage, from a northern Italian region: Aosta, Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Piedmont or Veneto.

Quality and diversity

Tasting 61 Pinot Grigios might sound like a dream to some, or a slow-burning endurance test to others. I’ll admit I approached it with cautious optimism.

And sure enough, somewhere between glass number 15 and 40, I was reminded why this grape deserves far more credit than it often gets.

Having spent time in Friuli Venezia Giulia, in Italy’s northeast, I’ve seen first-hand what Pinot Grigio can achieve when it’s taken seriously – and how frustrating it is that so much of the good stuff rarely travels beyond Italian borders.

The denomination is evolving rapidly, not just in volume but in quality and demand.

Three key regions in northern Italy were represented in this tasting, each with distinct traits that genuinely help consumers navigate the category, whether browsing a wine list or standing indecisively in a supermarket aisle.

Friuli Venezia Giulia, in particular, refused to be boxed in. As Bruno Besa neatly put it: ‘There isn’t a common denominator here.’ Quite right.

'There is a style for everyone’

The range moved from bright, youthful examples to bottle-aged wines and traditional yet adventurous, copper-hued ramato styles – a result of the natural greyish-pink pigments in the grape’s skins, which will colour the wine if extended maceration is allowed.

Represented in four of the top six wines, ramato stole the show: textured and characterful, they’re proof that Pinot Grigio has a backbone and personality.

Yet across all styles, elegance was the unifying thread in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region.

Veneto, meanwhile, reminded us why Pinot Grigio conquered the market in the first place. The quality-to-price ratio remains unbeatable. These wines were defined by freshness, energy and accessibility – less contemplative perhaps, but joyfully drinkable.

Alto Adige (Südtirol) felt shaped by its alpine climate, delivering precision and consistency: zesty acidity, citrus clarity and subtle texture, thanks in part to the grapes’ thicker skins and the cooler nights.

As Andrea Briccarello concluded: ‘There is a style for everyone.’

After 61 glasses, I can agree and confirm that Pinot Grigio’s greatest strength is versatility without pomposity.

See all notes and scores from the north Italian Pinot Grigio tasting

The judges

North Italian Pinot Grigio panel tasting results:

Wines were tasted blind

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High up on the Col de Durbize, near the top of the Chiroubles appellation in Beaujolais, the view is breathtaking.

Due south, across a rippling wave of vineyard-covered hills, the mounded form of the Côte de Brouilly towers over the landscape. Beyond it, a flat plain spills away towards the Saône river.

On a cloudless day you can often catch a glimpse of Mont Blanc in the far distance, its snow-capped shoulders marking the highest point of the Alps.

The sloping vineyards to the north of the col are punctuated by copses of trees and sunshine-yellow gorse bushes.

Even though you’re less than 3km from the village, it’s peaceful up here, the silence interrupted only by the loud song of blackbirds and the occasional quiet hum of a peloton of cyclists whooshing by.

It’s not just the view that takes your breath away. Even on a sunny spring day, you can feel the wind that blows over the col.

Its name, Durbize, is a portmanteau of bize, the moniker used in the Alps for a cold, dry mountain wind, and dur (meaning ‘hard’), a reference to just how biting that wind can feel when it really gets going.

The bize is often keenly felt by the producers working the steep vineyards that spread out over the slopes beneath and behind the col.

It’s worth bearing in mind that although the Col de Durbize, perched at 500m above sea level, is one of the highest points in the region, some of the Chiroubles vineyards are situated even higher.

Work your heart out

Furthermore, not only is Chiroubles the highest of the 10 crus of Beaujolais – its highest-quality sub-regions – it also features the region’s most vertiginous slopes.

Toiling up and down the sharp inclines in this hilly cru is not for the faint of heart or the weak of limb.

The growers’ task is made even harder by the nature of the vines they’re tending. The vineyards of Beaujolais’ crus are largely populated by ancient bush vines, almost entirely Gamay, many of them so low to the ground that they look like bonsai versions of the more vigorous plants seen elsewhere.

Bending and kneeling to prune these vines, and to harvest the low-hanging bunches, takes a physical toll on Chiroubles’ growers over time.

‘I love being up there in my vineyards. I love the landscape, and the feeling that I’m surrounded by nature, and I love the views,’ says Domaine de la Grosse Pierre’s Pauline Passot.

Then she sighs. ‘It’s incredibly hard work and I have to work my heart out. The vineyards are so steep they just can’t be mechanised – everything has to be done by hand.’

But although those steep slopes, buffeting winds and old vines may be a tribulation for grape-growers, they are a distinct advantage in the context of climate change.

While the Chiroubles cru may have struggled to ripen its grapes in past years, when chaptalisation (adding sugar to the fermenting must to increase potential alcohol) was the norm in the region, the freshness derived from elevation and wind is now a positive blessing in a changing climate, when those tending vines grown in riper sites sometimes struggle to keep alcohol levels under control.

Rocky descent

The final piece in the puzzle of the distinctive terroir of Chiroubles is geology. It’s the only one of the 10 crus to be composed exclusively of the pink granite soils for which the region is renowned.

Even Fleurie, the cru most strongly associated with pink granite in most people’s minds, has a fan of alluvial soils situated in the southeast of the appellation.

In some parts of the Chiroubles appellation, geology and topography combine to create incredibly shallow soils in which the bedrock lies exposed, while elsewhere these rocks have decomposed to create relatively deep, free-draining granitic sands.

It’s this combination of elevation, cooling influences and granite soils that gives the wines of Chiroubles a unique tension and energy, while vine age (many of these plants are well over 80 years old) lends concentration and focus.

Chiroubles is typically fine-boned and perfumed: the Beaujolais equivalent, perhaps, of Volnay or Chambolle-Musigny.

Unfortunately for the region’s growers, however, Chiroubles doesn’t command anywhere near the price of the wines of the Côte d’Or, despite their stylistic similarities.

As a result, it’s perhaps unsurprising that over the course of the two years I spent researching my book The Wines of Beaujolais (£35 Académie du Vin Library, September 2025), Chiroubles lost nearly 15% of its vineyard area – and a recent trip to the region suggests that a further 5%-10% of vineyards have been abandoned in the past 12 months.

All this in a cru that is already the second smallest of the 10 in terms of area.

Commercial realities

‘Lost’ is a euphemism in this particular context. What typically happens is that, when a grower retires, he struggles to find anyone to take over his vineyards. These are then left to lie fallow, the grasses growing wild between the tightly spaced vines.

For many growers, farming a hectare or two of Chiroubles is, it would appear, far more trouble than it’s worth.

As Passot points out: ‘Very few people want to take on these difficult vineyards, especially when it’s hard to make a return on the investment in the time and money it takes to farm them.’

She’s not wrong. A quick back-of-an-envelope calculation suggests that the steepest hillside vineyards in Beaujolais cost two or three times more to farm than those that lie on flatter land – possibly even more if you farm organically, as many of the best producers do.

The story of Jules Métras’ La Montagne, one of the finest wines made in Chiroubles, is a perfect illustration of the potential loss to the wine world.

The 2024 vintage of this wine – and of its stablemate, the Vieilles Vignes Chiroubles – is the last Métras will ever bottle.

When I visited him last year, he told me he was giving up his long-term lease on the vineyards with great regret, but with a pragmatic eye on both the commercial realities of the situation and his own physical limitations.

Métras’ father Yvon, one of the pioneers of the natural wine movement in Beaujolais, has recently retired from the viticultural fray, handing over the management of his Fleurie vineyards to his son.

Métras, having decided that he wanted to keep his production on a small enough scale to enable him to operate as a one-man band, was faced with a decision about whether to keep his father’s vineyards or the ones he’d been farming under his own label.

Ultimately, much as he felt an affinity for his plots in Chiroubles, Métras’ calculation was driven by the pragmatics.

‘It’s just far easier to sell Fleurie than it is to sell Chiroubles,’ he shrugged, adding that another factor that influenced him was having watched some of his relatives farm Chiroubles’ sloping vineyards until they reached their 60s.

‘All those years of climbing up and down those hills, tending those low-lying vines, simply wore them out,’ he told me.

And there’s a further issue that makes Chiroubles a challenge for any producer. The hailstorms that sweep through the region with increasing frequency seem to strike the cru with both monotonous regularity and devastating consequences.

Most of the growers in Chiroubles tell me that they count on losing a significant proportion of their crop at least one year in three.

Sometimes, when the hailstorms roll through, they’ll escape with relatively minor damage, but in the worst-case scenarios, 70% or 80% of a vineyard’s potential harvest can be lost in the space of half an hour or so.

For the love of it

And yet this troublesome, capricious cru has a way of working its way into the hearts and souls of those who take the trouble to get to know it.

‘The people who farm these vineyards are doing it for love,’ says Michele Smith of Domaine Chapel, who farms 3ha of vineyards spread across three of Chiroubles’ lieux-dits (‘named locations’).

‘They’re doing it because they believe in the cru. I think that eventually this will resonate with people. Chiroubles deserves the same amount of respect as the more prestigious appellations – maybe even more because of the challenges that it brings. These wines just have the most amazing energy and vibrancy.’

But if the wines of Chiroubles are so good, why are they so difficult to sell?

One of the cru’s greatest problems is that, unlike the larger, more famous crus of Morgon and Fleurie, Chiroubles doesn’t have a big winemaking name – either in its past or in its present – to drive its image.

Most of the grapes grown in the cru have been absorbed into big (and often rather bland) négociant blends, humdrum wines that aren’t likely to attract discerning palates or turn collectors’ heads.

Nevertheless, the wines recommended below are evidence that great winemakers – if not famous ones – are prepared to carry a torch for Chiroubles.

Another issue that may play its part in Chiroubles’ travails is that the distinctive identity of each of the 10 Beaujolais crus isn’t yet widely recognised.

One importer told me, off the record, that the typical response from retailers and restaurants (ones that happily list a couple of dozen wines from Burgundy or a generous handful of Piedmontese Nebbiolos) is: ‘Thanks, but we already have a Beaujolais’.

Given that, for an outlet that believes that listing Beaujolais is a box-ticking exercise, the first cab off the rank is usually either a Morgon or a Fleurie (or possibly a Moulin-à-Vent if they’re feeling really adventurous), poor little Chiroubles rarely gets a look in.

The exhortation to ‘use it or lose it’ is a familiar one to any gym-goer over the age of 40, but it’s less frequently heard in the context of wine.

Nevertheless, the clock is ticking for Chiroubles. It’s time we all realised that the hills of Beaujolais conceal a hidden treasure.

If we don’t, there’s a risk that this particular pot of elegant, perfumed vinous gold will disappear from our lives forever.

Gamay at the extreme: Natasha’s pick of 10 Chiroubles to try

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After being walloped by what he called a ‘cosmic brick’ – a lifelong love of Pinot Noir from Burgundy – David Lett embarked on a quest to see where else, if anywhere else, this fickle grape could reach the same pinnacle of quality.

His search led him to Oregon’s Willamette Valley and, in 1965, he established the region’s first plantings of Pinot Noir.

The connection between Burgundy and Pinot’s new promised land, once merely cosmic, was now concrete.

We last reported on the France-Willamette Valley connection in 2019 and, as you might expect, much has changed.

Here’s the latest, along with reviews of 10 noteworthy Oregon wines from French-owned wineries.

New French investments and appointments: Beaux Frères and Ponzi

The famous Beaux Frères winery, founded by Michael G Etzel in the 1980s, was acquired in 2017 by French firm Maisons & Domaines Henriot.

In 2022, Henriot merged with Artémis Domaines, the fine-wine hegemon behind Bordeaux first growth Château Latour and Burgundy grand cru Clos de Tart.

Big changes ensued. Mikey (Michael D) Etzel, who had taken over winemaking duties from his father in 2017, remains Beaux Frères’ CEO and technical director, but has passed the winemaker title to Evening Land alumnus Damien Lapuyade.

Don’t let the French surname fool you: Lapuyade is a strapping American, born and raised in Napa Valley.

Lapuyade revels in the resources that Artémis provides. ‘It opens the door to all these prestigious domaines that have centuries of experience farming and growing grapes and making world-class wine,’ he says.

‘The transfer of knowledge, the cross-pollination – it’s an amazing opportunity.’

Pioneering winery Ponzi Vineyards, which was acquired by Champagne Bollinger in 2021, also looks different at the top.

Jean-Baptiste (JB) Rivail, a sharp-dressed Frenchman raised in the Rhône Valley, is now CEO of the estate, which had been headed by a Ponzi family member since its founding in 1970.

Rivail, whose own family has a nearly two-century history in the wine business, arrived with Bollinger’s checkbook and license to use it.

‘The trust they put in us is just unbelievable,’ he says. Translation: What Ponzi needs, Ponzi gets.

This is a welcome change for Max Bruening, the Ponzi veteran who inherited the winemaker role from Luisa Ponzi in 2024.

‘I didn't know what CapEx was!’ he says, noting how, before Bollinger, the winery had to make tough maintenance and investment tradeoffs.

Growing resources

Now, Ponzi has a $500,000 Bucher sorting line, new stainless steel and concrete tanks, more land, and a consulting contract with Italy-based vine consultants Simonit & Sirch, who work with elites like Burgundy’s Domaine Leroy.

‘The knowledge here in Oregon has been built on great people and cross-collaboration,’ Rivail says. ‘But international investors come with things you know are working in other regions.’

Some locals welcome the outside capital. ‘It validates everything we've been working for,’ says Josh Bergström, a homegrown Oregon vintner who studied in France and is married to a Burgundian.

‘It lends gravitas to the region, to the pioneers who knew Pinot could be great here. With other beverages taking [wine’s] market share, we need families who have been around for generations on our side.’

Not everyone is enthused. 'Neutral at best' is how independent winemaker Saul Mutchnick of Championship Bottle describes the overall effect of outside money on the Willamette Valley.

Though he acknowledges the important role such investments have played in establishing the region, Mutchnick laments how small labels often lose access to prime vineyard sites when moneyed interests move in.

He cites the Koosah Vineyard (purchased by Résonance Wines, which is owned by French stalwart Louis Jadot) and Bunker Hill Vineyard (Lingua Franca/Constellation Brands) as examples.

A two-way street: Burgundy also benefits

Burgundy has long been the world’s Pinot Noir lodestar and, at one time, inexperienced Willamette Valley vintners were eager to glean any knowledge they could from their winemaking idols. But these days, the knowledge flows both ways.

‘When we travel to Burgundy now, there’s a sense of collegiality that I don’t think used to exist,’ says Lapuyade. ‘There seems to be this mutual respect, where they’re asking as many questions to Oregon winemakers on what’s working and what’s not working.’

Véronique Boss-Drouhin, head winemaker for both Domaine Drouhin Oregon and Maison Joseph Drouhin, says the family’s Burgundy team is inspired by their Willamette Valley counterparts, noting events like the annual Oregon Pinot Camp. ‘Burgundy should have done that years ago!’

For Louis Jadot, Résonance serves as a model for effective customer relations; in 2027, the winery will host a cruise through Burgundy for its clients.

Naturally, the trip will include a visit to Jadot, and Résonance winemaker Guillaume Large will be on board.

‘How you make somebody fall in love with the wines and the brand and the story isn't through leading with the sales pitch,’ says Taylor Theis, the winery’s director of consumer sales and marketing,

Oregon Chardonnay rising: New project Atomique3

Chardonnay is on a tear in the Willamette Valley, and many vintners trace its success to Dominique Lafon, who came from Burgundy in 2007 as consulting winemaker for Evening Land.

‘He started bringing some cultural practices on how to translate this terroir,’ says Mikey Etzel, showing the locals when to pick (earlier) and how much fruit to extract (less).

Atomique3, a superb Chardonnay-only Willamette Valley label launched in the 2021 vintage, bears the influence of another Burgundy legend: Meursault’s Jean-Marc Roulot.

Atomique3’s principals – Felipe Ramirez, a Chilean who earned his Master’s degree in Montpellier in the south of France, and renowned soil expert Pedro Parra – recruited Roulot to consult.

Atomique3’s four core Chardonnays are based on soil type, which will come as no surprise to anyone who knows Parra, who has built a career on soil and even authored a book about it.

Ramirez, who drives around the Willamette Valley with chunks of basalt on the dashboard of his truck, is no less obsessed.

‘The only thing that never changes is the soil,’ he says. ‘The weather changes every year, people change, decisions change. The plans change. But the soil – you need thousands of years to see those changes.’

The Hills are still hot: Résonance, Drouhin and Nicolas-Jay

In 2022, Résonance expanded to the Eola-Amity Hills, purchasing the outstanding Koosah Vineyard, a former Christmas tree farm planted with vines in 2016.

This acquisition doubled Résonance’s Chardonnay holdings, and it now bottles a single-vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the site.

The same year, Domaine Drouhin purchased Methven Family Vineyards, adding to the Eola-Amity Hills presence it established in 2013, when the family purchased Roserock Vineyard (which it has now spun into the Roserock label).

The 80-acre Methven property has 30 acres of vines, but the move was largely logistical: Methven is a 15-minute drive from Roserock, which lacks a dedicated production facility.

With an existing winery, water, power and ample space, Methven ticked all the boxes. ‘We were blessed to find this place,’ says Boss-Drouhin.

The facility is now known as Roserock North, and the winemaker there is French-born Drouhin veteran Isabelle DuTartre, Boss-Drouhin’s lifelong friend and her partner in Caballus Wines, which also makes Willamette Pinot Noir.

In the Dundee Hills, Nicolas-Jay, the partnership between Jean-Nicolas Méo and Jay Boberg, acquired a 52-acre site on the AVA’s north side in 2019.

They planted 25 acres of vines and renovated the property’s barn into a production winery and tasting room. In 2026, Noah Roberts was named production winemaker.

An Oregon wine legend bids adieu

Laurent Montalieu, who came to Oregon from Bordeaux in 1988, established himself as a juggernaut over the next three-plus decades.

In 2003, he founded NW Wine Company, the Willamette Valley’s first custom-crush facility – although he prefers the term ‘custom winegrowing,’ which he believes better captures the company’s range.

Over the years, NW Wine Company grew to encompass brands like Hyland Estates and Domaine Loubejac. In 2021, Montalieu sold it in what was the largest transaction in Oregon wine history.

He retired from NW Wine Company in 2024 but is still on the board, and French-born Anne Sery is now director of winemaking.

Montalieu also remains owner and winemaker at Soléna Estate, which he founded in 2000 and named after his daughter, Soléna Andrus Montalieu.

One day the winery will be hers, but it’s hard to imagine her father sitting idle in Oregon. Says Montalieu, ‘I will never retire from Soléna’.

10 fantastique Oregon wines with a French Connection

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When Ulster immigrant John Martin stopped at the Ruamāhanga River in 1875, near the southern tip of New Zealand’s North Island, it was wilderness.

Using gold-rush earnings, he laid out the streets of a village in the pattern of the union flag, naming it after himself: Martinborough.

Not much had changed in the region’s economy a century later, when in 1980 sheep and dairy farmer Clive Paton of Ata Rangi and three other growers first planted vines, at the suggestion of a government agronomist.

‘You’re basically on the road to nowhere here,’ says John Kavanagh, chief winemaker at Te Kairanga. It is cooler than across the Cook Strait in Marlborough, with very few days over 30℃ and big diurnal temperature swings. Rainfall is low.

Yet cold southerlies blow straight up from the Antarctic: grape yields are low, with the wind adversely affecting flowering and fruit set.

‘This has its pros and cons,’ says local wine writer and author Joelle Thomson. ‘Smaller crops and bunches reduce production but the Pinots from here seem to strut a deliciously savoury taste as a result.’

And so, in the space of 40 years, Martinborough has established itself as one of the world’s top sources of Pinot Noir.

Down to earth

The 1980s pioneers planted on the Martinborough terrace. This uplifted river terrace of alluvial gravels and clays, five kilometres long and a kilometre wide, remains the heart of the wine district.

‘The corporates never really got involved because there weren’t big enough tracts of land,’ says Guy McMaster, winemaker at Palliser Estate.

Then in 1999 Larry McKenna, founder of pioneer Martinborough Vineyard, planted on Te Muna Road, a few kilometres southeast of the town, an area of free-draining gravels.

The same year, Craggy Range planted 100ha of land there, a project of Australian-American millionaire Terry Peabody.

Since then, Martinborough’s scene has exploded, with wine tourism an important component. Today there are more than 20 cellar doors and an annual wine festival.

Clones and varieties

Given the relative lack of soil variation, clonal selection is especially important.

The first Pinot Noir plantings used the Abel clone, named for the customs officer said to have confiscated cuttings purloined from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s La Tâche vineyard.

It remains popular for Pinot Noir, though Dijon clones have since gained ground.

There is also excellent Chardonnay: ‘Martinborough Chardonnays have natural balance,’ says Martinborough Vineyard winemaker Tom Turner.

More recently, Sauvignon Blanc has inevitably made major inroads.

Perfect for Pinot

But Pinot Noir remains Martinborough’s speciality. ‘I definitely think there’s been the evolution of a style,’ says Ata Rangi winemaker Helen Masters.

‘Back [in the 1990s] the benchmark was Burgundy – high-toast new oak, three to five punch-downs a day – so a lot of the wines were monsters.’

Now, she says, they pick earlier, at 23 Brix, punch down much less, and use less new oak: ‘For me it’s a distraction from the place. The wines are more expressive, less extracted, lighter on their feet.’

While the best Martinborough Pinot Noirs can age well, they tend to be made ready to be enjoyed younger.

But while Martinborough has become a benchmark for New World Pinot Noir, it remains a challenging environment.

As Te Kairanga’s Kavanagh says: ‘To produce wine here, you need to be passionate about what you do.’

Six Martinborough names to know

Ata Rangi

Pioneer Clive Paton has retired now but Helen Masters, one of the few female New Zealand winemakers, has been in the cellar since 2003; she also grows some of the fruit on her own property.

Her trademark is elegant, structured and savoury Pinot Noirs. Despite Masters’ long experience here, her favourite vintage is 2024. ‘The wines were easy to make,’ she says. Certified organic.

Craggy Range

When Craggy Range first planted in the late 1990s, it doubled the size of Martinborough’s vineyards.

It remains the biggest producer, having added 132ha since then. Steve Smith MW, who established it, has moved on; today winemaker Ben Tombs vinifies this fruit at Craggy Range’s main base in Hawke’s Bay. Silky, elegant Pinot Noirs; a lot of Sauvignon Blanc too.

In organic conversion.

Dry River

One of the first group of pioneer wineries, Dry River was planted in 1979 by Neil McCallum.

It has always been a boutique producer, now producing an average of just 17,000 bottles a year.

Winemaker Ben McNab works with obsessive detail, washing the fruit before selecting berry by berry. These are fine, expressive Pinot Noirs, made to age.

Part certified organic.

Oraterra

Wilco Lam was a respected winemaker at Dry River before moving with the whole winemaking team to start Oraterra four years ago.

The operation still has the buzz of a start-up. They have 10ha planted – Pinot Noir plus Chardonnay and Pinot Gris – and an innovative approach.

‘It’s liberating if there’s no preconception of how the wine should be,’ says Lam.

Certified biodynamic.

Palliser

Palliser began in 1984 but now has 74ha of vineyards, making it one of the area’s largest producers.

Complex, elegant Pinot Noirs are its trademark, though it are also one of the few local wineries to make sparkling wines.

Chief winemaker Guy McMaster (ex-Escarpment) did a stage in Champagne in 2019. Impressive Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc too.

Certified organic.

Te Kairanga

Now owned by California’s Foley wines, Te Kairanga was first planted in 1984 on a bluff at the eastern edge of the Martinborough terrace.

With 95ha of vineyards, they are one of the larger producers at over 350,000 bottles a year. Slightly plusher Pinot Noirs.

They host one of the area’s biggest cellar door operations, including an impressive restaurant.

Top Martinborough wines

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I’m not a Sauvignon Blanc denier, but I am all too often disappointed with thin, one-dimensional examples.

At its best, however, Sauvignon Blanc can be gorgeously textural and expressive, with weight but no heaviness, and richness balanced by salinity and succulence.

Its aromatic and zingy nature makes it one of the world’s most popular grape varieties, and flavours and aromas vary depending on where and how it's grown – climate, pruning and trellising systems, even the yeast strains used in fermentation.

Expect anything from tropical and exotic to citrusy and zesty, grassy and herby, or stony and mineral.

Organic Sauvignon Blanc – not an easy task

Despite its popularity, Sauvignon Blanc is fairly tricky to grow, and needs careful work in the vineyard to keep it healthy.

‘Sauvignon is relatively complex to work organically or biodynamically,’ says Jonathan Pabiot, a biodynamic winemaker in Pouilly-Fumé. 'It's sensitive to powdery and downy mildew, so in humid years treatments have to be very regular.'

Yet Pabiot says the vine's flower is very sensitive to copper, which is problematic for organic growers because copper-based Bordeaux mixture is one of the only permitted fungicides used to protect against powdery mildew.

For Pabiot, Sauvignon Blanc's very sensitivity to climate and disease stressors is what makes it so responsive to biodynamic farming. ‘Biodynamics helps us overcome these climatic risks, but it isn't magic either,' he says. ‘What it does do is help build living soil.'

Biodynamic winemakers in Languedoc Patricia and Luc Bertoni, of Domaine les Eminades, believe that it is precisely the nearly 20 years of organic farming that has made their Sauvignon particularly resilient to disease – as well as the clement climate of the south.

My Sauvignon Blanc moment

The moment I realised the heights and depths that great Sauvignon could reach was when tasting Andreas Tscheppe’s Blue Dragonfly, from south Styria in Austria, near the border with Slovenia.

Tscheppe and his wife Elisabeth farm their terraced vineyards biodynamically, at 500m altitude. These vineyards, like the wines, are full of life: picture lush vegetation, myriad plants, weeds, flowers, grasses, bugs, beetles, bees, dragonflies and birds.

Fermented with natural yeasts and minimal sulphur, and aged for almost two years in large old barrels, it tastes like wildflowers and wild grasses, sun-warmed orchard fruit, lemon and brine, with an intricate texture like a crispy snowflake.

For me, this is one of the purest, most stripped back and alive versions of Sauvignon Blanc – far removed from the pungent blast of Marlborough.

Of course, not everyone is looking for this hyper textural, nuanced version of the grape. Sauvignon has become something of a celebrity accessory,: Gary Barlow and Graham Norton both have their own brands, though Taylor Swift has, tellingly, traded up to Sancerre.

Has the grape’s cultural moment peaked?

Not if this summer’s internet wine trend is anything to go by – dropping frozen dill pickles into a glass of Sauvignon Blanc suggests it’s found a new, slightly unhinged lease of life.

Either way, here are seven delicious organic bottles to satisfy the Sauvignon-seekers this summer – pickle optional, but not advised.

Seven Sauvignon for summer sipping

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