There's no shortage of great Pinot Noir in the world.

Obviously it all starts with Burgundy. But, equally, there are a lot more countries and regions getting their due now too.

Everywhere from New Zealand and Australia to Germany, South Africa – and the US, especially Oregon's Willamette Valley and Sonoma in California.

And as Burgundy is increasingly out of reach for most wine drinkers, these other sources of high-quality Pinot are really coming into their own.

There are exciting things happening all around, but I want to focus in particular on Sonoma.

And what I can tell you is that Sonoma not only delivers excellent Pinots but does so in a range of styles.

While this caters for many palates, it also makes Sonoma difficult to understand. But that’s precisely its appeal.

That Sonoma is large is hardly breaking news. Less obvious is how much more clearly its differences have come into focus over the past two decades, as a growing number of the county’s producers have become a lot more invested in showing just how little sense a one-size-fits-all idea of Pinot Noir makes at this scale.

Shifting styles

There has been a gradual move away from making wines that follow imported styles to a commitment to sustainable farming suited to each site.

In the cellar, there’s often a more deliberate touch, less interventionist in some cases.

The idea is not terribly complicated: a healthy, expressive vineyard plus less new oak and other manipulations means winemakers can be a lot more confident in letting the wines reflect where they come from.

Ensuring fruit is not picked overripe, and the increased use of whole bunches in fermentations to enhance freshness has also been a turning point.

Within the 19 AVAs of Sonoma, you’ll see anything from cold and fog-bound coastal vineyards to dramatic high-elevation mountain sites, warm inland pockets, windy corridors, and a remarkable variety of soils and geologic formations.

There are differences so nuanced they can sometimes be noticed just a mile apart by producers sharing the same fence line.

Which might explain the growing thirst for vineyard-designated Sonoma Pinot bottlings.

In the glass, Sonoma Pinot serves a palate looking for saline, savoury, and almost electrically tense wines, as well as generous, plush, and fruit-forward ones, through to darker and more structured versions, and a lot more in between.

Cast assumptions aside

In any case, long-held assumptions about what Sonoma Pinot Noir should taste like are worth revisiting, as the wine styles and identities are as diverse as the county is large.

That seems to serve an eclectic market quite well, with consumers always on the hunt for different things, making Pinot a ‘democratic’ grape in Sonoma.

The same region that produces wines to make collectors queue for allocations each season, also produces bottles that are just easy and delicious.

'West Sonoma Coast producers tend to draw wine collectors and more intellectually curious drinkers,' says Alex Sarovich, sommelier and wine educator.

'When it’s juicy, fruit-driven, and not overly tannic, Pinot Noir is a really good grape for easing people into the drier styles of wine,' she adds.

Trying to make a list in this context feels daunting. The wines selected here are excellent – among the best Sonoma has to offer right now – but they are not the full picture.

No list of 10 bottles could hope to capture a region this large, but together they offer a glimpse into what makes Sonoma such a compelling place to explore through Pinot Noir: a collection of exciting and often contrasting expressions.

10 Sonoma Pinot Noirs

Related articles

Taste Cloudsley Cellars wines with Adam Lowy in New York

Meet Adam in person and taste Cloudsley Cellars wines in the Grand Tasting room at Decanter's Fine Wine Encounter New York on 6 June.

At the table with Adam Lowy

Food and wine pairing

Visiting Niagara: Top travel tips

Related articles

Set up at the Kimpton Vintage Hotel in downtown Portland, I spent two days tasting the final bottled samples from nearly every lot on offer at the upcoming Willamette Valley Wine Auction (13-14 May, 2026).

I was there in my capacity as Decanter's Acting North America Regional Editor and Napa Valley Correspondent, assigning ratings and tasting notes to the auction lots.

And I realise this might be controversial. Auction lots are special blends, often culled from a single barrel or from an assemblage of the best barrels from a single vineyard site or top fruit sources.

They are bottled in 5-10 case lots, for the auction, intended to raise money for a great cause, one that usually supports the local community.

The lot is presented, paddles fly, a winning bid is announced, and these special wines disappear onto a high-end restaurant list, a fine wine retailer's shelves, or into a private cellar.

So, why rate them? Eventually, they resurface, but with nothing much about them beyond perhaps the price it sold for at auction.

I myself have been the recipient of many auction wines, and try as I may to find information on them, I usually can’t.

So, for posterity, a reference point, and to spark some conversation around rating auction wines, below are my scores and tasting notes for the 2024 vintage bottlings offered at the 2026 Willamette Valley Wine Auction.

Initial impressions of the 2024 vintage for Willamette Valley

The 2024 growing season in the Willamette Valley was, by most accounts, close to ideal.

Slow, steady ripening with bright sunny days and highs largely in the low-to-mid 20°C (70s°F), and night time temperatures dipping to the mid-10s°C (50s°F), allowed for long hang times and retention of bright, natural acidity with complex flavour development.

A brief mid-summer heat spike nudged sugars along, ripening tannin without taxing acidity.

The result is a classic Willamette profile of crunchy, ripe, vibrant fruit, modest alcohols largely in the 12.9%-13.9% range, with high natural acidity.

The Pinot Noirs are bold with firm tannic structures, the Chardonnays are striking, tension-driven, and layered, and the sparklers are bright and focused.

As one winemaker put it, this is, ‘a vintage that collectors and wine lovers will want to secure for their cellars’.

A decade of community spirit in Willamette Valley

The auction is entering its tenth year, and Executive Director Morgen McLaughlin describes it as ‘one of the Willamette Valley's most important long-term platforms, not just an annual event’.

It has allowed producers to showcase rare, small-production, library, and collaborative wines that, as McLaughlin continues, 'may not fit into a standard tasting or sales channel, giving them a way to express what makes their vineyards, winemaking, and AVA stories distinctive’.

'Just as importantly, the Auction has reinforced the collaborative spirit of the Valley.'

Over the past decade, more than $5 million has been raised to support the Willamette Valley Wineries Association's marketing, education, and brand-building programmes.

In 2025 alone, more than 80 trade bidders from 35 states and three countries participated.

This year's two-day format reflects the auction’s maturity: Day One (‘Whimsy’) welcomes collectors and consumers for an insider's look at the 2024 vintage; Day Two (‘Wonder’) is a trade-only deep dive with producers on hand.

What struck me across two days of tasting wasn't just the quality of the wines but the positive attitude of the producers behind them.

James Frey, winemaker, proprietor of Trisaetum, and prolific artist (see The James Frey Collection), described the annual auction as evidence of Willamete Valley’s, ‘strong collegial spirit’ and the ‘great group of people who still believe a rising tide lifts all boats’.

Acid-etched purity

Frey produced a sparkling wine for the auction, as did Rollin Soles of ROCO, who has been making bubbles in the valley for four decades.

I found the Willamette sparklings vivid and laser-focused, with ultra-frothy, airy mousses.

‘After 40 years, I still believe the Willamette is the finest spot in the New World for sparkling,’ Soles told me.

‘Growing above the 45th parallel means later harvests, naturally high acidity, and grapes that retain higher protein levels, which directly aids bubble retention.’

Frey added that the ultra-cool sites where Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier struggle to ripen for still wines create ideal conditions for sparkling wine.

As for the still wines: the Pinots are gorgeously pure-fruited, often nuanced by that dusty, red volcanic mineral character drawn from the region's soils, while in the whites it creates a complexity I personally couldn't get enough of.

I'm still thinking about Bethel Heights' Swan Song Chardonnay, among my highest-scoring lots, crafted from own-rooted old Wente clone vines that also produced High Wire – former North America Editor Clive Pursehouse's only 100-point wine during his entire Decanter tenure.

When I asked winemaker Ben Casteel what made those vines and site so special, his response was deeply personal: ‘That it took my father's entire career and the first 10 years of mine to produce something special is a tremendous testament to perseverance.’

At least one more vintage – a 2025 High Wire Chardonnay – is coming before, tragically, the vines succumb to phylloxera.

A note on the scores

Full auction lot scores and tasting notes are available below. They have been marked with a score range which is mentioned in the note.

The Willamette Valley Wine Auction takes place May 13-14, 2026.

To the producers and buyers: no matter my scores, each wine here is genuinely exceptional, and I hope that comes through in the tasting notes.

Top wines from this year's Willamette Valley Wine Auction

All 50+ of Jonathan's notes on the Willamette Valley Wine Auction wines can be found here.

Related articles

A trailblazing state

While still young by the standards of the world’s great winemaking areas, here in the Willamette Valley, ‘old vine’ carries a certain gravity.

These aren’t the gnarled centenarians of European wine estates, or the head-trained vines from the late 19th century that one may find in Sonoma, California, but rare, original plantings from the late 1960s and early 1970s.

They’re vines that witnessed the improbable birth of Oregon Pinot Noir and quietly shaped the reputation upon which the Willamette Valley now trades.

The trunks are thick, many of them dripping with moss, no matter the season. The bark peels back in long strips evocative of the surrounding forests of western red cedars.

These sites are a true regional treasure, planted on their own roots, they collectively represent a proverbial thumbing of the nose at the destructive aphid-like pest phylloxera.

Names such as Lett, Coury, Erath, Maresh, Adelsheim and Ponzi, among others, helped to lay down the early roots of Oregon Pinot Noir.

A quiet dialogue with the past plays out each season in clusters that seem to hold the valley’s origin story in every small, dark berry.

This is the story of some of the Willamette Valley’s original Pinot Noir vines – a selection that goes beyond the early epicentre in the Dundee Hills and reflects the regional diversity of the valley today.

The sites whose stories are told here are home to old vines that are still producing some of the region’s most important wines.

The original vines: 1965

The first two plantings in the Willamette Valley happened in the same year and, in fact, at one point, those plots were one vineyard.

The story of the Willamette Valley’s very first vineyards reads like a riddle, as The Eyrie Vineyards’ Jason Lett – son of the Willamette’s original pioneer, David Lett – explains: ‘The date of establishment is tricky, because he planted the vines in 1965 but didn’t move them to the present location until 1966.

'So we give 1965 as the foundation of the enterprise, and the vines at Eyrie are 1965-planted, but the Eyrie Vineyard itself, in Dundee, was established in 1966.’

The other name that gets mentioned alongside David Lett’s is Charles Coury.

If Lett was the first to plant Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley (and he was), Coury was second.

Lett planted vines at a nursery site near Corvallis, southwest of Salem, on 22 February 1965, according to entries in his personal journal. And then, in April that year, he planted vines for Coury at the same nursery.

Both men then moved their vines north. Lett planted in the hills just south of the town of Dundee, and Coury planted in Forest Grove, west of Portland, at what is now David Hill Vineyards & Winery.

The story of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir began in 1965.

At Eyrie, just shy of four acres (1.6ha) of the old plantings remain, including the iconic South Block planted a couple of years later, in 1968, as well as the first commercial Pinot Gris planting in North America.

And at David Hill, 14 acres (5.6ha) of old vines are still producing, from Pinot Noir to Alsace white varieties.

Chehalem Mountain Vineyard: 1969

Dick Erath is best known for the eponymous Erath winery in the Dundee Hills.

There, he partnered with the pioneering Knudsen family in the mid-1970s, but his first vineyard was planted further to the north.

High on a shoulder of the southern edges of the Chehalem Mountains, just across the treeline from Ribbon Ridge AVA (American Viticultural Area) in the northernmost reaches of what is today’s Willamette Valley appellation, Erath planted his first foray into Oregon Pinot Noir.

In 1969, this became the third vineyard planted in the region, when so much of this extensive wooded area still felt like a long shot for fine wine.

Perhaps Erath was already thinking about elevation, exposure and the kind of marginal growing conditions that might coax nuance from the Pinot Noir variety.

The Chehalem Mountain Vineyard was put down on the steep slopes of ancient volcanic soils before notions of appellation boundaries were even conceived of here.

This is a low-yielding site, where the old, gnarled vines today offer an array of clones, from Pommard and Wädenswil to Calera and Dijon, providing a diversity of expression within the vineyard itself.

00 Wines, renowned for its Chardonnay programme (see tasting notes), has taken a particular shine to this old site, and the producer is using the fruit of all of the remaining three acres (1.2ha) of the old-vine 1969 plantings for its single-vineyard Pinot Noir.

‘Working with this heritage fruit is a true honour,’ says 00 founder Chris Hermann. ‘We ferment this Pinot Noir, 100% in Italian terracotta amphorae from Tuscany, after the berries have been destemmed by hand. The fermentation is semi-carbonic.

‘This old-vine wine is aromatic, pretty, lifted and not as concentrated as one would expect from older vines, which makes this block very special. The bunches are very small, with onyx-coloured skins, yet the resulting wine is ethereal and pretty.’

Maresh Vineyard: 1970

Perched high in the Dundee Hills, the roots of the Maresh Vineyard go all the way back to 1970, when Jim (Sr) and Loie Maresh planted vines here, at up to about 230m above the valley.

The Maresh family farm had long been established for hazelnuts and prunes, and the decision to plant grapes marked a quiet pivot toward what was then an uncertain future for wine in the region.

‘My grandparents bought this farm in 1959 with no farming experience,’ third-generation grower and winemaker Jim Maresh of Arterberry Maresh in Dundee tells me.

‘It was cherries, prunes and hazelnuts that taught them how to farm. The story they liked to tell was that they were sitting on 200 tons of unsold prunes when Dick Erath came up the driveway.’

Erath told them their property was perfect for Pinot Noir – his earnestness and all those unsold prunes made the choice easy.

‘They jumped right in with a small plot of Pinot Noir at his suggestion in 1970. The fruit did well, and over time a block of fruit trees or hazelnuts would be pulled out, and more vines would be planted.’

Farming at that elevation brought its own challenges: cooler temperatures, exposure to wind and a growing season that demanded adaptability.

But those same conditions would prove critical in shaping the vineyard’s identity, producing fruit marked by balance and a kind of lifted, red-toned character that would become a hallmark of Dundee Hills Pinot Noir.

‘For me, it’s not an outlier for the Dundee Hills,’ says Jim Jr. ‘It’s high-tone, red and pretty. No big tannins, but elegance and refinement. Maresh fruit is really long in terms of holding its acidity in ripe, extended growing seasons. It’s at 750 feet (230m), so it’s high-elevation for the appellation. Maresh is, in some ways, the archetype of the Dundee Hills.’

The original farm was 140 acres (56ha), and today the Arterberry-Maresh estate totals 20 acres (8ha); Jim Jr farms about two acres of the remaining original plantings from the 1970s.

Ponzi Vineyard: 1970

The Ponzi family’s original estate vineyard, on the site of a former strawberry field, was planted in 1970 and sits among the Willamette Valley’s foundational sites, dating back to a time when conviction preceded clarity.

This initial plot, among the first five to be planted, was put down on the valley floor.

‘Though the Ponzis’ first planting proved to be viable in the production of all varieties planted, the family recognised quality could be pushed further,’ says Ponzi winemaker Max Bruening.

‘It wasn’t quite what they were seeking. To date, the Chardonnay (Clone 108 Wente/Davis) remains a staple of Ponzi’s sparkling blanc de blancs production, with a small percentage allocated to our still Chardonnay. Pinot Noir is sourced exclusively for our blanc de noir.’

The Ponzis, along with other members of the Willamette’s pioneering wine scene at the time, were a collaborative bunch.

‘In 1975, as part of the Oregon Winemakers Project, an effort spearheaded by Dick Ponzi, Dick Erath and Oregon State University, plantings were conducted to assess which clones could be viable for the area at that time,’ Bruening explains.

‘They were tasked with finding land, planting a vineyard, growing grapes, assessing the outcome, vinifying, blending, tracking, reporting and repeating.’

This early experimental site eventually became a part of Ponzi’s estate, the two-acre (0.8ha) Abetina Vineyard, which the family formally acquired in 1981.

The 1975 planting includes 12 different clones of own-rooted Pinot Noir and has helped inform the future of the Willamette Valley.

Hyland Vineyard: 1971

Originally planted in 1971 (and continuing through the late 1990s) on a south-facing bench in the foothills of the Coast Range, the Hyland Vineyard stands as one of the Willamette Valley’s earliest and, to this day, most versatile sites, known as much for its Riesling as for the distinctive clones of Pinot Noir.

Unique at the time, it was planted not by winemakers but growers, a collaborative effort by four families: Kreimeyer, Merkley, Welch and Smith.

Hyland began with an ambitious vision: to plant a large-scale, professionally farmed site that could supply fruit to the region’s fledgling wineries.

A total of 185 acres (74ha) were planted across the windswept knolls of what is now the McMinnville AVA.

The site itself sits exposed to the Van Duzer Corridor, northwest of Salem, where afternoon winds sweep in from the Pacific and cool the vines through the long days of late summer.

Early plantings included a mix of Pinot Noir selections that predated the modern clonal era, perhaps most notably the Coury clone, which has long been a bit mysterious.

Some say its origins lie in Alsace, others Germany, but who really knows?

A living archive

Half a century later, the vineyard reads like a living archive of Oregon’s first generation of viticulture.

Many of the original blocks remain, their thick trunks and modest yields a reminder of an era when nearly everything about farming Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley was a little bit experimental.

Evan Martin, the winemaker at Martin Woods, near McMinnville city, has delivered the top Pinot Noir from my past vintage reports more than once, and each time it was his Hyland Vineyard bottling.

‘The Hyland Pinot Noir, as I find it, prominently exhibits aromas of forest undergrowth and mossy earth – so coveted by lovers of traditional red Burgundy,’ says Martin.

‘Which is married to delicate florals and red fruit, with a silken palate that lingers seemingly forever.

‘As the vineyard has come of age, the warming trend of the last 30 years has shifted this originally very marginal cool climate to pitch-perfect growing conditions, leading to one of the truly unique ‘grand cru’ expressions of Pinot Noir in Oregon, a Chambolle-Musigny-esque personality that captives with the power of delicacy – defined by the subtle imprint that the wine makes on the sense memory.’

Oregon’s old-vine legacy in bottle today

Related articles

Prior to the arrival of Spanish colonists, the Te’po’ta’ahl, whom the Spanish came to call Salinians, were an indigenous people who called this region home.

They inhabited this portion of the Central Coast from the coast over the Santa Lucia Mountains, to the Salinas River.

Spanish missions were established in the region in the late 1700s, at what is modern-day Soledad and Jolon.

The region’s modern agricultural roots, which run deep, are often dated to an influx of Swiss-Italian immigration in the late 1840s and onward, after the discovery of gold in California.

Today, the region grows an array of produce, and is called ‘America’s Salad Bowl’, producing over half of the country’s lettuce, as well as broccoli, artichokes, cauliflower and strawberries.

Some of the Santa Lucia Highlands’ most prominent families, among them the Pisonis and Franscionis, are now fourth-generation farmers, in some cases managing both produce and fine wine vineyards.

Two names most often associated with the Pinot Noir movement here are really just one; Gary.

Gary Pisoni and Gary Franscioni, who went to high school together, planted some of the region’s most prominent vineyards in the 1980s and 1990s, where their families once managed cattle.

One of those sites is somewhat confusingly called Garys’, as in, there are two of them. Be careful where you put the apostrophe.

A clone all their own

No one is more synonymous with the Santa Lucia Highands than the gregarious Gary Pisoni. His impressive locks and infectious smile make him the perfect ambassador for a region known for its outgoing wines.

Gary planted the beginnings of the Pisoni vineyard in 1982, and he did so with some Pinot Noir that he acquired, as his son Mark Pisoni puts it, ‘years ago when customs were a little more lenient.’

The Pisoni clone, as it is now known, comes from a renowned vineyard in Vosne-Romanée, in Burgundy's Côte-d'Or.

‘Dad first planted this clone on our ranch in the early 1980s,' Mark explains, 'and it is only found at our Pisoni Vineyard, and then we have only shared it with our partner Gary Franscioni. So, it's only planted at our Pisoni estate, Garys’ Vineyard & Soberanes Vineyard. Then on Gary Fransiconi’s two properties- Sierra Mar & Rosella’s.’

Mark continues: ‘A few things that make it special are that it is massal selection, so it shows some diversity in the vineyard versus the more common clonal selections.

‘Cluster size is average, and they are very tight with small berries. The most remarkable thing for me is that I always felt this clone made a very “complete" wine with great depth, aromatics and maintained acidity well without blending other clones.'

He concludes: ‘We have been asked by nurseries over the years and other outside growers, but have not had any interest in commercialising the clone. It is part of Dad’s and our region's history.'

Contours and climate

The Santa Lucia Highlands may be the most visibly obvious wine appellation in America.

River Road, which runs nearly the entire length of the appellation, sits between the Salinas River and above your head to the west are the benchlands, or ‘highlands’, which are really alluvial terraces where the vineyards begin. Up there is where the wine grows.

These alluvial formations range from 50 to nearly 200 feet above the fertile valley floor, facing east. The soils are poor, fast-draining and sandy, with plenty of granite-based alluvium, a composite of sand, gravel and stones.

‘The Santa Lucia Highlands is the only place that I know of where the warmest part of the day falls between noon and 1 pm,’ says Adam Lee, the founder of Siduri and winemaker at Clarice.

Once the Central Valley warms up, it pulls in strong, cold winds from the Monterey Bay, which is unusually cold owing to a deep-sea canyon off the coast.

The winds mean, of course, thicker skins in the grapes, which can result in more tannins, but because of the speed of the winds, they also stop the ripening of the fruit each day.

‘This really cools down the area. The winds passing over the vine leaves at a fairly high speed shut them down and delay ripening. We often get 130 days’ worth of hang time, while Burgundy is amazed at 100 days,’ says Lee.

Fortunately, the long growing season and the arid climate balance the shortened days; this means that there is no pressure of a pending frost or autumn rains to push harvest before the fruit has fully matured.

Building on bold fruit

‘California Pinot Noir’ is often code for its fruit-forward character, undeniable ripeness and fruit-driven expression.

That’s available in spades, so the region’s best wines weave complexity and nuance into the undeniable Santa Lucia Highands fruit.

For many, it's whole cluster management, picking earlier or finding other ways to dial in precision.

‘The Santa Lucia Highands does have this propensity to deliver bolder fruit,’ says second-generation winemaker, Jeff Pisoni. ‘Our aim really is to have that balance, nuance, and elegance, a style that you’re seeing more and more of in the region.'

Pisoni continues: ‘I see all these traits: our rugged soils, wind, fog, and the mountains, as contributing to great raw material. But it’s a lot, and we have to be careful with it.

'For me, the critical elements for bringing these into balance are harvest timing and acidity. Acidity, which plays a huge role in the stability, interaction with and perception of phenolics and tannins.

‘Finally, it’s fermentation management, specifically extraction, and how you manage air or reduction. “Ripeness” or sugar always gets the dialogue, but these other factors are tremendously important. I think the phenolic potential in the Santa Lucia Highands is amazing, but it can overshadow other positives.’

A young region matures

In terms of Pinot Noir, Pisoni’s 1982 planting more or less marks the very beginning of modern fine wine in the Santa Lucia Highlands.

Much of the growth happened in the mid to late 1990s, and more plantings followed into the 2000s.

Which means, it's a very young region, and wines from young vines can tend to be on the monochromatic side.

Shallow root systems cause the fruit on the vines to ripen quickly (particularly in warmer years) and tend to produce wines with pronounced primary fruit characteristics.

But that's changing.

‘When I started, the vines were quite young with very shallow roots,’ says Adam Lee.

‘Now, many of the vineyards in the area are 20 years old or more, and so the roots go far deeper. These days it's about 20-30 feet. This allows you to get much more than just primary fruit,’ Lee continues.

‘Flavours become more complex, and stem ripening can truly happen as a long hang time can become far longer - even in a warm year. That’s why I think the future of Santa Lucia Highlands lies in not just producing wines of great fruit, but also additional complexity.’

A stylistic shift

While ripe fruits have long been the hallmark of the Santa Lucia Highands, a youth movement of sorts is happening in the region’s wine styles.

At the top end, the wines made by Jeff Pisoni and Adam Lee show an elegance and nuance that embraces the region’s undeniable fruit signature.

There is also a cadre of young Santa Lucia Highands winemakers, including Corral’s Adrien Valenzuela and Chad Silacci of Rustique Wines, who are chasing fresher styles of wine that emphasise elements beyond the region’s ripe fruit.

However, no one is pushing the region towards wines of a new era, one focused on clarity, precision and place with an edgy, almost Old World bent, more than Scott Caraccioli.

His story is reflective of many in this region. Like the Pisonis and Franscionis, he’s a fourth-generation row crop farmer and a second-generation wine grower.

‘The wine that really inspired me to operate outside the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay mainstays, and showcased what else we can do here was Bibiana’s 2016 Cattleya Syrah from Soberanes,’ Caraccioli admits. This motivated him to work with Mark Pisoni, who farms the site, to obtain Alban clone cuttings.

‘The great thing about this region is that it allows you to take a more elegant approach. Restraint, nuance, and understated wines are what we’re trying to achieve at Caraccioli,’ he says. (Scott's winemaking team is a father-son duo, Greg and Chris Vita.)

Caraccioli is also looking beyond the Santa Lucia Highands to find out how some of California’s sought-after winemakers, particularly those from cool-climate regions, might use the Caraccioli estate's Escolle Vineyard as a canvas to paint a different version of the region.

‘Someone like Ian Brand has made me a better grower,’ says Caraccioli. ‘His diverse perspective, having worked with vineyards on a broad scale throughout the greater Central Coast, enables him to share thoughts and practices that have positively impacted Escolle.’

He adds: ‘Ian’s an outsider; he didn’t grow up here as so many of us did, and his point of view and associated winemaking are really important for a region like ours. Growing Gamay, for instance, was a direction that stemmed from conversations with Brand.’

‘As we evolve and mature as a region, our wines will become more refined,’ he continues.

‘With these granitic soils as our core, we can see that Syrah and Gamay are really brilliant matches for that soil type. The soils in Beaujolais and the Northern Rhône are so similar to ours here, and there’s an opportunity with these varieties.’

See wines and scores for all 100 SLH wines tasted and reviewed by Clive Pursehouse

20 brilliant bottles from the Santa Lucia Highlands

Related articles

Paul Masson is often misremembered as a maker of California ‘jug wine’ and missed altogether for his outsized impact on California viticulture and the state's wine evolution.

It was the Burgundy-born Masson who brought Burgundian cuttings of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Burgundy to the Santa Cruz Mountains, specifically a site he planted in Saratoga, California, way back in 1896.

The vines, originally from Louis Latour, are among the groundbreaking Pinot Noir plantings that would lay the genetic groundwork for many of the now-famous ‘California heritage clones.’

Famous names like Mt Eden, Swan and Martini have their origins in Masson’s early plantings.

The Santa Cruz Mountains, however, have not become identified with a single variety.

Instead, it is this region’s great diversity that radiates, and perhaps makes it somewhat of an enigma in terms of how consumers and even wine collectors understand the place.

Cabernet, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah shine together here in ways that strike me as completely unique to a cool California coastal appellation.

A cool all its own

So what is it about the Santa Cruz Mountains that allows it to sufficiently ripen Cabernet and Syrah crating elegant expressions of these varieties, alongside the more delicate Burgundian varieties of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay?

‘There are a few things that set the Santa Cruz Mountains apart from other cool climate regions in California,’ says Cole Thomas, winemaker at Madson.

‘The first is that we experience ocean wind much differently. Most of California’s cool-climate regions experience very high prevailing ocean winds, whereas our vineyards do not.

‘We have perpendicular ridge lines and tall redwoods that moderate wind speeds. This makes a massive difference in how the fruit ripens because the vines do not shut down during the warmest and windiest time of the day.

The result is ripe skin tannins earlier.

‘The other key difference is the elevation vs proximity to the ocean. It is rare to have both such a high elevation and ocean exposure together. It seems many places don't have both,’ Thomas concludes.

Fog among the vines

Comparing the Santa Cruz Mountains to another cool-climate appellation where he grows Pinot and Chardonnay, Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley, Rhys Vineyards winemaker Jeff Brinkman notes how that ocean proximity affects peak temperatures in each region.

‘One difference that is quite important is the way both regions accumulate heat during the growing season. On paper, they have a similar average temperature, but that doesn’t tell the whole story,’ Brinkman explains.

‘In the Anderson Valley, mornings are often foggy, but it’s a higher-elevation fog that doesn’t linger in the vineyard.'

He continues: 'The daily high temperature occurs in the early afternoon, and there’s often a late-afternoon ocean breeze that cools things off quickly. It has a larger swing in daytime high-to-low temperatures.'

This diurnal shift means warm-to-hot days and very cool nights as ocean winds and fog move into the valley.

‘The Santa Cruz Mountains are totally different,’ Brinkman continues. ‘The day-to-night swings are much lower because of the proximity to the ocean, the elevation, and the fog is often right in the vines.

Think of it as a very gradual curve with the daytime high spread over a much longer span of the afternoon.’

Classic Cabernet Sauvignon

Marty Mathis is the second-generation winemaker and grower at the winery his mother, Kathryn Kennedy, founded in Saratoga.

Having returned to the region in 1947, Kennedy, who graduated from Stanford at the age of 19, decided to plant a vineyard in the early 1970s, as California's fine wine boom was underway.

Clone 8 Cabernet, planted on its own roots because Kathryn couldn’t afford the grafting, went into the ground in Saratoga in 1973.

The wines made over the years by Kathryn and, now, her son, Marty Mathis, are among the country's most ethereal.

They are beguiling, elegant, and with a long-lived ageability to rival the iconic brands at the top of the mountain from them, Ridge and Mount Eden.

‘This part of the Santa Clara Valley had a wine reputation which in some ways predated Napa Valley,’ says Marty Mathis, of his mother’s decision to plant at home.

‘In 1885, wines from this part of the Santa Clara Valley were often labelled as Medoc. They included Cabernet, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Though the use of Merlot in this part of California seems to have faded away after prohibition,’ Mathis explains.

Geographic outlier

The Kennedy wines are certainly a product of this cool climate appellation, but as they sit at the foot of the mountains, they're an outlier geographically, yet they show a consistent mountain style of the region.

Mathis believes it's about the soil. ‘The soil is fairly rich in the top, 18-24 inches,' he says.

But below that is a low fertility mix of Clay, sand, sandstone, and quartz pebbles. This provides less vigorous vines and a more mountain-style yield.

Mathis continues: ‘We have two bodies of water that can provide cooling breezes during the most intense heat waves.

'Obviously, the powerful Pacific Ocean flows cool air over the mountains, but we also receive cooling breezes from the south San Francisco Bay when the wind blows from the interior.’

Such savoury Syrah

For a region built on Pinot Noir, it is now best known these days for the Cabernet and Cabernet-based wines of Ridge and the neighbouring Mount Eden.

In my tastings, Syrah, which has proven difficult to market, may just be the region’s most compelling wine.

These are wines of staggering complexity, floral refinement that meets a gamey, umami depth with ferrous minerality and undeniably elegant red fruits.

This variety finds a sweet spot in coastal conditions, where sufficient heat and a long growing season allow the necessary phenolic ripeness at lower sugar levels.

The finished alcohols are often listed between 12.8-13.8%. The acidity and tannin, with varying use of whole bunch maceration, craft ageable wines evocative of the Northern Rhône with dazzling freshness and lifted ‘New World’ fruit.

‘I think the intersection of shallow sedimentary soils and cool climate is key for our Syrah,’ says Brinkman of Rhys Vineyards.

‘The cool climate provides the savoury elements we typically have. I'm thinking specifically of the olive, game, and peppery components. The shallow soils, to me, provide the briny element, good acidity, and naturally lower yields needed for good Syrah.’

Madson’s Cole Thomas is in full agreement, saying: ‘Syrah needs a bit more elevation to ripen. The best sites sit above the fog-line and experience warmer daytime temperatures than most of our Pinot Noir and Chardonnay sites.

'Still, these sites are cool, and sugar accumulation can be a challenge. We typically harvest in late October or early November. Again, poor sandstone soil limits yield and intensifies flavour, while the coolness provides delicate aromatics and freshness in the wine.’

Charming Chardonnay

The elegance that balances depth in the Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnays sticks out across producers and styles.

Perhaps no producer is as synonymous with the variety there as Thomas Fogarty, perched high on the northern flanks of the Santa Cruz range.

It produces six or seven bottlings from an array of single vineyards across its deeply forested estate, a Heritage Oak and Fir preserve.

Here, the vines rub shoulders with the intense and endemic mountain chaparral: California bay, eucalyptus, black sage, Monterey pine and a variety of fragrant manzanitas.

The Fogarty single blocks, eight in all, are planted on a mix of sites. The oldest Chardonnay vines are at Damiana, which sits at the very top of the estate, over 2,000 feet above sea level.

This original block was planted in 1978. The first vineyard was carved out among the trees, after clearing low brush and shrub land.

This approach has informed the others, mostly planted from the early to mid 1980s.

Nathan Kandler leads the winemaking at Thomas Fogarty, and uses a similar approach across all the Chardonnays, allowing the single vineyards to really show their diversity.

‘Most of the differences in the wine stem from soil and exposure in the vineyards,’ explains Kandler.

‘The heterogeneous nature of the various sites leads to pretty amazing differences in the variety of Chardonnays we make. The rootstock and the clonal selection are pretty static.

'The soils, however, range from volcanic basalt to sandstone and shale mixes.’

25 wines from Santa Cruz

Related articles

It’s a scene few can rival. Jagged peaks rise like immense shards of ice above the valley, sharpening the light and stretching the shadows.

In their lee, rows of vineyards wrap around fairytale villages whose views fall gently towards the slow waters of the River Rhine.

Graubünden feels like a closely guarded secret, far from city sprawl, yet it lies little more than an hour’s journey from Zürich.

At the warm northern gateway to the canton sits the Bündner Herrschaft, centred on the villages of Maienfeld, Malans, Jenins and Fläsch.

With roughly 400 hectares under vine, it’s compact in scale yet concentrated in rare talent.

The scenery is inseparable from mythology: the region has long been a corridor of commerce and ideas moving along the Rhine, and it was here that Johanna Spyri found inspiration for her tale of the mountain girl, Heidi.

The same luminous slopes that shape ‘Heidiland’ now frame a patchwork of vineyard estates growing 50 different grape varieties.

Viticulture dates back more than a millennium, though the mood today is decidedly contemporary.

Here, Pinot Noir dominates, accounting for more than 70% of production.

Known locally as Blauburgunder, it has become the region’s most articulate voice, capable of remarkable character and graceful ageing.

Altitude plays a defining role: vineyards are typically between 500 and 600 metres above sea level. Here, consistently warm summers meet cool alpine nights, preserving tension and freshness.

‘Burgundy of Switzerland’

A mosaic of schist, gravel and lime-rich soils adds further refinement. The moniker ‘Burgundy of Switzerland’ is often evoked, though the connection is philosophical rather than imitative.

As Mathilde Hug Pédeutour of Weingut Wegelin explains: ‘It’s not the climate that creates the link, but the small winemaking villages and the way we work the parcels, often less than three hectares.’

It brings Burgundian respect for precision and place.

While altitude preserves structure, the Föhn wind brings a unique signature.

Known locally as traubenkocher, or ‘grape cooker’, it funnels warm, dry air down from the Alps, clearing the skies and accelerating ripening.

It dries the bunches, curbs disease, extends harvest windows and intensifies fruit character while leaving the wines with a distinctly mineral backbone.

A contemplative glass

Pinot may be the queen of Herrschaft but its king is Completer. First recorded in Malans in 1321, the name derives from completorium (compline), the monks' final prayer of the day, after which a silent glass of wine was permitted.

By the late 20th century, the variety had all but vanished, its story saved only through a handful of tenacious local growers.

Today it covers approximately 10 hectares and is widely believed to descend from a single surviving vine in Malans.

In the glass, Completer is textured with notes of quince, green apple and mirabelle, with a gentle, savoury edge. Its racy acidity promises long ageing, held together by mountain freshness.

The producers redefining Swiss wine

Modern Graubünden wine owes much to the restless vision of Thomas Donatsch.

A pioneer who challenged convention, he helped redefine Swiss wine through bold experimentation, new plantings such as Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc and an uncompromising pursuit of quality.

Following his death in 2024, the estate continued under his son, Martin, the wines still balancing tradition with forward momentum.

Tastings at the family’s historic Zum Ochsen tavern offer insights into the Herrschaft’s past and future combined.

Elsewhere in Malans, Weingut Fromm reflects a story that stretches across continents.

The family helped shape modern New Zealand wine before returning to Graubünden, bringing global perspective back to alpine roots.

Today Marco Fromm crafts elegant Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from steep village slopes.

Their restored 17th-century guesthouse allows visitors to linger longer.

Weingut Wegelin, meanwhile, marks a younger chapter in the Herrschaft. Since 2019, Rafael and Mathilde Hug have farmed the estate’s 10 hectares biodynamically, focusing on single-vineyard expression.

Their Chardonnays – particularly from the Bothmarhalde site, the canton’s highest at over 700 metres – are precise, personal and quietly progressive.

In Jenins, Christian and Francisca Obrecht, Demeter-certified since 2017, pursue a bold yet harmonious approach aligned closely with terroir.

Their on-site bottle dispenser allows for an efficient snapshot of their craft. The Adank family and Daniel and Martha of Weingut Gantenbein deepen the picture, each offering distinct readings of Pinot shaped by the same narrow valley.

In such a small landscape, nuance is everything.

Walking the Bündner Herrschaft

To appreciate the Bündner Herrschaft fully, it helps to move at walking pace.

Gentle wine trails link the four villages, threading through vines and orchards with constant views of the Rhine’s ‘golden valley’.

Every May, the Weinpromenade (‘wine walk’) transforms this quiet landscape into revelry, with dozens of producers exhibiting their wines along an easy path before the day closes with a communal dinner, music and generous pours.

Food and wine remain inseparable companions. Alter Torkel in Jenins commands sweeping Alpine views while championing a fiercely local wine list.

For something more rustic, Stall 247 in Maienfeld turns a former cow shed into a welcoming bar where regional bottles meet simple plates and easy conversation.

Nearby, the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz offers five-star comfort alongside serious cellar selections.

Wine has been a constant thread through Graubünden’s long history, yet only recently has its reputation begun to travel beyond its borders.

Here, mountains and light collide, and the daily negotiation between man and nature leaves a signature that feels distinctly regal yet subtly audacious.

Six wines from the 'Burgundy of Switzerland'

Related articles

Chassagne-Montrachet is most famous as one of the three great white wine villages in the Côte de Beaune known as The Golden Triangle, along with Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault.

Understanding the true value of Chassagne is more complex, however, given the diverse range of delicious wines in both red and white.

Scroll down for 12 delicious Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru wines to seek out

The reds are not as well-known as the whites today, but not so long ago, there was much more red wine produced here than white.

In the 1855 vineyard classification work by Dr Jules Lavalle, the fame of the village rested firmly on its red wine, and when the appellation was created in 1936, just 25% of the wine produced was white.

By 1982, that proportion had risen to 48%. Today, it is 74% overall and 84% for wines classified as premier cru.

What you need to know

Chassagne, like Chablis, makes use of porte-drapeau (standard bearer) appellations – a premier cru can be labelled with the name of its lieu-dit or can be grouped with one of the eight umbrella appellations, which include several different lieux-dits. Some have further subdivisions, producing a confusing welter of 55 potential premiers crus in total.

My 10 favourite premiers crus

Blanchot Dessus

Blanchot Dessus is one of four small premiers crus that surround the grands crus, producing wines that can be rich and buttery, with some of the density of their grand cru neighbours; all lie north of the Route Nationale, near Puligny.

Blanchot Dessus is located to the south of its illustrious neighbour Montrachet, up the slope from Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet. This well-located premier cru should not be confused with the village-level Blanchot Dessous, which lies just downslope in heavier soils and also borders grand cru Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet.

Dent de Chien

Dent de Chien (meaning ‘dog’s tooth’ in French) is a patchy appellation – much of it is scrub land with soils too thin to plant. What is planted, however, can be superb (part of it touches Montrachet).

Nearly a half-hectare of Dent de Chien was reclassified as Montrachet in a 1921 court case, and the wines are undeniably lush and dense. Don’t confuse this appellation with the St Aubin premier cru Les Murgers des Dents de Chien (‘stone walls made of dog’s teeth’), which is above the unplanted part of Montrachet.

Dent de Chien is further up the slope than Blanchot Dessus, and the wine is a bit edgier, with more tension but less richness.

Les Chaumées

At the northern edge of the village, the premiers crus face east and north; they have more in common with St Aubin than with the rest of Chassagne. At the top of the slope lies Les Chaumées (not to be confused with Les Chaumes, which is at the other end of the village in the Boudriottes subdivision of Morgeot).

These are wines that can be lemony, mineral and bright with elegance and finesse. Of particular note is a clos called Clos de la Truffière, planted with very old vines.

It is farmed by Domaine Michel Niellon and Domaine Jouard; Domaine Jean-Noël Gagnard has also resumed farming a small parcel here that will go to the new domaine of Philippe Lestimé, son of owner Caroline Lestimé.

Les Chenevottes

The vineyards below Les Chaumées are given over to the lieux-dits Les Chenevottes and its umbrella, mostly sold as Chenevottes, and the stand-alone Les Macherelles. This section of Chassagne is less steep than Les Chaumées, and the wines are typically softer, more floral, and often lighter.

As with Les Chaumées, the vineyard is planted exclusively with Chardonnay. At more than 10ha, it is a large vineyard producing a range of styles and qualities.

I was seduced recently by a Chenevottes from Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey with a few years of bottle age that was sublime.

Clos Saint-Jean

Clos Saint-Jean owes its name to its original owner, the abbey of Saint-Jean-le-Grand in Autun founded in the 6th century. The vines of the clos are located just above the village of Chassagne itself. They are planted with a mix of red and white varieties.

The red wines can be very elegant and balanced. They are often not as powerful or full-bodied as those from Maltroie, which is down the slope from the village and do not display the rustic tannins that Chassagne is sometimes accused of producing. The whites here can strike a deft balance between richness, finesse and tension.

Champs Gains

The climat Les Champs Gain (as it appears in the cadastre, or land registry; many variant spellings exist) is located at the base of the premier cru slope just south of Maltroie and the village of Chassagne proper.

It is mostly planted to Chardonnay today, although Caroline Morey produces a delicious version in red, as do several other members of her extended family.

Given the clay-rich soils at the base of the slope, it is a logical choice, but the whites are also very fine. A version from Armand Heitz is rich and Meursault-like, while the one produced by Marc-Antonin Blain (from vines that are at the foot of the Caillerets premier cru just bordering Champs Gains up the slope) drinks more like a Puligny.

La Romanée

La Romanée is among the most spectacular vineyards at the top of the slope. It is a part of the umbrella climat of La Grande Montagne. Here, the thin limestone soils and high elevation combine to make a perfect place to produce electric, lemony white wines.

At 3.35ha, La Romanée is the largest lieu-dit in La Grande Montagne; several producers use this latter name, although many prefer La Romanée. Both are worth exploring, along with the other lieux-dits here, including Grandes Ruchottes, En Virondot, and two small patches that can be called Tonton Marcel.

These lively, vivacious wines are almost pungent with citrus aromas, even in hot years, and can potentially live for decades.

En Cailleret

En Cailleret is a lieu-dit and a climat of its own, distinct from neighbouring Cailleret (without the ‘En’), which is an umbrella composed of Vigne Derrière, Les Combards and Chassagne.

You will often find the appellation spelt in the plural as Les Caillerets. Located at the southern end of the village, this is an exceptional sector for white wine, with the vines stretching to the top of the slope in thin, rocky soils rich with white marl.

The wines, like those of nearby La Grande Montagne, are tense, linear and packed with exciting freshness.

La Boudriotte

Lieu-dit La Boudriotte itself is fairly small – 2.2ha. There are, however, many vineyards that can be labelled as La Boudriotte: six lieux-dits totalling 15.6ha.

Boudriotte itself lies at the centre, with the other lieux-dits stretching up and down the slope, running from thin, rocky Grande Montagne down to the richer, heavier soils of the village-level band at its base.

This diversity means there are both superb whites and reds to be found here, though sorting them out can be daunting. One example is Domaine Ramonet, which produces a delicious, finely chiselled white labelled La Boudriotte from vines in lieu-dit Les Fairendes, and an equally delicious but hearty, tannic red from lieu-dit Boudriotte itself, which the domaine labels as Clos de la Boudriotte.

Les Brussonnes

Located at the base of the slope at the southern end of the village, Brussonnes (like La Boudriotte) forms part of the larger Morgeot and is itself composed of seven lieux-dits. Red and white wines are both produced here with remarkable success.

Some feel the fairly dense clay soils are better suited to growing Pinot Noir. The enchanting white produced by Céline Fontaine at Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard, however, gives the lie to those who would exclude Chardonnay here, although note that she labels her version simply as Morgeot blanc.

The impressive range of white wines from Chassagne accounts for the village’s renown in today’s market, but the red wines, particularly from Clos Saint-Jean, La Maltroie and greater Morgeot, are among the region’s finest.

Although they fly under the radar, they keenly merit your attention.

Chassagne-Montrachet: 12 top premier cru wines

Related articles

• Chassagne & Puligny-Montrachet 2024: The ‘irresistible’ wines to have in your cellar
• Three white Burgundies under £25 that overdeliver
• Marsannay under the microscope: A look at this underrated region as premier cru promotions beckon

Clive Pursehouse speaks for the Willamette Valley in Oregon

As cool-climate Pinot Noir regions go, I think the Willamette Valley in Oregon is without peer in the United States.

I love the wines of the West Sonoma Coast, with their freshness and lift, but the classical elegance of the Willamette, marked by its unmistakable forest floor character and sweet, fresh red fruit, swings it for me.

The Willamette Valley has become a New World answer for lovers of classic Burgundy.

The biggest stigma that the Willamette Valley faces is that it’s not in California. As more than 80% of the country’s wine comes from the Golden State, people often have a hard time imagining American fine wine coming from anywhere else.

While Burgundy aficionados love the region’s Pinot Noirs, the average American wine consumer is still unaware of the Willamette Valley, considering this well-established region, with more than 700 wineries, a sort of ‘Wild West’ outpost.

Despite this, the region that was pioneered in the early 1970s has risen in just 50 years to be recognised as one of the world’s premium Pinot Noir-producing appellations.

American upstarts such as Adelsheim, Coury, Lett and Ponzi have been followed there by French names like Drouhin, Jadot and Lafon.

Unlike the West Sonoma Coast, which I do love for its beautiful wines, the Willamette isn’t a sub-appellation and has a singular identity, known for crafting elegant Pinot Noirs with fresh fruit and a deep, evocative ‘underbrush’ aspect, all while allowing for 11 nested AVAs within it to offer a diversity of expression.

You can’t see the ocean from any of the Willamette Valley’s vineyards – it sits about 65km west as the crow flies – but its maritime influence has a constant impact on the wines of the region.

Earthy richness

The cooling power of the Pacific makes the Willamette Valley the exceptional cool-climate region it is.

As the temperature rises in the valley during the warm summer months, cold air from the Pacific rushes into the Willamette through a gap in the Coast Range, cooling the region in the late-afternoon heat.

The latitude of the Willamette Valley, much farther north than Northern California, also means it has a shorter growing season and lower UV intensity.

The signature of Oregon Pinot Noir for me is the rich, Pacific Northwest forest floor, whether it’s turned soils, undergrowth or mushrooms: what the French call sous bois – the deep evergreen forests blanketed with ferns.

This provides a sense of depth and umami richness that frames the fleshy, bright berry fruits – be they strawberries, raspberries or riper Oregon blackberries – finishing with a saline character deriving from the region’s temperate Mediterranean and maritime climate, crisp and balanced acidity and often a flinty minerality.

Taken together, these elements create an elegance evocative of the Pinot Noirs of Burgundy.

However, in my view, the calibre of the wines, particularly for the price, exceeds what’s available in both Burgundy and the West Sonoma Coast.

Ana Carolina Quintela speaks for the West Sonoma Coast

American wine is no longer aspirational – let’s agree on this much before anything.

Pinot Noir, especially, has been thriving across different regions in the country, comfortably so.

Inevitably, at this point. The only interesting question isn’t whether the US can make great Pinot Noir, but where it speaks most compellingly.

More often than not, the answer circles back to the same two regions: Oregon’s Willamette Valley and the West Sonoma Coast of California.

While these two regions are often grouped together as cool-climate Pinot territory, in practice the resemblance only goes so far.

For me, the California coastal wines pull ahead, and the West Sonoma Coast’s biggest trump card is the Pacific ocean.

The ocean isn’t just a backdrop. The marine fog layer rolling in and out of the vineyards, spilling through winding roads, isn’t a special effect. The sudden rise in elevation isn’t scenery. The wind isn’t occasional, either.

Put it all together and those elements shape the wines that carry that imprint of salinity, etched acidity and a lift that goes beyond freshness.

It reads as energy. I’m comfortable calling it power.

Not ripeness, not weight, not authoritarian force. I mean the power of carrying a unique identity with confidence and a touch of defiance.

A power that doesn’t just sit on top of the wine, but holds it up from underneath. Pinot Noir is, by nature, an elegant grape, but elegance doesn’t have to be polite or appear fragile.

On the West Sonoma Coast, Pinot is elegant and unapologetically powerful.

A sense of scale

Part of what makes the West Sonoma Coast so compelling is also what makes it challenging for consumers to understand. This isn’t a region you cross through casually.

Vineyards are few and far between, because the land resists them with its steep ridges, isolated pockets, thick redwood forests and roads that remind you, pretty quickly, of how demanding it is to grow wine there.

There is a sense of scale: nature, larger than life, that shows in the glass.

I think it’s also fair to say that the Willamette Valley benefits from a built-in point of comparison to Burgundy.

Its geographic position (about 45°N latitude, compared to West Sonoma Coast’s 38.3°N) and climate make that parallel feel intuitive, and over time it has helped give the region a clear, legible identity, especially among collectors.

The West Sonoma Coast hasn’t had the same luxury.

As a younger AVA (American Viticultural Area – it was given TTB approval in May 2022), it has spent years labouring under the generic weight of ‘California Pinot’, or fighting for the visibility it deserves, which says more about how the two regions are framed than about the wines themselves.

I do love many of the wines from the Willamette Valley, but its more inland geography does leave it facing greater pressure as warming trends become harder to ignore.

And the longer you spend thinking about climate change, the more the coast starts to feel like insurance.

If great cool-climate Pinots are the ones that can keep their edge and balance, the appeal of places where the ocean still has a clear say feels obvious.

More top US Pinot Noir? For many more recommendations of top-quality Pinot Noirs from around the US, including Oregon and Sonoma, head to Decanter Premium

Related articles

• Willamette Valley 2023 vintage report: 20 of the year’s most polished and precocious Pinot Noirs
• Pinot Noir: 20 top-scoring wines to try
• Rethinking ripeness in Napa Valley: A fresh perspective on the region’s evolution

The 2023 wines from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti have just been released onto the market.

The domaine’s co-directors Perrine Fenal and Bertrand de Villaine were present in London last week to reveal them to the trade and press, alongside UK agent Corney & Barrow’s managing director Adam Brett-Smith.

Tasting notes and scores for DRC’s 2023 from Burgundy correspondent Charles Curtis MW available next month

Like its predecessor, it is no secret that 2023 is considered a ‘solar’ vintage in Burgundy. For the second year in a row, the domaine saw a particularly large crop of grapes with high levels of ripeness hurtle into the winery.

Yet this is perhaps where the similarities between 2023 and 2022 end.

‘As always with Burgundy,’ reinforces Fenal, ‘it is essential to look closely at the details and to avoid hasty conclusions.’

Because the wines themselves are extraordinarily different.

Discarding the most expensive fruit in the world – Why green harvesting was essential this vintage

Spring frosts were narrowly avoided at the domaine, and disease pressure built up following a cool and wet period. Yet flowering was successful, after the rain let up.

Humidity and moderate temperatures in July and August meant ‘the berries continued to increase in size without making significant progress in ripening,’ says Fenal, and botrytis developed in some areas.

Spurred on by the humidity, a high crop load and large berries, the viticultural team, led by new vineyard manager Sylvain Pellegrinelli who started in March 2023, decided to green harvest, removing large, compact, unripe bunches and those affected by disease.

Vines were still showing incomplete veraison before two heat waves struck, causing sugar levels to rise rapidly.

‘The heat was intense and in the afternoon became almost unbearable,’ says Fenal, ‘The grapes were heavy and became hot, just like us.’

There was another rigorous selection of bunches at harvest, as those exposed to the sun or beginning to rot were discarded.

‘Only the clusters best able to retain freshness and acidity were kept,’ says Fenal.

What does this mean for the wines?

High levels of natural maturity in the grapes – ‘much higher than we ever had,’ says de Villaine – means that, for the first time, all of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti wines come in over 14% ABV.

Yet the wines are far from overripe. Instead, they are extraordinarily balanced and fine tuned. There’s a concentration of fruit, but also a concentration of minerals, bringing things into balance.

De Villaine stresses that there were no drastic differences or changes to winemaking, just adapting their logistics to cope with a large volume of must coming into the winery at the same time.

‘There’s no big revolution,’ says De Villaine, ‘we tried, a little bit, some other ways of vinification – stainless steel for some quantities, to see how it worked.’

But otherwise, it’s just about paying attention.

What is striking about the 2023s is their structure: mighty, statuesque, with quite imposing architecture. This implies that, with their gorgeous fruit and mineral tension, these wines will go the distance.

Prices and stock

‘2023 and 2022 were the two most important vintages [in terms of quantity] we have ever received in the winery at the domaine,’ says de Villaine.

This is reflected in the total production of bottles for each wine. In fact, there’s even more Romanée-St-Vivant, Richebourg, La Tâche and Montrachet than the bumper 2022, but there’s a little less Corton, Echézeaux, Grand Echézeaux, Romanée-Conti and Corton-Charlemagne.

Prices are approximately 6% more than the 2022s were on release.

If you can get an allocation, one bottle of Echézeaux will set you back £570 (in bond); La Tâche £1560 (in bond); and Romanée-Conti £4,485 (in bond).

The wines are sold on allocation in the UK by Corney & Barrow.

Look out for Charles Curtis MW’s tasting notes and scores of the DRC 2023 wines next month.

Related articles

• DRC 2022 in bottle: 12 wines tasted and rated
• DRC 2021 in bottle: Seven wines and two library vintages tasted
• Composition: A Willamette Valley project from DRC’s Bertrand de Villaine and Katrina Rank

Although the 2024 vintage posed challenges for producers of Pinot Noir everywhere, vines were less affected by rain and mildew in the Côte de Beaune and the results were better here than in the Côte de Nuits.

The best reds from the northern Côte de Beaune have much of the hallmarks of lush, supple fruit for which good Burgundian Pinot is so renowned.

Scroll down for Charles Curtis MW’s 20 top-scoring Pommard & Volnay 2024 wines

Wines from Pommard range from tannic and firm to more supple and approachable, while in Volnay the best producers have given us silky, expressive wines.

Paul Zinetti, winemaker at Domaine du Comte Armand, notes that the yields of this famous Pommard producer were the lowest ever, at 15hl/ha. ‘Although there was more rain in 2013, the yields were higher than in 2024,’ he says.

Paul Négrerie, cellarmaster at the nearby Château de Pommard, had a similar experience in 2024: ‘Yields overall were 14hl/ha. Normally we make 200 barrels, this year there were just 80. We didn’t have rot in September but there were dry berries from the mildew. It was important to extract carefully, since you want to extract as much as possible without too much bitterness or green tannin. Compared to other years, there is less ripeness and more elegance.’

According to Frédéric Lafarge in Volnay: ‘This is a vintage of purity, where you can see the differences between all of the terroirs.’ He says that the cold weather in April made the vines fragile, and when the flowering came there were no grapes, just empty tendrils.

Lafarge says that 2024 and 2021 are similar vintages in the glass, but their evolution was very different: 2024 showed more finesse and complexity due to the longer vegetative cycle, while the sudden frost of 2021 was more brutal. He feels that, given vintage conditions, the wines will need a bit longer in barrel (16 months instead of 14).

In general, 2024 is a lighter vintage suited to earlier drinking, but top producers have been able to deliver wines that will be a pleasure to drink when young and suited to at least mid-term ageing of five to 10 years.

Top Pommard & Volnay picks:

Related articles

• Domaine Parent: A benchmark Pommard domaine
• Top Pommard and Volnay 2023 wines en primeur
• Volnay’s new generation takes the reins

Think of Bordeaux and an exclusive selection premium wines is likely to spring to mind – first growths, en primeur offerings and world-famous châteaux don’t tend to scream ‘value’.

Likewise in Burgundy, you’re unlikely to treat the grands crus of Romanée-Conti, Corton and Montrachet as casual purchases for mid-week quaffing.

But as with most wine regions, you can still find value-for-money bottles and enjoy something truly special without breaking the bank.

To back up this claim, we’ve pulled together a number of wines from across Burgundy and Bordeaux, all on the shelf at under £30 per bottle* – and some below £20.

There’s something for everyone here; sparkling, white, red and sweet, and several offerings from well-known areas including St-Julien, St-Estèphe, Beaujolais, Chablis and Sauternes.

Alongside individual producers, our selection also showcases some great-value supermarket own-brand labels.

*The Sauternes listed is available in half bottle format

Best value Burgundy and Bordeaux: 14 top picks

Related articles

• Best Booths wines: 25 brilliant seasonal buys
• Discover Sainsbury’s best new wines of autumn 2025: Highlights from Australia, France and Spain
• Discover top Co-op wines: Best buys for autumn and winter revealed

Can a black grape make a white wine? Although the question might seem odd, winemakers have been working with this idea for hundreds of years.

While black/red grapes have dark skins, which is responsible for the colour when making red wine, most (though not all) have white flesh – and therefore white juice. This allows the production of white wines made from black grapes by quickly and gently pressing the grape and avoiding colour extraction.

The practice of using red grapes in still white wine production has been known for centuries, and wines made this way are often referred to as ‘blanc de noir’ (literally ‘white from black’).

Though an established style, it’s not a common one. The white Merlots made in Switzerland’s Lugano region and the use of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier to make white Champagne, are among the most notable and famous examples.

But there’s a growing movement based around this concept in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

From the ashes

In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, the relatively cool climate provides ideal conditions for Pinot Noir. Here, the grape is the leading variety, accounting for 60% of the overall planted acreage, according to the Oregon Wine Board.

However, the massive wildfires in 2020 and the fear that skins would retain smoke taint gave this new white wine production a boost, as it gave winemakers an outlet to salvage some of the black grapes from the difficult harvest by just using the white juice.​

The result has been a growing number of ‘white Pinot Noirs’ that, rather than fading away as a one-off expediency, have become fixtures on winery line-ups.

Styles are varied, though many winemakers opt to age theirs in barrel for six to seven months before bottling – which means they’re ready in time for tastings in the spring.

In general, the profile is a clean, bright palate with notes of green apple, mandarin, and honeydew, with balanced minerality and acidity.

A new style for Oregon Pinot Noir

Tony Rynders, the co-founder of Tendril Cellars, was among the first winemakers to make white Pinot Noir in Oregon – long before the 2020 fires in fact.

While he was working at Domain Serene, he met a winemaker from Italy at the International Pinot Noir Celebration in 2004, who told him about the white Pinot Noir production in his region.

‘When he was describing it, the light bulb just went off for me. He didn’t have the wine with him, and I never tasted it, but I thought that it was cool and I wanted to make one,’ said Rynders.

It has become one of the signature wines, and one that Rynders continued to make at Tendril after departing Domaine Serene in 2008. At Tendril Cellars, he calls it ‘Pretender’ because, ‘it’s Pinot Noir, but it pretends to be a white wine’, and sells around 175 cases a year – nearly all of it direct from the cellar door.

He continues: ‘With Pretender, we pick the grapes at full maturity when the fruit is just ripe enough to make red wine. That is how we achieve the rich texture of this wine.’

Rynders does partial pressing and yields only about 60% of the juice used to make the wine. The juice maintains the grapes’ natural acidity and preserves the pH. He then matures the wine in neutral French barrels for 16 months, longer than other producers in the region.

During that period, the wine loses whatever colour it might have acquired during pressing. ‘By not having any poppable colour in our white Pinot Noir allows us to add more shelf life to the wine, a little more of the ageing potential. If there is a colour in these wines, they don’t age as well as they could,’ Rynders explains.

He decided to go even further and officially obtain approval for White Pinot Noir on the label by lobbying the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

In 2004, with the first vintage of the wine, he presented the idea to the agency and explained what it was and how it was made. ‘It didn’t really fit into a neat box for them. They initially weren’t going to let us use the term “White Pinot Noir” until I was able to convince them that it was Pinot Noir, just made as a white wine; So it is a tangent of Pinot Noir,’ Rynders remembers.

Still from sparkling

White Pinot Noir is one of the additions that another winemaker in Willamette Valley, Jessica Mozeico, introduced to Et Fille Wines in 2022.

‘It was never on my radar, and I was vaguely familiar with the concept,’ says Mozeico. ‘However, when I started making sparkling wine, I loved the base wine from our Pinot. I thought if I like the aromatics and acidity of this base wine, why not make it into a still wine?’

Mozeico uses the same block of Pinot Noir grapes for rosé and sparkling wine planted in 2003. This side of the vineyard is cropped more heavily to prevent fast maturity and the leaves are left to provide shade.

The grapes for rosé and white Pinot Noir are harvested at the same time. At the winery, these two wines are processed almost identically.

When pressed, Mozeico seeks free-run juice to minimise skin contact. There have been years when she refused to make a white Pinot because she couldn’t drop the colour.

‘There are certain things that I am looking for in this wine,’ says Mozeico, ‘I am looking for white colour, stone fruit aromatics, nectarine, peach, and some early strawberries. But if it starts to get beyond that, I put it in the rosé category.’

A Washington white wine maverick

In Washington State’s Columbia Valley, there aren’t many producers working with Pinot Noir.

The region is largely characterised by hot growing conditions and is a preferred terroir for Bordeaux varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and has become well known for Syrah.

Massalto works with one of the few vineyards to grow the grape there, and it’s the only winery using it to make white wine.

‘It reminds me of a combination of Viognier and Chardonnay. Part of that is the barrel fermentation. But with the notes of stone fruits and citrus, Pinot Noir makes me think of a white wine, actually,’ says Matías Kúsulas, the co-founder of Massalto Wine.

After tasting a white Pinot in Oregon in 2018, Kúsulas and his business partner, Chef Michael Ruhland, decided to make one at Massalto from fruit grown at Solaksen Vineyard, part of the Lawrence Estate Vineyards, where Kúsulas makes the wines at Gård.

Massalto is becoming known for its unorthodox and innovative approach to winemaking (using techniques like pre-and/or extended post-fermentation maceration), evident in the white Pinot Noir.

Along with playing with the harvest time to further drive certain flavours in the wine, in the cellar, Kúsulas tinkers further, pressing whole bunches at different pressures, and choosing between partial and no malolactic fermentation.

All of this experimenting took the winemaker through several harvests before Kúsulas achieved the bold style he sought; something that ‘separates them from the others,’ he says.

​

The 2020 vintage eventually gave him what he was looking for.

Unlike previous years, the fruit was left to hang longer. After pressing, the juice went straight to the barrel and produced a completely different profile than they expected for white Pinot Noir. ‘Very rich, tons of stone fruit with a little bit of citrus, the viscosity, the texture was amazing! It was actually a very serious wine,’ says Kúsulas.

This became the way Massalto makes its white Pinot Noir called Facade. The label’s artwork is a woman with a mask, partially covering her face, like this red grape, pretending to be something else.

A selection of white Pinot Noir:

Related articles

Wines of the Year 2025: North America

Napa Cabernet 2022: Best value wines of the vintage

How did 2025 taste for you? US wine professionals name year-defining styles

The style of Echézeaux wines is highly diverse since there are nearly 60 proprietors who own vines in the appellation’s 11 lieux-dits.

Many own parcels in more than one section, and thus the wines are often blends. Officially, all the wines are Echézeaux, full stop – it is prohibited to indicate the origin more specifically.

Even if some domaines have done so in the past, the authorities are now forbidding this practice.

The key to understanding the wines is more about knowing the individual producers than memorising the particularities of each terroir. Here are a few of my personal favourites:

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti

It is impossible to discuss Echézeaux without an appreciation of the wines of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

It is by far the largest owner, with 4.67 ha (12.2% of the total). Nearly all of this is located in Les Poulaillères.

The wine is usually among the first from the Domaine to hit maturity, and there is a fleshy, forward exuberance to it that I find particularly charming.

Domaine Emmanuel Rouget

In contrast to other producers, I have often found Rouget’s Echézeaux to be savoury, mineral and tannic, with a structured and muscular approach.

Emmanuel’s son, Guillaume Rouget, is now farming his family’s 1.43 ha in Echézeaux. The family is the third-largest proprietor of the appellation, and the vines are grouped in the southern part of the appellation, in Cruots, Les Treux, and Clos Saint-Denis.

Guillaume blends the parcels together to make a singular, delicious wine.

Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg

I have been a fan for many years of the Echézeaux produced by Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg.

The domaine has owned since the 1930s nearly a hectare of vines in two parcels: Rouges du Bas and Quartiers de Nuits.

Since 2016, they farm the entire parcel in Rouges du Bas, but the vines in Quartier de Nuits are sharecropped by their cousin Pascal Mugneret.

Because of the sharecropping arrangement the blend is often dominated by grape from the old vines on the steep slopes of Rouges du Bas, which have been vinified in recent years with a proportion of whole clusters.

The wine often seems the most approachable of the three grand crus produced by the domaine.

Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair

From the earliest vintages of Liger-Belair’s Echézeaux my notes describe it as lush and forward with an emphasis on the explosive nature of the fruit as opposed to the more cerebral wines from La Romanée and Aux Reignots.

The cuvée represents an elegant balance of several different parts of the vineyard since his 0.86ha holding comes from parcels ranging from Champs Traversins to Cruots or Vignes Blanches, Clos-St-Denis, and a recently added parcel of Echézeaux du Dessus.

Domaine Faiveley

Faiveley owns 0.83 ha of Echézeaux located on the south-facing slope of lieu-dit En Orveaux in white marl soil.

This is a cooler, late-ripening spot that delivers wines with freshness and structure. Because it sits right on the border with Chambolle-Musigny premier cru Combe d’Orveau – where the family also owns vines – the style of the wine can resemble the wines of Chambolle in its purity of fruit and exquisite perfume.

Domaine d’Eugenie

François Pinault’s Artemis Domaines is in the process of refashioning its presence in the Côte de Nuits.

The group purchased the historic, highly-regarded Domaine René Engel in 2006 and renamed it Domaine d’Eugenie. Winemaking was modernised at the new estate by talented Technical Director Michel Mallard, who departed after the 2022 vintage to focus on his domaine in Ladoix.

Jaeok Cramette, late of Château Grillet, has been given the reins – and some marvellous new vineyards. Artemis has detached several choice parcels, notably 0.40 ha of Echézeaux, from the portfolio of Bouchard Père et Fils.

This complements the 0.50 ha of Echézeaux owned by René Engel since all of the vines are in lieu-dit En Orveaux. To judge from my initial tasting of these wines, she is off to a fantastic start.

Domaine des Perdrix

Domaine des Perdrix farms 1.15ha of Echézeaux; 0.85ha in Echézeaux du Dessus, and the balance in Quartiers de Nuits.

It produces a cuvée that is a barrel selection from Echézeaux du Dessus and another that is a blend of Echézeaux du Dessus and Quartiers de Nuits. Some of the grapes from the latter are declassified into their village-level Vosne bottling.

The grapes are fermented with 30% whole clusters and are aged in cask (50% new) for 15 months.

Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret

Rich, dark, and powerful, the Echézeaux that I have tasted from Mongeard-Mugneret are often structured and dense.

The grapes, sometimes picked on the later side, come from parcels scattered throughout the climat.

The fruit is destemmed or vinified with some whole bunches according to the demands of the year, and aged with a generous proportion of new oak.

The domaine owns three parcels in Echézeaux du Dessus, balanced by another in En Orveaux and another in Les Treux which total 2.60 hectares, second only to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in size.

Domaine Hoffmann-Jayer

Domaine Hoffmann-Jayer is managed today by energetic young winemaker Alexandre Vernet, who farms 0.54 ha of Echézeaux du Dessus located just above Grands Echézeaux – the plot used to belong to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

The vines are more than 60 years old, and Vernet ferments them with up to 40% whole clusters depending on the vintage before ageing in cask (30% new) and bottling unfiltered.

The result is elegant and forward with complex fruit character and understated oak aromas.

Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet

Amelie Berthaut farms 0.21 ha of Echézeaux split between parcels in Quartiers de Nuits, Les Treux, and Champs Traversins.

She describes the differences : ‘Les Treux has the deepest soils and gives a plump wine – I only have one row, but it’s 80 years old. Quartiers de Nuits has lots of little stones, and Champs Traversins is located at the top of the slope next to the wood, which is a cooler site with slightly sandy soils.’

It’s the combination of the soil, the vine stock, and the winegrower – each is important in the mix. She often uses 70–80% whole clusters and ages the wine without any new casks. The result is positively delicious.

Related articles

• Richebourg vs Romanée-St-Vivant: Comparing two of Burgundy’s famous grands crus
• Montrachet 2014: When is the right time to drink up?
• Domaine Dugat-Py: A legacy of evolution and elegance in Gevrey-Chambertin

‘Maximum quality for minimum cost’ is my mantra when it comes to Burgundy, particularly as prices spiral and the economy seems less certain.

Searching for value seems a safe proposition, but value as a sole proposition can lead a wine lover to overlook wines of compelling beauty, and the sweet spot is the intersection of terroir, winemaking savvy, and price.

Over the past year I have been thrilled with wines that cover the broad spectrum of Echézeaux, an appellation that is often misunderstood.

Misunderstandings (and underestimations) occur because Echézeaux is a complicated appellation and the history is not exactly straightforward.

A splintered history

The vineyard was originally the property of the monks of Cîteaux Abbey. The Abbey’s 1718 Grand Atlas showing its holdings refers to a ‘Vigne des Echézeaux’.

This included Les Echézeaux Hauts (today’s Echézeaux du Dessus), Les Echézeaux Bas (our Grands Echézeaux), and several other vineyards in the vicinity, including parts of the Combe d’Orveaux that are today included in Echézeaux.

Other vines in the area were not yet planted or did not belong to the Abbey.

Historian Jean-François Bazin tells us that the monks did not work these vines themselves (unlike the Clos de Vougeot and Richebourg), and at the time of the French Revolution, much of this land was rented to the growers tending the vines. For this reason, the Vignes des Echézeaux was not confiscated as other holdings were.

In the early years of the 19th century, Napoleon’s government drew up the cadastre, or land registry, and each of these areas was given a different name or lieu-dit, but the growers continued to sell their produce as ‘Echézeaux’.

The practice was challenged in court in 1925 by Etienne Camuzet and Eugène Mongeard-Mugneret. The pair lost their case, however, and when the appellation was created in 1936, the surrounding vines were all included in Echézeaux.

Today Echézeaux includes some or all of no fewer than 11 lieux-dits (see below).

The central kernel of the Echézeaux Hauts had expanded from 2.63ha to 3.55ha by 1855, and following the decision of the judges in Beaune, a total of 36.27ha was included in the appellation, according to the BIVB.

A close reading of the regulations gives an even higher total, however, and local expert Laurent Gotti places the figure at 38.14ha.

Location and aspect

Echézeaux is at the centre of the stretch of contiguous grand cru slope that begins with Musigny and includes the Clos de Vougeot.

The vineyard is located entirely within the village of Flagey-Echézeaux, although Flagey itself seldom appears on a wine label since the wines are sold as Vosne-Romanée.

Echézeaux du Dessus is the historic heart of the appellation, located in the middle of the slope and surrounded by other grands crus.

It is sheltered from the cooling influence of the Combe d’Orveaux and located at the base of the slope on a healthy depth of Jurassic marls. The ownership here is split between eight domaines.

Immediately north of Echézeaux du Dessus is Les Poulaillères. This lieu-dit is located more directly on the rocky alluvial cone of the Combe. It is almost exclusively the property of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

Bordering Echézeaux du Dessus is Les Loächausses, a monopole of the Gros family, with holdings from Anne Gros, AF Gros, and Gros Frère et Sœur.

Bordering Les Loächausses to the south is Les Cruots ou Vignes Blanches, made famous by Henri Jayer, who said it was the best terroir of the appellation.

Further up the slope lies the 3ha Rouges du Bas, planted on steeper slopes with a thinner layer of marl atop the limestone. The most famous Echézeaux produced here was that of Domaine Méo-Camuzet, whose label until 2021 featured the name of the lieu-dit.

Les Beaux Monts Bas borders Rouges du Bas to the south, but only a small portion of the bottom of this appellation is included in Echézeaux; the rest of the climat is classified in premier cru.

North of Rouges de Bas one finds Les Champs Traversins, whose vines are planted north-south across the slope to limit erosion.

South of Grands Echézeaux and further down the slope lie three lieux-dits that were regarded in the 19th century classification of Dr Lavalle as a step lower in quality than the rest of today’s appellation.

These include Les Treux, immediately south of Grands Echézeaux, the Clos-St-Denis (not to be confused with the grand cru of the same name in Morey-Saint-Denis), and Les Quartiers de Nuits, located between the southern end of the Clos de Vougeot and the village-level Vosne vineyard of Mazières-Hautes.

At the northern extremity of the appellation lies an 8ha section of the vineyard called En Orveaux. These vines formed part of the estate of the monks of Cîteaux.

This lieu-dit lies squarely in the Combe d’Orveaux. The combe makes it a very cool terroir, but even if the northern portion faces due south and the alluvial soils here are very well-drained, it ripens late.

Terroir

The terroir of the appellation is far from consistent. At the base of the slope, the vineyard is nearly flat (as are the nearby Grands Echézeaux and Clos de Vougeot), but the grade is nearly 15% at the top in Les Beax Monts Bas.

The soil is Jurassic-era marl mixed with clay, but it varies from 80 cm deep at the bottom and less than half of that at the top.

The soil sits over a limestone bedrock that also varies, from oolitic limestone at the top to Prémeaux and Comblanchien, with notable quantities of pebbles, stones and larger rocks in the valley called the Combe d’Orveaux.

Much of the vineyard faces east, but the sections in the Combe d’Orveaux are more varied.

The lieux-dits

Echézeaux du Dessus 4.48ha

Les Poulaillères 5.24ha

Les Loächausses 2.22ha

Les Cruots ou Vignes Blanches 3.16ha

Les Rouges du Bas 3.09ha

Les Beaux Monts Bas 0.77ha

Les Champs Traversins 3.58ha

Les Treux 4.76ha

Clos-St-Denis 1.66ha

Les Quartiers de Nuits 1.15ha

En Orveaux 8.03ha

Ten wines from Echézeaux:

Related articles

• Richebourg vs Romanée-St-Vivant: Comparing two of Burgundy’s famous grands crus
• Montrachet 2014: When is the right time to drink up?
• Domaine Dugat-Py: A legacy of evolution and elegance in Gevrey-Chambertin

Of all the many thousands of wines tasted by Decanter every year, only a small handful ever gain the very highest score of 100.

This year, in fact, a mere 30 wines (tasted between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025) gained that coveted triple-digit score. In the immortal words of Cilla Black, let’s look at what they are and where they come from.

Top-scorers by country

As two countries that feature heavily both online and in print, the bulk of this year’s top-scoring wines came from France and the US.

France had the higher number of 100-point scores by far – 15 wines (50%) versus 12 (40%) from the US – while Italy with two 100-point wines and Australia with just one made up the difference.

Top-scorers by region

Drilling down into the regions things get a little more interesting. We can see that the French wines are split among several regions, with Bordeaux taking the largest share of 100-point wines (nine wines overall or 30% of the total).

However, the largest single region for top scores was California, with 11 wines (36.7%) that received a 100-point score.

The Rhône Valley was the third most-awarded region with five (16.7%) of the top scores, while Western Australia, Burgundy, Oregon, Tuscany and Piedmont all picked up one perfect score apiece.

Top-scorers by appellation

The most-awarded appellation overall was the Napa Valley, which had 10 wines with a 100-point score (mostly from one standout vintage, which was also the case with many of the Bordeaux wines as we’ll explore below).

There were three wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape as the second highly rated appellation – though probably not wines you would expect – followed by Cornas, Pauillac, Pessac-Léognan, Pomerol and St-Emilion which all had two 100-point scores this past year.

The remaining appellations were Barolo, La Tâche, Margaret River, Margaux, Sonoma County, Toscana, and Willamette Valley with one 100-point wine apiece.

And now let’s briefly look at those wines.

France

Bordeaux

Many of the vintage reports published this year have focused on the very difficult 2024 vintage, which has not yielded many exceptional wines overall.

However, Bordeaux editor Georgie Hindle also reviewed the recently bottled and shipped 2022 vintage from Bordeaux which was a different story altogether.

In her report published in March, she said of the vintage: ‘The 2022s have emerged as wines out to please. As a group they are highly charged and powerful with an impressive amount of fruit, tannins and alcohol, yet they are refined and balanced with a sense of classicism.’

She gave six wines a score of 100-points – three each from the left and right banks.

She also gave a perfect score to the ‘monumental’ 2016 vintage of Château Latour, finally released from the estate’s cellars this spring.

Two wines from the 2015 vintage, Château Margaux and Château Lafleur confirmed in their majesty 10 years on.

Rhône Valley

Matt Walls covers the Rhône extensively for Decanter and this February he wrote about an especially memorable tasting at Château de Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which yielded three 100-point wines.

These were not the estate’s reds though – but rather its ‘masterpiece’ of a white wine, the Roussanne Vieilles Vignes.

Tasted while scenes from Netflix’s Drops of God adaptation were filmed in the background, Walls was thoroughly seduced by what he calls ‘one of France’s greatest Mediterranean whites’, with many high scores given including three digits for three vintages: 2020, 2014 and 1988.

There was room for a couple of top-scoring reds though, notably two 2010 Cornas from Domaine Clape and Vincent Paris, which are among Walls’s favourite vintages from that appellation to drink now.

Burgundy

For a region with such a sterling reputation, there was just one wine that claimed a ‘perfect’ score in 2025. Maybe the standards of expectation from the Côte d’Or are that much higher?

Nonetheless, the unsurprising top-scorer was from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, with the domaine’s La Tâche 2022 getting the seal of approval from Charles Curtis MW during his in-bottle tasting this spring.

US

Napa Valley

Like Bordeaux, the bulk of top scores for Napa Valley this year came from the 2022 vintage, which was also not necessarily a straightforward growing season but from which some true gems have emerged.

Jonathan Cristaldi wrote in his report: ‘Compared to more structured, long-ageing vintages such as 2021 or 2019, the 2022s are approachable, plush and opulent.

‘Tannin structure varies, with some wines showcasing excellent granular grip and ageing potential while others exhibit a smoother, more fruit-driven profile that leans toward early drinking.’

Cristaldi ultimately gave six wines from the 2022 vintage 100 points, alongside another four from the 2021 – giving Napa its rather awesome tally of 10 top-scores this year.

Sonoma and Willamette Valley

The only US wines breaking Napa’s stranglehold on the crown were a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay duo.

In her report on the wines from the Sonoma Coast in 2022 (there’s that vintage again), Ana Carolina Quintela gave 100-points to the Cuvée Elizabeth Pinot Noir from Occidental. A true ‘wow-moment wine’ she noted.

And our North America editor, Clive Pursehouse, awarded his very first 100-point wine to the ‘captivating’ Bethel Heights’ The High Wire Chardonnay 2023 from Willamette Valley in Oregon.

Best of the rest

Italy

A rather diplomatic split of one 100-point score each for Italy’s premier regions of Piedmont and Tuscany this year.

Michaela Morris dished out a top-score to Giacomo Conterno’s Montfortino Riserva 2019 in her review of that newly-released batch of wines.

And Italy editor, James Button, couldn’t help but give 100-points to the ‘impeccably harmonious and long-lived’ 2006 Masseto during a vertical of the Super Tuscan at the start of the year.

Australia

And to wrap things up, while reviewing the wines being released through La Place de Bordeaux this autumn, Hindle gave top marks to the Cloudburst Chardonnay from Margaret River.

She wrote: ‘Round, utterly moreish from the first sip – this is engaging, mouthwatering, alive and so utterly enjoyable. I’d never tire of drinking this wine.’

Decanter’s 100-point wines of 2025:

Related content

Bordeaux 2022: The 100-point wines

Napa Cabernet Sauvignon 2022: Vintage report and buyer’s guide

‘This is my first 100-point wine after nearly 4,000 in my three years at Decanter’

When the subject is California Pinot Noir, 10 out of 10 wine drinkers would probably name Sonoma, Santa Barbara, maybe Anderson Valley, or just about anywhere else before San Benito County even crosses their mind.

And, chances are, some people don’t realise that it is a prime wine-growing area at all — a particular kind of shame, once you learn that it has been home for half a century to one of California’s most influential Pinot pioneers: Calera.

A terroir convert

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025, Calera is the late Josh Jensen’s dream come true and exists mainly because of his vision and determination. The broad strokes are well known: Jensen, California-born, Yale and Oxford-educated, worked harvests in Burgundy at both Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Domaine Dujac before returning home to track down the best corner in California for Pinot Noir.

Fresh back from France, that meant limestone.

He became a full convert to French terroir — a concept still obscure, if not entirely unknown, in California at the time.

His two-year search led him to Mt Harlan in the Gabilan Mountains, a high-elevation ridge (at 2,200ft or 670m) shaped by the cooling Monterey Bay winds and, most importantly, the limestone soils he’d been hunting.

And Jensen didn’t arrive empty-handed…

The suitcase story

As the story goes, Jensen brought Pinot Noir cuttings back from Burgundy. He first planted them at Chalone before propagating them atop Mt Harlan, where they became the foundation of Calera’s vineyards.

It’s hard to say precisely what happened and what Jensen might have smuggled back in his suitcase — he passed away in 2022, and he kept the specifics close.

Beyond Jensen’s well-known journey, what often slips beneath the surface is just how much of California’s Pinot Noir history now traces back to him and to Calera.

The Burgundian cuttings, the original Mt Harlan vineyards, and a winemaking approach that helped establish benchmarks for ageworthy California Pinot Noir are all part of his legacy.

‘You can’t talk about California Pinot without talking about Calera,’ says Justin Ennis, winemaker at Joseph Phelps Freestone. who farms 29.5 acres (11.5ha) of Calera selection on the Sonoma Coast.

A California clone

It turns out that in the 1980s, budwood from Calera was widely spread across vineyards throughout the state, from the Sonoma Coast to the Russian River to Santa Barbara and beyond.

‘While Josh was carefully growing his estate, he was also very generous with giving cuttings out. Larry Hyde and Steve Kistler, for example, came in and got cuttings from us, and then, you know, now they’re everywhere,’ says Mike Waller, Calera’s winemaker.

The Calera clone, as we know today, didn’t simply replicate itself in perfect little carbon copies across California. Pinot Noir never behaves that way, viticulturists like to say.

Over the years, through many different propagations and in new soils, the material evolved and adapted to California’s climate, becoming distinct enough that UC Davis Foundation Plant Services has registered it.

‘If you’re trying to make one of the finest wines possible, Calera is really solid material to start with,’ says Ennis.

‘There’s this overall elegance you get from Calera because of the complexity in the clusters, the different berry sizes, the different fruit set timing, the way it all comes together. It’s less about fruit and more about savoury elements,’ adds Jeff Mangahas, winemaker at Williams Selyem, who farms six acres of Calera clone Pinot Noir (2.4ha), noting how recognisable the clone’s structural identity can be.

An approach marked by elegance

Jensen’s push to redefine what California Pinot Noir could achieve also touched his winemaking and philosophy on native fermentations, minimal interference, no filtration, and his core belief in terroir.

Waller, who worked alongside Jensen for 12 years, says: ‘Josh had no technical background. He had a vision. He learned something from the greatest Burgundies in the world and brought that over. He made wines in a very specific, hands-off way, and those risks made the wines even more special.’

Within the world of sommeliers and winemakers, Calera carries a cult-like reverence. Old bottles, especially from the original vineyards — Jensen, Reed, and Selleck — have a collectable status comparable to top Pinot Noirs around the world.

Daniel Alday, sommelier and beverage director at Verjus in San Francisco, says: ‘Josh was instrumental in proving that California Pinots can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best Burgundy has to offer. Over the years, I’ve tasted several different Calera bottlings across vintages and vineyard sites, and the wines are always shocking in how much fresh red fruit and electric acidity remain after 30 or 40 years.’

Truly timeless

Outside that circle, in the broader wine world, though, Calera remains ‘under the radar.’ Being the sole commercial winery on the remote Mt Harlan AVA probably doesn’t help.

‘Sometimes we do get overlooked because there are so many Pinot producers and so many hot regions,’ says Waller. ‘But people find Calera along their wine journeys. Eventually, they realise we were one of the classics.’

Calera’s place in California wine history isn’t really up for debate, but it’s another thing entirely to taste through a comprehensive lineup and let the wines make the argument themselves.

At a recent retrospective, bottles stretching back 40 years from the Jensen and Reed vineyards didn’t feel like relics lost to time; the younger wines still had the familiar Calera nerve, structure, and freshness.

Taken together, they tell a surprisingly cohesive story and make it seem as if the next 50 years might be more of a continuation than a reinvention.

‘I’m carrying on Josh’s tradition. The winemaking hasn’t changed at all,’ says Waller.

Classic Calera: A look at California Pinot history

Related articles

• Are California’s best sparkling wines from the Central Coast?
• Singular US Pinot Noir: 20 vineyards where the variety has found a home
• Anderson Valley Pinot Noir: A look at the 2021 vintage

If Sauvignon Blanc built New Zealand’s reputation, Pinot Noir is where it intends to cement its fine wine credentials. That much was clear at the industry’s flagship event, Pinot Noir New Zealand 2025 (PN25), held in Christchurch earlier this year – the first since 2017 after a pandemic-related hiatus.

Over three days, producers presented their wares for debate, tasting and scrutiny by local and international critics and trade. The verdict? The wines are more exciting than ever, but the category faces a defining moment: push harder for global recognition or risk fading into the background of the fine wine conversation.

Many international attendees were struck by the stylistic shift. The glossy, oak-sweetened Pinots of the early days are largely gone, replaced by wines of greater finesse, freshness and site transparency.

‘There’s a real sense of confidence now,’ noted consultant and DWWA judge Madeleine Stenwreth MW. ‘Producers don’t feel the need to push so hard to prove themselves. They are showing much more place, much more vineyard.’

‘The interplay of site and clone is clearer, inspiring a wave of single-vineyard wines’

Emma Jenkins MW

Winds of change

New Zealand’s hallmark has long been vibrant fruit purity and consistency, with Pinots typically marrying aromatic, juicy red and black fruits with savoury depth and natural freshness. While wine drinkers have enjoyed that consistency, some critics wonder whether it has limited the country’s evolution.

Burgundy expert and author Jasper Morris MW, visiting in late 2024, observed: ‘Not a lot has really changed between my various visits. Certainly people are more competent and the understanding of locations is better, but have there really been that many new people? You can’t keep saying the same story, as the unfortunate reality is this will not capture the world’s interest.’

With more than 5,600ha under vine, Pinot Noir is New Zealand’s second most planted grape, the key red variety from Wairarapa south. Central Otago, despite having just 4.9% of the nation’s vineyards, produces nearly 30% of its Pinot Noir.

Few countries boast such a range of cool-climate terroirs and when tasted side-by-side, the regional and sub-regional differences are increasingly distinct. The challenge – and opportunity – is how to communicate this diversity in markets where Burgundy, Oregon and increasingly Germany dominate the conversation. Internationally, New Zealand is no longer a newcomer.

Consumers may recognise established names but often fail to explore beyond them. While exports have been falling, after reaching a peak in 2018, and global market visibility remains a challenge, those closer to home know that styles have indeed broadened. Winemakers are embracing differences rather than smoothing them away.

The past decade has brought a burst of natural and ‘nouveau’ wines, small-batch experiments and even the occasional blend. A more nuanced, site-responsive approach has emerged, prioritising terroir over winemaking showmanship. As vines have matured, the interplay of site and clone is clearer, inspiring a wave of single-vineyard wines.

Whether these are genuinely superior or simply distinct is still open to debate, but this shift from technical ambition to authentic site expression marks an evolution.

‘New Zealand Pinot now seems to be more nuanced, freer of the technical obsession that once led many wines into the same flavour space,’ said UK critic Jamie Goode at PN25.

Generational change is also reshaping the landscape. Young winemakers and new entrants, often running side hustles or small projects, are pushing boundaries with an increasing focus on organic and biodynamic farming and low intervention styles.

Many rely on fruit from premium growers or shared production spaces, reflecting both the high capital costs and collaborative spirit of the new wave.

Decanter New Zealand Pinot Noir vintage rating

New Zealand’s geography can make vintage generalisations difficult. Some vintages – 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2024 – have had more uniform conditions, but it always pays to check by individual region.

2024: *****

Lower yields this year but exceptional quality; warm, dry conditions and cool nights. Balanced, ageworthy wines.

2023: ****

Cyclone Gabrielle challenged the northeastern coast. Tricky year for many, though some good wines, if unlikely to be long-cellaring. Much more solid across the South Island. Decent yields.

2022: ***

Solid yields. For most, a very humid February was aided by a drier autumn: look for fastidious producers. An excellent year for Central Otago.

2021: *****

Early, very dry season. Low yields but very good quality across both islands.

2020: *****

The ‘lockdown’ vintage; fortunately, Mother Nature was smiling. Excellent quality, low yields.

New Zealand’s defining wine?

Yet despite the quality and diversity, Pinot Noir hasn’t achieved the global breakthrough enjoyed by Sauvignon Blanc. Plantings have fallen by almost 200ha in the past decade, exports and overall domestic wine consumption are both falling, and Pinot Gris now outsells Pinot Noir overseas.

Rising production costs add further challenges. Visibility is a perennial hurdle and limited quantities of the best wines make them difficult to f ind in key markets such as the US and UK.

As PN25 keynote speaker Eric Asimov cautioned: ‘Potential and possibility don’t create awareness. You need people on the ground – importers, distributors – championing these wines.’

Still, there’s energy in the air and a sense of momentum. Both 2024 and 2025 delivered high-quality vintages across the regions, and most producers are driven by site and purpose rather than scale. Their wines increasingly reflect that authenticity.

At 89, Central Otago pioneer Alan Brady (who first planted grapes in Gibbston valley in 1981 and has just built his third winery, Wild Irishman), remains upbeat.

‘It’s Pinot Noir that’s shown us where to go,’ he says. ‘If we’re wise, we won’t let the marketplace dictate style but continue to develop our empathy and understanding of our vineyards.’

That balance of humility and dedication is serving New Zealand well. Great Pinot Noir takes time, and within little more than a generation, the country has established an impressive degree of quality with the promise of more to come.

For drinkers around the world, the message is simple: New Zealand Pinot Noir has never been more compelling – it’s nuanced, diverse, deeply rooted in place and increasingly ageworthy. If producers maintain their quality focus, tell their stories with conviction and build allies in key markets, Pinot Noir could yet become New Zealand’s defining wine.

Around New Zealand’s Pinot Noir regions

Wairarapa

Small but significant region, home to pioneering, world-class wineries. Three sub-regions: Martinborough, Gladstone and Masterton. Pinot accounts for roughly half of plantings (slightly more in Martinborough). Devigorating wind and deep gravelly soils produce low yields and thicker skins; wines are aromatic and structured, with savoury complexity. Key area for Abel, the ‘gumboot clone’ said to have been propagated from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s La Tâche vineyard.

Marlborough

The shift from stony valley floor sites to the rolling, clay-based hillsides of the Southern Valleys, alongside clonal refinement, has led to major quality gains. Exciting wines are emerging from the cooler, drier, more exposed Awatere. While many archetypal wines remain, there’s also good value via the larger producers. Wines are typically fragrant, red-fruited and midweight with fine tannins. Key area for sparkling and rosé.

Nelson

Enjoys similar sunshine hours to Marlborough but with more sheltering hills, producing perfumed, expressively fruity wines. The Moutere’s clay soils lend silky tannins and supple texture.

North Canterbury

Early vineyards were planted near South Island’s biggest city Christchurch, but recent decades have seen a northward shift to the drier, more sheltered rolling hills of Waipara and the inland limestone soils of Waikari. Wines are perfumed and spicy with red/black fruits, and supple, textural structure.

Central Otago

Pinot Noir is the region’s flagship variety, just exceeding 80% of plantings. Six distinct sub-regions – Alexandra, Bannockburn, Bendigo, Gibbston, Lowburn/Pisa and Wanaka – sit on quartz/schist/granite and glacial soils. Aromatic, supple wines with vivid red or black fruits, spice and dried herbs, supported by notable acid/tannin spines.

See Emma’s pick from the latest New Zealand Pinot Noir releases

Related articles

• The Central Otago-Burgundy exchange: Co-fermenting cultures, transforming viticulture
• Why now is the time to embrace New Zealand Chardonnay
• Down to earth: Talking Pinot Noir with Sam Neill

Five examples of grape varieties that power great wines to pair with roast duck or goose are:

• Pinot Noir 
• Barbera
• Mencía
• Riesling
• Pinot Gris

Traditional roast duck is a key element of Christmas dinner in Denmark, while goose was at one time the go-to festive meat in England.

Whether you’re going Danish-style or old-school this year, or simply fancy a change, duck or goose will likely give you a richer meat on the festive dinner table than the classic turkey.

Look for medium-bodied wines with relatively high acidity to cut through the fat content of the showpiece roast duck or goose, but also enough juicy fruit concentration and depth to meet the intensity of the meat.

Pinot Noir is often named as a classic pairing for duck, while white wines combining refreshing acidity with richness can be a great match for goose, such as off-dry Riesling or Alsace Pinot Gris.

Decanter Premium is the ideal last-minute gift for wine lovers!

Think about the intensity of the dish, and any elements of sweetness or acidity delivered by other ingredients on the plate or table, too.

Ultimately, it’s also important to remember that personal preference is a big part of the equation when it comes to food and wine pairing.

Is red or white wine better with roast duck?

Medium-bodied reds with a good concentration of bright red fruit and relatively high acidity should generally work well with roast duck.

Some oak and tannin influence can add depth, but watch out for them overpowering the dish. Tannins should soften over time in the best red wines built to age.

Pinot Noir is a classic choice with duck, although styles differ in intensity and balance of aromas. Burgundy is Pinot Noir’s heartland, but there are many regions to explore around the world. See Decanter’s recent panel tasting on German Spätburgunder, for instance.

Sauces or other ingredients, such as those in a stuffing mix, might affect the equation.

This Decanter.com archive article by Matthieu Longuère MS, wine development manager at Le Cordon Bleu London culinary school, offers advice on pairing wine with duck cooked in different ways.

He suggested Pinot Gris from Alsace as a white wine option with classic duck à l’orange, or Mencía from Spain’s Galicia region as a great red wine option.

‘[The wine] needs to have enough acidity and a hint of richness to cope with the sauce, yet enough body not to be overwhelmed by the texture of the bird.’

Mourvèdre, Merlot, Syrah or Cabernet Franc red wines all have potential to match well with duck. Mourvèdre-dominant wines ‘can be a sensual partner for duck, especially cooked Provençal style with olives’, wrote Decanter food and wine expert Fiona Beckett, author of Matchingfoodandwine.com.

Wines to drink with roast goose

A roast goose on the festive table could call for the rich texture and refreshing acidity of some top Riesling styles. See this buying guide to German Riesling for starters.

Some wines have ginger spice notes and slight sweetness, which may work particularly well accompanying a goose roasted with a classic five spice mix.

Explore Vouvray white wines (Chenin Blanc) from France’s Loire Valley, too, with the aforementioned Pinot Gris also worth considering.

As for reds, why not head to northern Italy? Ronan Sayburn MS, Co-Chair at the Decanter World Wine Awards, previously recommended Barbera d’Alba from Piedmont.

‘Goose has dark meat which is full of flavour and a fattiness that Cranberry sauce cuts through well. Barbera is light and juicy with great acidity and fleshy red berry fruit.’ 

Duck with rosé Champagne

Depending on your budget, a gastronomic rosé Champagne could add an extra splash of indulgence to festive roast duck. Beyond Champagne itself, look to traditional-method sparkling rosés, too.

A twist on the theme could be the classic French dish of ‘magrez de canard’ with blanc de noirs styles, showcasing Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier, as recommended by the Comité Champagne.

Kathrine Larsen-Robert MS, head of wine for Europe at members’ club 67 Pall Mall, told Decanter last year she would pair Larmandier-Bernier Rosé de Saignée Champagne with duck at Christmas.

Larsen-Robert said this wine would match well with roast turkey. She pairs it with duck, however, in a festive nod to her Danish roots.

Wine inspiration for roast duck and goose at Christmas

All wines featured below have been reviewed by Decanter experts and offer a range of price-points, including top UK high-street picks featured in Decanter’s Festive Wine Guide.

This article has been updated in December 2025, including with new wine recommendations.

Related articles:

Decanter festive wine guide: 230 great buys for Christmas and New Year

Wine with turkey: A food pairing guide

Best wine with lamb: great styles to try

Despite widespread reports of its challenges, the results of the 2024 vintage hold surprises both good and less good for Burgundy lovers.

The weather during the 2024 growing season defied current global warming trends. Most of the past six years have been unrelentingly hot and dry, with only 2021 offering some respite.

The tables turned in 2024, when nature surprised us with unprecedented amounts of rain and some of the lowest levels of sunshine in recent memory.

As a consequence, the wines harken back to earlier Burgundy, with a return to its roots and an emphasis on finesse and elegance at the expense of power.

Tough conditions

Because of the heat of February and August, the average temperature for the year was not particularly cold, but during the critical months of May, June and July temperatures struggled to reach the norm.

Total rainfall was the third-highest of the century (after 2013 and 2001), and there were fewer hours of sunshine than in any other year in the 21st century.

Disruption of flowering from cold and near-constant rain favoured mildew and made ripening difficult. Warmth and sunshine in August lessened some of the damage, however, and picking began in mid-September and continued in some cases into October.

The impact of these conditions on the wines was dramatic. In general, the wines are light in body, low in alcohol, and moderate to high in acidity, with red wines that are notably light in colour, with tannins that can be astringent.

These generalities, however, mask great regional diversity.

Chablis – hard hit

The area most gravely affected by the 2024 weather was Chablis, with three hailstorms, incessant rain, and more pressure from mildew than most growers have ever seen.

Estimates of crop losses vary from 60% to 90%, and some organic producers did not harvest any grapes at all in 2024. Those who did were required to sort very stringently.

Top growers, however, managed through Herculean effort to produce lovely wines.

Vincent Dauvissat says: ‘Except for the low degree [of potential alcohol], the balance is surprisingly similar to 2014.’

High praise indeed, since wines from 2014 are showing extremely well today.

The golden slope – one step from disaster

The Côte de Nuits was also gravely impacted by the weather. In an odd turnabout, the damage was more severe here than in the Côte de Beaune.

According to Yves Confuron, who makes wines in both regions, there was twice as much rain in the Côte de Nuits as in the Côte de Beaune. The constant rain made work in the vineyards difficult, and the mood among winemakers was morose.

But as Frédéric Mugnier notes: ‘You can never trust a winemaker, since [their comments] reflect their lived experience,’ as opposed to an objective evaluation of quality. Results here are mixed, but some have shone, particularly his.

Further south in the Côte de Beaune, results also varied. The hill of Corton suffered as much as the growers of the Côte de Nuits – organic-certified Domaine Chandon de Briailles blended all of its Corton lieux-dits into one wine, for example.

However, from Beaune south to Maranges, the outlook was more favourable. Yield was still low here, but less catastrophic than in the Côte de Nuits.

At Domaine Comte Armand in Pommard, general manager and winemaker Paul Zinetti says that yields were generally between 15-24 hl/ha, depending on the appellation.

Results were even more positive for Chardonnay producers. The vine flowers earlier and was thus less affected by poor weather at this point.

The skin of Chardonnay is also thicker, and therefore more resistant to mildew. Many growers here agree with the comparison between 2014 and 2024, which is positive news for growers.

Although yields are disappointingly low, the quality of the grapes can be superb, with a lemony fruit, impressive concentration and abundant fresh acidity.

The southern appellations – surprise results

Throughout my tastings of the 2024 vintage, the wines continued to improve the further south I ventured.

The red wines of the Côte Chalonnaise were among the most successful in the region, with marvellous examples from Givry and Mercurey.

The Côte Chalonnaise is a region known for value, and Burgundy lovers who taste these wines with an open mind are in for a delightful surprise. The best of them have abundant, ripe fruit balanced by firm tannic grip and a fresh, lively acidity, making them attractive for current drinking or mid-term cellaring.

Further delights await in the Mâconnais, almost exclusively devoted to Chardonnay. Here, the vintage must be considered very good to excellent.

There was less pressure from disease (particularly in the southern reaches around Pouilly-Fuissé), and the wines show ripe fruit but enough vibrant lemony notes to keep them lively on the palate. The best of these are wines that will age for a decade or more.

Throughout Burgundy, the quantity of wine available will be limited. To find excitement, Burgundy lovers will need to be very careful with their choices for regional appellations and entry-level wines, particularly in Chablis and the Côte de Nuits.

However, top producers will make wines worthy of interest. There will be some surprising value in the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais for those who seek them out, and the best of the whites should have a long life in the cellar.

Related articles

• Burgundy 2023 en primeur: Full vintage report & top-scoring wines
• Burgundy 2022 en primeur: Full report plus top-scoring wines

For Austrians and Germans, and a great number of the people who live there, it is the ‘Südtirol’ – the southern province of the Tyrol.

For Italians, it is the ‘Alto Adige’, the Upper Valley of the river Adige.

This bilingual province on the border with Austria is a meeting place of cultures created by the twists and turns of history.

What is now the Trentino-Alto Adige region spent more of the last 200 years of its history under Austrian rule than Italian, and it was only after the defeat of the Austrio-Hungarian Empire in WWI that it was incorporated into Italy.

Not least of the influences of its cultural heritage regard the wine production of this fascinating border area.

Grapes of northern European origin grow alongside international and local varieties; barriques coexist with giant casks with elaborate carved heads; and in many cellars the chief winemaker still retains the title of ‘Kellermeister’.

The wine growing areas of the Alto Adige stretch north from the border with the neighbouring Trentino in the shape of a letter ‘Y’.

The lower part, the Bassa Atesina, follows the valley of the Adige to Bolzano, where viticulture branches northeast into the Isarco Valley towards Bressanone, and northwest past Merano, into the Venosta Valley.

Jigsaw puzzle

The umbrella Alto Adige DOC covers all 5,850 hectares of the province, with important DOC sub-zones for Terlano, Santa Maddalena, Valle Isarco and Val Venosta, while the pale red wines of Caldaro/Kaltersee have a denomination all of their own.

Vineyards stretch from around 250 metres above sea level to the upper slopes of the valley sides, reaching elevations of over 1,000 metres above-sea-level in places.

The climate is sunny, and warmer than you might expect – July temperatures are higher in Bolzano than Palermo! – but with the extreme day/night excursions typical of mountain regions.

The soil map of the province is a highly-coloured jigsaw puzzle which defies close description, but the three basic types are the Dolomitic limestone of the Adige valley, soils of volcanic origin around Bolzano, and the coarse, sandy quartz, slate and mica of weathered native rock in the Isarco and Venosta valleys.

Twenty varieties

Alto Adige grows 20 DOC-recognised varieties, 11 white and five red.

The principle international white grapes, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco and Sauvignon, are distributed pretty much across the whole of the province, with characters which respond to the different terroirs.

Pinot Bianco/ Weissburgunder

Of all the international varieties, Pinot Bianco is the one most closely associated with the Alto Adige.

It can be soft and round with yellow apple and floral aromas on the lower slopes of the Bassa Atesina, and intensely dry and minerally in the high vineyards of Appiano and at Terlano, the top two villages for the variety.

Sauvignon Blanc

Similarly, Sauvignon can be rich and fleshy around Caldaro, and crisp and zingy at Cortaccia and in the Val Venosta.

Gewürztraminer

Of the aromatic varieties, Gewürztraminer does not move far from its home in the village of Tramin, where styles range from off-dry to full-on sweet and luscious.

Sylvaner

In the Valle Isarco, Sylvaner has body and richness of aroma which distance it from the more familiar, lighter styles of Alsace.

Grüner Veltliner

Also in the Valle Isarco, Grüner Veltliner has the power and ageing potential of its top Austrian counterparts, and there is also a tiny production of the appetisingly peachy Schiave/ Riesling crossing, Kerner.

Riesling

Val Venosta is the go-to destination for steely, refined Riesling in Alto Adige.

Pinot Noir/ Blauburgunder

Among the international red varieties, there are individual examples of imposing Cabernet and Merlot in the lower valley of the Adige, but it is the far more widely planted Pinot Noir/ Blauburgunder that has made its name in the province for wines with very pure varietal character.

The longest established sites are on the eastern slopes of the valley, which include the renowned vineyards of Mazon.

The local Vernatsch/ Schiava and Lagrein may come second behind Pinot Noir in terms of surface area under vine, but they are two of the great resources of the province and both give their best in specific sites.

Vernatsch/ Schiava

Vernatsch is the grape of the Kaltersee/ Caldaro DOC, where it makes delicious cherry- and violet-scented wines with a delicate almondy finish.

The other classic growing area is above Bolzano at Santa Maddalena. The wines here often have a dollop of Lagrein in the blend, which makes them a little darker and more structured than those of Caldaro; think Moulin-a-Vent, not so much for the aromatic profile but for style and drinkability.

Lagrein

Lagrein, on the other hand, is a much more robust proposition.

Its family tree includes Teroldego and Syrah, and it shows in the inky, glass-staining colour and chunky tannins.

Lagrein needs heat and well-drained soils, and its traditional home is just outside Bolzano, in the garden suburb of Gries.

Reinvention

The Alto Adige has a tradition of cooperative winemaking that goes back to the 19th century. Its 12 top quality, highly efficient cooperatives collect grapes from 4,800 small-scale growers and today account for around 70% of the provincial production.

The remaining 30% is made by long established private houses and in lesser – but increasing – amounts by small independent estates. Membership of the ‘Vignaioli Alto Adige’ association which represents the category has grown to over 100 in recent years.

Winemaking in the Alto Adige has seen perhaps the most radical transformation of any region in Italy. The province today is universally recognised for the white wines which constitute 65% of its production, but historically red wines dominated.

Up until the 1970s, Vernatsch occupied almost 70% of the total surface area and monopolised planting in the villages of the Bassa Atesina.

Vineyards were heavily cropped, much of the wine was sold in bulk, and although the arrival of the DOC in 1975 improved quality, the wines of the time were light and very simple.

Change began in the 1980s, and in the years that followed the Alto Adige basically reinvented itself. The drivers of the revolution were the cooperatives.

Legendary Kellermeisters like Hans Terzer at San Michele, Sebastian Stocker at Terlano, and Willi Sturz at Tramin began to impose quality in the vineyards and craft premium wines in the cellar, the likes of which had never been seen in the province before.

The quality of winemaking across the province today is high, although at times you feel it risks overshadowing the sense of place.

Many of the top selections are concentrated, full-bodied wines with bold fruit and aromas which owe more than a glance towards international styles.

Clarification or complication?

The Alto Adige’s newly revealed UGA (Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive) zoning, which comes into effect with the 2024 vintage, aims to put the focus back on terroir and give some order to the ampelographical wealth and diversity by designating sites for specific grapes varieties.

The Mazon UGA, for example, is reserved for Pinot Noir; Gries-Moritzing for Lagrein; and UGAs at over 900 metres above-sea-level at Appiano and Magrè are created for Muller Thurgau.

In other instances, the system is a victim of the province’s eclectic traditions. There are cases where up to five white, red and aromatic varieties share the same UGA.

It is hard to imagine that grapes with such different characters can express the identity of a terroir.

Time will tell, as the wines come out over the next two years, whether the 86 new UGAs will clarify or further complicate the task of grasping the intricacies of the Alto Adige.

However it unfolds, there will always be much to enjoy in this bountiful province.

Below is a selection of two-dozen of my top wines from the current vintages tasted at the Alto Adige Wine Summit held in Bolzano in September this year.

Pinot Bianco was the star among the white varieties, but Sauvignon is right up there too, and I also loved Sylvaner from the Valle Isarco.

As for the reds, there was Pinot Noir for ageing, Santa Maddalena and Caldaro for drinkability, and if you are looking for something weightier, Lagrein wins the medals as the authentic Alto Adige red wine experience.

Expert-rated Alto Adige: 24 to try

Related articles

• Alto Adige for wine lovers
• Valle d’Aosta – the soulful Italian region aficionados shouldn’t overlook
• Expert’s Choice: 18 Swiss reds and whites you need to try

Beyond the beguiling wines, there is a charm to the Willamette Valley that I haven’t found in other American wine regions. This is a place where small producers can still build something for themselves.

Access to vineyard land, or at the very least quality fruit, is not beyond the reach of an aspiring new producer.

As a result, the upper tier of the Willamette Valley is a place where longstanding producers of renown like Eyrie, Bethel Heights and Cristom have new peers like Martin Woods, Hundred Suns and Morgen Long.

Willamette is a winemaking community. A place where new producers are welcomed like old friends, and community trumps competition. It was that way in the beginning, and it remains that way today.

Three under-the-radar Willamette Valley producers to track

Granville Wine Co

Jackson Holstein is a second-generation winegrower in the Dundee Hills (his father, Allen, was one of the region’s pioneering winegrowers in the late 1970s), and he’s making brilliant wines at Granville Wine Co., which he owns with his wife, Ayla.

A farmer first, Holstein’s deft hand at winemaking is immediately obvious from his Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays and brilliant sparkling wines. Granville’s first vintage was a small production in 2014, when both were still working day jobs. In 2018, the winemaking got serious, with the Holsteins building a winery and upping production.

Holstein grew up here in the nascent days of the Willamette Valley and is fully aware of what that means.

‘It’s one thing to be a multigenerational producer in a region with centuries of wine-related history or culture, like in Piedmont or Burgundy,’ Holsteins reflects. ‘It’s entirely different when the culture is still being established and defined, like it is here in the Willamette Valley.

‘The previous generation of pioneers and dreamers did their part; now it’s our turn. We’re out to show the world that Oregon’s full potential hasn’t yet been realised. We’re really just getting started.’

Holstein feels a sense of duty to build on the work of those who came before him and his contemporaries. At Granville, he’s crafting wines that would surely make those pioneers proud.

Evesham Wood and Haden Fig

I don’t think there are better Pinot Noirs for the money, anywhere in the world, than the ones being made by Erin Nuccio. To be clear, these aren’t just great values; they’re great wines.

Nuccio fell into wine after college, working at a wine shop near his home in Arlington, Virginia. He found himself drawn to the wines of the Old World, and it was then that he tasted his first Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs.

A trip to Northern California, with a desire to learn to grow and make wine, eventually landed Nuccio in the Willamette Valley in 2007.

‘I became friends with Russ Rainey, the founder of Evesham Wood in the Eola-Amity Hills, and started apprenticing under him,’ explains Nuccio. ‘I produced my Haden Fig wines in the Evesham Wood warehouse. My plan was to slowly build an estate, so Russ and I would drive the hills looking at sites he thought would make great vineyards.

‘As I started making Pinot Noirs from different sites like Cancilla Vineyard and Mahonia Vineyard, I quickly realised that a big part of what makes the Willamette Valley so special is that the same grape can be grown on very similar sites, sometimes right next to each other, and produce wildly different expressions of Pinot Noir, Nuccio concludes.’

White Walnut Estate

Chris Mazepink arrived in the Willamette Valley in 2000 and worked at some of the region’s larger producers, including Archery Summit, Shea Wine Cellars, and Benton Lane. In those winemaking roles, his charge was to craft wines that adhered to established house styles.

‘I moved to the Willamette Valley, from New York, in the summer of 2000 to dive into my graduate studies in fermentation science and viticulture at Oregon State University,’ says Mazepink.

‘At the time, most wineries in Oregon didn’t even have websites, and frankly, I had just purchased my first cell phone, so that first job involved me faxing my resume to every winery I could find a fax number for – less than 50 in total! Frankly, at that point, the Oregon wine industry was a bit more of an in-state novelty. Fast forward to today, and we’re a globally recognised, qualitative epicentre for benchmark examples of both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.’

His White Walnut Estate, planted on the eastern flank of the Dundee Hills, was established in 2015 and 2016. The estate sits just below the Domaine Drouhin estate, on a former walnut orchard.

It is a complete departure from his previous work. Mazepink farms organically and biodynamically, and leans heavily into the Dundee Hills. ‘I’m the only producer in the region who is making wine with exclusively Dundee Hills fruit,’ he informs me.

Mazepink’s nine wines (four Chardonnays and five Pinot Noirs) are an exploration of the Dundee Hills terroir and an expression of his diverse farming. His approach as a winegrower has given him fantastic material to work with as a winemaker.

He has amassed a collection of various Pinot Noir and Chardonnay clones and has taken his ‘polyculture’ approach to planting his White Walnut and Apple Field estate sites.

His Worden Hill Road bottling is an exploration of sites along the thoroughfare that cuts through the heart of the Dundee Hills. ‘The Dundee Hills are painted with too broad a brush,’ Mazepink says, ‘there are numerous non-fruit descriptors that I get from those sites.’

A more robust story of the Dundee Hills going beyond their signature fresh red fruits.

The Willamette Valley 2023 vintage rating: 5/5

The 2023 Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays alike show a consistency of quality, and as has been the case over the last few years, I find the Chardonnays showing slightly better.

The somewhat abrupt nature of the growing season meant winegrowers had to be ready come harvest time. You might see a couple of examples of wines where alcohol may have gotten away from people, but generally, there is an elegance that matches the vintage’s generosity.

Wines from rising Willamette Valley producers to have on your radar

Related articles

Sonoma County: The 2022 vintage report

Napa Cabernet 2022: Best value wines of the vintage

Oregon vintage report: Tricky Willamette Valley 2022 sticks the landing

Classic red wines to pair with lamb

Here are six key grape varieties behind some of the most popular red wine styles to pair with lamb:

• Pinot Noir
• Tempranillo
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Syrah / Shiraz
• Grenache
• Sangiovese

Cabernet Sauvignon-driven red wines are commonly considered a classic match with roast lamb served medium or ‘well done’, bringing a sumptuous balance of cassis fruit, tannic structure and acidity to the table.

There’s also something alluring about a comforting lamb stew on a cold, wintry evening with a bottle of hearty red. Alternatively, young lamb served pink might take you into Pinot Noir territory.

Choosing a wine to drink with lamb

Food and wine pairing can divide the room, of course. This is a highly subjective pursuit, and even wines from well-known grape varieties and regions will vary in character according to winemakers’ decisions.

Caveats aside, it’s useful to consider the intensity and make-up of the dish.

‘Lamb has quite a delicate texture, but is also quite rich and fatty,’ said master sommelier Kathrine Larsen-Robert MS, head of wine for Europe at members’ club 67 Pall Mall.

‘As such, pairing with a wine which has nice acid structure is important. Depending on the cut of lamb, and thus how full in flavour it is, I would go for a wine which is light to medium in body.’

Wine with slow-cooked lamb shoulder

Larsen-Robert said some Pinot Noir wines at the riper end of the fruit spectrum pair well with the richness of slow-cooked lamb shoulder.

‘With a slow-cooked roast lamb shoulder, I would go for something with lots of acidity to cut through the rich sauce, but also with lots of fruit sweetness. This could be a Pinot Noir from New Zealand, for example.’

Speaking to Decanter in 2024, Larsen-Robert added: ‘I really like Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir, from a young vintage such as 2018 – great sweetness and fruit concentration, [and] great acidity to cut through the juicy texture and richness of the lamb.’

Decanter experts have also previously recommended Grenache blends, such as those of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, with a slow-roast shoulder of older lamb. If you have them in the cellar, wines with a few years of bottle age may sing alongside the meat’s gamey character.

Herbaceous notes of ‘garrigue’ on some Syrah / Shiraz or Grenache wines, from southern France to South Australia and California, may add extra depth to a dish with lots of Mediterrean herbs, like thyme, rosemary and sage, too.

Wine with a rack of lamb and lamb chops  

‘A rack of lamb is a more muscley, firmer cut, but it also has a fuller flavour because it is close to the bone,’ said Larsen-Robert.

‘Thus, I would pair with something fuller in structure and flavour, such as a Pauillac [from Bordeaux’s Left Bank].’

Individual lamb chops can offer a rich, fatty cut that is also full in flavour by virtue of being close to the bone, Larsen-Robert said.

‘I would go for a juicy wine with strong tannic structure, but that also possesses good fruit purity and freshness, such as Barolo or Barbaresco.’

‘You could also choose a more traditional style of Brunello [di Montalcino] without too much oak or extraction.’ Examples include ‘a Sesti from 2015 – a vintage showing good evolution now but which also has nice fruit concentration’.

A study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in 2021 found that fatty molecules known as lipids, found in various foods including meat and cheese, interact with tannins to reduce the sensation of astringency on the palate.

Rioja with lamb: perfect harmony

Rioja is often lauded as a great match for lamb. This Spanish wine region is known for grilled lamb cooked over an open fire made from vine cuttings.

‘It’s extraordinarily good – the meat is young and tender and harmonises perfectly with the local Tempranillo-based wines,’ wrote food and wine expert Fiona Beckett in this Decanter article on pairing Rioja with food.

Tempranillo is also a driving force behind the great red wines of Ribera del Duero, where it’s also known as Tinto Fino.

‘Lechazo asado (suckling lamb roasted in a clay dish in a wood-fired oven) pairs well with hearty crianzas and reservas from Ribera del Duero,’ wrote Noah Chichester in his food and wine lover’s guide to the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route.

Vega Sicilia and Pingus are two Spanish wine icons here, but there are plenty of other producers to watch.

Cabernet Sauvignon with roast lamb served medium to well-done

Roast lamb served medium to well-done will be richer in flavour and not quite as tender. Cabernet Sauvignon is often considered a strong choice, with many wines delivering bright fruit, tannic structure and a backbone of acidity.

In Bordeaux, Frédéric Braud, chef at Château d’Issan in Bordeaux’s Margaux appellation, previously recommended the estate’s 2010-vintage grand vin with a slow-cooked roast leg of lamb.

Some ‘second wines’ from the top-rated 2016 vintage at Médoc grand cru classé estates have entered their drinking windows, while the Cru Bourgeois classification can be a source of great-value options.

Good Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blends are found across the globe. Regions to look for include:

• Hawke’s Bay – New Zealand
• California – USA
• Coonawarra & Margaret River – Australia
• Stellenbosch – South Africa
• Argentina and Chile – South America

Syrah / Shiraz wines are also good options for roast lamb. Some wines will offer a touch of pepper spice in the glass that can also work beautifully with the texture of the meat.

Decanter recently revisited the highly regarded 2015 vintage in the Northern Rhône, a Syrah heartland. Not only does the vintage deserve the hype, but many wines are ‘opening up and drinking well already,’ wrote Rhône correspondent Matt Walls.

Alternative wines to pair with lamb dishes

There are plenty of other potential pairings across the wine world, and discovering new styles is all part of the fun.

Decanter's regional editor for Italy, James Button, recently reviewed this good-value Nero di Troia red wine from Puglia. 'Mid-weight, textural and with some grippy tannins, it's a perfect match for beef or lamb,' he wrote.

Rosé wines with lamb

Some fuller-bodied rosé wines can work well with lamb dishes, depending on the ingredients accompanying the meat.

Food and wine expert Fiona Beckett explored this concept with chef Michel Roux Jr’s recipe for spiced lamb shoulder, recently featured in Decanter’s perfect pairing series.

Gastronomic rosé Champagnes are also an option for the table. ‘Pink Champagne is versatile when it comes to food pairing,’ wrote Natalie Earl, Decanter’s regional editor for France. ‘Richer styles can stand up to bigger flavours and richer foods.’

Five offbeat wine and lamb pairings to try this weekend

By Fiona Beckett | As featured in Decanter magazine April 2026 issue

• Vintage rosé Champagne or English sparkling rosé with rack of lamb, served pink
• Assyrtiko or Greco di Tufo white wine with grilled lamb marinated in garlic and herbs
• Crianza or Reserva Rioja with Rogan Josh lamb curry
• Orange wine with slow-cooked lamb with Middle Eastern spices
• Tavel rosé with grilled lamb

See the full pairing suggestions, and read more about uncommon wine and lamb combinations, in Fiona Beckett's article: Offbeat wines to pair with lamb.

Best wine with lamb: Bottles tasted by our experts

The following wines cover a range of price-points and have been tasted by Decanter’s experts.

Related articles

Droughts, heat spikes, hailstorms, wildfires: the catastrophic effects of climate change on the world’s vineyards are evident.

There is some talk of ‘solutions’ and more of mitigation, but the truth is that hundreds of billions of tonnes of fossil carbon is now squatting in our atmosphere that wasn’t there in the pre-phylloxera era. And it’s stuck. Nature’s removal of carbon from the atmosphere is considerably slower than the rate at which we’re adding it.

The atmosphere, remember, is the critical part of terroir. Soils and landforms are typically stable over brief geological periods of a few thousand years. Extreme climate change, by contrast, may render our greatest vineyards unusable in two human lifetimes. All of our wine places, consequently, are changing. Wine’s pleasure map is blurring.

Most (67.3%) of our planet’s land lies in the northern hemisphere – so it will both suffer most and benefit most from climate change. Southern Europe is now climate-anguished and even classic, mid-latitude fine-wine regions such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Piedmont and Tuscany are threatened.

In contrast to much of the southern hemisphere, though, where wine regions are already clustering around the southernmost land extremities (Patagonia excepted), the northern hemisphere has higher-latitude sites aplenty. England’s transition from Quixotic outsider to bright, new, cool-climate star, a transition that the magnificent 2025 vintage will hasten further, is a stark example.

Everywhere, though, is changing. In most cases this is gradual – so gradual we might not notice. Here’s an example of that ‘quiet change’. Twenty years ago, Germany was struggling to make balanced Rieslings in trocken (dry) style. Job now done. Today’s Germany is becoming a ‘Pinot paradise’ – or so the Germans are claiming.

The figures are impressive. According to German Wine Institute figures, Pinot varieties accounted for 17% of Germany’s vineyards at the turn of the millennium; by 2024, it had reached 31%. Plantings of white Pinot family varieties (Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Auxerrois) increased by an astonishing 199% over the same period. Pinot Noir is increasing, too – by 24% between 2000 and 2024; it’s now Germany’s most widely planted Pinot variety (11,437ha in 2024). Most Pinot plantings are in the southernmost regions of Baden and southern Pfalz, but no region is without a Pinot presence.

During a brief stay in Frankfurt in early August, I visited one of the new Pinot specialists – Braunewell in the Selztal in northern Rheinhessen, based in the village of Essenheim. Pinot varieties are well established on the rolling hills and limey marl soils of the village’s main vineyard sites (Teufelspfad, Blume and Klopp). Stefan Braunewell’s grandfather, he says, ‘was a big fan of Pinot Gris and planted it in 1971 and 1974 – they’re the oldest vineyards we have’.

Nowadays, though, Stefan feels that the star is Chardonnay, ‘though no one is waiting for German Chardonnay – or rather they don’t know they are waiting for it’. That’s the challenge for the quiet changes wrought by warming: the market needs time to catch up.

As well as tasting the Braunewell family’s wines (a 2020 Chardonnay from the am Römerberg plateau site was vinous, intense, long, dramatic and pure; while the 2023 Pinot Gris from Teufelspfad was delicate, rounded and tender), I also had the chance to try eye-opening Chardonnays from Friedrich Becker and Jülg in the Pfalz, and opulent Pinot Gris (Grauburgunder) from Salwey’s Grosses Gewächs site of Oberrotweiler Eichberg in Baden’s Kaisterstuhl.

Most impressive of all, since this is a Pinot family member rarely taken seriously elsewhere, was the structured and sinewy Juliusspital Grosses Gewächs Pinot Blanc (Weissburgunder) from Volkacher Karthäuser in Franken and the leaner, tauter, more fragrant Berghaupten Schützenberg version from Freiherr von und zu Franckenstein in Baden.

Germany, clearly, is no longer quite what you or I thought it was. Don’t miss out.

In my glass this month

The stars of the Pinotfication of Germany are the country’s top red-wine producers – such as Baden’s Julian Huber of Bernhard Huber. His Malterdinger Alte Reben Spätburgunder 2017 (US$129 Wine Watch) was a revelation: aromas of mellow Pinot Noir classicism at mid-maturity; the layered, finely crafted flavours are perfectly pitched between unforced fruit sweetness and a harmonious, fruit-saturated acidity. The oaking is also more skilful than it was during Germany’s debut Pinot Noir years.

Related articles

• Andrew Jefford: ‘The set of possibilities grouped under “Chenin” can dazzle’
• Andrew Jefford: ‘What should we do? Panic? Sell the cellar and sign the pledge?’
• Let’s reconsider how we think about alcohol levels

As I write this, Beaujolais is in a flurry. Its first wines of 2025 – the fragrantly juicy Beaujolais Nouveau – are being sent out across the globe ready for the impending (and inevitably raucous) festivities on the third Thursday of November.

And while the folk from Beaujolais are the undeniable overlords of the nouveau party, they aren’t the only players out there dabbling in this vinous fountain of youth.

When you pull back the curtain, you realise there are people all over Europe, and even in the UK, that make their own versions of these new harvest wines.

A long history

Beaujolais Nouveau is merely the best known (modern) example of a much wider tradition of drinking brand new wines soon after harvest.

Nouveau wine, in its simplest terms, is a young wine that is bottled and released almost immediately after harvest. At times they are little more than fermenting must – such as Federweisser in Germany (known as Sturm in Austria).

In Beaujolais it is made with Gamay, which is low in tannins, using carbonic maceration – where the grape begins to ferment within the berry itself, promoting fragrant, perfumed fruit aromas. It is meant to be light in alcohol, juicy and easy going.

As Beaujolais producer Christophe Pacalet says, nouveau is ultimately an unpretentious wine that you can drink while you play pétanque.

Around France

As an inhabitant of southern France, I was intrigued to see whether this area, more famed for its heady reds, was getting on board with the style.

Jean-Philippe Padié of Domaine Padié in Roussillon has been making a nouveau wine since 2019. It was a bit of an accident; he had a plot of Syrah that went through fermentation quickly and cleanly, offering him a delicious rendition of a nouveau style.

Padié now works predominantly with the indigenous variety Lledoner Pelut, which he says gives an even lighter, crunchier wine, with a hint of something maritime from the vineyard’s coastal location.

Similarly, in the cooler northern reaches of the Loire, Joseph Mosse of Domaine Mosse makes a fuschia-coloured wine called Bang Nouveau from a blend of the pink-skinned Grolleau Gris and Gamay.

And while there is an argument that nouveau wines are best made with lighter-skinned varieties, Romain Le Bars in the Rhône Valley proves that this isn’t always the case. His dangerously drinkable Nouveau Nez cuvée is made from Cinsault, Grenache and Carignan.

Traditions old and new

Nouveau wines are popping up across France. However, there are other countries that have a deep-rooted history with this style of wine – Spain, for example.

Specifically in Rioja, where the wines are called cosecheros. Last year saw the launch of the first cosecheros tasting in London, hosted by Ben Llewelyn of UK importer Carte Blanche and writer Tim Atkin MW.

Here producers work with Tempranillo, foot crushing the grapes and using carbonic maceration. Like in Beaujolais, it is a style that is embedded in the culture, despite also falling prey to the tools of mass production such as thermovinification and commercial yeasts.

And while the Spanish perhaps don’t partake in the annual country-wide festivities, the Italians certainly do. Also released in early November, Italy’s answer is vino novello, also made with carbonic maceration and with a host of different grape varieties depending on the region.

Perhaps the most iconic in this mix is the Bardolino Novello from Veneto, which brings much joyous celebration to the shores of Lake Garda.

Sandridge Barton in Devon, UK, has been making its own nouveau wine since 1995. Spurred on by a disruption in Beaujolais supply during the outbreak of mad cow disease, they decided to try their hand at making one themselves.

Intriguingly, their nouveau was – and still is – a white made from the grape Madeleine Angevine (affectionately known as Mad Ange), chosen because it’s their earliest-ripening variety, going from vine to glass in just six weeks. This year spells their first release of a red nouveau made with Pinot Noir and carbonic maceration.

Balfour Winery has also adopted this new wave British tradition with its Essex-grown Pinot Noir Nouveau. Following the stellar conditions of the 2025 vintage, the estate’s head of wine Fergus Elias was keen to show that ‘English Pinot Noir has the ripeness, the fruit and the finesse to stand on its own’.

This is only the second vintage of nouveau, but with such excellent fruit to hand, they’ve made a wine that is ‘playful and purposeful’.

Down with the kill-joys

There are pessimists who want to put down nouveau wines simply as a marketing stunt or something to bolster cash flow. If that is indeed the case, then good on them. Hopefully everyone getting involved is making some much needed cash and shining a light on their region.

But I think it is so much more than that. As Llewelyn says, nouveau wines have historical relevance and value. In Rioja, they show the diversity of their grapes and region, they regulate supply – especially important in a place like Rioja where ageing requirements can extend up to five years – and they give affordable access to quality wines.

Isabel Fernández of Rioja’s Bodega Abeica says that these wines have been part of Rioja’s culture ‘since time immemorial’. Traditionally, they were made to be consumed within 18 months of harvest.

Her family has been making a cosechero wine for four generations, and she believes they can have good longevity and weight, so she uses a parcel of 100-year-old Tempranillo for her cuvée.

Echoing the sentiments of others I spoke to, she says that the crux of making a quality nouveau wine comes down to the quality of the fruit and the stems, especially when working with carbonic maceration and with low intervention cellar methods.

The biggest challenge facing nouveau producers? Poor quality fruit. Because in the end, the joy of nouveau – wherever it’s made – lies in its immediacy. It is a snapshot of a harvest that ultimately takes no prisoners.

Playful frivolity

From conversations with winemakers, it’s clear that these wines are moving into a realm of quality and artisanship. Climate change has brought riper grapes and earlier harvests, and as a result we’re seeing more of these wines made without manipulation – a gradual phasing out of what Jon Bonné, in The New French Wine, calls ‘industrial pop wine’.

For years, the market had grown used to nouveau wines tasting of candied banana and bubblegum – flavours I once assumed were a natural byproduct of carbonic maceration, but which in fact come from a specific yeast strain, 71B, which is no longer used to the same extent as it was in the 1980s and 1990s.

While I am a lover of Beaujolais Nouveau – especially in its newer, more natural iteration – there is even more scope for playful frivolity and experimentation in other regions and countries.

In an industry that can err on the side of stuffy and get bogged down in rules and labels, nouveau is a perfectly imperfect antidote for us to share abundantly and joyously.

Like my friends Greg Lane and Sarah Adamson of Scout Wines in New Zealand said of their Pinot x Pinot (a blend of Noir and Gris) take on a nouveau, they made it for no other reason than enjoyment, ‘to keep the house happy’.

Related articles

• In search of wine’s fifth dimension – ‘salinity’
• Cru Beaujolais 2022: Panel tasting results
• The marvellous world of orange wines: Everything you wanted to know explained by an expert

Seven wine styles to drink with pork:

White wine

• Riesling
• Viognier
• Chenin Blanc

Red wine

• Sangiovese (Chianti Classico)
• Mencia
• Grenache / Garnacha (red or rosé)
• Gamay (Beaujolais)

Decanter Premium is the ideal last-minute gift for wine lovers!

Is red or white wine best with pork?

Pork is quite a versatile meat that can match brilliantly with both red and white wines – not to mention orange wine – depending on what you’re cooking or eating. 

Try Riesling white wines or juicy reds with relatively high acidity to cut through the fat content of roast pork belly, or comforting Grenache-led red blends with midweek bangers and mash.

Tuscany’s Sangiovese-fuelled reds, with their balance of structure, wild berry fruit and acidity, can be delicious with a porchetta-style roast or slow-cooked pork shoulder at the dinner table. 

‘Italian reds always have that wonderful acidity that’s perfect with pork,’ wrote Decanter food and wine expert Fiona Beckett in this festive pairings piece.

Food and wine pairing principles

Food and wine pairing has been the subject of debate among wine writers. While proponents outline certain principles, personal taste is hugely important in this arena.

Even classic wine styles may vary between individual producers, but experimenting with different combinations and trying new bottles can be part of the fun.

When it comes to choosing a wine to pair with pork dishes, Jean-Baptiste Lemoine, deputy director of food and beverage at The Goring hotel in London, previously told Decanter it’s important to consider:

• the cut of the pork;
• the way it’s cooked;
• the sauce you are serving it with

Matthieu Longuère, a master sommelier and the wine development manager at Le Cordon Bleu London culinary school, told Decanter in 2024. ‘Whatever the meat is, it depends what you do with it.’

Think about matching the intensity of the wine with that of the dish, as well as any acidity and sweetness brought by ingredients in the meal.

Wine with pork belly and suckling pig

For tender, melt-in-the-mouth suckling pig, Lemoine advised drinking lighter styles of red. These include Spanish Mencia, Nerello Mascalese from Sicily, Pinot Noir from cooler regions or Chilean Carménère.

He also recommended Riesling with a touch of sweetness. This can be a classic with pork belly, too.

‘Roast pork belly works best with a wine that has a high level of acidity plus a touch of sweetness,’ wrote Fiona Beckett, naming 25 top food and wine pairings.

Germany is renowned for top Riesling wines, from dry styles to varying sweetness levels. Great Rieslings are also found in Alsace and the US Finger Lakes area, as well as parts of Austria, Australia, New Zealand and Canada – to name a few sources.

Flavours in the dish can help to lead your wine choice, too.

Apricots in this cider vinegar-roasted pork belly recipe ‘would lead me in the direction of Viognier rather than Riesling’, Beckett noted. 

In a Decanter ‘perfect pairing’ article for chestnut-stuffed pork fillet, she said: ‘Given the sweetness from the chestnuts, prunes and redcurrant jelly, I’d go for a wine that has a touch of sweetness itself. [For example] Alsace or New Zealand or Oregon Pinot Gris, or an old-vine Chenin Blanc.’

Wines to drink with a roast pork

‘Roast pork calls for something that combines richness with acidity, whether it’s white or red,’ Rhône expert Matt Walls previously told Decanter.

For white wine lovers, ‘Condrieu [Viognier] can be a brilliant match for pork roasted with herbs like Oregano or Marjoram,’ said Walls, who is Decanter’s Rhône correspondent and a contributing editor.

He also advised considering fresher styles of Chardonnay, as well as Chenin Blanc from either the Loire Valley or South Africa.

Tuscan reds, such as Chianti Classico or the vaunted wines produced around the hilltop town of Montalcino, can be delicious with a herby pork roast, or a porchetta-style festive dish – as previously noted. 

Walls pointed to Grenache-led wines, as well as Pinot Noir from warmer climates. Grenache is known as Garnacha in Spain, and stole the show in a Decanter panel tasting of red wines from Aragón last year.

Wine to drink with pork sausages

Walls returned to the Grenache theme when considering a wine for pork sausages. ‘For a classic bangers and mash, I tend to reach for a young Grenache-based wine like a southern Rhône.’

Classic blends of Grenache, Syrah (Shiraz) and Mourvèdre – and variations on the theme – are produced in many regions, from the Rhône and Languedoc-Roussillon in France to parts of South Australia and California.  

In a similar vein, the Carignan from Languedoc-Roussillon featured in the list below promises to enhance comforting bangers and mash on an autumnal evening, wrote Decanter’s David Williams in his recent review.

Other options include Gamay-based Beaujolais Cru, which can also make a great wine match for traditional Christmas ham. 

Don’t ignore rosé wines or orange wines at the dinner table, either.

Dry rosé wines could be a good bet for BBQ pork, whether pulled or cooked as a chop, said Lemoine. However, the meat might overpower some of the more delicate styles.

Decanter’s Williams recently recommended this budget-friendly, off-dry orange wine led by Grüner Veltliner. ‘A cushion of sweetness makes this a great match for spicy pork dishes,’ he wrote.

Watch out for too much oak in some wines

Beware of wines with prominent oak flavours when it comes to some pork dishes. 

Oak in wine can be tricky with sweet and sour pork, for example, said Longuère at Le Cordon Bleu London. 

‘The oak is quite bitter, quite smoky. If you have something sweet, it tends to make it taste quite metallic. And if you have something quite high in acidity, it clashes.’

Great wine with pork: Inspiration from our experts

The following wines have all been tasted by Decanter’s experts and include bottles at a range of prices.

Related articles

Wine with turkey: A food pairing guide

Wine with beef: Pairing advice and styles to try

See more food and wine pairing ideas

How much do you know about Oregon’s Willamette Valley and its origins as a famous growing region for superb Pinot Noir wines, as well as top Chardonnay?

Scroll down to test your level with our short Willamette Valley quiz, featuring five multiple-choice questions created by Decanter’s North America editor, Clive Pursehouse.

Decanter Premium subscribers can also read Pursehouse’s new, in-depth review of the Willamette Valley 2023 vintage, covering both Pinot Noir and also the best Chardonnay wines to look out for.

Related articles

• Merlot wine quiz: Test your knowledge of this famous grape variety
• ‘I tasted over 300 wines in August, these were my top 10 bottles’
• Singular US Pinot Noir: 20 vineyards where the variety has found a home

The wines that were made from the 2023 vintage in Oregon’s Willamette Valley are beautiful.

They readily offer the elegance and delicacy for which cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are known throughout the wine world. These are remarkable wines.

The results of a growing season that started cool and slow, and ended rapidly, there’s a grace and refinement stamped across them, from their aromatics to their polished finishes.

And there’s a precocious nature to them, too: perfect for those without patience.

Scroll down to see notes and scores for 20 of the finest Pinot Noirs from Willamette Valley’s 2023 vintage

Willamette Valley 2023: 5/5

The 2023 Willamette Valley Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs show equally consistent quality, but as has been the case over the last few years, I find that the Chardonnays are showing slightly better.

The somewhat abrupt nature of the end of the growing season meant that wine-growers had to be ready come harvest time. You might see a few examples of wines where alcohol hasn’t been kept under control, but generally, there’s an elegance to match the generosity of the vintage.

Cool customer

The past three Willamette Valley vintages, 2021 to 2023, feel like a payback of sorts for the disastrous 2020.

The 2021s showed a readiness that allowed for prompt release to make up for the lost inventories created by the 2020 wildfires, while the long, cool 2022 vintage showcased the true beauty of the Willamette Valley.

It’s a properly cool climate, with prime growing conditions extending late into October, which in 2023 meant the wines could be picked at perfection, particularly for those of us who love the cooler years, such as 2019, 2011, 2010 and 2007.

Perhaps 2023 has trumped both 2021 and 2022 – almost a perfect blend of the two, offering the elegance and refinement for which the region is known, coupled with generosity and early availability.

‘The velocity of the vintage was the theme for 2023,’ says Ken Pahlow, owner and winemaker at Walter Scott.

Willamette Valley experienced its shortest period from bud break to bloom, which typically takes about 60 days; in 2023, it was reduced to about 40.

The cool spring was then moved along quickly by very warm May weather. Onésimo ‘Ony’ Mora and his brothers farm more than 20ha in the Willamette Valley.

‘I wouldn’t describe 2023 as a hot vintage, but it was definitely on the dry side,’ Mora explains. ‘When bud break started in April, things seemed pretty “normal” by recent Willamette standards.’

Rapid ripening

‘In June, suddenly we felt that it was coming on fast,’ Mora continues.

‘For us, it meant we immediately needed to do the same work at all of the different vineyards we’re managing, almost at the same time. If we get behind on our hand labour or our organic sprays, then it’s possible we don’t ever really catch back up. We managed to stay on top of it, but barely.’

‘As harvest neared, the “optimal” weather pattern continued, advancing ripeness for us in every site very uniformly,’ recalls Pahlow.

‘Instead of picking over several weeks, it was very compressed. Capturing freshness where things went quickly was the primary driver. Everything got ripe at the same time. We picked several sites on the same day. That’s never happened before.’

The same logistical issues that the Mora brothers dealt with in the vines were faced by winemakers such as Pahlow in cellars up and down the valley, as all of their fruit came in at almost exactly the same time.

Tomorrow: The concluding part of the report and reviews of the best Chardonnays

Top 10 wines of the vintage:

Bethel Heights, The High Wire Chardonnay, Eola-Amity Hills 100pts

Martin Woods, Hyland Vineyard Pinot Noir, McMinnville 99pts

Granville, Koosah Vineyard Chardonnay, Eola-Amity Hills 98pts

Walter Scott, Koosah Vineyard Chardonnay, Eola-Amity Hills 98pts

White Walnut Vineyard, Estate Chardonnay, Dundee Hills 98pts

Beaux Fréres, Rogue Vines Chardonnay, Ribbon Ridge 97pts

Crowley, Phoebe Chardonnay, Willamette Valley, 97pts

Goodfellow Family Cellars, Richard’s Cuvée Chardonnay, Ribbon Ridge, 97pts

Cristom, Jessie Vineyard Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills, 97pts

Evesham Wood, Cuvée J Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills, 97pts

Pursehouse’s 20 great Pinot buys from 2023

Related articles

• Exploring 2025’s harvest: Contrasts between Oregon and Washington regions
• Oregon sparkling wines for New Year’s Eve
• North America newsletter: Sign up today

With the imminent declaration by the INAO of new premiers crus for Marsannay, the long arc of the village’s fortune is trending further to the good.

The history of the village is among Burgundy’s oldest, but it’s a tale of ancient vineyards fallen into disrepute that should soon see their redemption and receive the recognition they have long deserved.

Scroll down for 15 Marsannay wines from the potential premier cru sites

History

The first mention of vines in Marsannay is in the Chronicle of Bèze (a 12th century text written by a Burgundian monk, telling the history of the monastery St-Pierre de Beze), which states that the monks of Bèze recorded a donation of vines in 630AD by Duke Amalgaire, who founded the Abbey the year before. These vines remained the property of the church for more than 1,000 years.

By the 13th century, the Dukes of Burgundy owned vines here as well. A wine press constructed in 1238 by Alix de Vergy can still be seen in the village of Chenôve.

The ducal vines reverted to the French crown when Charles the Bold, the last Duke of Burgundy, died in 1477.

A question of reputation

Until the French Revolution, the wines of Marsannay were highly regarded and expensive. But the industrialisation of Dijon in the 19th century increased demand for everyday wines that workers could afford, and much of the Pinot Noir once planted was uprooted and replaced with Gamay and Aligoté.

The region became known for inexpensive wines rather than top quality ones. Their reputation continued to decline throughout phylloxera, and by the time the appellation system was put in place in the 1930s, the vines in Marsannay only had the right to the basic Bourgogne appellation. The village-level Marsannay appellation did not come into existence until 1987.

Although the legendary Domaine Clair-Daü (forerunner of Domaine Bruno Clair) began to replant Pinot in the early 20th century, the renaissance gathered speed only slowly, until 2002 when plans for Marsannay premiers crus started to take shape.

In 2024, the INAO announced which climats would potentially be elevated.

Now the precise limits of each premier cru are being delineated, and Marsannay growers hope that their premiers crus will be announced soon.

The 14 climats in consideration for promotion:

Clos du Roy

Les Longeroies (Bas and Dessus)

En La Montagne

Es Chezots (to be changed to En Grands Vaux)

La Charme aux Prêtres

Le Boivin

Les Grasses Têtes

Le Clos de Jeu

Saint-Jacques

Les Favières

Au Champ Salomon

Aux Genelières

Le Clos

Champs Perdrix

Exploring the terroir of the potential premiers crus

Marsannay is a large and complex appellation. It stretches over three villages: Chenôve, Marsannay-la-Côte and Couchey, and includes more than 360 hectares of Marsannay.

Nearly 100ha more are authorised to exclusively produce Marsannay Rosé (the only appellation to allow village-level rosé).

To simplify matters, the appellation can be considered in three parts: Chenôve and the northern part of Marsannay; west of Marsannay and south to the village of Couchey, and south of Couchey to the border with Fixin.

North

In the north, the ancient terroir of Le Chapitre was for centuries the property of the cathedral of Autun. It was classified merely at regionallevel until 2019, and thus is not up for promotion to premier cru. The terroir, however, is comparable to the Clos du Roy climat, which will likely be promoted.

At the top of the Le Chapitre slope, the subsoil is white oolite and Comblanchien limestone. Further down, it was shattered into smaller stones by the freeze-thaw cycles of the ice age, forming beds of fractured rock called ‘grèzes litées’.

The Clos du Roy, former property of the Dukes of Burgundy and the French crown, shares this same structure. Both vineyards have superb conditions for growing quality grapes.

Three more climats will also be promoted here. The most prominent is the large Les Longeroies, subdivided into the upper portion (Dessus des Longeroies) and the lower (Bas des Longeroies). Soils here are similar, but there are no grèzes litées.

At the top of the slope, facing due south, lies En La Montagne, planted mostly above 300m of elevation. This cool site borders the valley called the Combe du Pré.

At the base of the slope lies a climat called Es Chezots, which many growers have been spelling ‘Les Échézeaux’, but it will soon be changed to En Grands Vaux to avoid confusion with the more famous vineyard of that name in Vosne.

Centre

West and south of Marsannay down to the village of Couchey, there are eight climats to be defined and possibly promoted.

La Charme aux Prêtres, Le Boivin, Les Grasses Têtes, Le Clos de Jeu, Saint-Jacques and Les Favières all lie at mid-slope, face east-southeast, and are protected from the cooling influence of the Combe du Pré.

This group of crus lies mostly on crinoidal limestone (what the French call ‘calcaire à entroques’ from the slightly older Bajocian Age), although the top of the slope is often white oolitic limestone, and the base of the slope there is a deeper layer of marl.

Over the border into the village of Couchey but on the same types of soils are Au Champ Salomon and Les Favières.

Slightly south and further up the slope is Aux Genelières, solidly on the band of limestone.

South

South of Couchey, near the border with Fixin, there are steeper slopes and less soil. Le Clos features a shallow slope, marl soil and an east exposition.

The large climat of Champs Perdrix rises above Le Clos to over 300 m elevation on the border with Fixin has a combination of Bathonian limestone and marl soil.

Styles and taste

Arguably more important than the minutiae of subsoils and expositions is what the wines actually taste like.

Approximately three-quarters of the production of Marsannay is red. While blended wines can sometimes be light in colour with high-toned red berry and pomegranate aromas, those that proudly bear the name of a specific climat can be inky dark and powerfully tannic depending on vintage.

These will feature the mineral-inflected black fruit of the Côte de Nuits, some with a distinctive savoury or gamey note.

The whites can vary from floral, forward and somewhat soft, to incisive, lemony and vibrant.

So what makes Marsannay worth your attention? In short, the wines are delicious and not ruinously expensive.

The best of the proposed premiers crus are on a par with the other premiers crus of the northern Côte de Nuits. They resemble the wines of Fixin and Gevrey with which they share many common points, and their often-reasonable prices make them even easier to love.

Eight Names to Know

Domaine Charles Audoin

Fifth-generation Cyril Audoin is at the head of a 14ha domaine based in Marsannay that focuses heavily on single-vineyard bottlings from the best climats.

The domaine was certified organic in 2018 and farms around 9ha. Cyril’s style is fresh, perfumed and elegant.

Domaine René Bouvier

Bernard Bouvier is the president of the ODG Marsannay (the Organisation for Defence and Management of the Marsannay appellation). He took over from his father René in 1992, and now farms more than 30ha in a range of appellations in his home base of Gevrey, in Marsannay, and in Fixin.

He produces a profusion of different cuvées, including a number entirely made without sulphur, although sulphur use is generally minimal before bottling.

His style is further refined using a high percentage of whole clusters in the fermentations and a low percentage of new oak barrels. These are powerful wines capable of long ageing.

Domaine Bruno Clair

Domaine Bruno Clair is one of the successor domaines to Burgundian legend Domaine Clair-Daü, and the family still maintains significant holdings in many of the Marsannay climats.

Founder Joseph Clair was instrumental in replanting Marsannay with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and his son Bruno has long been a champion of the wines of his native village.

The wines of this domaine are classic references for the village and a marvellous way to discover the possibilities of Marsannay.

Domaine Derey Frères

The Derey family has been winegrowers in the area since 1650, although they began bottling at the domaine only after World War II.

The domaine is currently directed by three young brothers, Romain, Maxime and Pierre-Marie. The family owns 20ha between Dijon and Gevrey, but more than half is located in four Marsannay crus, including three up for promotion: Champs Perdrix, Les Genelières, and Champs Salomon. 2023 is their first vintage to be certified organic.

Domaine Jean Fournier

Domaine Jean Fournier is now run by Laurent Fournier, a busy man: his domaine extends over 22ha (all but 2.5ha of which are in Marsannay).

He has been the driving force behind the efforts to classify the premiers crus of Marsannay.

As with several producers in the village, he uses a generous proportion of whole bunches, and low levels of sulphur and new oak. His domaine was certified organic until the very difficult 2016 vintage, when he lost this certification, although he is now once again certified. The style of these wines is complex but understated and not overly marked by barrel ageing.

Château de Marsannay

The Château de Marsannay owns 40ha of vines, including a number of the future premiers crus in Marsannay.

The property was founded in 1990 by the Boisseaux family, owners of the negociant Patriarche. The larger group was sold to Castel in 2011; the following year, Boisseaux family sold the Château de Marsannay (and the Château de Meursault) to Olivier Halley.

The property is now run by Stéphane Follin-Arbelet and Technical Director Sylvain Pabiot, and achieved organic certification in 2021. The wines have considerably improved in recent years, making this a domaine to watch.

Domaine Philippe Naddef

Philippe Naddef, based in Fixin, inherited 2.5ha from his grandfather, Dr Denis Bizot. Unlike his father, Philippe worked in wine (at Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé), and gradually built up his vineyard holdings to 6ha.

He has recently taken retirement, and has been succeeded by his son Michel. Michel has worked alongside his father since 2008; he continues to make the Domaine Philippe Naddef wines as they have always been made, but he also makes wine under his own name.

These wines are made in a different style – picked later, extracted more gently, sulphured very lightly, and less marked by new wood. Both labels, however, produce a delicious range of wines.

Domaine Sylvain Pataille

Sylvain Pataille makes some of the most delectable wines in the northern Côte de Nuits from his base in Marsannay. Although he did not come from a winemaking family, he studied oenology at school and has worked (and continues to work) as a consulting oenologist.

He acquired his first hectare of vines in 1999 and has slowly built up a domaine of 15ha, primarily through fermage and metayage contracts.

‘There have been many evolutions in my wine’, says Pataille, ‘I have found that the secret doesn’t exist,’ yet he generally ferments using mostly whole clusters, minimal sulphur, and few new oak barrels.

The style of his Marsannay is rich, layered and complex. He is also a great champion of Aligoté.

15 Marsannay wines to try:

Related articles

• Richebourg vs Romanée-St-Vivant: Two grands crus compared
• Dauvissat: The wizard of Chablis
• Montrachet 2014: When to drink up?

Caro Maurer MW, Mark Dearing and Stefan Neumann MS tasted 58 wines, with 2 Exceptional, 6 Outstanding and 30 Highly recommended

Spätburgunder: Panel tasting scores

58 wines tasted

Exceptional 2

Outstanding 6

Highly recommended 30

Recommended 16

Commended 4

Fair 0

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their current-release, still, dry red wines made from Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) only, from any region in Germany

Scroll down to see the top-scoring wines from our German Spätburgunder panel tasting

Warming vineyards

It may not sound politically correct, but German wine regions are still benefiting from climate change.

Spätburgunder – literally translated as ‘late Burgundy’, otherwise known as Pinot Noir – is one of the main winners in the rising temperatures.

Warm vintages such as 2018, 2019 and 2020 have already brought noticeable ripeness and a marked rise in quality.

The 2022 vintage was another standout, with German Spätburgunder earning recognition among the world’s best.

‘The wines from the 2022 vintage in particular were outstanding today,’ said Stefan Neumann MS after tasting these 58 Spätburgunder wines.

Growth potential

Unlike Riesling, Spätburgunder is still a ‘niche product’ in Britain, according to Mark Dearing. This is despite the fact that Germany cultivates 11,519ha of Pinot Noir, according to the Federal Statistical Office.

With a total cultivation area of some 120,000ha worldwide, the country ranks third, just behind France (about 32,300ha) and the US (about 25,000ha).

The grape variety can now be found in all 13 quality wine-growing regions – and thus thrives on a variety of soils: limestone as well as slate, red sandstone, basalt, loess or Keuper.

‘The wines have expressed their different regional characteristics very strongly,’ said Dearing. Neumann was particularly impressed by examples from the Ahr and Rheinhessen regions.

In contrast to the past, ‘the fine-tuning today is spot-on’, he added. ‘It’s the small differences in the handling of acidity, extraction and oak ageing’ that have led to the excellent results in this tasting. And you don’t need to spend a fortune:

‘The quality is consistent across all price ranges,’ Dearing said. The tasting’s biggest surprise was a 96-point Spätburgunder from Mosel (see recommendations). ‘Mosel shows enormous potential – the cool climate and slate soils create a distinctive style,’ said Dearing.

‘This,’ Neumann added, ‘is where elegant, fresh, vibrant wines are made – the kind you’ll want a second glass of.’ ‘German Spätburgunder should be on the radar of every wine lover who appreciates expressive, terroir-driven Pinot Noir,’ Dearing said in conclusion.

What to eat with Spätburgunder, by Fiona Beckett

Given the quality of Germany’s Spätburgunder wines, it’s worth erring on the extravagant side of possible food pairings. Fillet steak or beef Wellington, for example, rather than ribeye or venison; raw or seared meats such as carpaccios and tartares. (That applies to tuna, too.)

That said, it also works well with the cured, sometimes smoky meats and sausages you find in Germany.

There is also the reliable go-to of duck and other game birds. Partridge would be particularly fine. Thanks to the richness of many Spätburgunders, they can handle a bit of spice, too. Five spice, which you find in Chinese duck dishes, is particularly Pinot-friendly.

At this time of year there are also mushrooms of all kinds – a mushroom risotto is an excellent foil for a good Spätburgunder, ditto a mushroom stroganoff. Older vintages would be ideal for an autumn dinner party.

Spätburgunders are also generally easier to pair with cheese than Burgundy, especially with bloomy, white-rinded cheeses such as brie and the excellent British Baron Bigod.

See all notes and scores from the Spätburgunder panel tasting

The judges

Caro Maurer MW is a German food and wine writer, a WSET- and MW-level educator, and the DWWA Regional Chair for Germany. She contributes to Bonn’s daily newspaper General-Anzeiger and food and wine title Der Feinschmecker

Mark Dearing is a wine buyer for London-based merchant and importer Justerini & Brooks, where his responsibilities include Germany, as well as numerous other major wine nations and regions

Stefan Neumann MS is a Master Sommelier who runs his own wine consultancy, having spent many years working in the world of Michelin-starred restaurants. Born close to Austria’s Wachau region, he is the DWWA Regional Chair for Austria and Switzerland

Spätburgunder panel tasting results:

Wines were tasted blind

Related articles

• German Riesling: A buying guide for beginners
• Sachsen and Saale-Unstrut: Unearthing Germany’s exciting eastern regions
• Discovery newsletter: Sign up today

New Zealand’s wine scene is too often defined by its established styles and names.

One of the frustrations of living here is recognising the gap between what’s happening on the ground and what consumers abroad actually see.

While tiny volumes and the tyranny of distance are perennial challenges, a fresh wave of winemakers and producers is injecting new energy, ideas and diversity, pushing boundaries and reshaping perceptions of what New Zealand wine can be.

Some are familiar names in new settings, others are newcomers to the scene.

Many embrace low-intervention or regenerative practices, offer fresh perspectives, or draw inspiration from working vintages around the globe, returning home to craft wines that expand the sense of what’s possible.

Below we highlight six such producers, but there are many more worth seeking out – Atípico, Cambridge Road, Forager, Huntress, Mélange, Three Fates, Vita and Vilaura, to name just a handful.

Together, they’re inviting wine lovers to reconsider what the label ‘New Zealand wine’ really means.

Scroll down to see notes and scores for six wines from a clutch of New Zealand trailblazers

Oraterra

Martinborough

When longstanding Martinborough winery Dry River changed hands in 2022, passing from the estate of the late US billionaire Julian Robertson to Wellington-based businessman Charlie Zheng, also owner of nearby Luna Estate, Dry River’s core team saw a chance to create something new together.

Led by chief winemaker Wilco Lam and backed by a wine-loving European family, they purchased what was previously the On Giants’ Shoulders winery and vineyards, and launched Oraterra, dedicating themselves to making the sort of wines that Lam hopes ‘touch a sense of wonder in people’.

Oraterra, which means ‘golden earth’ in Esperanto, is a nod to the team’s love of geology and the local soils.

‘We wanted something that resonated with all of us,’ says general manager and co-founder Sarah Bartlett.

She says starting from scratch and the team being involved at every stage – from naming to making their first wines – has been one of the best parts of creating Oraterra, helping to counter one of its hardest, which was ‘walking away from the previous relationships, and the people who invested and believed in what we were trying to achieve’.

She adds, though: ‘Luckily, these relationships were strong, and many stayed with us.’

Embrace the chaos

Having secured one of the region’s oldest vineyards, on the northern edge of Martinborough town – a 4ha block previously known as Pahi, and before that McCreanor vineyard, after the man who planted it in 1986.

They’ve since added further parcels from across the Martinborough Terrace, whose free-draining gravel soils and climatic conditions have brought it great renown, especially for high-quality Pinot Noir.

Everything is farmed organically and regeneratively with biodynamic treatments, and that same philosophy flows into the cellar.

‘Our approach is about embracing the chaos and life that make wine interesting,’ says Lam. ‘We don’t tame things too much or stand in the wine’s way.’

Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir are handmade in tiny volumes and offered primarily through their wine club, The Fold.

For Lam, the project is about connection. ‘Wine is a beautiful social product – from its roots in agriculture to the conviviality of sharing a glass. Growing wine is a slow process and we only have that one opportunity per year to do something special.’

Nous

Marlborough

In a well-known region famed for scale, Nous proves that good things can come in the smallest of packages.

Rachael and Murray Cook farm just half a hectare on a steep clay hillside in Marlborough’s Southern Valleys – 0.29ha of Chardonnay and a newly planted 0.21ha of Pinot Noir – making them New Zealand’s smallest Biogro-certified organic vineyard.

The name Nous (rhymes with ‘house’) has layers of meaning: practical intelligence, philosophical perception and, in French, ‘we’, ‘us’ – very apt for a two-person operation where every vine is tended by hand.

‘It’s the culmination of over 20 years in wine,’ says Murray. ‘We wanted skin in the game, to create a legacy of our own making.’

Taking the plunge meant overcoming fear of failure, keeping day jobs to fund the vineyard (Murray is Dog Point’s winemaker, while Rachael is its marketing manager) and balancing family life.

From day one the vineyard has been organic and biodynamic, with high-density planting and a slope so steep that every task, from planting to hoeing, is physically demanding. ‘It’s not the easy way,’ Rachael admits, ‘but we want to challenge norms and pursue quality.’

Minimal rules

Minimalism rules: no synthetic pesticides in the vineyard; in the cellar, no additions beyond a little sulphur and no filtration.

‘Quality over quantity always,’ Murray says, noting: ‘[Biodynamics pioneer] Rudolph Steiner’s view on the farm as a living organism with minimal inputs and outputs makes us consider how we look after the soil, the plants, animals and our family home.’

They hope that knowledgeable drinkers might guess that their wine, tasted blind, hails from Marlborough (and Wairau specifically), but more importantly, that they’d find ‘a classic Old World ideology’ with an emerging style that’s all their own.

Nous Chardonnay is released annually on 1 September; the 2023 vintage is next up, while the first bottles of Pinot Noir are still about five years away.

It’s a slow burn but rewarding labour of love for its makers, who say ‘the joy we get from people enjoying the wine that we’ve created is far greater than we ever imagined’.

A Thousand Gods

Marlborough

The name A Thousand Gods comes from the Occitan word ‘miladiou‘ – an exclamation of surprise or astonishment heard in the vineyards of southern France.

For the label’s founders, Simon Sharpe and Lauren Keenan, it’s a tribute to the ‘salt of the earth characters’ they worked alongside in Cahors, especially Pierrot Jouves, father of Fabien of Mas del Périé, who at 85 years old is still out in the vineyard and on the tractor every day.

‘To work alongside people like this has been an invaluable experience,’ they told me.

After years making wine for others, the pair reached a turning point: keep working to someone else’s brief, or strike out on their own. The choice was obvious.

Certified-organic, biodynamically farmed fruit is sourced from Churton vineyard in Marlborough’s Waihopai Valley.

Production is tiny, the wines made without a single additive, including sulphur dioxide; no filtration, no fining – just meticulous, minimalist winemaking.

Going against the grain

The approach is inspired by producers like Overnoy et Houillon, Ganevat and Richard Leroy, whose work Simon and Lauren believe shows that no-additive wines can be precise, cellarworthy and profound.

‘This went against everything we learnt at uni,’ Lauren admits, ‘and rekindled a fascination with wine in a new way.’

A Thousand Gods delights in challenging wine’s received wisdom, championing grapes and styles often maligned or pigeon-holed, such as Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier and rosé. ‘We hope our wines reflect a freedom from paradigm and show that anything is possible,’ says Simon.

They’re not concerned about whether people can pinpoint their wines’ origins – connection matters more than provenance.

And when it comes to the future, ‘every year is a chance to learn and improve’, says Lauren.

‘We decided not to push to grow or scale our production – keep it small and make the wines we want to make. We’ll keep going only if we can make wines we’re truly happy with.’

In a country where wines are often made with a priority on consistency rather than curiosity, A Thousand Gods is providing a salutary reminder that exciting things can start by asking ‘Why?’ and ‘Why not?’

Ashleigh Barrowman

Marlborough

Ashleigh Barrowman’s wines are as arresting as their labels.

Her company Siren Wine gives a nod to her favourite track, Song to the Siren by This Mortal Coil, to Marlborough’s maritime climate and to the allure of wine itself.

‘Wine can captivate like a siren’s song,’ she says, ‘but it also demands respect – it can be destructive if abused.’

Barrowman embarked on the path towards starting her own label in 2020. A travelling winemaker splitting her time between Marlborough, Sicily, Burgundy, Jura and Gippsland, Australia, she had her wings clipped by the pandemic.

‘I started pruning at the Wrekin vineyard [in Marlborough’s Southern Valleys],’ she explains. ‘I instantly fell in love with the site and the people… it felt like it was meant to be. Timing is everything, and it was time to start my own wine.’

Her first vintage was in 2021 and she hasn’t looked back. Her ethos is simple: work only with biodynamically farmed, hand-harvested fruit and let the wine lead in the cellar.

‘I’m not a helicopter winemaker,’ she says. ‘I step in only if there’s real risk of fault. It’s harder to do less, but ultimately more rewarding.’

Staying motivated

Ashleigh’s range spans distinctive iterations of Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Pinot Noir, with a flair for sous voile (flor) wines.

‘I’m working on wines that won’t be released until 2035, all going to plan: more sous voile and a 2024 blanc de noirs aged on lees for 10 years.’

Working solo can be isolating. ‘It’s easy to doubt yourself and [hard to] stay motivated at times,’ she says. ‘Juggling everything from production and logistics to distribution, sales and marketing can be overwhelming. At least I have a great accountant!’

Still, sharing her wines with friends, mentors and, especially, vignerons she’s worked alongside makes it worthwhile.

Her message to drinkers blends joy and advocacy: ‘Support small, independent producers who respect the land. Vote with your wallet. But also – have fun and don’t take it too seriously.’

Kahiwi

Central Otago

Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Pisa range, Kahiwi is farmed biodynamically, integrating native plants and regenerative practices.

Co-founders Olivia Ross and Mike Wolfenden set out to prove that working with nature rather than dominating it can produce profound results.

Veterans of Burn Cottage and Felton Road, respectively, they found a like-minded partner in investor Yew Lin Goh, who shared their belief that Central Otago Pinot is too often released too early.

‘Our Mount Pisa vineyard rewards patience,’ Olivia says, ‘and has the potential to produce ageworthy Pinot Noir.’ Their debut 2021 wines have just been released.

Having the licence to work according to their convictions has been liberating. Their 70/20/10 philosophy – 70% conservative practices, 20% informed experimentation, 10% leftfield experimentation – allows for innovation while honouring tradition.

Manual viticulture, no cultivation (ie, no tilling of the soil between the vine rows) and the absence of synthetic inputs are non-negotiables. In the cellar, the only addition is sulphur dioxide.

Two distinct Pinot Noir cuvées articulate the site: Madeline, from schist and quartz soils, is fine-boned and mineral; Stella, from clay-loam, is deeper, darker and more brooding.

Under their Scordatura label, they conduct small-batch experiments, such as five wines in 2021 inspired by the Platonic solids (five unique geometric shapes associated with Plato’s theories about the nature of the cosmos).

Launching a new brand while building a winery has been daunting, but Olivia says that the satisfaction of working at their own pace – ‘living in a synthesis of farming, philosophy and winemaking’ – is highly rewarding.

Natural goals

They give deep consideration to ‘the triangle of terroir: place, time and process’, and draw inspiration from philosophical and practical sources such as Platonism, the wu-wei concept of ‘effortless action’ in Taoism, Japanese artisanship (notably the influential thinking of the late Masanobu Fukuoka) and Amish-American farmer-agronomist John Kempf.

Goals include reaching 10% soil organic matter, achieving energy self-sufficiency and expanding plant life in and around the vineyard.

And at Clos Miki – a close-planted Bannockburn site they’ve stewarded since 2022 – they’re applying their thoughtful, innovative approach to newly planted Chardonnay vines.

‘Looking ahead 10 years,’ Mike says in conclusion, ‘we envision Kahiwi as a demonstration of what’s possible when fastidious winemaking and gentle land stewardship work together in harmony.

‘If we can show that this approach not only preserves but actively improves the land while producing wines of genuine distinction, perhaps we’ll have made a meaningful contribution to the future of Central Otago, and beyond.’

Moko Hills

Central Otago

For Donald van der Westhuizen of Moko Hills in Bendigo, Central Otago, winemaking is the ‘easiest’ part of the job. ‘The saying that wines are made in the vineyard is a little cliché, but still very true,’ he says.

The hardest part? ‘Communicating Moko Hills beyond a bottle or glass of wine… each bottle truly is a small glimpse into this very personal journey between people and place.’

Moko Hills, named for the small lizards (mokomoko in Māori) found in the area, is a 40ha family-owned estate farmed with organic and regenerative practices, growing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Production is deliberately small – fewer than 300 cases – and is guided by Donald’s ‘less is more’ philosophy. Every vineyard and cellar decision is questioned: why do it – and is it needed?

An academic background in ecology shapes his approach. Once a purist aiming to return land to an ‘original’ state, he now focuses on ‘breaking the barriers between the “natural” world and farming systems’.

Central Otago’s famously collaborative spirit has been vital. ‘Many of the legends I looked up to when I first entered the industry have become mentors, peers and close friends,’ he explains.

‘Their support and the culture they’ve helped create is a big reason why I’ve put down roots here.’

A wider tapestry

His comfort lies in the challenges of, ‘countless hours under the summer sun, blown around in the spring winds and keeping warm during the frosty winter mornings’.

Living on-site means, ‘experiencing first-hand the seasonal flux and daily rhythms, invaluable for piecing together the knowledge of a place’.

Wine is just one thread in the broader Moko Hills tapestry: orchards for fruit and nuts, vegetable gardens, a flock of chickens (all called Lucy) and a landscape where native trees, birds and insects all thrive.

‘Wine is a conduit,’ Donald believes, ‘a way of understanding the nuances of place and creating social connection.’

Six wines from six new New Zealand producers

Related articles

• New Zealand: Precision, purity, power & poise
• How Māori winemakers are finding their voice in New Zealand’s wine industry
• Australia & New Zealand newsletter: Sign up today

A complex white Burgundy, majestic Rioja Gran Reserva or silky, bright Pinot Noir wine from one of several key growing regions can all be fantastic choices to drink with turkey.

Classic styles when pairing wine with turkey include:

• Full-bodied Chardonnay, such as those from Burgundy or California
• Pinot Noir
• Mature Bordeaux, Rioja or Barolo
• Beaujolais (Gamay)

Decanter Premium: The perfect gift for a special wine lover

Basics: what kind of wine goes with turkey?

Turkey is not a very powerful meat and its relatively low fat content means it can dry out quickly during cooking. 

Great wine matches with turkey include relatively full-bodied white wines or medium-bodied reds with low-to-medium tannin levels and high acidity. 

Turkey’s lack of fat means there is little to dampen down prominent, mouth-coating tannins associated with some younger, bolder red wines.

Bold tannins could eclipse all that hard work in the kitchen. Yet tannins generally soften over time, which is why a few years of bottle age can change the picture.

That said, ‘classic’ styles can vary in the glass according to winemaking decisions and vintage conditions.

Food and wine pairing is also highly subjective. Personal taste is always important, as expert Fiona Beckett recently wrote in defence of the concept.

Search all Decanter wine reviews

Pairing wine with turkey: a visual guide

Click on the turkey and wine pairing graphic below to see a full-size version.

Pairing wine with turkey at Christmas

Roast turkey for Christmas or Thanksgiving tends to arrive with an entourage that demands attention. 

‘As turkey has quite a subtle taste and a soft texture, the style of the wine will depend essentially on what accompanies the fowl at Christmas,’ said master sommelier Matthieu Longuère MS, wine development manager at Le Cordon Bleu London culinary school.

‘The classic trimmings that tend to be eaten alongside turkey for Christmas lunch are: a mountain of roasted potatoes, stuffing, carrots, parsnips, pigs in blankets, red cabbage, Brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, and an ocean of gravy,’ said Longuère.

‘This variety means that your choice of wine needs to be a good all-rounder. It should not be too tannic or it will clash with the sweetness of the cranberry sauce and root vegetables, and the sweet and sourness of the cabbage. 

‘Also, it cannot not be too heavy or too full-bodied, as it will overwhelm the soft turkey meat,’ he said, speaking to Decanter in 2024.

Acidity can help to refresh your palate as you wade through the array of dishes on the table.

Is red or white wine better for a turkey dinner?

An expert Decanter panel named white Burgundy as the best pairing with turkey back in 2011.

This beat Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Bordeaux blends, Pinot Noir and Californian Zinfandel in a tasting.

Longuère said it should be possible to find a wine in every colour that fits the bill, however. That’s good news if one of your fellow diners only drinks rosé, or white, red or orange. 

Red wine with turkey

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir often delivers wines of bright red fruit and refreshing acidity, albeit with varying levels of structure, and can be a great red wine choice for turkey. 

It’s still possible to find ‘value’ options in Burgundy, if you know where to look.

That said, premier or grand cru wines from top producers would likely deliver a memorable experience for anyone with access to them.

Decanter’s Burgundy correspondent, Charles Curtis MW, recently reviewed several Richebourg Grand Cru wines from Domaine Anne Gros.

Longuère recommended a good, five-year-old Pinot from Burgundy, Germany or also the UK, as well as from regions outside Europe.

Delicious Pinot Noir wines can be found across the world, from Mornington Peninsula in Australia and Central Otago in New Zealand to Oregon’s Willamette Valley in the US and Walker Bay in South Africa.

Some styles may be too lightweight. Decanter’s 2011 panel found a Volnay wine from Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune was ‘overwhelmed by the food.’ 

Younger reds can work, too. Longuère said ‘New World’ styles tend to be more approachable in youth, but also that decanting can help to ‘soften up’ younger wines in general.

Cru Beaujolais, produced from Gamay, is another fitting option, said Longuère. He advised looking towards lighter crus like Fleurie or Brouilly.

One feature of cooking turkey during the festive season is that the meat can last beyond the big day.

For cold roast turkey leftovers, food and wine pairing expert Fiona Beckett previously advised looking towards ‘a riper, more robustly fruity Pinot Noir from, say, California, Oregon or New Zealand’.

Mature red wines with turkey

Many wines built for long-term ageing have prominent tannins when young, although the character of these tannins can vary.

Nebbiolo (Barolo) and Cabernet Sauvignon are two grape varieties able to produce highly prized, long-lived wines that are generally high in tannin and acidity.

Tannins soften over time in the best bottlings, integrating into layer-upon-layer of delicious primary fruit and ‘tertiary’ flavours to offer a real treat at the table.

Longuère said: ‘If one is going for it, [I’d suggest] a 20-year-old Haut-Médoc or Barolo when they become really complex, with aromas of tobacco, autumn leaf and sweet oak, and feel like pure silk on the palate.’

Bordeaux’s brilliant 2005 vintage turned 20 years old in 2025, but don’t write off years that didn’t make quite so many headlines.

Charles Curtis MW recently explored the the charm of Bordeaux’s undervalued class of 2006.

Some vintages and wines evolve quicker than others, of course.

Bordeaux 2014 is a good place to look for relative value and wines offering drinking pleasure now. Several top names from the well-regarded 2015 vintage are also showing well in the glass a decade on from harvest.

Rioja with roast turkey: ‘a slam-dunk match’

Longuère also suggested Rioja Gran Reserva wines at least 10 years old as a potentially great match for turkey.

These wines are released with some bottle age and are often relatively good value in the fine wine world, he noted.

Wine writer Olly Smith is also a fan. ‘Turkey with all the trimmings and a high-end Rioja Gran Reserva is a slam-dunk wine match for Christmas day,’ he previously wrote for Decanter.

Read our Rioja wine buying guide

White wine with turkey

‘Barrel-fermented or barrel-matured white wine more than five years old would be ideal,’ said Longuère. 

He said examples include: ‘New World Chardonnay or Burgundy from Meursault or Chassagne-Montrachet, White Rioja Reserva or Gran Reserva, Sémillon-based white Pessac-Léognan in Bordeaux, [or] Chenin Blanc-based blends from South Africa.’

Chardonnay

A relatively full-bodied Chardonnay can be an enchanting accompaniment to your turkey, especially with traditional sides like bread sauce. 

Well-judged oak can bring some sweet spice notes, while creamy lactic acid may add depth alongside fruit flavours ranging from lemon and honey to ripe pear and quince. 

A backbone of acidity brings balance to the richness and should carve a path through all of those trimmings.

Good Chardonnays are often found in similar geographical areas to good Pinot Noir.

For those with the means and looking for something extra special, Decanter Burgundy correspondent Charles Curtis MW recently revisited the 2014 vintage in the grands crus of Chassagne- and Puligny-Montrachet.

Rosé and orange wines with turkey

Rosé needn’t just be for summer sipping. Longuère said fuller-bodied, more complex styles of rosé wines can be a hit with turkey at Christmas. 

Decanter’s Champagne correspondent, Tom Hewson, also wrote: ‘The [Christmas] main meal is tailor-made for Champagne’s deep and dark rosé de saignée.’ 

Many orange wines can be a great dining partner, wrote Ines Salpico, Decanter’s regional editor for Spain, Portugal and South America.

‘They usually have a herbal, savoury edge that brings a meal’s flavours to life, supported by gentle tannins and firm acidity.’

Search all Decanter wine reviews

This article has been updated in October 2025, including with new wine recommendations from Decanter experts.

Tasting notes: Wine with turkey inspiration

Examples of wines reviewed by Decanter experts at a range of different prices.

Related articles

Wine with beef: Pairing advice and styles to try

Wine with pork: Advice on great pairings

Wines to drink with turkey curry – Christmas leftovers

I envy my dog. On our woodland walk each morning her nose is low to the ground, all the better for drawing in scents. As the leaves change colour it’s a picturesque landscape, but there’s a better way to get to know this place than simply looking.

I follow the lead of my furry friend and sniff the air.

It’s akin to meditation. I empty my mind and concentrate on every noseful as I walk, breathing deeply, purposefully. Now I recognise the individual scent of each path, copse and clearing.

Smell is the most overlooked of our five senses but it can help ground and steady us. Natural aromas are best, whether fresh – or bottled.

Seasonal rhythms

The changing seasons of the forest mirror the long life of a bottle of wine. In spring, the first aromas to awaken are grass, green leaves and wild garlic. Like a newly bottled Sauvignon Blanc, it’s a time for purity and freshness.

The first fruits of summer bring to mind a two-year-old Cabernet Franc. In June, wild strawberries peek from under their leaves. Then the luminous redcurrants, like strings of spherical beads, popping with tart acidity and green tannins. Shortly after come fragrant raspberries.

Like an eight-year-old Mourvèdre, a horde of blackberries marks the end of summer, deep, dark and soft, staining your fingers like a wine glass at a tasting.

As the fruits begin to fade, the scents of autumn arrive, bringing to mind a glorious decades-old Grenache. The ground is wet again with scents of earth and leaf mulch; conker shells sweet with benevolent decay.

Acorns crack underfoot and polished brown chestnuts sit within green thickets of spines. The mushrooms release their spores.

As the cold of winter comes, the smells of the forest die back. Like an introverted Pinot Noir that refuses to play ball, there’s nothing in the stark air but a memory of wood smoke.

Until the sun warms the dormant ground and spring comes round again.

Daily rhythms

At the end of each day I choose a bottle of wine to open. After a day at a desk spent mostly online it’s time to touch grass. Or smell it, at least.

Sitting at the wooden dinner table, swirling my glass brings me back to earth, back to the here and now. I pause and spend time with the bottle and it gives up its secrets.

It takes more than just a glance; smell is the slowest sense. You need to be patient to release the aromas and welcome them in, to tease them apart in order to read the wine, to discover exactly what it has to say.

After a day’s work we can appreciate the fruits of our labour.

Whether you’re walking in a forest, or sitting with a bottle of wine, the necessarily gentle act of smelling, of breathing deeply, not only brings pleasure but it can help centre us, bringing us back to the moment – whether in company, or alone.

My dog seems to take all this for granted. Sometimes it’s us humans that need to remember to smell the roses.

Related articles

• Eight top Rhône wines to buy in the supermarket
• The ethical drinker: ‘Community is the answer’
• Can fine wine embrace plant-based cuisine?

In Burgundy, broadly speaking, there are two camps of red winemakers – those who destem their grapes, and those who do not.

The former can deliver fine, elegant wines with a very precise red fruit character. Anne Gros is among the most adept in this style.

I have been tasting at Domaine Anne Gros for a number of years. But it was a recent tasting of eight vintages of her Grand Cru Richebourg, organised in New York by wine collector Jim Finkel, that prompted me to look again at this lustrous domaine, because it has proven to be among the top echelon of producers in Vosne-Romanée today.

Scroll down for 15 Domaine Anne Gros wines tasted and rated

The history

The origins of the domaine can be traced back almost 150 years.

According to French historian and writer Jean-François Bazin, the story of the domaine starts with the move of Alphonse Gros (1804-1884) from Chaux in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits to Vosne-Romanée in 1853, but the true founder of the domaine was his son Louis-Gustave, born in 1831.

It was Louis-Gustave who purchased 2ha of a vineyard called Les Vérroilles in 1882. This vineyard was absorbed into Richebourg in the 1920s.

The domaine was expanded by Louis-Gustave’s son Jules and grandson Louis (1893-1951), to include the monopole of the Echézeaux lieu-dit Les Loächausses, and a parcel of nearly a hectare in the Clos de Vougeot, purchased in 1920.

According to Bazin, at its peak, Domaine Louis Gros included 2ha of Richebourg, 2.5ha of the best parts of the Clos de Vougeot, a half-hectare of Grands Echézeaux, the monopole of the Clos des Réas, and others – a grand total of 17.85ha.

Inheritance divisions begin

Louis Gros had four children: Gustave, Colette, François and Jean, who farmed the vineyard together from the death of their father until 1963, when the vineyards were split among them.

Gustave and Colette never married, and cooperatively formed Gros Frère et Soeur (later run by their nephew Bernard, and now by his son Vincent), while François and Jean struck out on their own.

The holdings of Jean Gros were eventually transmitted to his children Michel, Bernard and Anne-Françoise, while those of François were handed down to his daughter Anne, who is in the process of passing the domaine on to her children Paul, Julie and Marine.

The dust is finally beginning to settle on the Gros estates. As each domaine transitions to the next generation, the vineyards of Colette, which had been leased to Gros Frère et Soeur, have now been redistributed among the family.

The vineyards

These family exchanges bring the holdings of Domaine Anne Gros to 8.42ha in Burgundy. The largest surface is a large single parcel of 1.73ha in the village of Concœur, above Vosne-Romanée. This is classified under the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits appellation, with 0.73ha at the base of the slope planted to Pinot Noir, and the steeper slopes near the top (at 400m elevation) planted to Chardonnay.

The domaine also produces regional-level wines from 1.68ha located in Vosne and Flagey. These used to be classified as Bourgogne rouge and blanc respectively, but some have been reclassified as Coteaux Bourguignons.

The village-level Vosne comes from a superb 0.39ha parcel in Les Barreaux that was planted in 1903. Anne Gros purchased the parcel, located at the mouth of the combe that leads to Concœur, in 1988. The soil is limestone scree (grèzes litées), with a high active calcium content.

Anne’s son Paul says: ‘This is the same elevation as [Vosne premier cru] Petits Monts; it is right where the slope turns to face northeast, but otherwise this has everything needed to be premier cru’.

Anne simply describes it as, ‘my baby Richebourg’.

There are also 0.30ha in the Vosne lieu-dit of Aux Communes that Paul will produce, and a 1.1ha parcel of village-level Chambolle-Musigny in the lieu-dit Combe d’Orveau planted in white marl soils. As Anne says, ‘this [Chambolle] is the last parcel in the combe, next to Mugnier.’

The grands crus

The village and regional-level wines of this estate offer great value, but the pride of the domaine is understandably its four magnificent grand cru wines:

Echézeaux: The domaine owns 0.94ha in Les Loächausses, just south of the Echézeaux du Dessus climat in the historic heart of the appellation. This is complemented by 0.34ha in Les Beaux Monts Bas that is now farmed by Paul.

Grands Echézeaux: Anne and her children also acquired a 0.37ha slice of Grands Echézeaux in the 2022 Gros family reshuffle.

Clos de Vougeot: The domaine’s Clos de Vougeot is a Gros family favourite – the wine is voluptuous and accessible, showing well at an earlier age than the Richebourg, which is somewhat slower to open up. The grapes come from a 0.94ha parcel in a very well-regarded section of the vineyard known as Le Grand Maupertui. Anne’s holding was first planted in 1904. It is maintained by what growers call repiquage, where single vines are replaced as needed, but the vineyard as a whole is never replanted.

Richebourg: The jewel in the crown is the 0.62ha of Richebourg, which produces a wine that is slightly more aloof than the Clos de Vougeot, showing a fruit character that takes some time to shine through, firmer tannins, and more prominent acidity. The parcel lies mostly in Les Vérroilles, but a bit overlaps into Les Richebourgs. Part of the parcel is 75 years old, the balance is 50 years old, and both are planted in brown soil with limestone pebbles.

Winemaking

All of the grapes are destemmed and fermented in stainless steel tanks. The extraction is assured through a combination of gently punching down and pumping over, although Anne says that the Richebourg can support a firmer extraction.

The red wines are generally aged 14 months in barrel, with 20%-40% new oak, depending on the wine.

The whites are destemmed and pressed and the fermentation starts in stainless steel and finishes in barrel, one-quarter new.

Did you know?

The barrels at Domaine Anne Gros are normally sourced from three coopers: Damy, François Frères and Berthomieu/Ermitage (who steam the wood first before toasting it).

The southern French chapter

The family also has a property in the Minervois, Languedoc, where it farms 20ha in the high-altitude, limestone-rich terroirs of the appellation.

There are four accessible, easy-drinking varietal reds bottled under the IGP Côtes du Brian and a white labelled Vin de France, a blend of Vermentino and Roussanne.

In addition to the IGP wines, there is a Minervois from slightly younger vines called Les Fontanilles, and three old-vine cuvées from the Cazelles terroir of the Minervois appellation that reflect specific sites and differing proportions of old-vine Carignan, some of which come from 120-year-old vines.

As Paul and Julie take over more responsibility from their mother, nothing is standing still at Domaine Anne Gros.

Paul has recently launched his own domaine, Domaine Paul Tollot-Gros, vinifying some of the Bourgogne Rouge, village-level Vosne-Romanée and Echézeaux, experimenting with later picking and using some whole clusters.

The Domaine Anne Gros wines, however, remain true to their traditional style.

One can be certain that from the glorious summits of the Richebourg to the juicy, fruit-laden everyday wines from the Minervois, the range of wines at Domaine Anne Gros offers something for every taste and budget.

Domaine Anne Gros wines tasted and rated

Related articles

• Richebourg vs Romanée-St-Vivant: Comparing two of Burgundy’s famous grands crus
• Dauvissat: The wizard of Chablis
• Montrachet 2014: When is the right time to drink up?

New Zealand has built its reputation on wines defined by clarity, balance and purity. From the savoury Pinot Noirs of Wairarapa and Central Otago to the lively Sauvignon Blancs of Marlborough, precision and character run through every glass.

At Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2025, the hallmark shone brightly across a wide range of varieties. When awarding top medals, judges looked for typicity and regional identity – and New Zealand delivered in abundance.

Sauvignon Blanc remains the country’s calling card for whites, and Pinot Noir for reds. Yet with near-perfect growing conditions and increasingly refined winemaking, other varieties are also excelling – and often presenting exceptional value.

Scroll down to discover 15 top-scoring wines from New Zealand

At the 2025 competition, elegant Pinot Noirs, vibrant Sauvignon Blancs, silky Chardonnays and refined Syrahs all stood out, underpinning the country’s breadth of talent and the influence of its diverse climates and soils. Whether red, white or something in between, New Zealand’s award-winning wines continue to set the standard for purity and poise.

See this year’s DWWA 2025 results and discover the world’s best wines at awards.decanter.com

Best in Show

Craggy Range, Pinot Noir, Martinborough, Wairarapa 2024

Best in Show, 97 points

£26.95-£32.50 All About Wine, Corking Wines, Strictly Wine, Wine Republic

Of the six Pinot Noirs from New Zealand to feature in our Top 50 selections since 2018, this is the third to come from Wairarapa’s Martinborough (the other three, unsurprisingly, have been Central Otago wines). This is an uncompromisingly dark wine that plays to New Zealand’s strengths in terms of purity and vivacity of fruit: raspberry, cherry and plum come streaming from the glass, and the fine meshing of fruit and oak adds to its lustre and appeal. It’s both long and broad, but not in any way clumsy, and the fruit flavours (raspberry to the fore again) are hypnotic. Svelte tannins are barely palpable, so there’s no textural barrier to entry. Alcohol 13.5%

Auckland

Mudbrick Vineyard, Velvet, Waiheke Island 2022

Gold, 96 points

mudbrick.co.nz

A commanding presence, with youth and potential. Violets, dark berries, plums and blackcurrants nestle into the graphite tannins. Lifted cherry acidity with a lengthy coffee finish. Alc 14.8%

Central Otago

McArthur Ridge, Southern Tor Pinot Noir, Alexandra Basin 2023

Platinum, 97 points

mcarthurridge.com

Layers of crushed raspberry, plum, cherry, dried herbs, vanilla and baking spice. Stately and plush, with juicy acidity and firm but balanced tannins laying a foundation for ageing. Alc 14%

Te Kano, Northburn Pinot Noir 2022

Gold, 96 points

£32.80 Davy’s

A melange of black cherries, plums, violets and dried herbs set in a frame of graphite tannins and silky structure, with a disarming spice note to end. Alc 13%

Hawke’s Bay

Church Road, 1 Single Vineyard Redstone Syrah, Bridge Pa Triangle 2021

Gold, 95 points

church-road.com

Blackberry and mulberry jam with pink peppercorn and dried kalamata olive. Bright and poised with a sheen of plush tannin and a delicate acid line. Alc 13.5%

Marlborough

Rapaura Springs, Rohe Rapaura Sauvignon Blanc 2024

Gold, 96 points

£19.50 Waitrose

A passion fruit, lime flower, angelica and basil fragrance wafts liberally over the nose and sinks into the steely, mineral palate. Long and mouthwatering. Alc 13.5%

Babich, Sauvignon Blanc 2024

Value Gold, 95 points

£13.50-£15.29 All About Wine, Sainsbury’s, Tesco

White peach, nettle, guava and lychee perfume with an undercurrent of fresh herbs. Assertive and persistent with a backbone of vibrant lemon acidity. Alc 13%

Delta Estate, Hatters Hill Chardonnay 2022

Gold, 95 points

£22.50 Hennings

Peach and pineapple fruit with a lick of chervil energy. Weighty on the palate with a buttery, satin texture and a slick acid line. Long and nutty. Alc 13%

Jackson Estate, Stich Sauvignon Blanc 2024

Gold, 95 points

£15-£16 Booths, Waitrose

Kiwi juice, passion fruit, lime and mango flavours are offset by a glistening sea spray freshness and savoury line of samphire and green capsicum. Deliciously crunchy. Alc 13%

Lake Chalice, The Falcon Sauvignon Blanc, Dillons Point 2024

Value Gold, 95 points

£14.99 Hallgarten Wines

Stylish white nectarine, passion fruit and orange blossom enriched by a saline, savoury concentration and an alluring herbal focus. Fresh, citrussy and long. Alc 13.5%

Marisco Vineyards, Craft Series The Pioneer Chardonnay 2023

Gold, 95 points

marisco.co.nz

Stone fruit, quince and apple aromas intermingle with toasty vanilla and cedar oak. Weighty and broad with citrus acidity and a nutty finish. Alc 14%

Saint Clair Family Estate, Vicar’s Choice Sauvignon Blanc 2024

Value Gold, 95 points

POA £ Hallgarten Wines

Lively greengage, plum and white blossom aromas with hints of vanilla cream. Fleshy and lush, kept in line by taut acidity and a lemon peel finish. Alc 13%

Stoneleigh, Rapaura Series Chardonnay 2023

Gold, 95 points

stoneleigh.com

Full of ripe yellow apple, peach and melon, supported by a slick, satiny texture and pristine oak definition. Flinty and linear. Alc 13%

Villa Maria, Private Bin Riesling 2024

Value Gold, 95 points

£11-£14.14 Booths, Ocado, Three Pillars, Waitrose

Bright apple, lime blossom and fresh dandelion aromas bloom over delightfully spindly acidity and a citrus drive that propels towards a mineral finish. Varietally spot-on. Alc 11.5%

Tohu, Pinot Noir, Awatere Valley 2022

Gold, 95 points

£19.95-£21.95 Booths, Love Wine, Ocado, Old Chapel Cellars, The Dorset Wine Co

Compelling notes of red cherry, raspberry, plum and clove with an intriguing, savoury nuance of chicory and radicchio to balance. Tense, compact and tightly wound. Alc 13%

Search all DWWA 2025 award-winning wines

Related articles

• Sustainability in New Zealand: ‘A matter of identity’
• Celebrating International Cabernet Sauvignon Day: 15 to try
• Celebrating DWWA 2025 winners at the Salon of Decanter in Slovenia

Faulkner said that: ‘Some days in late August at home are like this, the air thin and eager like this, with something in it sad and nostalgic and familiar.’

That struck a chord in me as a frenzied August saw me packing in a few days on the road, including a trip home, a trip that definitely struck me as sad, nostalgic and familiar.

Somehow, between it all, I found the time to taste more than 300 wines. It was a whirlwind.

Santa Cruz Mountains

Prior to my visit to the Santa Cruz Mountains in August, I had made the pilgrimage to Montebello, but hadn’t ventured beyond those hallowed grounds at Ridge.

On this August visit, hosted by the Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains regional body, I was able to get a more holistic picture, including visits to Rhys, Mount Eden and a new to me producer, Thomas Fogarty, as well as a return trip to Montebello.

On my last day, I sat down to a broader appellation tasting and left there having tasted over 120 wines in just three days. I also had one of the best burritos of my entire life.

While this is where American Pinot Noir first got its start, thanks to Paul Masson in the early 1900s, it was actually the Chardonnay and Syrah which blew me away.

The beautifully rugged region, with its enchanting, unique garrigue-scent filling the air at nearly every turn, is home to incredible wines. High elevation, steep slopes, and cool air from the Pacific, combined with fog from the San Francisco Bay, all come together to create something truly exceptional.

One of California’s original wine regions remains far too under the radar, despite the success of Ridge, but look for more coverage from me later this fall.

The Dundee Hills

In an effort to wrap up my 2023 Willamette Valley vintage report, I made the trek down to the Dundee Hills to taste with a few producers who had thus far eluded me.

An impressive new discovery was the wines from the White Walnut Estate, positioned on the lower flanks on the eastern side of the Dundee Hills. Owner and winemaker Chris Mazepink planted his home site in 2015 and has had some expansion since then.

He’s cut his teeth at some of the Willamette’s larger producers, but with the tiny production of his White Walnut wines, Chris is really showing a sense of place and elegance.

He says: ‘The Dundee Hills are too often painted with a broad brush and so all of these wines show the diversity of this appellation, and why even though this is where the Willamette Valley started in the 1960s, there’s a lot to explore.’

A tasting later that day at the place where it all actually started in the Willamette, Eyrie Vineyards focused on the new releases. The tasting went into the evening and I and a few others were treated to a few special bottles from the cellar of Jason Lett, second generation winemaker whose father planted the Willamette Valley’s first Pinot Noir in 1966.

Down to business

The month wrapped up with a few tastings at Woodinville, Washington wineries, Matthews Cellars, and Gård, where winemaker Matías Kúsulas is crafting some of the most compelling wines in Washington.

I’m more or less done with my big Washington and Oregon tastings for the year, and now it’s time to get busy writing the vintage reports for both the Willamette and Columbia Valleys.

Wish me luck.

Clive’s top 10 wines from August

Related articles

Decanter’s Top 50 US wines: Part three – the top 10

Oregon vintage report: Tricky Willamette Valley 2022 sticks the landing

How Tablas Creek went on a quest to bottle Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s hidden grapes

Sancerre is now a staple of restaurant wine lists and shop shelves, recognised the world over for its top-tier white wines made from Sauvignon Blanc.

Where does Sancerre wine come from?

The river Loire, the longest in France, rises in the Massif Central in the centre of France, meandering north and then east before spilling out into the Atlantic ocean. At the midpoint of this river lies the region of Sancerre. As it is at least 450km inland, it has a relatively cool and continental climate, which helps to preserve the variety’s natural acidity and freshness.

What does Sancerre taste like? Three things to remember:

1: Fresh

Sancerre whites are known for being fresh, fruity and zesty. Look out for notes of citrus, elderflower, gooseberry and grassy aromas.

2: Mineral

Many wines show a lovely stony, mineral character too. If you like Chablis, try Sancerre, as they share similar mineral characters.

3: Texture

The best examples are known for their delicious, multi-layered texture in the mouth.

Can Sancerre wine age?

In her recent article exploring Sancerre in depth, Beverley Blanning MW said:

‘Sancerre is usually drunk on release or very soon after. Simple Sauvignon, with fresh, grassy fruit in the green spectrum of flavours, is likely to lose its youthful appeal quickly and risk developing vegetal characters if kept more than a couple of years.

However, the finest wines of Sancerre, often from single-vineyard sites, are quite different.

For one thing, they’re usually older on release, having been aged on lees for up to 18 months before bottling. While most are approachable young, many will improve significantly in bottle.

But is this the best time to drink them? Most Sancerre vignerons advise drinking their wines when they are ‘young’, but by this they rarely mean as soon as they are released.’

Alphonse Mellot suggests that for his wines, ‘it’s best to wait four to five years’. Other growers agree.

Best food pairings for Sancerre

A classic match for Sancerre is goat’s cheese, in particular the local Crottin de Chavignol.

These whites also pair well with simple and light grilled or smoked fish dishes, and raw fish such as sushi and sashimi.

Sancerre red and rosé

Although 82% of the production of Sancerre is white, there are also red and rosé wines from this region, made from Pinot Noir.

The reds have evolved from light and simple into increasingly sophisticated and complex examples.

Rosés are fruity and floral, and many have a fresh citrusy side.

Related articles

• Sincere Sancerre: A Loire revival and eight wines to seek out
• The enduring appeal of Muscadet: 18 fabulous wines to try
• Decanter Cellar: 15 must-try Sauvignon Blanc

In the centre of Burgundy’s Côte de Nuits lies a jewel: the village of Vosne-Romanée.

There are a remarkable six grands crus within this village, not to mention Echézeaux and Grands-Echézeaux in the neighbouring village of Flagey-Echézeaux.

Each of the grands crus in Vosne-Romanée proper – Richebourg, Romanée-St-Vivant, Romanée-Conti, La Tâche, La Grande Rue and La Romanée – is famous in its own right.

Four of the six are monopoles – wholly owned by a single proprietor – yet the neighbours Richebourg and Romanée-St-Vivant, split among several owners, make for perhaps the most intriguing comparison.

Subscribe today to read all Decanter Premium articles

The parallels

The two vineyards share common points. The most obvious of these is their proximity – much of Richebourg lies directly up the slope from Romanée-St-Vivant.

The bedrock under the topsoil of both is almost all from the Bajocian stage of the Middle Jurassic.

For the most part, the vineyards also face the same direction.

They share a further common point, which can be just as important: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is the largest owner of each, with 43.7% of Richebourg and 56% of Romanée-St-Vivant.

The courtyard at the winery of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti looks out over the Romanée-St-Vivant vineyard. From this vantage point, it is difficult to tell where one grand cru ends and the other begins, although there is in fact a small vineyard road that divides them.

Despite the similarities, a tasting with the directors of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti suggested that the differences between the two were perhaps even more important than the superficial likeness.

Opposing orders

Let’s go back to the beginning. From the earliest surviving records we can see that each vineyard was originally tended by different sets of monks.

The base of the slope was jealously guarded by the Benedictine monks of the Abbaye St-Vivant de Vergy for centuries, while the vines further up the slope were made famous by the Cistercian monks of Cîteaux.

Deep dive: Romanée-St-Vivant

Manassès I, count of Chalon and Beaune, and one of the powerful lords of Vergy, granted the Abbaye St-Vivant de Vergy its first vineyards, endowing the vineyard of Romanée-St-Vivant to the monks in 900AD.

Two hundred years later, his initial donations were confirmed and expanded by Hugues II, Duke of Burgundy, between 1103 and 1143.

The Abbey eventually owned most of the vineyards of Vosne and neighbouring Flagey.

The most important though were the four adjoining clos originally granted to the abbey: Cloux (or Clos) des Neuf Journaux (a ‘journal’ being a medieval unit of land measurement equivalent to 34 ares or 340m²), Clos du Moytan, Clos des Quatre Journaux, and Clos des Cinq Journaux.

This last clos, which the abbey sold off in 1584, would later become Romanée-Conti when it was acquired by the Prince of Conti in the 18th century.

The other three clos remained with the monks and came to be known, collectively, as Romanée-St-Vivant (the first mention of the name dating to 1765).

The abbey’s vineyards were confiscated during the French Revolution, and Romanée-St-Vivant was sold to Nicolas-Joseph Marey.

Marey, a local politician and deputy to the Assemblée Nationale, married Jean-Charlotte Monge of Pommard, and the couple amassed one of the most significant vineyard holdings in Burgundy in the 19th century.

The majority of Romanée-St-Vivant (5.29ha) remained with Domaine Marey-Monge until it was leased to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in 1966. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti was able to purchase these vines in 1986, and today owns more than 56% of the entire appellation in one large block.

Other owners

The fragmentation of the vineyard began much earlier, however. Madame Marey-Monge sold the southern part known as the Clos des Quatre Journaux to the Latour family in 1898. They would, in turn, sell some of those vines as well, though the family still owns a portion which is labelled as such.

Over time, the rest of the vines from Quatre Journaux were subdivided into smaller parcels and are now owned by Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux, Domaine de l’Arlot, the investor Wilf Jaeger (sharecropped by Domaine Dujac) and Domaine Sylvain Cathiard.

LVMH recently purchased a portion that had belonged to Domaine Poisot.

Meanwhile, Marey-Monge sold a further two hectares at the northern end of the vineyard to Domaine Charles Noëllat.

Half of this was then sold to Lalou Bize-Leroy in 1988, making Domaine Leroy the second-largest proprietor of the appellation.

The remainder was then split between Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat and their in-laws at Domaine JJ Confuron.

Deep dive: Richebourg

The origins of adjoining Richebourg, just up the slope, are not quite as venerable as those of Romanée-St-Vivant but the name is attested to much earlier, with a reference in 1512.

Historian Jean-François Bazin relates that it was known as La Gueuppe in the 16th century, while it was the property of the Abbaye St-Vivant de Vergy.

The abbey sold portions of these vineyards to several other monastic orders, including the Cistercian order based at nearby Cîteaux, who worked the vines themselves and made the wine in their château at Clos de Vougeot.

According to Bazin, Richebourg’s later renown was due to the efforts of the Cistercians, and during the French Revolution, the vines were appraised at nearly the same price as adjacent Romanée-Conti and La Romanée.

The ownership of Richebourg has always been much more fragmented than that of Romanée-St-Vivant, and plots were sold throughout the 19th century.

In the early 20th century, there was a brusque expansion of the vineyard just as the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée laws were put in place.

The original nucleus of the vineyard was the 5.05ha lieu-dit called ‘Les Richebourgs’, bordered by Romanée-Conti and La Romanée to the south and Romanée-St-Vivant to the east.

The Vérroilles ‘controversy’

To the north, it is bound by another lieu-dit originally called ‘Les Vérroilles-sous-Richebourg’.

Les Vérroilles is steeper, and the slope turns to face slightly northeast, making it slightly cooler and later-ripening.

Unlike Les Richebourgs, it is also exposed to the cool air delivered by the valley called the Combe Brulée.

For this reason, some observers have wondered if the wine is of the same level as Les Richebourgs.

In fact, in the 1920s, several producers (including Domaine de la Romanée-Conti) sued the owners in Les Vérroilles to prevent their wine from being sold as Richebourg.

However, they lost their case, and Vérroilles was subsequently fused to Richebourg at the creation of the appellation in 1936.

The majority of Domaine de la Romané-Conti’s Richebourg holdings are in Les Richebourgs and were assembled by Jacques-Marie Duvault-Blochet, founder of the domaine, in the 19th century.

The domaine also owns one plot in Les Vérroilles, acquired after Duvault-Blochet’s death. This plot, however, has recently been replanted, and the grapes are not included in the most recent vintages; which some say has resulted in a more focused and concentrated wine.

Most of the other proprietors in Les Richebourgs acquired their vines in the 19th or early 20th century, including Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair, Domaine Charles Noëllat (now divided between Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat and Domaine Leroy), Domaine Jean Grivot and Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret.

In the 19th century, ownership of Les Vérroilles passed to the Camuzet and Gros families, who still own most of it (with Domaine Gros now split into three separate domaines by inheritance).

Slopes and soils

This being Burgundy, when we begin to examine the character of the wines of each site, key points of difference are the soil and the gradient of the vineyards.

In Richebourg, the soil is seldom more than 30cm in depth, whereas in Romanée-St-Vivant, it is nearly 90cm deep in some sections.

Romanée-St-Vivant is also relatively flat. The vineyard ranges from 247m to 265m in altitude, with a gradient of 2%-7%.

The slope is more pronounced in Richebourg, ranging from 265m to 290m, with an average gradient of 12%.

When we look at Burgundian vineyards, those on flatter gradients with deeper soils tend to be more fruit-forward and approachable, while those from the steeper slopes have more structure and take a little longer to unfurl in both the bottle and glass.

This is why the best Burgundian crus tend to be found on the mid-part of the slopes of the Côte d’Or, striking a balance between fruit and tannins.

Tasting the differences

Lo-and-behold, this truth is demonstrated by the distinct taste of the wines produced from Romanée-St-Vivant and Richebourg.

Some differences can be chalked up to winemaking, but there is a distinctive style for each grand cru that cuts across all producers.

Wines from Romanée-St-Vivant are often aromatic and forward, displaying red and black fruit characters, floral notes and occasionally a hint of spice. The texture is fleshy and mouth-filling, with a full body, supple tannins and generous extract.

Wines from Richebourg, by contrast, can be a bit shy. They often take longer to reveal their charms, which can be hidden in their youth by a wall of minerality. The body is less supple and generous, but more concentrated, tannic and deep.

The nearest parallel for Richebourg is often Romanée-Conti. As with its noble neighbour, wine lovers will be rewarded by a wait of 20 years from the vintage before opening and then enjoyed over the next 50.

Romanée-St-Vivant at its best can evoke La Tâche. If it sometimes lacks the longevity of Richebourg, it can frequently be enjoyed earlier – try it after 10 years in the cellar.

Pinot Noir at its finest

Both Richebourg and Romanée-St-Vivant are sublime terroirs for Pinot Noir, yet the wines they produce are distinctly different.

Although they sit nearly one on top of the other, the individuality of each vineyard makes its way through the winemaker into the glass and on to the taster.

One forward, voluptuous and sensual, the other reserved and concentrated, almost imperious.

Both are to be supremely enjoyed, each in its own time.

At a glance: Richebourg vs Romanée-St-Vivant

Richebourg

Size: 8.03ha

Number of domaines with holdings: 11

Aspect: East, slightly northeast for Les Vérroilles

Elevation: 260m-290m

Incline: 12%

Topsoil: 30cm

Subsoil: Bajocian marls

Wine profile: Reserved, elegant, structured

Romanee-St-Vivant

Size: 9.44ha

Number of domaines with holdings: 10

Aspect: East

Elevation: 247m-260m

Incline: 2%-7%

Topsoil: 90cm

Subsoil: Crinoidal limestone

Wine profile: Exuberant, approachable, round

DRC: Richebourg vs Romanée-St-Vivant comparison

Related articles

• DRC 2022 in bottle: 12 wines tasted and rated
• Uncovering Burgundy’s underrated premier cru vineyards
• Dauvissat: The wizard of Chablis

Surrounded by water on three sides, Mornington Peninsula is undeniably a maritime wine region. The cool coastal climate plays a significant role in the styles of wine produced here. But there’s more to Mornington than sandy beaches and sea breezes.

Located 70km south of Melbourne – about an hour’s drive away – Mornington is one of 21 wine regions in the state of Victoria, nestled in the southeastern corner of Australia. At 976ha, it’s not the largest, but it certainly overdelivers when it comes to wine quality, producing world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Scroll down to see notes and scores for 14 superb wines from Mornington Peninsula

‘Mornington is a very special part of Australia,’ says winemaker Martin Spedding, owner of Ten Minutes by Tractor. ‘It’s obviously right at the very bottom of mainland Australia. It’s got the Southern Ocean on one side: Bass Strait. It’s surrounded by water with Port Phillip Bay and the western port, so it has a very maritime climate,’ he adds.

‘For a very small region, it’s got an incredibly diverse landscape, and that difference in altitude, in aspect, the influence of the water bodies that sit around the peninsula, they really create an incredibly rich tapestry of terroir – which from a Pinot and Chardonnay perspective is fantastic.’

Cool customer

Three bodies of water border the Peninsula. Port Phillip Bay lies on the west side, Western Port Bay is on the east and Bass Strait lies at the bottom. With no vineyard in the area more than 7km away from the ocean and crisp coastal breezes blowing all year round, it’s no wonder that the climate is cool. Indeed, the mean temperature in January – the warmest month of the year – is just 19.3℃.

This comparative coolness means that disease pressure is low in the region. It also helps to create a long and balanced growing season for vines. The maritime influence means the risk of spring frost is also very low, so early-ripening varieties flourish in the mild summer and autumn, producing grapes packed with fruit flavour and with high natural acidity.

In addition, Mornington Peninsula lies at a relatively low latitude for viticulture (38° 35’S) meaning that light during the growing season is abundant and intense. As a result vineyards require careful canopy management and grapes tend to develop thicker skins, which affects the tannins and colour of the final wines.

Down to earth

The maritime climate is just one contributing factor to Mornington Peninsula’s unique terroir. Its geology and topography are also distinctive. The ridges and rolling hills of the peninsula were shaped by volcanic activity 60 million years ago and subsequent seismic shifts over the last 15 million years.

Growers in the region refer to sites being ‘up the hill’ or ‘down the hill’. Tim Perrin, chief winemaker at Kooyong and Port Philip Estate explains. ‘Elevation is not huge, but Red Hill is the hill we speak of, and Main Ridge. They’re the two grape-growing areas that we refer to as up the hill. Then everything else down back towards Melbourne is lower elevation, down the hill.’

Soil profiles change with elevation. ‘Soils up in Red Hill and Main Ridge are more red volcanic from extinct volcanos; they become more sort of sedimentary limes as we come back down the hill towards more northern parts of the peninsula,’ says Perrin.

Geologically, Mornington Peninsula’s ancient soils are very diverse. They range from yellow and brown soils over friable rock to well-drained clay soils; from volcanic red clay to deep, fertile sandy soils. This geological patchwork has been explored and mapped by the region’s growers, helping them to identify unique microsites – often within one single vineyard.

Early days

Although winemaking history in Mornington stretches as far back as the late 1800s, the story of wine production in the modern era took off in the 1970s. Most of the region’s oldest vines date to this time. ‘Some plantings even go back before that,’ says Spedding. ‘But in terms of the last century, you’re talking of the 1970s.’

‘If you look at current plantings that still exist, you’d look at the Myer family with Elgee Park,’ says Rollo Crittenden of Crittenden Estate. Mornington Peninsula’s oldest winery, Elgee Park was founded in 1972.

‘In the late 70s at Main Ridge Estate, Nat White was probably one of the first small commercial producers who had Pinot Noir,’ he adds.

Small is beautiful

Today Pinot Noir accounts for 49% of the region’s plantings, followed by Chardonnay at 27%. After those, Pinot Gris is the most widely planted grape (13%), with small amounts of other varieties including Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc (see At a glance box below).

In fact ‘small’ is the watchword for Mornington Peninsula. Thanks to that geological and topographical patchwork, the region has developed as a network of around 200 small-scale vineyards, most of which are family-run. These boutique producers are by their nature focused on attention to detail.

The result is a community of winemakers who have become increasingly committed to sustainable and regenerative viticulture, single-vineyard expression and low-intervention winemaking. Backed by solid technical know-how, they are pushing for pristine fruit quality to produce terroir-driven wines that require minimal handling in the winery.

In the glass

For wine lovers this pursuit translates into a range of Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays that can easily rival classic benchmark styles from Burgundy – but for a fraction of the price. Expressive and elegant, they show considered balance between minerality and fruit, all underpinned by that distinctive cool climate freshness.

Some can already claim to cult status; the best regularly appear on the winner’s podium at global wine competitions. Most recently Moorooduc Estate’s Robinson Chardonnay 2022 scooped a gold at Decanter World Wine Awards 2025.

As vines get older and understanding of individual sites deepens, these wines will only get better. Vertical tastings are already proving the long-term cellaring potential of top ageworthy expressions. Personally I can’t wait to see what lies over the horizon for this distinctive maritime region as it sails into the future.

Mornington Peninsula at a glance

Vineyard area: 976ha

Plantings: 59% red, 41% white

Grapes: Pinot Noir (49%), Chardonnay (27%), Pinot Gris (13%), Shiraz (4%), Sauvignon Blanc (2%), others, including Tempranillo and Gamay (5%)

Production: 1,863 tonnes annual crush in 2024

Climate: Maritime

Number of vineyards: 200

Number of wineries: 60

Source: Wine Australia Region Snapshot 2023-2024

Mornington Peninsula: 14 wines to try

Related articles

• Wine region 101: Victoria
• Ned Goodwin MW: In pursuit of regional identity in Australian Chardonnay
• By Farr: revered Australian Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

‘This wine is a lot of work,’ says Laurent-Perrier oenologist Constance Delaire as we taste the current release of the house’s Cuvée Rosé, one of Champagne’s best-known rosés.

Most rosé Champagne is made using the assemblage method, which sees red wine from Pinot Noir added to a white base wine before bottling for the second fermentation.

Laurent-Perrier’s Cuvée Rosé, on the other hand, is made using a different method, and it’s an approach that many Champagne houses would consider unthinkably complex for making a rosé at scale.

Scroll down for notes and scores for Laurent-Perrier’s rosé Champagne

Although commonly referred to as saignée in Champagne, the method used by Laurent Perrier is more accurately described as maceration.

Outside of Champagne, saignée technically refers to rosé wines made from bleeding off pale must from red wine ferments.

In Champagne, however, saignée is used, albeit inaccurately, to refer to rosés made from red grapes which are destemmed, macerated for a precise amount of time to extract colour and flavour, pressed, and then fermented.

It is usually the preserve of small Champagne producers and growers, due to how labour-intensive it can be.

Such are the demands of this method, in fact, that Laurent-Perrier has built an entire winery dedicated solely to this one cuvée.

True dedication

Olivier Vigneron, the new cellar master at Laurent-Perrier, joins our tasting late, having been checking in on his wines after a few weeks of travelling.

‘I’m a cellar master of the cellar, really,’ he says, as opposed to a public ambassador for the house, as many other cellar masters are today.

‘At harvest time, Olivier and Michel would pretty much sleep next to the tanks for Cuvée Rosé,’ Delaire says of Vigneron and longtime predecessor Michel Fauconnet, who still consults at the house.

The making of a rosé icon

‘You have to start in the vineyards with a very strict selection,’ says Delaire, ‘the whole harvest for the rosé goes through a sorting table’.

This in itself is fairly extraordinary in Champagne. Sorting tables are vibrating units where individual bunches, or indeed grapes, are picked over by hand. They are a rare sight, except for top prestige rosé production.

‘We keep only the berries, separated by village, in cold maceration for 48 to 72 hours,’ says Delaire.

Perhaps sleeping next to the tanks doesn’t seem so crazy after all: the timing for pressing off the juice before it becomes too extracted is crucial.

‘You can miss it, even by an hour,’ says Vigneron.

So what’s the point of this process? ‘The idea is to get perfect extraction of the fruit,’ says Delaire.

Laurent-Perrier’s rosé comes out a shade darker than many.

Thanks to its 100% Pinot Noir makeup (compared to most rosé Champagne which also includes some Chardonnay and Meunier), it is fragrant and rich in red fruit characters.

What’s more, thanks to long lees-ageing (unusual for a non-vintage Champagne), there’s none of the slightly raw youthfulness that saignée – maceration – styles can sometimes display.

The current releases are based on the excellent pair of vintages, 2019 and 2018.

A step further

As if Laurent-Perrier’s unique approach to non-vintage rosé production wasn’t enough, its Grande Cuvée Alexandra Rosé has an equally unusual conception.

‘We wait for the maturity of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at the same time’, says Delaire – meaning this cuvée can only be made when the two grape varieties ripen concurrently.

It’s a sort of hybrid winemaking, where a strict selection of Pinot Noir – all from grand cru villages on the Montagne de Reims – is macerated and added to freshly pressed grand cru Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs.

‘It’s a really complicated wine to make,’ she says.

Complicated it may be, but the grand cru Chardonnay brings excellent longevity, which means this exceptional bottling can age into one of Champagne’s greatest rosés.

As we taste a library edition of the 2007 release, its beautiful aromas of dried strawberries, preserved citrus, truffle honey and pastry cream fill the room.

The colour has started to turn a little copper, and the mousse settles into silky maturity.

It’s a fine reminder of something that the team at Laurent-Perrier knows extremely well: sometimes you have to do it the hard way to get the greatest result.

Laurent-Perrier rosé:

Related articles

• Champagne releases for spring & summer 2025
• Petite Montagne, grand ambition: Ten top wines from an exciting corner of Champagne
• First taste: Dom Pérignon’s new P2 2008 released with artistic flair

Decidedly the famed red grape of Burgundy, the best examples of Pinot Noir can inspire goosebumps for its sheer drinking pleasure.

Light bodied with fresh acidity, Pinot Noir wines can overdeliver on flavour with floral, fruity, savoury, earthy, complex and lingering flavours.

From country to region, sub-region to single vineyard, Pinot Noir is capable of expressing the place it comes from, and while Burgundy is its home, with intricacies of its own, Pinot Noir has adapted and excelled in wine regions across the globe.

Results from the recently announced Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) highlight the versatility of this variety, with eight countries and 37 outstanding Pinot Noir wines represented in the competition’s top medal categories – Gold, Platinum and Best in Show.

Explore the excellence of one of Italy’s most iconic wine producers – book your place at the Antinori Masterclass at Decanter Fine Wine Encounter London 2025

In the competition’s top 50 selection, two Best in Show accolades were awarded to single varietal Pinot Noir wines from Martinborough, New Zealand and Burgundy, France.

Burgundy also received three Platinum medals and five Golds. Producer Albert Bichot claimed one Best in Show and one Platinum, for its Hospices De Beaune Cuvée Cyrot Chaudron and Domaine Du Clos Frantin respectively.

Additional 97-point accolades were awarded to Pinot Noir wines from Baden, Germany, Tasmania, Australia, Alsace, France, Central Otago, New Zealand and Oregon in the US.

In the Gold category, Australia saw success with sever varietal wines awarded medals, while Pinot Noirs from US’s California and Chile’s Casablanca Valley also secured coveted spots on the prestigious Gold list.

As a truly global competition, DWWA results showcase the exceptional quality of Pinot Noir from around the world. What better occasion than International Pinot Noir Day to spotlight some of the competition’s finest?

Below discover a selection of top-scoring wines from the 2025 competition, with many more awarded Pinot Noir wines to discover on our results site awards.decanter.com

Pinot Noir: 20 top-scoring wines to try from DWWA 2025

Best in Show

Albert Bichot, Hospices de Beaune Cuvée Cyrot Chaudron, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru, Burgundy, France 2023

Best in Show, 97 points

The chance to look at Grand Cru Burgundy in our judging process feels like an unusual luxury — but our scrutiny takes into account the wine’s eventual retail price band, and the consumer expectations that go with that. It’s by no means a given that wines of this calibre will fetch up in our Best in Show selection. Three such red wines have made it to the Top 50 Best in Show in the past, but none since the 2020 DWWA. When we came to look at this Clos de la Roche, though, we felt that we had met a worthy wine and an outstanding example of the compelling appeal of the Côte de Nuits. It’s dark, indeed almost opaque in colour, with a dense, tapestry-like weave of beguiling fruits. The palate is deep, searching and sumptuously fruited, too, with a rich inner glow that sensitive oak handling is shaping for the future. Best, if possible, to wait most of a decade in order to enjoy this bottle at its best; nonetheless the tannins are soft and plush enough to make early drinking over the next year or two a possibility here. Alcohol 14.5%

Craggy Range, Martinborough, Wairarapa, New Zealand 2024

Best in Show, 97 points

Of the six Pinot Noirs from New Zealand to feature in our Top 50 selections since 2018, this is the third to come from Wairarapa’s Martinborough (the other three, unsurprisingly, have been Central Otago wines). This is an uncompromisingly dark wine that plays to New Zealand’s strengths in terms of purity and vivacity of fruit: raspberry, cherry and plum come streaming from the glass, and the fine meshing of fruit and oak in this wine adds to its lustre and appeal. In the mouth, the wine is both long and broad but not in any way clumsy, and the fruit flavours (raspberry to the fore again) are hypnotic. Svelte tannins are barely palpable, so there’s no textural barrier to entry. Alc 13.5%

Australia

Bay of Fires, Tasmania 2023

Platinum, 97 points

Displaying unrivalled panache and charisma: brilliant raspberries and black cherries undulate over the smoked oyster decadence and fold ceremoniously into the focused oak frame. Utterly delicious with succulent acidity, cashmere tannins and a red berry finish. Alc 13.5%

Ossa, Tasmania 2023

Gold, 96 points

Flamboyant floral and ripe red fruit notes fold into the rapturously silky texture with its fleshy tannins aplenty and soft sousing of oak. Top shelf. Alc 13.5%

Beyond the Wilderness, Cool Climate Pinot Noir, Tasmania 2024

Gold, 95 points

Sweet raspberry, pomegranate and dark cherry fruits are encased in a lightly spiced shell with charcuterie notes seeping into the abundant silky tannins and vivid acidity. Alc 14%

Soumah, Equilibrio Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley, Victoria 2024

Gold, 95 points

Brilliant cherry, strawberry, plum and crushed raspberry fruit adorn the mellow, creamy texture and taming graphite tannins, with lithe acidity and a red liquorice length. Alc 13.5%

Canada

CedarCreek Estate Winery, Platinum South Kelowna Slopes, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia 2022

Gold, 96 points

Stunning layers of black cherry, berry and baking spice flavour; crammed with intensity and character. Expansive and plush with satin tannins and a graphite finish. Alc 13%

Hidden Bench Estate Winery, Pinot Noir, Beamsville Bench, Ontario – Niagara Peninsula 2022

Gold, 95 points

The true essence of Pinot Noir: redcurrants, cherries and a scattering of sweet herbs swirl over the sumptuous palate with supple tannins and a juicy finish. Alc 13%

Chile

Cono Sur, Ocio, San Antonio 2022

Gold, 96 points

Alive with red cherry fruit and vibrant florals with delicate herbals lapping at the edges. Firm and serious on the palate with divine pencil shaving tannins. Alc 14%

Terranoble, Algarrobo, Casablanca Valley 2024

Gold, 96 points

Charming red plums, sour cherries and decadent florals billow over nose and palate with a crunchy cranberry acidity, silky tannins and a delightful seaweed tang. Alc 12.5%

France

Domaine Evenstad, Les Feusselottes, Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru, Burgundy 2022

Platinum, 97 points

Glowing with purity: vivid violet florals and bright cherries and berries glide over the nose and palate in tandem with a charm of pristine minerals. Bracing in its youthful power, the elegance and finesse sustains unfalteringly. Alc 13.5%

Domaine Jean Monnier & Fils, Clos de Citeaux, Pommard 1er Cru, Burgundy 2022

Platinum, 97 points

Gleaming with sweet dark cherries, pomegranates and violets which tumble over the burgeoning tannins, silky texture and shiny acidity. Full of youthful exuberance with a spark of lively paprika spice on the long, arresting finale. Alc 13%

Domaine Saint Remy, Grand Cru Hengst, Alsace 2022

Platinum, 97 points

A thrilling brood of black cherry, warm blackberry and earthy tar swirls effortlessly across the nose and entangles energetically with the plush, fleshy structure, supple tannins and impeccable line of acidity. Beautifully long and memorable. Alc 13%

Domaine Gille, Les Cailles, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru, Burgundy 2022

Gold, 96 points

An impressive profile of strawberry and raspberry fruit with perfumed, earthy tones. Confident and complex with rich, rustic tannins and an understated classy oak core. Alc 13%

Prosper Maufoux, Echezeaux Grand Cru 2022

Gold, 96 points

A luxurious splurge of black cherry, wild raspberry, espresso and pipe tobacco with a tight, graphite minerality and finely knitted tannins. Grandiose and utterly delicious! Alc 13.5%

Jean-Max Roger, Vieilles Vignes, Sancerre, Loire 2018

Gold, 95 points

A glowing spectacle of maturity, exhibiting bramble fruit, dark chocolate, liquorice and leather aromas and a rewarding cedar oak presence which slithers delicately over the silky tannins. Alc 13%

Germany

Fritz Wassmer, Roter Berg Kenzingen Spätburgunder, Baden 2022

Platinum, 97 points

A thriving floral perfume of red roses and violets allied with sweet ripe fruit. Hugely intense and powerful on the palate with expertly handled acidity, fine-grained tannins and a savoury mocha swirl which edges towards the finish. Alc 13.5%

New Zealand

McArthur Ridge, Southern Tor, Alexandra Basin, Central Otago 2023

Platinum, 97 points

Phenomenal layers of crushed raspberry, plum, black cherry and dried herbs amid moments of vanilla and baking spice. Stately and plush with juicy acidity and scores of ardent tannins which lay the foundations for ageing. Divine. Alc 14%

Te Kano, Northburn, Central Otago 2022

Gold, 96 points

A melange of black cherries, plums, violets and dried herbs in a frame of graphite tannins and silky structure, with a disarming spice note to end. Alc 13%

United States

Domaine Serene, Yamhill Cuvée, Willamette Valley, Oregon 2022

Platinum, 97 points

A masterstroke of Pinot Noir making! Deftly placed crunchy red cherry and raspberry fruit with a generosity of sweet oaky spice which unfurls and weaves around the supple tannins and texture, with bristling acidity and a lengthy finish. Alc 13.8%

Search all DWWA 2025 results

Related articles

• Anderson Valley Pinot Noir: A look at the 2021 vintage
• Argentina: A vinous powerhouse in South America
• The future of wine: Emerging regions through the lens of Decanter World Wine Awards

In most descriptions of the Champagne region, the Petite Montagne de Reims gets grouped as part of the larger area of the Montagne de Reims, Champagne’s most northerly subregion.

Admittedly, although its name suggests otherwise, the Petite Montagne is a sizeable stretch of mostly east-facing vineyards that does indeed join up with the Montagne de Reims proper at the village of Villers-Allerand.

Scroll down to see top Champagnes from the Petite Montagne de Reims

However, this gently undulating subregion – which has become a vibrant hub for top-class independent growers – can surely be considered its own unique entity.

This is due to one fundamental difference between the Petite Montagne and the wider Montagne de Reims: soil type.

A different underground world

Most trips to Champagne begin with a murky descent into a cellar carved from the region’s immense chalk bedrock.

After all, it’s not only the vines that make use of the extraordinary properties of this compressed marine deposit.

The wines, once in bottle, spend many years ageing in this formidable network of cool, calm subterranean galleries.

Just 15 minutes drive southwest of Reims and its famous chalk cellars, however, the underground world is rather different.

‘It’s like being at the beach!’ says Nicolas Maillart, a grower-producer in the village of Eceuil in the Petite Montagne.

He reaches into a hole in his cellar wall and lets a fistful of fine, dry sand run through his fingers.

Much of the Petite Montagne is characterised by these sandy soils.

Building the cellar was such a complex job that a series of commemorative photographs still line the walls of Maillart’s estate.

Key villages of the Petite Montagne

All premier cru except for Gueux; with their most widely planted grape variety:

Chamery: 42% Meunier

Ecueil: 76% Pinot Noir

Sacy: 46% Pinot Noir

Villedommange: 58% Meunier

Vrigny: 87% Meunier

Gueux: 85% Meunier

A place and style of its own

This change in soil type impacts the style of the wines.

‘Our Pinot Noir is more aerial, less massive,’ says Richard Desvignes at Lacourte-Godbillon in Eceuil.

Benoist Perserval, of Perserval-Farge in Chamery, agrees: ‘Our wines have a little less tonicité [tension], but they’re easier to drink young’.

Ineffable character

Other than the soil, though, there’s little to differentiate the landscape here from the nearby slopes of the Montagne de Reims.

Although the rolling hills are not quite as high as the Grande Montagne area, the aspects and slopes are not wildly different.

The area can catch some of the cooler temperatures and rainfall that the nearby Ardre Valley often experiences, but ripeness and harvesting dates are often a little earlier than the north-facing parts of the Grande Montagne.

Yet the Petite Montagne is different, and has attracted the interest of the larger houses:

‘Ruinart came here looking for Chardonnay,’ says Perseval, ‘they need some that is ready younger, for their non-vintage’.

Over the other side of the hill, in the village of Courmas, Piper-Heidsieck sources elegant Meunier for its new cuvée, Essentiel Blanc de Noirs.

Séverine and Yann Alexandre, of the well-regarded eponymous estate also in Courmas, sell Meunier to Krug.

Petite Montagne top names to know

Bonnet-Ponson

Clément Perseval

Emilien Allouchery

Frédéric Savart

Guerlet-Deguerne

La Closerie

Lacourte-Godbillon

Louis Brochet

Nicolas Maillart

Perrine Fresne

Perseval-Farge

Roger Coulon

Thomas Perseval

Yann Alexandre

Meunier mania

Meunier in particular seems to thrive here, yielding wines of beautiful finesse and florality compared to the fruitier, rounder examples from the villages of its traditional home in the Marne Valley.

Francis Egly of Egly-Ouriet was one of the first to shine a light on the region via his cuvée Les Vignes de Vrigny, made from 100% Meunier in the village of Vrigny.

Since Jérôme Prévost created the now rare and much sought-after La Closerie Champagnes made from Meunier in Gueux, the area has exploded with independent names.

Nowadays, the most notable mover-and-shaker in Vrigny is Champagne Roger Coulon, whose sleek new tasting room seeks to draw high-end visitors to this quiet, sometimes neglected subregion.

Edgar Coulon, now the 9th generation at the estate, strives to retain acidity through farming the vines organically: ‘A lot of Meunier tastes flat as it ages’, he says, ‘it’s important to keep the energy’.

His wines have immediate aromatic generosity, and the constant refinement in the cellar is palpable. Unusually for Champagne, Coulon’s wines now rest an entire year in the cellars after disgorgement before shipping.

‘It costs a lot of money,’ says Coulon, but he feels it’s worth it, as his wines reach his clients at a perfect stage of evolution.

A spirited group

Many of these independent producers have a zealous drive for organic viticulture.

In the village of Chamery, in the southern part of the subregion, 25% of the vineyard is organic. This compares to 8.1% in Champagne overall.

There’s a relaxed, youthful undercurrent here, which is in contrast to many of Champagne’s villages.

Each spring, the village assembles for Chamery Circus, a tasting where the dress code is jeans and t-shirts, barbecues are fired up and local musical talent, buoyed by a glass or two, takes to the stage.

Pinot Noir presence

Just to the north of Chamery, the village of Eceuil breaks the mould for Meunier dominance with its extensive plantings of sought-after Pinot Noir.

One of the village’s stars, Nicolas Maillart, tends a recently planted parcel of his speciality: ungrafted vines of Pinot Noir, which can survive here on their own roots thanks to the inability of phylloxera to spread in sandy soils.

Maillart’s resulting wine, Les Coupés Franc de Pieds, is one of this area’s most intense, evocative treasures.

Between them, the resourceful Champagne makers of the Petite Montagne are building an identity as vivid and energetic as anywhere in the region.

The statement is clear: the Petite Montagne de Reims may be petite in size, but in ambition, character and interest, it’s anything but.

Top Champagnes from the Petite Montagne

Related articles

• Champagne releases for spring & summer 2025
• Côte des Bar: A pocket of Champagne brimming with character
• Champagne report 2024: Latest releases from the Côte des Blancs

If strangers with wildly different histories and paradigms set out to complete a task together, what would happen?

This abstract thought experiment has been formally conducted in France and New Zealand since 2006.

France, and Burgundy specifically, has been producing some of the world’s most sought-after wine for two millennia. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay were born in Burgundy, and Cistercian monks created and refined the concept of terroir there.

New Zealand, meanwhile, is the youngest major wine-producing country in the world. Winemakers there are hailed for modernising the concept of terroir by infusing it with Māori values such as kaitiakitanga and tūrangawaewae, which links sustainability, and a deep human connection to place.

And we all know what they did with Savvy B…

Despite the stark differences, the global wine community is intimate, and Burgundy and New Zealand have been connected for decades.

How it started

‘In 2006, Sophie Confuron of Domaine Jean-Jacques Confuron came down to Central Otago for the first time,’ says Nick Mills (below), winemaker and general manager at his family estate, Rippon Vineyard, recalling the start of this co-fermentation of viticultures.

He knew Confuron well and had spent years in Burgundy himself studying viticulture in Beaune and working as a cellar rat at Domaine Jean-Jacques Confuron, Nicolas Potel, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and others.

‘We’d asked her to come down and present at the 2006 Central Otago Pinot Noir Celebration, on how the Cistercians’ beliefs and practices had advanced the notion of terroir,’ he explains.

The journey inspired Confuron to propose a student exchange between Central Otago and Burgundy.

The first official Central Otago Burgundy Exchange (COBEX) occurred in 2007, with a growers association and college in each region coordinating logistics.

Every year, wineries in each region agree to host stagiaires (interns) from abroad, providing them with the opportunity to experience a harvest and become immersed in the hosting region’s approach to farming, wine and culture.

The COBEX experience has had ripple effects on each region’s approach to viticulture and human culture.

Influence on viticulture

Stagiaires from Central Otago head to Burgundy to, ‘gain insight from the centuries of attention to specific vineyard sites, and the enormous history and respect for tradition there that a person from a very young country like New Zealand cannot fully appreciate until being fully immersed in it,’ says Carolyn Murray (below), general manager of the Central Otago Winegrowers Association.

Conversely, Burgundians arrive in Otago to discover what it’s like to work in a region devoted to fine wine, but without ‘detailed geographical and political overlays, and therefore free of the sort of constraints they have grown used to,’ Murray explains.

For Ben Leen, winemaker at Amisfield Winery, one of the stagiaires who descended on Burgundy in 2022, the experience was a revelation.

Feet on soil

‘Walking the vineyards with the owners, and being in places I’d only ever heard of discussed in hushed tones, like Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, gave me a deep understanding of the tapestry and layers of terroir,’ he says.

‘We would open wines from the parcel that we had just walked for context, and I understood everything at a much more micro level. It helped me approach terroir very differently when I returned,’ he adds.

Leen’s method shifted, and he began seeing a season in its totality, while allowing different sections of the vineyard to ‘speak’ to him.

‘I began to see how every square metre has a different personality, and a different way of responding and performing,’ Leen says.

‘No-one in Burgundy talks about pH or residual sugar. That was so revelatory. The knowledge and devotion to science is there, but the understanding of wine seemed deeper.’

Influence on human terroir

While Burgundy’s effect on Central Otago’s approach to physical terroir is arguably more pronounced, the opposite is true for human culture.

‘We are just floating in this vast ocean in New Zealand,’ says Mills. ‘There’s an incredible freedom of spirit. You can imagine almost anything happening. In Burgundy, it’s much more insular, with centuries of history.’

Cistercians built walls, created hierarchies and codified degrees, essentially, of holiness from site to site.

In Otago, the physical remoteness of the country imbues the people with a deep connection to their own personal plot of land, Mills argues, but also with the freedom to farm, cultivate and perceive it as they want to.

‘Central Otago is so free and youthful in comparison to Burgundy, and the stagiaires who come here to experience it return home with a new sense of openness,’ Mills says.

Close connections

The regions have also found opportunities to support each other emotionally and financially through their close-knit exchange.

‘Central Otago Winegrowers made a donation of €5,000 to the Association for the Restoration of the Abbaye de St-Vivant, where the very notion of terroir was seeded,’ says Murray.

‘And after the Christchurch earthquake, our friends in Burgundy sent rare, old and large format bottles of their wine to New Zealand, which we offered at auction and raised over NZ$40,000 for earthquake appeal.’

In practice, the thought experiment has yielded arguably better wine through a more precise approach to viticulture, and a more open approach to human culture.

It also fermented a long and unexpectedly symbiotic friendship, with impacts that ripple well beyond the world of wine.

The Central Otago Burgundy Exchange: the facts

The concept for the exchange was born in 2006.

It has been conducted every year since, with a two-year pause during Covid-19.

More than 100 stagiaires have travelled on the exchange.

COBEX is run by a grower association and an agricultural college on each side.

In Burgundy: Mosaïque Bourgogne International and the CFPPA de Beaune.

In New Zealand: Central Otago Winegrowers Association and the Otago Polytechnic Central Campus.

Related articles

• Burgundy winemakers head to England’s Essex for new ventures
• Why now is the time to embrace New Zealand Chardonnay
• Riesling star Erni Loosen launches Burgundy wine project

Equipped with a degree in viticulture from Oregon State University and several years experience in the wine industry, Daenitz founded wine photography and marketing company Craft & Cluster in 2019.

‘My original ambition was to be a photojournalist. I wanted to be the photography version of Andie Anderson from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. I wanted to be Annie Leibovitz, I really admire her work. I went to school in Pasadena and took a couple of photography courses but I found that the LA photography scene was a little toxic. I was looking for a job that would be a bit more collaborative and I found the wine industry. I started studying wine and viticulture and finished my degree in 2013.

‘I was working for a vineyard management company, Coastal Vineyard Care Associates, and they asked me to start a social media account for them. I dusted off my old camera and started taking it out into the fields, photographing everything that was going on. If I saw a cool insect when I was doing my pest scouting rounds, I would take a photo of it. If I saw the crews were weeding or tilling, I would take photos and post them on social media. The winery clients I was working with started noticing and asked if I could do that for them.

‘My mentor, Francesca Lindley CFO said you have something here and you would do really well if you wanted to pursue this. It put the worm in my head.

‘I left my full time job in the January and started Craft & Cluster in February 2019. The name came from a for fun Instagram account that my husband and I started to share photos of the wine, beer and spirits we were drinking. I appropriated it for the business.

‘We manage social media for six wineries. We do consulting for a couple of wineries as well. We have some one-off wineries we work with for photography, once or twice a year. I would say we work with 30-40 wineries in an average year.

‘I work in the Santa Ynez Valley but I’m only about an hour from Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo where I go frequently. I also do some work with Sonoma and Napa Valley wineries, getting to explore other wine regions has been really special. Two years ago I had the opportunity to photograph The Women in Wine Expo at Balfour in Kent.

‘I think that the beauty of the wine industry is that people really care to work with each other. A rising tide lifts all boats. I feel that’s a philosophy most wineries live by. I think wineries need community, that’s the entire point of wine.

‘I’m part of a group for women working in wine in Santa Barbara County which created the annual Women Winemakers & Culinarians Celebration. In Santa Barbara County we have the highest number of women winemakers per capita than any other wine region and we wanted to celebrate that. It’s a dubious thing to celebrate because it’s still only 20% compared to men, which is really sad for me. It’s a thing to be proud of but I wish that we had more. But every year we’re getting more and more and more and I think that’s due in large part to the annual event and to the exposure and opportunities women are getting.

‘I wouldn’t be where I am without these women, it’s as simple as that. It would have been much harder to achieve what I’ve achieved without them backing and supporting me. The vast majority of clients I’ve gained are because of women who are part of that group.

‘Pinot Noir at Midnight wouldn’t have happened without Jessica Gasca of Story of Soil. She hired me to photograph the harvest that evening and I wouldn’t have been out there in those conditions without that.

‘I’m proud of all of my work, my clients validate it every day by continuing to work with me and that means a lot but it also means a lot to have third party impartial judges [for the Wine Photographer of the Year award] look at your work. So being able to win in this category with such a prestigious award is really special and validating.

‘One of my clients, Foxen (where I had my first winery job back in 2010) hire me now as a photographer. Last year they were picking well into sunrise and they have these really sandy soils. When you’re walking you put your foot down and it’s like moondust, like gravity doesn’t exist for a minute. The vineyard workers were walking back to me down the row and all I could see was their silhouettes through the dust. The way the light was coming through in the sunrise was so beautiful. It looks like a photo of a band.

‘The last year or so I’ve been using film again which has been a lot of fun. I think that film photography and wine have a lot in common, they both require art and science combined to make them happen – alchemy, it’s magical and special. There’s a grittiness and romanticism to it, they work really well together.

‘I’ve been toying with the idea of a coffee table book or photobook or a zine for a really long time. The focus will be on women in wine, not just winemakers but also viticulturalists, tasting room managers, leaders, any woman doing any job in wine, I want to photograph them and show what they do, behind the scenes, tell their stories.

‘Looking to others for inspiration, in wine it’s helpful to look at other wine photographers but even more important to look outside of the subject you’re photographing. You look at people doing similar things too much and you get ‘house palate’, when you’re only tasting wines from the winery that you work for, you get stuck and you don’t see the variety and the creativity that’s out there in the world.

‘The last thing most winemakers want is to be photographed. If you can get out into the field with them and have conversations with them about their craft and speak from a place of knowledge, they feel a bit more comfortable and confident when they’re having their photograph taken.

‘You can absolutely succeed [in wine photography] coming from the point of a consumer’s perspective but if you really want to get in with the down and dirty with the winemakers you need to have some experience. That might be working a harvest or just going out and being out there frequently and seeing what it takes to bring a wine from field to table.’

Related articles

• A drink with: Ed Mansel Lewis
• A drink with… Julien Viaud
• A drink with… Peter Hahn

Today’s Ontario Pinot Noir is a messenger. Once tentative and searching, it now speaks with clarity of place, vintage and intent. After reviewing more than 50 wines, Magdalena Kaiser reveals how, after five decades, Ontario is at the dawn of a golden age for this captivating varietal.

With every glass, Ontario Pinot speaks of place – shifting escarpments and glacial legacies, breezy benches and sun-warmed slopes. Each sub-appellation and single vineyard has a distinct voice, revealing subtle variations in soil, elevation and exposure.

Yet beneath this nuance lies a shared pulse: a vibrant core rooted in limestone and the whispered secrets of ancient lakebeds formed thousands of years ago.

Through Pinot Noir, the landscape becomes legible – virtually drinkable. As the grape evolves here, so too does the region’s understanding of what it means to craft wine with a true sense of place. This steady refinement has been over 40 years in the making.

Scroll down for a selection of Ontario’s best Pinot Noir

Believers and sceptics

Since the first Pinot Noir vines were planted in the early 1980s, there have always been believers – and sceptics. That’s still true. Perhaps it’s no surprise: Pinot Noir has a reputation for being difficult.

But isn’t it often the difficult things that turn out to be the most beautiful once they find their stride? When given the space they so deeply desire? When they do, they seduce you, leaving you wanting more, teaching you a kind of patience you never knew you had.

Many top Burgundian producers say Pinot Noir has no inherent taste, believing this bewitching grape reveals terroir more than any other.

That philosophy inspired Karl Kaiser, co-founder of Inniskillin Wines [Ed: for transparency, the author’s father], to spearhead Niagara’s first Pinot plantings in 1983 after carefully researching how this variety could thrive in Ontario’s climate.

It was a bold move at a time when growers were unfamiliar with this finicky grape. His belief laid the foundation for a decades-long journey of refinement and discovery.

‘Karl had a scientific mind and a deep curiosity,’ recalls winemaker David Sheppard, who worked closely with him. ‘He saw potential where others saw risk. Pinot was part of that vision and was the variety he most admired.’

Research-focused, Kaiser maintained that clone selection, vine density, low yields, carefully timed maceration and restrained oak use were essential for producing high-quality Pinot in Ontario. Others soon followed.

While Pinot isn’t the province’s most planted grape, it is undeniably one of its most important.

Ontario Pinot Noir’s renaissance

Ontario’s top Pinot producers have been fine-tuning their approach, allowing the grape’s transparency to shine through. As a result, most expressions are moderately pale – a quality that’s now embraced. That lightness reflects finesse, not a lack of substance.

Most of Ontario Pinot is planted with Dijon clones 115 and 777, but clonal diversity has long been of interest. Importing clean plant material has been a challenge, but that is beginning to shift.

Producers like Dobbin have recently planted a mix of Pommard, Dijon 439, 115, 777, 828, and 02A (from Vétroz, Switzerland) in its vineyards with the goal of creating complexity in their wines.

Montreal-based Master Sommelier Elyse Lambert has watched Ontario Pinot evolve over the years. ‘It’s easy to find a good Pinot Noir in Ontario today,’ she says, pointing to the value, structure, and restraint now common among the province’s top producers.

‘Especially at the high end, they’ve embraced a “less is more” philosophy. These are not part-time Pinot makers. They love it – and it shows.’

France-based sommelier Alexandre Freguin, the 2018 UK Best Sommelier winner, agrees. ‘Niagara Pinots stand out – in their crunchy, perfumed fruit and their broad, silky-but-firm mouthfeel – but they’re not trying to imitate.

There’s a flinty, stony edge and vibrant energy that speaks clearly of their own place. They’re authentic, and that’s what makes them so striking.’

See all Ontario Pinot Noir tasting notes and scores in our database

A place of complexity

Back in 2010, assembling a lineup of Ontario Pinots from different sub-appellations was a challenge. Today, producers bottle numerous single-site cuvées, especially in Niagara, which grows the majority of the province’s Pinot Noir.

Yet the cooler Prince Edward County also stands out, with some of Ontario’s most distinct expressions rooted in exposed calcareous soils.

Thomas Bachelder, a devoted champion of site expression, believes Niagara’s complexity lies in its very bones. ‘Shaped by centuries of glacial movement and crisscrossed by creeks spilling from the Niagara Escarpment, the region’s soils are hopelessly – and delightfully – complex,’ he says.

To embrace Ontario means embracing its unpredictability. Vintage variation isn’t just a challenge, it’s part of the story.

‘Each year brings mood swings,’ Bachelder adds with a grin. ‘To love terroir, you have to love unpredictability. We’re midwives, not sculptors, and we need to let the wine decide.’

If Niagara is a shining star, Prince Edward County is its poetic counterpart: cooler, edgier and fiercely site-driven. Dan Sullivan of Rosehall Run says,

‘Our Pinot could only taste the way it does because it’s grown here. It’s delicate, transparent, and we’ve learned to reduce maceration and our oak regime in order to allow it tell the story of this place.’

Few places in the world offer the precise conditions that fussy Pinot demands to strike that fine balance between elegance and power. It doesn’t tolerate shortcuts. It won’t let you hide.

It insists on honesty – and rewards those who pay attention. Producers are listening. They’re giving the grape what it needs, but not more than it asks for.

Ontario Pinot Noir is speaking clearly now, with stories shaped by a mere one million years of glacial activity.

Tasting notes for 25 top Ontario Pinots

Related articles

• Vancouver Island: A wine lover’s guide
• Ontario: The evolution of Riesling on the shores of the Great Lakes
• The transformation of Canada’s Gamay scene plus 15 top bottles

Anniversaries seem to be arriving thick and fast at the renowned Hemel-en-Aarde producer, Hamilton Russell.

A couple of years ago, I wrote a piece for Decanter on the 2021 release – current owner Anthony Hamilton Russell’s 40th vintage since he joined his father Tim Hamilton Russell at the estate.

Now, in 2025, the estate is celebrating 50 years since its creation in 1975.

Scroll down for notes and scores of Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

Cool climate

Hamilton Russell estate is situated in the lower part of the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, an area which today covers around 6,000 hectares (ha) with 388ha currently under vine.

Hemel-en-Aarde was established as a Wine of Origin (WO) in 2006 and is seen as the home of South Africa’s finest expression of cooler-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

The Hamilton Russell family have long been innovators and influencers, both within the Cape wine region and across many countries.

Tim, a Bordeaux lover, first planted vines in 1975 in a virtually unknown area close to Hermanus. Its relatively cool maritime climate, influenced by proximity to the cold, south Atlantic Ocean, rapidly indicated that the future lay with the classic Burgundian varieties of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

The first Pinot Noir vintage was 1981, and the first Chardonnay was vinified a year later in 1982.

A tasting of this first vintage in March 2022 revealed a delicate, fine Pinot with just 12% alcohol and ethereal notes of rose petal, red berry and delicate spice.

The purity of the wine showed how special this area is for production of Burgundian-style Pinot and Chardonnay.

Hamilton Russell Estate

Owners: Anthony and Olive Hamilton Russell

Grape source: Direct from owned, managed vineyards

Total vineyard area: Hamilton Russell Vineyards 52ha

Total estate area: Ashbourne 64ha, Southern Right 448ha

Number of wines: 9

Appellation/Wine of Origin: Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

Less ego

However, Anthony is adamant that imitation of the Côte d’Or has never been the objective; instead the family wanted their wines to be ‘a reflection of the vintage and the place’.

Asked whether the style has changed in recent years, he says: ‘Yes, in the early 2000s the wines were more full-on with more wood – and more malolactic characters in the Chardonnay.’

He believes they are now, ‘producing a wine with less “ego” and less wood influence – one that is searching for the most beautiful way to express the 52ha at the estate.’

Underlying terroir

Anthony highlights the difference in geology between the Lower Valley, that of the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde and the Ridge.

Based lower down, Hamilton Russell Estate has ‘the toughest soils with a very high clay content’.

Ironically, the clay content in Hemel-en-Aarde ranges from 35-55%, which is broadly similar to… the Côte d’Or.

When asked to compare the style of Hamilton Russell, Anthony says the estate wines are ‘less fruit-forward, they are more masculine, more structured, yet are more restrained’.

He notes that: ‘It’s the clay that makes the difference – rather than the temperature. If the underlying geology was sandstone here, this would not be a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay area.’

Signature style

On tasting the wines, it becomes clear that there is an unmistakable ‘thumbprint’ which identifies Hamilton Russell Estate.

There are clearly vintage variations but, with time in bottle, the terroir shines through.

Some vintages initially show more dark fruit, others are more aromatic, and there can be significant variations in alcohol – the 2020 and 2024 Pinot Noir were both under 13% alcohol.

Yet, the wines remain clearly Hamilton Russell wines.

Anthony says that with the estate Chardonnay he is, ‘searching for more than just fruit-expression’.

A growing proposition

Another significant change lies with the expansion of vineyards and wine cellars in Hemel-en-Aarde since Tim first planted vines in 1975.

Anthony notes that when he arrived at the estate in 1991, ‘Hamilton Russell was the only producer, now there are 28 winemakers and 13 wine cellars’.

He also proudly points out that ‘four ex-winemakers of ours are still living and working in the valley’.

It feels as though Anthony is very much the ‘godfather’ of this special place, and there is an undeniable spirit of respect, co-operation and a collegiate desire for the region to do well, among the many producers.

Strong future

Asked to predict how the estate will change in the future, Anthony believes that evolving vineyard and vinification practices will continue to be a key factor.

‘Today we use lighter oak toasting, we farm organically, we are not picking earlier yet the wines are lower in alcohol – this is mostly down to changes in viticulture,’ he notes.

‘We have the same clonal mix today (Dijon clones 113, 115, 667 and 777) but there is a much higher percentage of non-virused vines. We use less pumpovers, yet punchdown more. This gives us the equivalent of whole bunch without the risk of added phenolics.’

In conclusion, Anthony predicts a strong future both for the estate and Hemel-en-Aarde.

There remains a continuous process of self-challenge within the team – ‘How do you improve if you can’t find fault?’

Like the man in charge, Hamilton Russell Estate wines are not attention-seekers but they undoubtedly offer some of the finest, most individual, expressions of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay anywhere in the world.

Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

Related articles

• South Africa’s Hemel-en-Aarde: A Chardonnay paradise
• South African Chardonnay: Panel tasting results
• 100 years of Pinotage: South Africa’s homegrown grape comes good

Gaëlle Goossens, senior winemaker and research and development lead at Veuve Clicquot, took guests on a deep dive into the intricacies of Veuve Clicquot’s top Champagne, La Grande Dame.

As a self-proclaimed ‘geeky wine person’, Goossens was the perfect host for this in-depth masterclass, providing listeners with a rare behind-the-scenes look at the creation and evolution of an icon.

Scroll down for notes and scores for seven vintages of La Grande Dame

The wine line up consisted of four fairly recent La Grande Dame vintages (2018, 2015, 2012, 2008), followed by a selection of Grande Dame wines from the back vintage collection (1996, 1993, 1990).

‘They are very special, very rare, and they are completely different,’ said Goossens of the older vintages. ‘This is what we want to show today: that we have the same cuvée, but different expressions.’

Many will know that the DNA of Veuve Clicquot, thanks to the conviction of its founder Madame Clicquot-Ponsardin, is its extensive use of Pinot Noir across all the Champagnes in its range.

But Goossens took the audience beyond the house’s expertise with Pinot Noir, into the complexities and subtleties of creating the prestige cuvée of one of Champagne’s biggest houses.

The new 2018

The masterclass was also the perfect opportunity for guests to taste the new 2018 vintage of La Grande Dame, launched in April this year.

2018 was a warm vintage with an abundant crop of grapes. 2015 was also a very warm year. But, as guests discovered during the masterclass, the wines couldn’t be more different.

The key is soils and water. ‘In 2015 we lacked water, so the soils suffered from one of the worst droughts of Champagne,’ said Goossens. This lack of water caused the vines to stop maturing the grapes, which Goossens said gave the wines a minty, eucalyptus aftertaste.

Conversely, in 2018 ‘we had rain all year long, so the soils kept fresh and cold’. This is reflected in 2018’s superb balance of warm, sun-kissed fruit and a high-tension, mineral core.

Instead of the usual 10 years of ageing before release, ‘we deliberately released 2018 a bit earlier than what we’re used to’, said Goossens. And here’s the interesting part. She said this is because they realised they were losing the ‘terroir window’.

By releasing after 10 years of ageing, they would have passed the youthful, fresh, mineral, terroir-driven stage of the wine’s life, but it hadn’t quite reached its tertiary stage of development, so the wine would be sat somewhere in the middle phase.

Releasing it earlier allows the wine to show its youthful characters, as well as the influence of the terroir.

‘When we say the art of ageing, it’s not always pushing the boundaries of ageing in terms of length, it’s more mastering the ageing,’ said Goossens.

See our coverage of the 2018 launch here

The nitty gritty

The house’s use of micro-vinifications is one of the keys to its consistency, resulting in lots of small vats of wines with which to choose the final blend.

‘We’ll have a single vat from a single cru, from a single year, from a single variety,’ said Goossens.

To give an idea of scale, that means every year the winemaking team tastes 700 to 800 wines from a single harvest, plus 400 to 500 different reserve wines. ‘To elaborate our blend, we need to taste more than 1,000 wines over several months,’ she said.

The second key element that Goossens revealed is the blind tasting of these wines: ‘If you want to find the best wine, you have to blind taste.’

Creating a vintage of La Grande Dame is as much about strategic decision making as it is about the quality of the vintage.

Managing the stock of reserve wines plays a key role here; enough must be put aside each vintage to ensure there is enough to create the brand’s entry-level Yellow Label each year.

‘So La Grande Dame is only made when we have enough reserve wines in our winery, and when the Pinot Noir is really extraordinary,’ said Goossens.

The goal with La Grande Dame is to put the structure and texture of Pinot Noir alongside minerality and finesse. ‘But it’s extremely hard to find finesse with Pinot Noir, it’s easier to get bigger aromas than finesse,’ says Goossens.

Finding finesse, therefore, is also about where the grapes are sourced from, she said, and this is dependent on the vintage. In a warm year like 2018, grapes were sourced primarily from the cool north-facing slopes of the Montagne de Reims, notably Verzy and Verzenay.

‘What cellar master Didier Mariotti calls “the art of blending” is actually the art of finding the right crus for the right vintage,’ says Goossens.

La Grande Dame: One cuvée, myriad expressions

Veuve Clicquot, La Grande Dame 2018

Veuve Clicquot, La Grande Dame 2015

Veuve Clicquot, La Grande Dame 2012 (magnum)

Veuve Clicquot, La Grande Dame 2008 (magnum)

Veuve Clicquot, La Grande Dame 1996 (magnum)

Veuve Clicquot, La Grande Dame 1993 (magnum)

Veuve Clicquot, La Grande Dame 1990 (magnum)

Veuve Clicquot, La Grande Dame 1990 (jeroboam)

Guests had the rare opportunity to see just how different the same cuvée can taste, depending on the circumstance: from the vintage conditions, to how long it spent on lees, to when it was disgorged, to what format it was bottled in.

La Grande Dame through the ages

Related articles

Decanter’s New York Fine Wine Encounter: Perfect port in a storm

US restaurants with the best Champagne lists

Best Champagne houses to visit

Chet Valley English wine estate in Norfolk, with vineyards planted to Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and several other grape varieties, has been put on the market by property agency Brown & Co.

It is currently owned by John and Bridget Hemmant, who planted their first vines more than a decade ago. 

With a guide price of £1.65m, the sale offers a potential buyer the opportunity to parachute straight into the heart of the English wine scene.

‘Chet Valley supplies wine to private and corporate buyers alike, including some prestigious names,’ said Brown & Co.

Its East Anglia location is also tipped to see increasingly promising conditions for growing grapes, although adverse weather presented significant challenges for many UK producers in 2024.

There are around 6.52 hectares (ha) of vineyard on the estate, containing a range of grape varieties, and it also features an equipped winery and bottle store, said Brown & Co.  

Alongside Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, grape varieties planted include Solaris, Phoenix, Schönberger, Seyval Blanc, Cabernet Noir and Regent.

There is room for expansion via an extra parcel of land covering 2.61ha, said the agency.

Away from the winemaking side, an entertaining space has a balcony overlooking the vines, it noted.

Meanwhile, a three-bedroom house on the estate has also been operated as a holiday let for many years.

Warmer temperatures may benefit vineyards in eastern England in the coming decades, although climate change may also bring fresh challenges to the UK’s young wine growing sector, found a study published in the Oeno One journal in 2022.  

Researchers said some parts of the UK, including East Anglia, could see conditions that enabled the ‘exceptional’ 2018 vintage more often.  

The UK’s fledgling winemaking scene has been garnering greater attention.

Global consultancy group Knight Frank recently highlighted how vineyard prices in the south-eastern county of Essex have been rising, bucking a trend for stagnation or decline in some of the world’s more established producer regions.

However, Ed Mansel Lewis, partner and head of viticulture at Knight Frank, told Decanter magazine’s June 2025 issue that UK vineyard land prices may have reached a plateau for the time being, following an increase in wine production in recent years.

Related articles

• Luxurious English vineyard property on sale for £3.3m
• Luxury Napa Valley property on sale for $14,950,000
• Rarely seen Napa Valley wine ranch on sale for $100m

Veuve Clicquot launched the 2018 vintage of its top-tier cuvée La Grande Dame at a luscious dinner event in the Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology in Paris.

The decadent yellow-drenched table arrangement, set for 100 guests and bedecked with a frothing, golden scene of daffodils, buttercups and dainty gypsophila, aptly reflected the streets of the city, dripping with spring blossom.

Scroll down for the tasting note and score of La Grande Dame 2018

A hotly anticipated vintage

2018 was a generous year in Champagne, sun-soaked and peaceful, with smiles and no sorting table drama – blessed relief after a disastrous 2017.

‘It was an easy harvest, in an organisational sense,’ says Veuve Clicquot cellar master Didier Mariotti, ‘we didn’t have to sort, there were no real problems, even during the growing season.’

Figuring out where such an abundant crop of grapes was going to fit in the winery was the only real issue.

The summer was hot with lots of sunny days, but significant rain over the winter had topped up the vines’ water reserves. They could draw this on throughout the dry growing season.

And arguably this is key to how the wine now tastes in the glass. ‘If we hadn’t had this rain in the winter, I think we’d have had a very different expression,’ says Mariotti.

Because despite the calm of the vintage, in the bottle La Grande Dame 2018 is far from lazy. It’s racy, mineral and tightly coiled.

The warmth comes through in its sun-kissed ripe stone and citrus fruit, yet it’s smart and precise. Delectable candied orange rind builds to a crescendo of yuzu and coconut cream.

A luminous and energetic iteration of La Grande Dame.

Terroir

As is the norm for La Grande Dame, 90% of the blend is Pinot Noir, sourced mostly from the Montagne de Reims.

But for Mariotti, contrary to many, ‘it’s not the provenance that matters most’.

‘We always taste blind,’ he says, ‘I don’t want to be influenced by the provenance. I don’t focus on one specific cru or terroir, I focus on the wine.’

Yet the year’s impeccable grapes from the Montagne de Reims, notably from Verzy and Verzenay, could well be the reason behind such clarity, precision and salinity – or as Mariotti calls it, positive bitterness – in the wine.

‘It’s still a teenager,’ says Mariotti, ‘but what I like about this wine is its energy and desire to discover the world.’

Who knows what sort of world this wine will discover in its future, but any future drinker of 2018 La Grande Dame will be richly rewarded.

Join us for a New York masterclass:

Date: Saturday 7 June 2025 from 11am to 5pm

Location: Bay Room at Manhatta, 28 Liberty Street, 60th Floor New York, NY 10005

Buy tickets here

A grand vintage for a Grande Dame:

Related articles

• First taste: Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2015
• First taste: La Grande Dame 2008