The name promises a tower, but there is no tower at Château La Tour Figeac.

A mill once stood on top of an old well, and this is likely where the name comes from.

Today only the well remains, on the neighbouring property, and the mill is gone.

The estate was born out of the break-up of a larger property, Château Figeac, which sold off parcels in 1876 and again in 1879.

It was from the 1879 sale that the Corbière family bought land to create Château La Tour Figeac.

The new property did not stay together for long: in 1881 it was divided again, half becoming La Tour Figeac and the other half La Tour du Pin Figeac, a separate estate that still exists today.

Since 1973, Château La Tour Figeac has belonged to the Rettenmaier family of Heilbronn. They bought it shortly after their hunting friends, the von Neipperg family, took over the nearby Château Canon La Gaffelière.

The family's main business is not wine but transport: they run TII Group (Transporter Industry International), a special transport company.

It was Otto Maximilian Rettenmaier, the current owner, who brought the family closer to the wine side, taking over the management in 1994.

Ownership is shared today: Otto holds 50%, and the rest belongs to his father's seven grandchildren. Otto has one daughter of his own, so it is not yet clear who, among the next generation, will take the estate forward.

Illustrious company

The location is one of the best addresses on the Right Bank. Château Cheval Blanc borders the property to the east, Château Figeac to the south, and Pomerol begins just a few rows of vines away to the north and west.

Château La Tour Figeac has been classified as a Grand Cru Classé since the very first Saint-Émilion classification, in 1955.

The vineyard covers 14.5 hectares in a single block, planted with 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc. The soil is gravel and sandy clay over a clay subsoil, with more gravel on the side closer to Cheval Blanc.

Vine age is usually given as around 35 years, though Otto says this needs recalculation, since a number of parcels have been replanted over the years and the average is no longer very precise.

Some of this replanting is still ongoing: about 2.5 hectares have already been uprooted, and Otto thinks another 3ha or so may need to follow, a decision driven as much by the market as by climate adaptation.

Planting density is around 6,500 vines per hectare on average, and the most recent plots were planted at a much higher 7,900 vines per hectare but this is now changing.

For future plantings, the estate is looking at wider row spacing, which comes to roughly 6,700 vines per hectare – close to the old average density, and a step back from the recent high-density plots.

The idea is not to intensify further but to adapt to a warmer, drier climate, giving each vine more room and less competition for water.

Vineyard approach

In the meantime, 2026 has already been a difficult year for young vines, which have needed irrigation to cope with the stress.

The estate has worked with biodynamic-inspired methods since 1997, guided by Derenoncourt Consultant and, more recently, their partner Julien Lavenu.

The vineyard is not certified biodynamic – the approach borrows from biodynamic thinking without following it as a fixed rulebook.

Organic certification came later and briefly: the 2021 vintage was the first to be certified through Ecocert France, but the estate lost certification in 2024 after a difficult year forced it to use a treatment not allowed under organic rules.

The vineyard is not currently back in conversion.

Composers in the cellar

Grapes are picked by hand and sorted carefully on arrival at the cellar. In a difficult year, they will rent a densimetric sorter to help the manual selection.

Colour and tannin are extracted using both cap punching down and pumping over.

Fermentation takes place in a mix of stainless steel tanks and six wooden vats, each one named after a composer – Beethoven, Bach, Tchaikovsky, and Vivaldi are among them – a small sign of Otto's love of music.

Malolactic fermentation follows in oak, in a room kept apart for this purpose. Ageing lasts 13 to 15 months for the first wine and 10 to 13 months for the second.

The wines are aged in a mix of 225-litre and 400-litre barrels, with 40 to 50% new oak and at least a third of the barrel stock renewed every vintage.

There are also two 2-hectolitre foudres, and two Clayver spheres,. About 60,000 bottles are produced each year, all bottled at the estate.

Three wines are made at the estate, though not always in the same vintage. The Grand Vin makes between two-thirds and three-quarters of production.

It is joined, in most years, by two second wines: L'Esquisse, made from younger vines, and Cuvée Lucie 45, from selected parcels.

Château La Tour Figeac

Wines are listed youngest to oldest

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Just before dawn, the hills of Piedmont look half‑formed, as if the fog is still deciding what to reveal. We pull up at the edge of a small wood, and Macchia (‘Spot’) the dog hops out of her pillowed nest in the back seat of a mud‑spattered Fiat Panda 4x4.

Michele – one of Alba’s most respected trifulau – leads us into the quiet trees. Macchia, a cheerful dog with quick paws, trots ahead, nose low, tail slicing the mist like a metronome.

The ground is soft underfoot, a quilt of wet leaves; the forest air is cool and heavy, rich with the soft musk of wild mushrooms, rain‑darkened foliage, moss, damp bark, and a faint thread of distant woodsmoke.

‘Macchia always knows before I do. The forest smells different when a truffle is close,’ Michele whispers, as if loud words might unsettle any treasures buried beneath our feet.

We’re searching for Tuber magnatum Picco, the white truffle of Alba – ‘white gold’, as the locals call it.

What I learn over the next few days, as I follow Michele and Macchia through the waking woods, is that beyond their earthly allure, truffles awaken something in us, activating neural pathways in ways science is only just beginning to understand.

Hijacking the dog's brain

In a way, dogs like Macchia are the truffles’ first victims. The fungus hijacks their brains long before it hijacks ours.

As we walk deeper into the woods, Michele tells me that training begins when dogs are mere pups, still nursing.

‘When the puppies are newborn, we scent the mother’s teats very lightly with truffle oil,’ Michele explains. ‘Just enough so that the first smell they associate with comfort and feeding is the smell of truffle.’

The olfactory bulb in dogs is proportionally 40-times larger than in humans, and their scent memory is astonishingly durable. What humans experience as a fleeting perfume, dogs experience as a map, a story.

The first whiffs of truffle a newborn puppy perceives become associated with nourishment, warmth and safety, forming lasting pathways in its neural circuitry.

‘When they smell truffles later, even years later, it wakes up something from when they were tiny. It’s the memory of their mother. They can’t ignore it,’ says Michele.

Once the puppies are weaned, the training becomes more deliberate. Michele hides small pieces of truffle in cloth pouches and buries them shallowly in the soil.

The dogs learn to dig gently, using only their paws, never their teeth. They’re taught patience, restraint, and the subtle art of the hunt.

‘For the dog, the joy is in the digging. The truffle is the prize, yes, but the hunt – that’s what they love,’ Michele says, watching Macchia zigzag through the underbrush.

Macchia is a Lagotto Romagnolo, the curly‑coated breed famous for its truffle‑hunting prowess. But Michele is quick to point out that the breed alone doesn’t make a hunter.

‘Lagotti are wonderful dogs,’ he says. ‘But when it comes to finding truffles together, what matters is the bond. Your dog is your partner. The dog has to want to work with you, not for you.’

When Macchia catches a trace of truffle, her entire posture changes. Her tail stiffens, her breathing shifts, her gait becomes laser‑focused.

This is dopamine at work – the neurotransmitter of anticipation; the same reward circuitry that fires in humans when we smell truffles also fires in dogs when they search for it.

‘Watch her paws’, says Michele.

Macchia begins to dig with a practiced, almost delicate rhythm. Each stroke is measured carefully, as if she understands the value of what lies beneath.

The earth loosens, dark and fragrant, releasing a faint, humid warmth. Michele kneels and places a hand gently on the dog’s flank.

‘She knows when to stop. That’s the difference between a good dog and a great one,’ he says.

And then, there it is: a pale, knobbly orb no larger than a walnut, streaked with the faint marks of the forest.

When Macchia steps back, Michele takes over, brushing away the last layer of soil with his fingers. Up close, it looks less like a fungus and more like a tiny buried relic.

‘Every truffle is a little treasure’, he says. ‘Its whole life is written on the surface: snail trails, a gentle scratch from a dog’s paw, tiny fissures from the earth pressing and releasing, even the imprint of the roots it grew against.’

Why we can't resist truffles

In 2025, a Hong Kong bidder paid €110,000 for a 1.009‑kilogram Alba truffle at the World Truffle Auction, hosted in the elegant castle of Grinzane Cavour.

To understand why people pay thousands – or tens of thousands – for these subterranean wonders, you have to understand how scent works.

‘Unlike sight or sound, smell bypasses the brain’s usual filters,’ says Paul J. Zak, founding director at the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies, Claremont Graduate University.

‘Odour molecules travel straight from the olfactory bulb to the amygdala, hippocampus, and orbitofrontal cortex, the regions responsible for emotion, memory and reward respectively.

‘Scent is the only sense that is not gated through processing pathways: the olfaction response communicates directly to areas in the brain that process emotions.’

Paolo Montanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe is one of the premier exporters of white truffles in Alba. After pursuing a degree in chemistry at the University of Turin, he joined his father’s company.

‘From a chemical standpoint, the intense and “intoxicating” aroma of white truffle comes from an extremely complex mixture of volatile compounds – over 100 different molecules – that readily evaporate and reach our olfactory system,’ he explains.

‘Sulphur-containing compounds are the primary drivers: they contribute earthy, cabbage-like, garlicky, and aged cheese notes, and are highly potent even in trace amounts.

Among them, 2,4-dithiapentane is considered the signature molecule of white truffle, responsible for its most characteristic, penetrating, sulphurous aroma.

‘Truffles also contain compounds such as androstenone and androstenol, which are structurally similar to mammalian pheromones.

’These molecules have musky, animal-like notes and contribute to the seductive and persistent quality of the aroma.

'They also explain why animals such as pigs and dogs are naturally drawn to truffles, as they are particularly sensitive to these compounds.’

Truffle paradox

There’s a paradox at the heart of truffle lust: these aromas – musk, damp earth, decay – should repel, yet they signal luxury.

At restaurants across Alba, white truffles are shaved over agnolotti del plin, melted into silky fonduta, and even curled into thin petals atop creamy gelato.

‘Rare or unusual scents are more sought after because new things enable humans to acquire new information that could help them survive or reproduce,’ notes Zak.

‘The brain always puts higher value on the “new, new thing”. It’s plausible that attraction to earthy, musky, and sulphurous compounds helped early humans identify food sources, assess food safety, and interpret environmental signals. Today, this same sensitivity contributes to the appeal of truffles.’

Novelty, rarity, and complexity become intertwined with prestige. Over centuries, cultures have elevate these once‑strange aromas into symbols of sophistication.

Wine and truffles: A fascinating combination

‘Wine and truffles speak the same aromatic language’, says Montanaro.

‘Aged Nebbiolo develops mushroom, underbrush, and dried rose notes, mirroring truffle aromatics: a perfect example of “aroma bridging”.

'At the same time, the wine’s acidity increases the volatility of truffle compounds and cleanses the palate of fats, so the aroma becomes even more vivid.’

Scientific research shows that soil microbial communities directly influence truffle aroma.

Truffles are mycorrhizal fungi, living in symbiosis with tree roots (oak, hazel, poplar, linden). These roots release nutrients that sustain a microbiome of bacteria, yeasts, and fungi.

‘As in wine, there is a concept of microbial terroir, where differences in soil microbiota influence aroma intensity and complexity,’ Montanaro explains.

‘The final scent is not produced by the fungus alone, but by a complex ecosystem of microorganisms.

‘An experienced nose can identify nuances such as hazelnut notes, honeyed tones from linden trees, the sharper intensity of truffles associated with oak, or more garlicky profiles from specific hills.

'Soil composition, such as calcareous or clay-rich areas, also contributes to subtle differences in aroma.’

One enduring mystery

The science lingers in my mind, but here, among the roots and leaf litter, it becomes something tangible.

Macchia’s nose twitches; Michele’s eyes scan the ground with the intuition he’s earned from truffle hunting for over 40 years.

When Macchia pauses again, Michele kneels beside her. The two share a look, a tiny exchange of trust, and then he begins to dig with practiced care.

A few moments later, he lifts a truffle from the soil as gently as if it were a living thing. Macchia proudly wags her tail, and Michele’s loving pats and scratches are the payment she expects and so obviously adores.

But for all we’ve learned, truffles remain stubbornly mysterious.

‘We still do not fully understand why, within the same forest or truffle ground, under identical environmental conditions, only certain tree roots develop the symbiotic relationship that produces truffles,’ says Montanaro.

‘It remains, in part, a fascinating mystery’.

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Mention Friuli and most wine lovers immediately think of white wine. Yet, in Colli Orientali, there is a flourishing production of some of the most fascinating native reds in Italy's northeast.

The Colli Orientali (‘Eastern Hills’) of Friuli is the natural geographical extension of the Collio DOC, separated only by an administrative boundary.

While Collio lies in the province of Gorizia, Colli Orientali belongs to Udine.

The two regions share a great deal: predominantly hilly terrain, similar elevations, and the same calcareous marl soil locally known as ponca. They also share the white grape varieties that made Friuli famous.

What truly sets the Colli Orientali apart, however, is red wine. While a marginal presence in Collio, red wine accounts for around a quarter of the Colli Orientali DOC production, according to the Consorzio Tutela Vini Friuli Colli Orientali.

More significantly, while Collio lacks its own local red varieties, Colli Orientali boasts a trio of native red grapes that are vital to its terroir: ageable Pignolo, dark and fruity Refosco, and dry, spicy Schioppettino.

Refosco: The late-ripening survivor

Refosco is not a single variety, but rather a family with at least half a dozen members in the Colli Orientali alone.

Historical references date back to the 18th century, though the generic use of the name makes its exact lineage uncertain.

Peduncolo Rosso

Today, the most widely planted iteration is Refosco del Peduncolo Rosso, named for its unusually red stems. This vigorous, thick-skinned variety is late-ripening and demands abundant sunshine.

While under-ripe versions can suffer from dominant acidity and harsh tannins, it is currently thriving thanks to a string of warm vintages.

When it succeeds, the variety boasts a bright, deep ruby-violet colour, vibrant cherry and raspberry fruit, and a vigorous mid-weight palate.

Because it can suffer from reduction if aged solely in stainless steel, judicious barrel-ageing is highly recommended.

Nostrano

A lesser-known family member, Refosco Nostrano, shares only a name with Peduncolo Rosso.

It is an entirely different variety, yielding highly attractive wines with less rugged tannins and greater finesse.

The DOC even includes a sub-denomination, Refosco di Faedis, dedicated to Nostrano wines from this specific village.

Schioppettino

Extensively grown in the upper Judrio valley until World War I, Schioppettino subsequently vanished, likely due to its delicate nature, irregular flowering, and susceptibility to disease.

In 1977, pioneering wine writer Mario Soldati reported finding only three or four remaining producers making wine from this variety.

Paolo Rapuzzi of the Ronchi di Cialla estate is widely credited with saving Schioppettino from extinction.

He perilously planted an unauthorised vineyard from old vine cuttings, risking government mandated grubbing-up.

Fortunately, the vines survived, and Schioppettino entered the national grape register the same year Soldati visited.

Highly site-specific, Schioppettino rarely travels outside the village of Albana and the neighbouring Prepotto, which boasts its own DOC sub-zone.

Like Refosco, it ripens late and retains high natural acidity, but features much more refined tannins.

The wines pour a pale ruby colour, offering dark berry fruit on the nose and a mid-weight palate that finishes with distinctive peppery spice.

Approachable in its youth, it acquires a silky elegance with age that distinctly recalls mature Pinot Noir.

Among the region's native grapes, it has made the most significant strides in both volume and quality in recent years.

Pignolo

Wine writer Ben Little famously subtitled his book on Pignolo ‘Cultivating the Invisible’ (self published in 2021). It perfectly captures the paradox of this grape: despite being grown by around 60 producers, it accounted for a mere 44 hectares in the 2024 Colli Orientali vineyard register.

Rescued from obscurity around the same time as Schioppettino, Pignolo's trajectory has been slower.

Once highly regarded in historical texts, it lost ground by the mid-20th century and practically vanished by the 1950s, until it was rediscovered close to the Rosazzo abbey, where a few surviving vines remained.

Pignolo is notoriously complicated to grow: it suffers from low, irregular yields, is prone to disease, and is incredibly fussy about its site due to its late-ripening nature.

The resulting wine is equally uncompromising, possessing high acidity, potentially high alcohol, and – thanks to small bunches and thick-skinned berries – a massive concentration of tannins, comparable to Sagrantino.

The plus side of this structural intensity is that Pignolo has a prodigious capacity for ageing.

The DOC mandates a minimum of three years, at which point the wine typically displays dark berry fruit and a dense, tactile palate.

It starts to come to life after five or six years, and at eight to 10 years I have tasted fascinating examples of complex, mature wines of classic stature.

The road ahead for Colli Orientali’s native red grapes

Two decades ago, red grapes made up 40% of Colli Orientali's surface area, led predominantly by Merlot.

While red wine may not easily regain that kind of volume, producers nevertheless feel that a renaissance of kinds is underway.

Interestingly, this new momentum is not driven by the former champion, Merlot, but by the distinctive, characterful native grapes of the region.

Watch this space!

12 wines to highlight Colli Orientali's red potential

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

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

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

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

And almost all are ready to drink.

Slow and steady wins the race

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘A great classic’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sign of the times

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Côte Rôtie 2016

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Beware clear bottles!

Rosé Champagne is often bottled in clear glass, but bottles that sit on brightly lit shelves or in windows are vulnerable to ‘light strike’, a fault that gives wine an unappealing vegetal, savoury flavour.

The red wine factor

Most rosé Champagne is made by the ‘assemblage’ method, with red wine from Pinot Noir added at the blending stage.

The amount of red wine added is the major factor in how deep the style is; Taittinger and Ruinart, for example (with at least 15% red wine), are deeper and fruitier than Bollinger or Charles Heidsieck (below 10%).

Upping the intensity

Less common are ‘macération’ or ‘saignée’ styles, which are made by extracting colour directly from Pinot Noir or Meunier grapes at harvest time.

Wines labelled ‘saignée’ tend to be darker and more intense.

Pink for white lovers

If you enjoy the blanc de blancs style of Champagne (made from the Chardonnay grape), there may well be a rosé for you – producers such as Ayala make delicate, citrussy rosés with more Chardonnay than Pinot in the blend.

Cellarworthy styles

Just because it’s pink doesn’t mean it won’t age. Vintage and prestige rosés can be just as ageworthy as the white versions; try cellaring them for at least three years after release to bring out delicious spicy, dried fruit complexity.

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I’m sure it won’t be lost on readers that the wines I taste and review are not necessarily the wines I am able to drink at home regularly. Especially when it comes to Burgundy.

As France editor, I’ve been lucky enough to taste some thrilling Burgundy over the years, from the new Domaine de la Romanée-Conti releases shrouded in mystery, to sipping samples of Domaine de Montille, Domaine Dujac and Domaine Leflaive while listening to hip hop in a 16th-century château.

I understand the compulsion to search for the kind of tension, precision, poise and concentration that stops you short mid-sentence.

But Burgundy prices remain at an all-time high, despite a general softening of the secondary fine wine market.

And with plenty of other fine and honourable wines available at far more accessible price points, the question has to be asked: why look to Burgundy at all for value or everyday drinking?

Well, even on a modest home-drinking budget, when you find the right bottle, things can just...slot into place. When you pick up a wine that’s reasonably affordable and delivers freshness and pleasure and not disappointment, you’ll keep going back to it.

So instead of abandoning the search, it’s a region I’ll keep hunting for value in – and if you have some good insights, there’s nothing like the thrill of a canny buy.

Confession time

When I’m opening wine at home, I don’t really think about how it will pair with what I’m eating. I’m just not that big on food and wine pairings. There, I’ve said it.

My partner is a great cook, so we pick a dish we want to eat, and we simply pick a wine we feel like drinking – unless there’s heavy spice and heat involved, in which case we tend to stick to beer or cider.

We cook hearty vegetarian dishes where good quality organic vegetables take centre stage. Pulses and grains feature heavily and bring great textural variety.

Our staple flavour palette ranges from the herbs and olive oil of the Mediterranean, to the deep spicing of harissa, ras el hanout, paprika and cumin, to miso, sesame and soy.

It’s simple cooking, but deep and warming. I get as much joy from the food and the wine as separate pleasures as I would from fussing over matching exact flavour, fat or acidity profiles.

That means when I buy Burgundy to drink at home, I’m not looking for a wine that needs a dish to complete it.

Wines that stand on their own

I recently discovered this £30 Montagny 1er cru 2023 from Domaine de Montorge. that packed in so much zesty flavour, there was more than enough going on in the glass to hold its own throughout the evening.

Looking for something more opulent, I recently reached for Maison Roche de Bellene’s Bourgogne Côte d’Or Chardonnay 2022. It has this gorgeous burst of ripe pineapple, the richness of vanilla cream and toast and a really appealing succulence of sweet fruit, balanced by the salinity of crushed sea shells.

It offers a lot of pleasure at the £25-£28 price point.

Beyond style I look for lesser-known appellations that punch above their price. The Pouilly-Loché Les Mûres 2022 from Clos des Rocs is one.

Loché is less well known that neighbouring Fuissé, so it’s a little cheaper, and from the 2024 vintage this site will be reclassified as premier cru, making this 2022 a sweet buy while it lasts. It’s vibrant, racy, with a little confit lemon and tarte tatin.

Auxey-Duresses is another example. The 2021 from Domaine Lafouge is a dainty, perfumed Pinot from a cooler vintage that’s perfect for early drinking and still retails under £30.

Some sleuthing pays off too. I love finding wines that are much more than what they appear.

Secret insights

Domaine Arlaud’s Roncevie Bourgogne 2023 is a favourite of mine for this reason. This 4.8ha plot of Pinot Noir was historically classified as Gevrey-Chambertin, but when Joseph Arlaud, an incomer from neighbouring Morey-St-Denis, bought it in 1964, Arlaud’s half was declassified while the other half remained Gevrey.

Essentially village-level red Burgundy at a regional-level price point, under £30.

I also look for lesser appellations made by renowned producers. Bret Brothers, the négociant side of top producer La Soufrandière, makes Cuvée Terroir du Mâconnais, Mâcon-Villages 2023 which is sourced from from parcels in Pouilly-Fuissé, Pouilly-Loché and Pouilly-Vinzelles.

It’s so mouthwatering yet also has these notes of buttery biscuit and spiced apple.

Or there’s Domaine Tessier’s Cote d'Or Bourgogne – made by a small Meursault domaine from two lieux-dits (Les Pellans and Les Herbeux) in the Meursault appellation and one (Femelottes) in Puligny.

With its rich and silky texture, it’s a steal for the quality.

I have a real soft spot for Aligoté; at its best it can be fragrant, floral, crisp and juicy. The Domaine Jean-Baptiste Ponsot, En l'Asne, Bourgogne Aligoté 2022 is a serious wine in its own right.

From 65-year-old vines (old vines are another thing I look out for, for the extra concentration and depth they can bring) grown in Rully.

And under £20?

If I want something under £20, I've more or less accepted Burgundy isn't really the place to look – personally for that money I'd rather buy something knockout from the Languedoc.

But when I need Burgundy that’s widely available and decent, I turn to a reliable cooperative, like Cave de Lugny.

It produces a fair amount of the own-label Burgundy sold at lower price points in the UK.

I particularly like the Bourgogne Blanc it makes for Yapp Bros (£18.50), and the Crémant de Bourgogne it makes for Tesco (£15).

I’m yet to be truly wowed by red Burgundy at lower price points, so for great value reds with real character I tend to look south instead, to Beaujolais, where fine and ageworthy Gamay can be found for a fraction of the equivalent quality in the Côte d’Or.

Finding everyday drinking wines in Burgundy isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible either, and once you find some favourites they’ll have been worth the wait.

Some Burgundy to drink at home

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As in love, certain wines come into your life by chance. My affair with Jurançon began literally as far from its Pyrenean home as possible.

Browsing the shelves of Moore Wilson’s, the iconic grocery store in Wellington, New Zealand, I came across a bottle labelled Petit Manseng, from the Marlborough grower Forrest.

It sounded vaguely Chinese, possibly a miniature horse breed, though it is in fact one of Jurançon’s two principal grapes.

I took it home, where the off-dry little Manseng made a big splash: lush yet electric, exuberant yet poised – a tropical beach party in a wine glass. Yet each time I returned, the bottle was gone, and life beat on.

We were reunited years later in Paris, thanks to an astute sommelier at Macéo restaurant, who pointed me to a Jurançon Sec from Domaine Bellegarde.

Though the appellation is traditionally associated with sweet wines, this was a dry expression of striking tension and lift.

In the foothills of the Pyrenees

Spread across the verdant foothills of the Pyrenees southwest of Pau, Jurançon's vineyards climb in south-facing amphitheatres, framed by the Pic du Midi d'Ossau.

The appellation divides into three distinct zones: Chapelle de Rousse, to the northeast, where vines root into poudingue – a cement-like soil of chalk and river-worn pebbles; Monein, to the west, on more varied, molasse-dominant soils and now the most widely planted; and Lasseube, in the south, smaller and sandier.

Situated in the lee of the Pyrenees, the mountains shield the vines from harsher continental extremes, while the Atlantic keeps the growing season temperate – together preserving the acidity and aromatic intensity that define these wines.

Winemaking in Jurançon dates back to Roman antiquity and by the 14th century the Parliament of Navarre had classified its best sites – one of France’s earliest examples of vineyard classification.

Legend holds that the infant Henri IV had his lips touched with a drop of Jurançon at his 1553 baptism, by which time it had become a wine of court ritual.

Colette, 19th century French writer, actress and journalist, would later call it ‘a prince – warm, imperious and insidious, like all great seducers’.

Sweet to dry

For most of its history, Jurançon was synonymous with sweet wine. The appellation was classified for its moelleux (sweet) style in 1936 – among France’s earliest APs – while the dry expression was not recognised until 1975.

Since then, momentum has shifted toward the dry style, in line with a broader retreat from dessert wines.

Petit Manseng – the very grape that started all this – excels across the entire spectrum. Small and thick-skinned, it is defined by acid and concentration, which only intensifies through foehn-fanned passerillage (drying on the vine).

The traditional engine of sweet Jurançon, in dry form it delivers density, minerality and ageworthy grip, often developing truffled notes over time.

Its offspring, Gros Manseng, is the workhorse: larger-berried, less concentrated and more reliably ripe, generous and fruit-forward.

Supporting local varieties such as Camaralet, Lauzet and Courbu round out some blends, adding spice, aromatic lift and finesse, with Camaralet especially prized in dry wines for its peppery, cinnamon accent.

Three delectable styles

Like its three distinct zones, three styles express a striking range.

Jurançon Sec, often led by Gros Manseng, can be broad in texture yet focused by Petit Manseng’s vivid acidity, with flavours ranging from citrus and stone fruits to pineapple and quince, sometimes picking up a smoky or savoury edge over time.

Sweet Jurançon, the appellation’s historic heart, layers ripe mango, candied citrus, apricot and spice over a structure that keeps richness in check.

Vendanges Tardives (late harvest wines) are almost impossibly concentrated, unctuous yet vibrant thanks to the tensile acidity that is Jurançon’s signature.

Across all three styles, what lingers is not simply opulence or freshness but a radiant tension, like an autumn sun rising over cool Pyrenean hillsides.

The future is bright

‘What has always fascinated me about the Mansengs is their ability to reconcile power and freshness,’ says Antoine Arraou of the biodynamic Château Lafitte, one of Jurançon’s standout estates.

‘Few grape varieties are capable of reaching such high levels of ripeness while retaining such acidic energy.’

He is among the growers expanding Jurançon’s stylistic range and sharpening its contemporary identity.

‘Many astute observers have said this is the next Jura,’ says Arraou.

Having heard the same comparison applied to other up-and-coming appellations, such as Savoie and Bugey, I ask him to explain.

‘A hilly vineyard, a cool climate, distinctive grape varieties, geological diversity, limited volumes and wines with strong personalities – the reasons that drew wine lovers to the Jura also exist here.’

Yet while Jura’s cult success has pushed its prices steadily upward, Jurançon still offers striking value. At the cellar door, most Jurançon Sec sells for €12-€20; a smaller tier of ambitious cuvées runs closer to €30, with rare bottles climbing to €50-€70.

For readers who love the tension of Loire Chenin Blanc or the structure of serious dry Alsace, Jurançon Sec offers a compelling alternative: distinctive, long-lived and affordable.

As in love, what begins in contingency ends in necessity. Jurançon, for my money, deserves a seat at the table of noble white wines.

Whether you seek it out or stumble upon it by chance, taste and see if you do not fall for this great seducer, the little prince of the Pyrenees.

Six Jurançon wines to get you hooked

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

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

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

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

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

Puligny: Five family names to know

Domaine Leflaive & Olivier Leflaive

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chartron

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

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

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

The Carillon clan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pernot

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

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

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

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

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

Thomas-Collardot

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eight wines to try

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Don’t be in a rush to drink it

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

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

The 2022 vintage is drinking beautifully right now.

Check out cuvées parcellaires

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

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

The significance of silex

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

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

It’s a great destination for wine lovers

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

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

Producer name is key

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

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

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

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

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

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

A stellar variety

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

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

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

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

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

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

The tasting

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brightest stars

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Matt Walls 20 highest-scoring Cinsault

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Prosecco has cemented its status as the world’s bestselling sparkling wine after enjoying a meteoric rise to prominence in the 21^st century.

Global sales of Italy’s budget-friendly fizz reached 307 million bottles in 2013.

That meant Prosecco overtook Champagne for the first time (by volume), and it has pulled well clear in the ensuing years.

Annual production now stands at 700 million bottles, and fans can’t get enough of this light, refreshing sparkler.

Many enjoy Prosecco on its own, but it’s also a key ingredient in popular cocktails like the Aperol Spritz.

Scroll down to discover 10 award-winning Prosecco wine wines from DWWA 2026

Why is Prosecco Day on August 13?

Riondo, one of the leading Prosecco producers, established Prosecco Day in 2016.

By that point, Prosecco was a cultural phenomenon in the UK and other parts of Europe, but Riondo wanted to boost its popularity in the US.

The winery chose August 13, as it’s the height of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, making it the perfect time to enjoy a chilled glass of Prosecco.

What began as an American marketing campaign has been enthusiastically adopted around the world.

In 2021, the US overtook the UK as Prosecco’s largest export market.

More than 80% of Prosecco is typically exported, with the US, the UK, France, Germany and Belgium among the top destinations.

A village, a grape and a name change

Prosecco takes its name from a small village near Trieste, which is close to Italy’s border with Slovenia. The grape is thought to have grown there for centuries.

Both the wine and the grape were traditionally called Prosecco, but that changed in 2009.

Italy wanted to protect its local industry from global competition, so it renamed the grape Glera and turned Prosecco into a strict geographical designation.

Prosecco must now be produced from grapes grown across a defined zone spanning the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions.

Some of the finest expressions come from the steep hills between the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene.

The landscape there is so striking that UNESCO added it to the World Heritage list in 2019.

Wines from this area carry the superior DOCG classification, and the tiny Cartizze hill within the zone is treated as the region’s unofficial grand cru.

How Prosecco gets its sparkle

Unlike Champagne, which gains its bubbles through a slow second fermentation in the bottle, Prosecco is made using the tank method.

The second fermentation happens in large pressurised steel tanks. It’s faster and less expensive, but it preserves the fresh, fruity aromas of the Glera grape.

Prosecco is designed to be light-bodied, youthful and easy-drinking, offering a different experience to Champagne.

One label quirk is worth knowing. A Prosecco labelled Extra Dry is sweeter than one labelled Brut, so if you prefer your fizz dry, Brut is the one to reach for.

You’ll also find fully sparkling (spumante) and gently sparkling (frizzante) styles, while Prosecco rosé – which is made with a splash of Pinot Noir – has been an official category since 2020.

Prosecco conquers the world

Prosecco’s rise has been remarkable. In the early 21^st century, it was relatively unknown outside of Italy, but it became the world’s bestselling sparkler in the space of a generation.

It’s easy to see why Prosecco has proved so popular, as combines a crowd-pleasing style with an affordable price tag, offering everyday luxury and easy-going charm.

Prosecco is also the engine behind two of the world’s bestselling cocktails: the almost ubiquitous Aperol Spritz and the peachy Bellini, which was invented at Harry’s Bar in Venice.

Its success has even sparked an international turf war. In Australia’s King Valley, growers planted the grape back when it was still legally called Prosecco.

They continue to sell Australian 'Prosecco' at home and in some export markets – much to the fury of the Italians, who insist the name belongs to their protected hills alone.

Wherever you stand on the dispute, it’s proof of how valuable those eight letters have become.

Prosecco Day is the perfect excuse to put a bottle on ice. Pour a glass, raise a toast to the summer and join the celebration.

DWWA 2026: 10 award-winning Prosecco wines to try

Il Colle 1978, Rive di Rua di Feletto Extra Brut, Prosecco di Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore Rive, Veneto 2024
Platinum, 97 points
Expressive apple blossom, pear and peach aromas sizzle over the nose and voluminous texture, tamed by steely mineral undertones. Lush lemongrass, thyme and lime notes furnish the infinite perlage and chalky acidity. Long and precise. Alcohol 11%

Bisol 1542, Dry, Prosecco Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze, Veneto 2025
Gold, 95 points
An absolute treat, demonstrating immaculate depth and precision. Pear, citrus, elderflower and acacia aromas swirl around the nose with a melon succulence glazing the mousse. Alc 11.5%

Borgo Molino, Motivo Millesimato Brut, Prosecco Asolo Superiore, Veneto 2025
Gold, 95 points
Fragrant pot pourri, blossom and baked apple notes decorate the nose and sink into the peachy palate with its fine mousse and subtle mineral aftertaste. Alc 11.5%

Casa Farive, Brut, Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Superiore, Veneto NV
Silver, 92 points
Intense, honeysuckle, green melon, grapefruit pith, orange, sweet dough and almond blossom, well-supported by a bright chalky white fruits finish. Alc 11%

Collalto, Isabella Di Collalto Brut, Prosecco di Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore Rive, Veneto 2024
Silver, 92 points
Spicy and intense aromas of white flower, crushed herbs, showing some chalkiness, long finish with green fruit notes: really well-made! Alc 12%

Montelvini, Collezione Serenitatis Extra Dry, Prosecco Asolo Superiore, Veneto NV
Silver, 92 points
Vibrantly fresh and fruity with fuzzy peach and Gala apple flavours; lovely purity of the fruit for the price point. Alc 11.5%

Luca Ricci, Brut, Prosecco di Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore, Veneto NV
Silver, 91 points
Bright and vibrant jasmine, sea breeze and white peach; gently frothy and creamy with fresh almond character. Alc 11%

Tenuta Amadio, Brut, Prosecco Asolo Superiore, Veneto 2025
Silver, 91 points
Frothy and fun with loads of pear drop and fuzzy peach flavours. Generous and moreish style with pink grapefruit finish. Alc 11.5%

Tenuta Castaldo, Brut, Prosecco Asolo Superiore, Veneto 2025
Silver, 91 points
Bright notes of green apple and tinned pineapple framed by fresh herbs and grapefruit, lingers with fine bubbles. Alc 11.5%

Vedova, Extra Brut, Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Superiore, Veneto 2025
Silver, 91 points
Candied fleshy peach, melon, honeysuckle, white rose mingle with jasmine, lime peel and white fruit with salty, mineral-chalky finish. Alc 11%

Search all DWWA 2026 results

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Are today’s collectors cellaring more white wine?

It’s hard to say for sure, but recent data points to a gradual, if limited, challenge to reds’ fine wine market hegemony. Chardonnay, and specifically white Burgundy, is the spearhead.

Geraint Carter, of Bordeaux Index and the LiveTrade online trading platform, said: ‘The white Burgundy share of our [total] trading over the last decade has gone from about 2% to about 5%, by value.’

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said trading by value on still white wine rose 650% from 2010 to 2025, when it reached 10.5% of total trade value. Sparkling wine also jumped 1,100% in that period, while reds dropped 15%.

Carter said the trend should be seen within a wider context of Burgundy, Champagne and other regions diluting red Bordeaux’s dominance. ‘It’s a much more heterogeneous [market] picture than it was 15 years ago.’

Tom Burchfield, head of decision intelligence at Liv-ex, told Decanter: ‘Collectors’ cellars have undoubtedly become more diverse, and that will be a factor. It is perhaps reflective of a broader change in taste and consumption habits, but I don’t think you can underestimate the impact Burgundy has had. Interest in Burgundy (both red and white) has soared over the past decade.’

How far can this go? Carter said trading was focused on icons (see table below), yet it’s necessarily a thin market due to relatively tiny production volumes on individual wines.

Prices are correspondingly high. While it has been affected by the broader recent market downturn, there is some evidence that top white Burgundy has been relatively resilient.

‘White Burgundy didn’t rise [in price] to the same degree as red Burgundy between 2021 and 2022, and subsequently didn’t fall as far,’ said Burchfield.

US auction house Hart Davis Hart highlighted white Burgundy’s allure after its June fine wine sale, noting: ‘White Burgundy continued its skyward trajectory, with everything from 1980s [Domaines] Leflaive and Ramonet to 2020s Bernard-Bonin and Paul Pillot setting new record prices.

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com

Back to the future

The fine wine market is often described as fragmented and lacking direction.

In reality, today’s landscape looks less like disorder and more like a return to historical norms.

The true anomaly was surely the 15-20 years of boom, bust and boom again, when Asia exerted an extraordinary influence, elevating Bordeaux to an unprecedented position of dominance.

That era has passed. Bordeaux remains the cornerstone of the fine wine market, but its decline from overwhelming supremacy is the single biggest structural shift of the past decade.

The beneficiaries are well documented: red Burgundy, Champagne and, on the white side, white Burgundy have all captured a greater share of collectors’ attention.

Fragmentation extends beyond buying preferences. The days when one critic could make or break a vintage are over, and wine styles are less uniform.

Climate change is demanding new approaches in both vineyard and cellar.

And at the same time, outstanding wine is now being made almost everywhere. Even the most historic domaines increasingly face competition from ambitious terrea novea.

Perhaps the greatest change, however, is cultural.

Fine wine now behaves more like other luxury markets: trends emerge faster, information travels instantly and fashion exerts a greater influence than ever before.

Today’s market may feel fragmented, but it’s also broader, more transparent and, arguably, far more interesting.

Auction highlights: Italy & rare Sherry

Italian fine wines have been a highlight of the auction scene in recent weeks, but rarely sighted 19th-century Sherry also commanded bidders’ attention.

Giacomo Conterno, Monfortino is a hallowed name for Barolo lovers and, in late June, US-based Hart Davis Hart (HDH) brought forth what it described as ‘the most comprehensive offering of Monfortino ever to appear at auction’.

Highlights included the superstar Barolo 2010 vintage. Six bottles of Monfortino Barolo Riserva 2010 sold for $11,950 (high estimate: $9,500), including buyer’s premium, while a single magnum of the same wine fetched $4,183 (high e: $3,200).

From Tuscany, six bottles of Soldera, Case Basse, Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2004 sold for $17,925 (high e: $14,000). HDH’s June auction was 100% sold – its fifth consecutive ‘white glove’ result.

Elsewhere, Zachys offered Italian gems from New York’s legendary, now-shuttered Barbetta restaurant; the Rolling Stones and Al Pacino are listed among its past patrons.

A Delaware-based ‘live’ sale in late June featured several wines from the 1990s, including 12 bottles of Bruno Giacosa, Santo Stefano di Neive, Barbaresco 1995: sold for $3,750 (high e: $3,000), including buyer’s premium.

In a change of pace, a Christie’s online auction ending 19 June featured library wines direct from Sherry producer González Byass.

A lot containing a bottle each of Pio IX Moscatel 1846 and La Cuadrada Palo Cortado 1997 sold for £2,500, including buyer’s premium (e: £2,000 – £3,000).

LiveTrade and Wine Hub link up

Private collectors and merchants can benefit from a new partnership between the LiveTrade fine wine trading platform powered by Bordeaux Index and a leading business management system, Wine Hub, created by Wine Owners.

Both partners said their deal enhances access to global fine wine trading, such as by enabling businesses using Wine Hub to trade directly on LiveTrade, plus see real-time pricing and stock availability.

LiveTrade has nearly £50m of in-bond, pristine blue-chip stock readily available for trading at any one time.

On the benefit to collectors, Matthew O’Connell, co-CEO of Bordeaux Index, said: ‘Integrations such as Wine Hub make it easier for merchants to participate in the marketplace as part of their daily workflow.

‘Increased participation drives greater liquidity, and that means broader access to fine wine, improved pricing transparency and a stronger trading experience for private collectors using LiveTrade.’

Coming up

Burgundy charity sale

Christie’s will co-host a charity auction of rare Burgundy wines sourced directly from celebrated producers, plus exclusive experiences, from 4-19 September – in aid of restorations at the historic Cistercian Abbey of Cîteaux.

The sale’s conclusion will also coincide with a charity dinner at Chȃteau Clos du Vougeot.

Ex-Chȃteau Haut-Brion

August is broadly a quieter month for auctions, but autumn is hotting up. Sotheby’s announced in July that it will offer Château Haut-Brion wines sourced directly from the Bordeaux first growth’s cellars.

Bidding opens 17 September and concludes with a ‘live’ auction in Paris on 1 October. Stay tuned for more details.

The Golden Vines weekender

Philanthropy-focused fine wine and gastronomy event The Golden Vines returns to London in 2026, from 6-8 November, said organiser Liquid Icons in July.

Held in support of the Gérard Basset Foundation, the weekend includes The Golden Vines Awards Gala. Tickets are £10,000 per person. See liquidicons.com/london

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Just a matter of weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall, heralding the end of division in Europe, the Cold War and (soon after) the USSR, almost exactly 1,000 miles south-west, the Bordelais saw the conclusion of one of the greatest decades in their vinous history.

With perhaps two exceptions (1984 & 1987) the 1980s was a transformative period in the region both economically and qualitatively after the various shades of brown that the preceding decade yielded.

Things were looking up for the world’s most aristocratic wine region, and it started with a bang…

1990

Many would argue that 1990 is a contender for the greatest global vintage in recent history, showing outstanding uniform quality in most regions around the world.

Bordeaux was no exception. This generally warm vintage has produced wines that are often voluptuous and decadent, a trait that we would not see again for a number of years.

The vintage is littered with stars on both banks and perhaps even more so in Sauternes.

Now 36 years-old the very best wines are hitting their peak but be warned that lower end examples may have succumbed to flamboyance and lack the structure of some other great vintages.

The finest wines are effortless: Château Margaux, Montrose, Léoville Las Cases, and Lynch-Bages to name but a few on the left bank.

Cheval Blanc, Petrus and Clinet all flirt with perfection on the right bank, as does La Mission Haut Brion in Graves.

There are dozens more world beating wines, but notable misses too. Latour is variable, but on its day one of the finest ever produced, while Mouton Rothschild and Pichon Comtesse both somehow miss the magic of so many of their neighbours.

Generally speaking I would happily buy well stored class growth claret across the board and expect to find a beautiful expression of plump, mature claret within.

1991

Now, dear reader, 1991 is a vintage where my opinion may differ from many of my esteemed colleagues.

My justification for the perceived quality of this wildly overlooked vintage is based upon dozens of bottles in recent years and an almost obsessive desire to vindicate my theory that, in this frost plagued vintage, those closest to the river fared best.

There is no denying that the right bank was not a success, with some châteaux opting not to produce a Grand Vin, but many of those in the Médoc that could afford to crop their yields produced good wines.

Palmer is the wine of the vintage, and even comparable to their legendary 1990, while neighbours Pichon Comtesse and Latour come a close second.

I would not suggest you research 1991 as extensively as I have, but if the vintage is of significance, then do try well cellared left bank wines from the most familiar names.

1992

Unlike 1991, I do not have such positive news for anyone who holds 1992 dear.

Generally the wines are well past their best, but passable bottles of Clinet (a wine I loved a decade ago), Gruaud Larose and La Mission Haut-Brion have piqued interest in recent years but perhaps not offered much on the hedonistic spectrum.

However, dry whites were largely a success with Laville Haut-Brion offering a genuinely outstanding effort even three decades on.

1993

More of the same sadly as the dearth of quality continues, even if 1993 is stylistically different, often hard, dry and tannic.

A recent bottle of Clinet, drunk at the château, was delicious as the plump nature of this great Pomerol overcame the tannins of the vintage.

Gruaud Larose and Beychevelle are wines I have enjoyed over the years, similarly Lafleur on the right bank.

But don’t go out of your way!

1994

There was an initial feeling that 1994 might have been the saviour of the region after a string of troublesome harvests.

The quality was undeniably better, but not close to what was about to follow. Latour is the wine of the vintage, closely followed by neighbour Pichon Comtesse.

At the more affordable end, half a dozen recent bottles of Branaire-Ducru have been delicious, if drying out a little.

The wines here feel more classic than either 1992 or the austere 1993s. If it’s a milestone year for you then I would suggest sticking to the Médoc for best results.

1995

Finally, Bordeaux waits no more! For decades to come Bordeaux lovers will argue the various merits of 1995 v 1996, but what the former has in its corner is a much stronger showing on the right bank.

I’ve always found the vintage slightly foursquare compared to its successor but the quality is undeniable and uniform.

On the right bank both Lafleur and Cheval Blanc are sensational.

Similarly on the left bank, not many people missed the mark, so perhaps it is more useful to mention the wines that I favour in 1995 to the more fleshy 1996s that followed: Pichon Baron, Léoville Barton, Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion to name four.

This is a vintage to buy with confidence, on both banks, relying on the fact that the structure here supports beautifully balanced wines that are just hitting their prime.

1996

Is this the vintage of the decade? For the left bank, probably. The wines from the Médoc are generous but reserved, structured but also ethereal.

A genuinely glorious vintage for almost everyone on the left bank. If I am splitting hairs, Pauillac performed best, with Latour, Lafite Rothschild and Pichon Comtesse all contenders for wine of the decade.

Lynch-Bages, Grand Puy Lacoste and Batailley are crafted from the same mould without the price tag.

Outside Pauillac, Léoville Las Cases and Margaux are also potentially perfect wines.

Almost everything west of the Gironde is worth seeking out.

The right bank is more patchy, so my recommendation would be to opt for 1998.

1997

Thought to be one of the weaker vintages of the decade, 1997 is (however) superior to 1992, 1993 and 1994.

The vintage is much lighter than those that surround it, which has given drinkers pleasure over that last few decades, in a way that other years have not.

There is no excess structure or greenness as you find in the early half of the 1990s. Just elegant, balanced, drinkable Bordeaux that would have, at one time, been labelled ‘luncheon claret’.

Recent bottles of Potensac, Meyney, La Conseillante and Gazin have all been delicious. Not more or less, just simply delicious.

Sauternes, however, is sensational. Those with a connection to 1997 may find some bargains as the wines have remained fairly priced.

A vintage that grows in my affection as I age and understand its place among its far more lauded siblings.

1998

If 1996 is THE left bank year, then 1998 is THE right bank year. The year Merlot turned to gold.

There are more successes on the left bank in 1998 than on the right bank in 1996, most notably a sensational bottle of Palmer knocked 1989 off the table, but St-Emilion and Pomerol displayed an embarrassment of riches.

It is little surprise that Petrus and Cheval Blanc both crafted wines that could last a century as well as La Mission Haut-Brion and Haut-Brion in Pessac.

The one word of caution I would add is, in this ‘peak Parker’ era, some estates were unnecessarily exuberant with their extraction.

Most wines here, on both banks, are still approaching full maturity.

1999

A curious and almost anonymous vintage to round off the century. Overshadowed by what was to come, I feel little affection for 1999, and the wines somewhat generic.

Perhaps because the top wines are some way off full maturity, but the first growths are all solid, if unexciting.

Gruaud Larose has always been nice as have dozens of other châteaux that produced very good examples on both left and right.

That said, an honourable mention should go to the often forgotten Tertre-Roteboeuf which produced a sensational wine to round off the decade.

The best is yet to come...?

It is fair to say that, next to the consistency of the 1980s, the 1990s was a more variable decade to end the millennium, but what was to come next might just be the greatest of them all…

Bordeaux vintages of the 1990s

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With its dark, pointed turrets and gleaming limestone façade Château Pichon Baron is one of the Médoc's quintessential châteaux.

A second growth Pauillac, it is renowned for the sleekness, polish and ageworthiness of its Cabernet Sauvignon-driven wines, produced from 92 hectares of vines planted in the region's famous gravels.

The estate was created in the 17th century when Baron Jacques Pichon de Longueville married Therèse de Rauzan, the daughter of a wealthy and enormously influential wine merchant.

The barons de Longueville owned the property from 1694 to 1933. In 1850 the estate was split with Baron Raoul de Longueville keeping the property known today as Pichon Baron, while his sisters inherited the other half that we know today as Pichon Comtesse.

The estate was bought by insurance group AXA – part of a wider portfolio of estates under the umbrella of AXA Millésimes – in 1987.

Under the group's ownership, the estate has been extensively renovated and remodelled, with state-of-the-art winemaking facilities and cellars.

The core plot at the centre of the estate's vineyards, the 'Butte de Pichon Baron', has been used to make the grand vin since 1694.

The property also produces two 'second labels', Les Tourelles de Pichon Baron and Les Griffons de Pichon Baron, and a white wine.

Pichon Baron vintages

Looking back over the most recent available vintages, we can see that Pichon Baron has averaged a score 97-points from various Decanter critics.

This puts it in the same category as Château Cheval Blanc or Château Haut-Brion.

However, an average case price of £1,038 (per 12x75cl) is a sizeable discount to either of those other estates which clock in at over £4,000 and £3,000 a case on average respectively.

Even better news for fans of polished Pauillac, there are currently four well-scored vintages available for under £1,000.

The most surprising of these is the 2017, which received a score of 98-points during a panel tasting. Not an especially renowned vintage, one judge, Andy Howard MW, called it: 'A classic Pauillac, which is remarkable in the context of 2017 overall.'

The wine has a current market price of £960 per case. According to Liv-ex, it is down from previous highs over the course of 2022-2024 but has seen some positive gains so far this year.

Another vintage that looks good value relative to other peers is the 2020. Like the 2017 it has a score of 98-points and costs under £1,000, with Georgina Hindle calling it: 'Generous, elegant and refined'.

Both vintages look even better value when compared to the 2022, which also has a score of 98-points but currently costs just over £1,200 per case. It's the better-viewed vintage but perhaps buyers have been overlooking other wines of similar quality?

Finally, the 95-point 2021 is really a very delicious wine, especially given the otherwise rather average vintage and the 2024 with 96-points is the cheapest available vintage by far at around £838 per case.

Although they sit under Pichon Baron's score-average their relative affordability makes them tempting potential pick-ups for thirsty buyers, especially given the estate's current track record for producing standout wines even in mediocre vintages.

Château Pichon Baron: Selected tasting notes

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It's always fascinating to visit a winery to see where, how, and by whom your favourite wines are made.

Sometimes an estate will be eagerly anticipating the first wines from a new vineyard. Ask where those young vines come from, and chances are the answer will be a proud ‘Rauscedo’.

With around 60% of Italy's vines and a quarter of those growing globally originating here, VCR is by far the world's largest vine supplier.

The 430 wine grape clones VCR works with represent 90 major world varieties, sold in 38 countries across five continents.

‘Nowadays we produce around 90 million grafted vines each year,’ explains Alessandro Leon, VCR president and one of 200 member growers.

Roots

The nursery cooperative was founded in 1933 to organise the growing local trade in vine grafting, which began 15 years earlier thanks to skills taught by a locally based army officer.

European wineries were still reeling from the Phylloxera epidemic, and replanting was underway with vulnerable European Vitis vinifera varieties grafted onto naturally resistant American rootstocks.

Grafting takes place between February and March. After protective paraffin waxing and a few months of growth at member nurseries, each vine is checked manually by one of the 1,300-strong team during an all-important winter selection process, ensuring only perfectly grafted, healthy plants are sold.

Around 78% pass the test.

The laboratory

For the past 60 years, VCR has been a major player in vine research. Alongside members' nurseries, VCR has 22ha of experimental vineyards and various plots across Italy and beyond.

Its contemporary, alpine-style research centre houses eight futuristic laboratories where around 10,000 genotypes (grown from individual seeds) are trialled annually.

Lab staff undertake the meticulous job of isolating seeds, genome testing, and micropropagation.

The tiny proportion selected for aromatic quality, productivity, or disease resistance may eventually become registered clones.

‘It gets busy’

Each year, VCR carries out roughly 700 microvinifications in small steel vats and glass demijohns.

‘It gets busy,’ says winemaker Massimo De Candido, ‘but I'd find working with regular-sized equipment a challenge after 20 years of microvinifications here.’

Clients can configure orders online from over 4,000 variety-rootstock combinations, but most prefer to discuss options and taste the results from different clones.

VCR's tasting room boasts a mind-boggling archive of bottles arranged by clone codes and varieties.

‘We have, for example, 15 Merlot clones,’ points out Elisa De Luca, head of the research centre.

‘Many producers choose to plant a mix of clones of the same variety to mitigate the risks of increasingly unpredictable weather.’

Pioneering PIWIs

Exciting ongoing research involves new resistant varieties, or ‘PIWIs’ – hybrids created by crossing traditional European Vitis vinifera with naturally disease-resistant American or Asian vines.

These allow for reduced vineyard intervention and mitigate climate change risks.

VCR holds exclusive rights to 14 PIWI varieties, including Pinot Iskra, Sauvignon Nepis, and Merlot Khorus, developed with Udine University.

Two of VCR's own resistant varieties derived from Glera (the Prosecco grape) will soon be released, with more due in 2027, followed by resistant versions of Grenache and Chardonnay.

While the EU approved PIWIs for denomination wines in 2021 and regions like Champagne have altered protocols to allow small percentages, Italy has been slow to follow suit.

Some Italian regions authorise PIWI cultivation, but no regulatory changes have been approved to include them in DOC/DOCG wines.

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Provence vineyard estate Château Vignelaure looks set to continue its resurgence after being sold to British entrepreneur Neil Utley and family for an undisclosed fee.

It’s the latest high-profile vineyard property deal in sought-after Provence, where vineyards mingle with lavender fields and olive groves close to the Mediterranean sea.

Vignelaure is one of the region’s pearls, said Adam Dakin, founder of independent property specialist Wine Objectives that helped facilitate the recent deal.

Once home to ancient Roman winegrowers, Vignelaure's modern era began in the 1960s under Georges Brunet, ex-owner of Bordeaux’s Château La Lagune.

While the estate makes rosé – now a Provençal calling card – it has a particularly strong reputation for high-quality reds, which are sourced from vineyards at relatively high altitudes (around 400m) for the area.

New owner Neil Utley said, ‘Having considered a number of vineyards in and around the region we were drawn to Vignelaure as it wasn't a blank canvas – our vision was to elevate something extraordinary. This is one of the few estates in Provence with a genuine red wine pedigree.'

Estate director and winemaker Philippe Bru will remain at the property, having been appointed by the previous owners, Swedish couple Mette and Bengt Sundstrøm.

Immediate plans include replanting some of the vineyard, as well as planting new vines on pre-prepared land. Vignelaure spans around 276 hectares in total, including woodland, with around 56ha under vine.

Utley added, ‘Our role now is to become stewards of an estate that already has so much to offer, and to support Philippe Bru and his team in taking Vignelaure to the next level through focus, patience and long-term investment.’

There are also plans to launch a cosmetics business, Maison Minu, to be based at the estate.

Olive trees will be planted and bee hives installed to both support biodiversity and the new cosmetics operations, the owners said, adding they plan to build an on-site spa in the coming years, too.

Provence and Loire vineyards in-demand

Provence’s vineyard market has ‘taken off again’ recently, said Wine Objectives’ Dakin. ‘There's quite a lot of movement. We've got another transaction down towards St-Tropez underway just now.’

Its appeal comes at a price, though. 'It's an area where land and buildings are relatively expensive', said Dakin.

As a comparison, he said that wine lovers dreaming of buying a vineyard on a tighter budget might find a winery with 10 to 15 hectares of vines for around €500,000 in Corbières in the Languedoc to the west, but it's a different picture in Provence.

‘That said, we’ve got a small vineyard in the process of selling just now at €900,000. It's a modern villa with I think eight hectares of vines around it and another building on the side which could be developed into a winery.

'It's odd, admittedly, to find stuff under the €1m mark in Provence, and reasonably rare to find vineyards under the €2m mark, but they do exist.'

Still, he said the heart of the market is in the €5m to €10m bracket.

Loire Valley is another fashionable area to watch, said Dakin. Wine Objectives recently expanded north in addition to its longstanding focus on Provence, the Rhône and Languedoc in southern France.

‘There are a lot of people visiting, a lot of professional clients looking to buy there,’ said Dakin of the Loire.

Climate change and consumer interest in white wines are among motivating factors for prospective buyers, he said.

In terms of vineyard land prices, Sancerre can reach €250,000 to €350,000 per hectare (p/ha), said Dakin. But he said prices elsewhere, such as Savennières, are much lower and the Loire overall remains relatively inexpensive.

Interest in both regions comes amid a tough market situation facing some of France’s major red wine regions, such as generic Bordeaux and the Southern Rhône outside top appellations.

A recent report by French rural land agency Safer showed Burgundy vineyard prices continued to defy gravity in 2025, yet also found declining values in Bordeaux.

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On hearing the term 'prestige cuvée', many seasoned wine lovers instantly think of the crown jewel of a Champagne house – the wine that represents the pinnacle of a producer's winemaking ambition.

Perhaps the most famous example is Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon's prestige cuvée, first released in 1936. Such bottlings are often associated with the finest vineyard sites, exceptional vintages – although some are released as non-vintage wines – and in many cases, collaborations with the worlds of art, fashion and luxury.

As English sparkling wine continues to gain recognition both at home and abroad, a new generation of prestige cuvées – some of England's leading estates and winemaking talents behind them – is on the rise.

Many produced in small quantities and each with a story of its own, these English prestige cuvées naturally command premium prices (mostly £100 and above). But we managed to get hold of five – let's find out exactly what all the fuss is about.

Nyetimber: 1086 and 1086 Rosé

The unquestionable pioneer, Nyetimber was the first English wine estate to embrace Champagne’s prestige cuvée concept, releasing two premium sparkling wines – a white and a rosé – in 2018, priced at £150 and £175 respectively, on a par with premium Champagne.

The estate named the range ‘1086’ after the year the name ‘Nitimbreha’ – believed to mean ‘newly timbered house’ – first appeared in the Domesday Book, William the Conqueror’s great survey of landholdings across much of England and parts of Wales.

The ambition to produce a prestige cuvée came from Nyetimber’s proprietor, Eric Heerema, when he acquired the estate in 2006.

The winemaking team, led by head winemaker Cherie Spriggs, waited until the 2009 vintage – ‘a year that has all of the right stuff’, as Spriggs put it – to begin creating both the estate’s and England’s first prestige cuvée.

The 1086 wines are made from the finest grapes and parcels across Nyetimber’s estate vineyards in West Sussex, Hampshire and Kent, with the parcel selection and blend varying according to the vintage.

The estate highlighted extended ageing – seven years on lees as the baseline – as a ‘key marker’ of the 1086 range. The principal criteria for selecting a base wine capable of such a journey are not simply flavour, but ‘structure, balance and mouthfeel’, according to the producer.

The latest releases in the range are the 2014 white and 2016 rosé.

Our review

Chapel Down: Kit's Coty Coeur de Cuvée

Although not originally positioned as a prestige cuvée, Chapel Down's Kit's Coty Coeur de Cuvée, released in 2017, also sits comfortably among the pioneers of England's super-premium sparkling wines.

With the 2013 vintage as its first release, Coeur de Cuvée is a 100% Chardonnay sparkling wine sourced from the best parcels of the famed Kit's Coty vineyard – a roughly 40ha (100-acre), steep, south-facing chalk site on the North Downs of Kent.

As the name suggests, the base wine is made from the gently extracted 'heart' (coeur) of the first pressing and is aged in French oak. The current release (£126), from the 2016 vintage, spent seven years on lees.

The Kit's Coty vineyard is also home to DWWA-winning Blanc de Blancs and still wines including Bacchus (one of the most sophisticated expressions of the grape in England) and Chardonnay.

A major player in the English wine scene since the early 2000s, Chapel Down now makes wine, led by head winemaker Josh Donaghay-Spire, from its own vineyards in Kent while also sourcing grapes from Kent, Sussex and Essex.

Our review

Gusbourne: Fifty One Degrees North

The roots of Gusbourne’s late-release bottlings can be traced back to custodian Andrew Weeber, who decided to hold back some of the estate’s 2007 Blanc de Blancs.

The 2007 was eventually released in 2014, and the result encouraged the producer to pursue the idea further. The same year also delivered what the estate describes as a 'textbook' harvest, perfect for building a sparkling wine meant for extended ageing.

After 'eight years of tasting and monitoring behind the scenes', then-head winemaker Charlie Holland oversaw the launch of the estate's prestige cuvée, Fifty One Degrees North, in 2022, named after the latitude of its Kent and Sussex vineyards.

The inaugural release was a 2:1 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with 80 months of ageing on lees.

The following year, after Holland’s departure that summer, the estate – known for specialising in vintage releases – announced the second release of Fifty One Degrees North, from the 2016 vintage (£195).

Produced from a warm, dry growing season, the wine retained a similar blend to its predecessor, combining the ‘richness of fruit’ from Gusbourne's clay and sandstone vineyards in Kent with the bright freshness derived from the chalk and flint soils in West Sussex.

After a further two years of ageing, in autumn last year (2025), a magnum edition (£395) was released in small quantities.

This year, to mark Gusbourne's 20th vintage, the team – now led by winemaker Mary Bridges with Laura Rhys MS continuing as consultant and global ambassador – decided to release around 250 bottles from the estate’s library, including wines dating back more than two decades. Among the highlights were just four bottles of Blanc de Blancs from the inaugural 2006 vintage.

Our review

Langham: Perpetual

This is perhaps one of the most innovative entries in this line-up, created by Langham's talented young winemaker Tommy Grimshaw.

When Grimshaw took over as head winemaker in 2019, he inherited a demi-muid (600L) of the estate's top Chardonnay from the 2017 vintage, and a puncheon (about 500L) of the best fruit from the highly prized 2018 vintage.

Inspired by grower Champagne pioneer Anselme Selosse, Grimshaw decided to start creating a multi-vintage cuvée from Langham's 13.8ha (34-acre) vineyard, with its base wine aged in solera.

With top fruit from 2019 added, the reserve was transferred to a 2,000L Slavonian oak foudre (named 'Judy'), purchased by the estate in 2020. Since then, the Dorset-based producer has kept back barrels of the most expressive Chardonnay grown on its belemnite chalk vineyard from each vintage, building a 'perpetually evolving blend', as the winemaker puts it.

The first Perpetual Blanc de Blancs was bottled in 2020, followed by four years of lees ageing, with just 650 bottles released in June 2025.

This summer, Langham released the second bottling of its prestige cuvée – this time a blend of the 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 vintages (as shown on the label), finished with zero dosage and no sulphur.

Priced at £109.95, this is also the first Perpetual release made solely from the 2,000L Slavonian oak foudre, with the ambition to 'express Chardonnay beyond the boundaries of any individual vintage', said the producer.

Our review

Squerryes Estate: Patience

A relative newcomer to the league, Squerryes’s Patience 2014, named after the family ancestor Patience Warde (1629-1696), was just launched in July 2026.

Patience himself was a former Mayor of London and a successful merchant trading British wool for French wine, including Champagne, witnessing the rise of sparkling Champagne in the 17th century.

It was his legacy that eventually led to the purchase of the Kent estate in 1731. Nearly 300 years later, the Warde family still owns the 2,500-acre estate, including 21ha (55 acres) of south-facing vineyards near Westerham, close to the Pilgrims' Way.

The family only truly committed to winegrowing in 2006, two years after eighth-generation owner John Warde, who has a background in agriculture, was approached by a Champagne house searching for English chalk soils – a visit that drew his attention to the estate's potential for sparkling wine.

The estate has since developed a range of single-estate sparkling wines (many of which saw extended lees ageing) on the chalk soils at 140–170m altitude on the North Downs.

In 2013, John's son, ninth-generation owner Henry Warde, joined the estate and soon started preserving older vintages with the support of consultant Laura Evans MW.

More than a decade later, its prestige cuvée, Patience 2014, came to be. Described by the estate as its 'most characterful' and 'most considered' wine to date, it is an almost equal blend of the three Champagne varieties, although Warde believes future releases (with the 2015 and 2017 currently under review) will become increasingly Chardonnay-led.

Among the 3,000 bottles produced, the first tranche of 1,500 bottles are now available at £225 per bottle.

Our reivew

Super-premium English wine: more to come

Beyond these, the list of English prestige cuvée now also includes Sugrue South Downs' sold-out Cuvée Dr Brendan O'Regan (£125 per bottle), Exton Park's Cuvée M. Isaac Blanc de Blancs 'BBB' (£130), and Hattingley Valley's Kings Cuvée (£91).

Meanwhile, top producers are continuing to release highly selective, long-ageing bottlings such as Black Chalk's Eighty Nine Point Six 2020 (magnum, £165), not to mention an increasing number of rare library releases.

Although the concept of prestige cuvée is still relatively new to the English wine scene, and the ranks of this super-premium club remain small, there is little doubt that more are on the horizon.

Are they worth prices that rival the top end of Champagne? The quality and the ambition are certainly there. Whether they’re here to stay, is now up to wine lovers to decide.

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‘We never wanted to make wine’, says Youmna Asseily, and she means it literally.

When she and her husband Tony went looking for a property outside Bordeaux in the early 2000s, a vineyard was not the point.

They were looking for peace and privacy, but this year marks 20 years since the Asseilys bought Château Biac and ended up restoring it to its former winemaking glory.

The long way to Langoiran

Both originally from Lebanon, Tony had spent his career in finance in London. Youmna had lived in Switzerland and then in Lebanon before the two settled in London together to raise their children.

For the next 25 years the family lived between Beirut and London, never quite able to go home for good.

In 1990, with flights repeatedly delayed, the family chose to holiday in Entre-deux-Mers, as it turned out, just four kilometres from Château Biac.

They kept coming back to Entre-deux-Mers each summer for a decade and, in 2000, they rented the guesthouse in Biac and fell in love with the place.

The same year, Tony dissolved his wealth management company and began looking for something new to do. Youmna wanted to paint, and Tony wanted to write. Wine was not on the list at all.

What was on the list, when they sat down and made one, was oddly specific: half an hour from Bordeaux, 35 minutes from the airport, close to a motorway, near a town with everything they needed close by, a view over the Garonne, and, above all, somewhere private, not visible from the road.

Château Biac answered every point on it. The previous owners wanted to sell the main house but keep the vineyards and holiday homes.

Talks stalled over the split, and it took until 2006 for a contract to finally be signed.

A renaissance

Despite once carrying a serious reputation – Cocks & Féret's second edition guide to Bordeaux in 1868 rated Biac among the finest in the region – the property had been neglected for years.

The famous Bordeaux enologist Denis Dubourdieu, nicknamed the pope of white wine, who had once consulted there, told the Asseilys the terroir itself was exceptional regardless of its state.

The Asseilys soon gathered a top team around them.

Patrick Léon, a Château Mouton Rothschild retiree who had tried and failed to buy Biac himself years earlier, waited five or six months to be sure the couple were serious before agreeing to take the vineyard on.

Christine Sourdès, a consultant to Château Guiraud and Château de Myrat, and the first woman to open her own laboratory in the Sauternes-Graves area, came the following year to oversee the sweet wine.

Gilles Rey, an agronomist for Mouton Rothschild and, by his own account, familiar with practically every corner of Bordeaux, joined in 2006 to rebuild the vineyard itself.

Cellar master Sébastien Dupouy has been with the estate since 2008 – the year of Biac's first vintage under the new team.

The winery, meanwhile, was emptied of all the old stock and restored in six months flat.

The vineyard garden

Château Biac runs to 9.5ha split across 14 separate plots. The parcels are vinified separately in 13 small vats. Harvest dates are set plot by plot.

Rey has helped push the estate toward extreme precision, but it's Youmna who sums up the philosophy behind it.

‘We see it more as a garden than a vineyard,’ she says.

The blend changes every vintage – no formula, no house style to defend. As Youmna puts it, no two vintages, like no two children, are quite the same.

What stays constant is the combination of freshness and real ripeness, and the fact that Biac picks later than almost anyone else in the area. Harvest is done entirely by hand and sorted across four stations by a team of local workers.

The range itself has settled, too. There were once three reds, but in 2018 the Asseilys pared the line-up back to two – Château Biac and Félix de Biac.

Alongside them sit a dry white – Félicie de Biac – and a sweet white Cadillac – Secret de Biac.

There's a whisky too, born out of a necessity rather than a grand plan: new barrels are bought every year for the dry white and the sweet wine, which left the estate with a growing stock of good, used oak and not much to do with it.

A joint project with a distillery on the Isle of Harris followed almost as a matter of course, and the resulting single malt, aged in those ex-sweet-wine barrels, goes out under the name Haerach of Biac.

A name and a family behind

For a long time almost nobody outside the estate knew any of this.

Bottles were never sent out to critics or journalists. Biac was never sold en primeur – the Asseilys wanted to offer clients a wine that was ready to drink.

That changed by chance rather than design.

Daniel Boulud tasted the wine on a two-day visit, loved it, and began pouring it in his restaurants.

Jean Moueix director of leading négociant Duclot came separately and reached the same conclusion, and Biac has worked exclusively with Duclot ever since.

In 2013, eldest daughter Yasmina, who worked in finance in New York, took over the mission of building the American market.

Son Gabriel, previously in IT and trained in chemistry, joined as winemaker in January 2019, a few weeks after Patrick Léon's death.

Léon's son Bertrand has stayed on to work alongside him, as has Christine Sourdès.

The names on the labels trace back further still, to Youmna's own family – the Shihab (or Chehab) dynasty, which ruled Lebanon between the 16th and 18th centuries.

Félix de Biac takes its name from the family's coat of arms, a mountain cat representing strength and the protection of life, and the label itself features a stylised Kufic script.

Ask Youmna what the estate has taught her after 20 years of ownership, and she does not talk about wine scores.

‘You do something that will outlive you,’ she says. ‘It gives you the possibility to learn, to stretch yourself, to do something for the future. Agriculture gives you a lot of humility.’

Biac, in the end, seems to have given the family less a wine estate than a place to simply be together. The wine, it turns out, was what happened along the way.

A taste of Château Biac

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On a sunny April day, just before en primeur week, I stopped by to see the result.

What I found was the beginning of a new era for this fifth growth in the Haut-Médoc appellation south of Margaux. It’s a property reborn.

What a contrast to the Cantemerle I saw on my first visit to Bordeaux more than 40 years ago. Back then, the old cellar sported a dirt floor.

A few chickens pecked among the barrels. The grey-with-age limestone château and its ivy-covered tower seemed to echo a distant romantic past.

The cellarmaster dribbled wine from an ancient barrel in a smudged glass for me to taste, and later he proudly pulled out the château’s weather records, thick ledgers with tiny handwriting on yellowing paper.

The 20^th century proprietors kept a meticulous log of temperatures, precipitation, and weather events, and today they’re a brilliant source for tracking climate change.

Back then, Cantemerle seemed ripe for rescuing. There was the size of the property, nearly 500 acres, a long, fascinating history, complete with medieval lords, 19^th century awards in Paris, a visionary widow, and, of course, the gravelly terroir ideal for making great red wine.

Fast forward to its revival, which began with new ownership in 1981. The final part of the revamp was finished in time for the 2025 vintage, signalling a bright future for the wines, always at the top of the list of best value-for-money Bordeaux.

But on my visit, I learned there was much more.

A surprising history

Longevity testifies to tenacity and resilience, and Cantemerle’s origins go back to the 12^th century, way before Bordeaux’s most famous châteaux in the Médoc were founded.

It started as a fort that acted as a toll point, and the first record of vines was in 1354, when lord Ponset de Cantemerle paid a debt with a barrel of wine.

One theory suggests the name comes from le merle y chante, the song of the blackbird.

Then came various owners, but its golden age was during the 300-year tenure of the Villeneuve-Durfort family, which took charge in 1579 and oversaw it until 1892. The château as we know it today was built after the French Revolution.

Most important to its legacy was feisty visionary widow Caroline Villeneuve de Durfort, whose husband died in 1834.

Though her son inherited, he was only 19, and responsibility for the estate initially fell to Caroline. Then her son died tragically young, and she was left completely in charge.

She modernised everything, from the château to the winemaking, and pioneered an innovative method for fighting mildew.

She successfully sued a neighbour for using the name Cantemerle to sell his wine, but her unique contribution was making sure the estate was included in the 1855 classification.

One of my favourite Bordeaux tales is how she accomplished it. The famous list was based on the sales prices that local courtiers recorded, and she had long sold all the wine in the Netherlands, finally switching to Bordeaux négociants in 1853 or 1854.

When she discovered Cantemerle hadn’t been included, she was furious, demanded a meeting with the deciding brokers and brought 40 years of sales receipts to prove Cantemerle’s wine prices were higher than a few other châteaux on the list. It was added as a fifth growth at the last minute.

Then came the devastation of phylloxera, with Cantemerle among the worst hit estates in the Médoc. The influential Dubos family stepped in, owned it for nearly a century, and restored its reputation.

But, weakened by World War II, it was eventually on the road to ruin.

A real fixer-upper

I’m a huge fan of comeback stories, and so, apparently, was Albert Parment, the head of mutual insurance company SMABTP.

A passionate Bordeaux aficionado, he saw run-down Cantemerle as a unique long-term investment opportunity and, in 1981, paid 25 million francs (the equivalent of nearly US$6m) for it.

SMABTP was the first major insurance company to acquire a Bordeaux vineyard, and Parment poured in millions more to restore it.

First up was replanting and expanding the vineyard, which had shrunk to just 20 hectares. The idea was to bring it back to the 100ha it was at the time of the 1855 classification, using Mexican workers imported from California.

But the replant also included a shift in varieties, doubling the amount of Cabernet Sauvignon to nearly 70% by grafting over much of the Cabernet Franc, a change that’s reflected in current vintages of the wine.

Another ambitious woman, Laure Canu, arrived from Château Angelus to oversee the final phase (which started in 2022) and chart Cantemerle’s future course.

The renovated château, its stone façade cleaned, impresses, but the innovations in the huge vat room and underground cellar stunned me, especially a ceiling crafted from the recycled staves of 600 old barrels.

The delicious 2025 wine owes its quality partly to the parcel-by-parcel viticulture and winemaking that’s now de rigueur in Bordeaux châteaux with new cellars.

The vast vat room holds 114 shiny, conical stainless-steel vats, so each plot can be vinified separately, while the latest satellite technology tracks individual vines.

On a wall monitor with an interactive vineyard map winemaker Gregory Thibault showed me how he can zero in on the state of each vine, giving him the ability to pick old and young vines in each micro-plot at exactly the right moment.

The design of it all is, of course, eco-conscious, like the geothermal loop system that powers water from a pond to the entire facility.

Nature and the oenotourism future

Even as drinking wine is declining, wine tourism is rapidly expanding, and SMABPT – and Laure Canu – saw the trend.

The atmosphere in the new wine bar and boutique, featuring wine pairings, the chateau’s honey, children’s colouring books, and more, reminded me of the latest tasting rooms in the Napa Valley.

Cantemerle goes further, opening its park and woodland to visitors for the first time, as have other huge Bordeaux properties such as Châteaux Giscours in Margaux and Olivier in Pessac-Léognan.

While wandering the shady winding paths of Cantemerle’s leafy park, designed in the 18^th century, you get a sense of what biodiversity means: century-old trees, giant ferns, and about 160 species of plants and animals, including wild boar.

A wooden vat in the center of a labyrinth has been converted for observing wildlife. Hazelnut trees shelter ladybugs needed in the vineyard. There’s guided Japanese forest bathing, a floral cooking workshop, and, of course, you can picnic.

But what most fascinated me is their unique botanical project of collecting seeds from the estate’s plants, cultivating them, and then making space in the vineyard to replant them and create hedges and ‘ecological corridors’ connecting it to all those natural areas.

Spending a day at the revived Cantemerle is like immersing yourself in Bordeaux’s green future, discovering how important the ecosystem is to wine and people, while sipping great affordable wines that will only get better.

And there’s more to come. This year, Canu told me, they plan to graft over a hectare of vines to Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

Château Cantemerle: 2010-2023

Wines are listed by vintage youngest to oldest

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If you have ever found yourself lounging around the shores of Lake Garda in northern Italy, chances are you’ve enjoyed a glass of Lugana.

But even if you’re staycationing this summer, this boutique white wine region is well worth investigating.

Spanning the border between Lombardy and Veneto, Lugana’s breezy white wines – plus a smattering of vibrant sparklers – are made from Turbiana. This local variety is a bit of a chameleon; delicately fruit-forward on its own, but with enough structural complexity to give winemakers endless room to play with different styles.

‘We don’t want to cover the character of Lugana,’ says Alessandro Cutolo of Marangona, an organic 35-hectare family estate. His vineyards are in Lombardy, yet his cellar just over the road is in Veneto. He prefers unlined cement and Tava terracotta amphorae for their gentle oxidative capabilities, preserving the grape's bright fruit and translating its signature minerality and salinity straight to the glass.

Meanwhile, Roberto Girelli, the fourth-generation winemaker at nearby Montonale, champions stainless steel, although he employs Austrian oak for his tiny-production, single-vineyard ‘Orestilla’. ‘My goal is to represent the soil and the minerality of Lugana in the wine,’ he explains.

Le Morette is one of around 20 wineries (of a total of just over 100) experimenting with Riserva bottlings, pushing the boundaries of ageability for what was until recently considered a young and fresh wine.

‘With time in bottle, you have more the influence of the soil and less the influence of the grape,’ explains Cutolo.

It's in the soil

To truly understand Lugana, you have to look down. Established in 1905, Ottella is one of the region's historic pioneers. In 1964, chief winemaker Lodovico’s grandfather, also called Lodovico, designed a map of the Lugana denomination based on its unique clay soils. This compact, mineral-rich white clay is key to Lugana's character; it naturally tames the vigour of the bounteous Turbiana grape, resulting in whites that boast impressive weight, concentration, and a hallmark longevity that punches far above their casual 'summer-sipper' weight.

Four Lugana to change your mind

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In 1985, the Italian government passed a law establishing a legal framework for farmers to offer hospitality services, with the aim of protecting rural and agricultural heritage while helping struggling farms diversify their income.

The law unleashed the first wave of ‘agriturismo’.

Its effects were felt most strongly in Tuscany, where historic wine estates and olive farms began to open their gates to visitors, transforming centuries-old agricultural properties into experiential destinations.

Agriturismo is ‘actually really old’, says Mania Castelli. ‘It was abused for many years and now it’s coming back properly.’

Castelli runs La Torre alle Tolfe, a 700-year-old wine estate near Siena in Tuscany – part of the modern, ‘new wave’ of agriturismo.

While tax benefits and simplified bureaucracy made the agriturismo label attractive to people who weren’t actually farmers, this new wave is agricentric.

La Torre alle Tolfe exemplifies this.

Castelli, a veterinarian who returned to run the family property in 2015, now runs a working wine and olive oil estate that integrates hospitality, agricultural education and regenerative farming practices.

Authentic experiences

Like Castelli, Alessandro Varagnolo – owner of Cadgal, a winery and agriturismo in Piedmont (pictured, above) – thinks the key to successful agriturismo is staying true to its agricultural roots.

‘Here,’ he says, referring to Cadgal’s location between Langhe and Monferrato, ‘vineyards are not just a backdrop for tourism, but an active part of everyday life and work.’

Today, Cadgal offers a B&B experience with breakfast prepared using local produce, wine tasting, horse riding and more. ‘It’s a genuine connection to wine, land and people,’ he says, ‘rather than a standardised tourism product.’

Capitalising on the tourism boom, today’s agriturismo model gives wineries an opportunity to share their area’s heritage and winemaking traditions with visitors from around the world.

‘We have to do something to tell our stories, especially if we’re small,’ Castelli says. ‘People coming to your farm is much more powerful than any kind of internet or social media [exposure].’

Castelli notes that another driver of the new wave of agriturismo is the fact that many wine producers are trying to diversify their income streams in today’s climate of market instability and extreme vintage conditions.

This is particularly powerful when direct sales can achieve the same margins as exporting far larger volumes.

Strength in diversity

But for Elisa De Lulis of legendary biodynamic estate Emidio Pepe in Abruzzo, it isn’t about money.

‘For us, diversifying into agriturismo was never about following a market trend or seeking a simple revenue stream,’ she says.

‘It was a natural, almost inevitable, extension of our winemaking philosophy. We realised that the best way to communicate and protect our heritage was to let people see it with their own eyes.’

Regional differences shape the form agriturismo takes.

De Lulis describes Abruzzo, a region located between the Gran Sasso massif and the Adriatic sea, as ‘wild, rugged and profoundly honest’.

She explains: ‘Unlike other more manicured Italian regions, our agriturismo scene is still deeply rooted in true peasant culture. Guests here can experience a biodiversity that is still intact and spontaneous.’

In Piedmont’s rolling hills, where tourism is more advanced, different agricultural sectors feed into one another.

Truffles and hazelnuts are part of the same cultural ecosystem as wine, creating what Varagnolo calls ‘slow, experiential tourism’.

As for Tuscany, the region that experienced a tourism renaissance in the late 1980s and early ’90s, when the agriturismo movement was first taking shape, wineries face a different set of considerations.

‘The word Tuscany helps you, in the sense that it attracts,’ reflects Castelli. ‘On the other hand, there’s a lot of competition.’ And high expectations.

Rather than competing in isolation, producers recommend tourists visit each other’s wineries, sell each other’s olive oils and create wine trails across regional lines.

‘Our mission is not individualistic,’ Castelli explains. ‘We’re just trying to contribute to a much bigger cause.’

Looking ahead, she envisions farms integrating tourism, education and ecological restoration into their operations, with each property shaped by its unique landscape and history.

‘Every place is different,’ she says, ‘so there’s much less competition once you do that.’

Five new-wave wine-country properties to visit

Cadgal

Piedmont

cadgal.it

Alessandro Varagnolo runs Tenuta Valdivilla and Tenuta La Cova, two agriturismo estates between Langhe and Monferrato, where he has built a business around what he calls ‘genuine, familiar hospitality’.

When he took over the properties, one already operated as an agriturismo; the other he immediately expanded.

‘From the very beginning, I strongly believed in wine tourism as a key driver for the future,’ he says.

Guests can stay in B&B accommodation with homemade breakfast prepared using local products.

Wine experiences centre around the estates’ signature Moscato variety and tastings of their most representative bottles.

Guided vineyard walks trace the journey from vine to bottle, while partnerships offer truffle hunting, horse riding and e-bike rentals in the surrounding hills.

According to Varagnolo, the model works because guests develop connections, which more often than not means they return after their first visit.

‘People become emotionally involved with the place, the wines and the people behind them,’ he says. ‘That level of loyalty is something you don’t always expect.’

Cascina Degli Ulivi

Gavi

cascinadegliulivi.it

Zita and Stefano Bellotti opened Cascina Degli Ulivi’s agriturismo in 1998 to introduce guests to the winery and its natural wines.

Today, daughter Ilaria Bellotti runs four rooms – all built using bio-construction methods – with 12 beds in the Gavi area.

The farm-to-table restaurant serves lunch on weekends and dinner from Wednesday through Saturday, using ingredients harvested directly from their biodynamic gardens.

Guests tour vineyards and the cellar, walk scenic trails through the Piedmont hills and participate in educational grape harvests. Many young people come specifically for the harvest experience.

The agriturismo generates direct income while building lasting connections with customers who experience the estate’s philosophy first hand.

‘We’re very well known in the world of natural wine,’ Ilaria says, ‘and people want to see where it’s produced.

Valleponci

Liguria

valleponci.it

In contrast to the more familiar, family-run properties, Valleponci emerged with a different origin story: five friends who met while studying food ecology at the Slow Food movement’s University of Gastronomic Sciences in Piedmont, united by a vision of ‘using food as a tool to reactivate local economies and regenerate the landscape’, according to one of Valleponci’s co-founders, Gianluca Demarchi.

Unable to secure traditional financing for the 50ha property near Finale Ligure, on the coast west of Genoa, they created a cooperative model in 2021, selling shares to about 70 investors who became co-owners with annual credits to visit.

After two and a half years of fundraising, they had their first season in 2024.

Today, an international team of up to 18 people representing eight nationalities runs four bedrooms, two apartments and a restaurant that can cater to up to 70 guests.

The restaurant reflects the network they’re building.

While 90% of the ingredients come from their regenerative vegetable gardens and Korean natural farming practices, the rest is sourced from nearby producers.

The menu blends regional Ligurian ingredients with international influences such as Nordic ferments and Middle Eastern spices.

Two hectares of vines in the humid, forested valley produce a Pigato (Vermentino) white blend and a Granaccia (Grenache) red, plus a pét-nat made using Barbera sourced from friends in Piedmont. But hospitality serves a larger purpose:

‘At the very core of our model is the cultural development of the farm,’ which Demarchi explains means publications, university partnerships and educational programs.

La Torre alle Tolfe

Tuscany

latorrealletolfe.com

Mania Castelli returned from the UK in 2015 to revive her family’s 700-year-old property near Siena, creating a 54-bed hotel and restaurant that serves up to 10,000 guests annually, alongside 13ha of regeneratively farmed vineyards and 17ha of olive groves.

Guests can join morning and evening animal feeding rounds, tour underground passages and an eighth-century tower, and participate in a variety of agricultural courses.

The property also runs a social agriculture project – a permaculture vegetable garden employing people with autism – where breakfast eggshells become compost, grape skins mix with biochar from olive prunings, and animals that graze the vineyards double as educational encounters.

‘We don’t talk about tourists, we talk about visitors who join our community,’ Castelli says.

But if that all sounds a little serious, there’s ample space to indulge and relax, too.

The restaurant menu reads like a map of the property. Alongside wines from the estate’s cellar, they serve up dishes such as hand-cut pici with Sienese garlic from the vegetable beds, and guinea fowl stuffed with cinta senese (a local heritage-breed pig) sausage and wild herbs.

Guests can engage as deeply as they want, or simply enjoy the landscape over an organic Tuscan feast.

Emidio Pepe

Abruzzo

emidiopepe.com

‘Our agriturismo is, above all, a reflection of our family’s DNA,’ says Elisa De Lulis, third-generation member of the Emidio Pepe winemaking family in Abruzzo.

‘We are a large, close-knit family, and our hospitality is rooted in the way we live every day – the decision to formally open the agriturismo was the idea of making it an extension of our home.’

Launched in 2020, the agriturismo offering has evolved from accommodation into something far deeper.

With eight rooms and a restaurant that can serve 30 guests four to five times a week, it offers privileged access to the Emidio Pepe universe: the historic wine library, artisanal winemaking traditions and a working farm where ancient grains grow alongside organic vegetable gardens. A stone mill and bakery are on the way, too.

‘We don’t offer a curated “tourist version” of farm life; we offer the life itself,’ De Lulis explains.

The restaurant – run by chefs Giuseppe Polzinetti and Jonathan Maravalli in collaboration with gardener Martina Pasqualini – serves a tasting menu that changes near-daily, dictated by what’s available. De Lulis curates wine pairings featuring rare vintages from the family’s cellar.

It’s a closed-loop ecosystem: the same biodynamic soil that nourishes the vines produces the vegetables on guests’ plates.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chablis/Auxerrois

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

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

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

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

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

Côte de Nuits

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Côte de Beaune

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

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

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

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

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

Côte Chalonnaise

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mâconnais

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

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

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

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

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

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

Favourite Burgundy producers for everyday drinking

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How do you measure the greatness of any given wine appellation? One way might be to count the number of outstanding producers.

If using this method in the Southern Rhône, Cairanne would come out looking particularly strong.

Cairanne was promoted to Cru status in 2016, and there was never any doubt that it deserved this commendation. Ten years on, its wines are even better.

The Cairanne style is all about balance, elegance and consistency. Its reds have the characteristic generosity of the east bank, but more restrained than punchier appellations such as Rasteau and Châteauneuf.

Its whites too inhabit a comfortable middle ground. They have affable confidence rather than oaky swagger; they are proudly Southern Rhône, and with drinkability.

Both colours are approachable on release, and both can develop beguiling complexity with a decade (or more) in bottle.

And they’re not expensive; on the contrary, Cairanne offers some of the best value drinking in the Rhône Valley.

As in all appellations, the producer is what counts. Below is a list of some personal favourites.

If you can’t find them, there are countless other excellent producers to choose from, including Domaine Brusset, Domaine les Hautes Cances, Domaine Rabasse Charavin and La Cave de Cairanne.

Domaine Alary

The Alary family settled in Cairanne in 1692, and has been cultivating land here ever since.

It was Denis Alary who helped spearhead the passage to Cru in 2016; he has since passed the baton to his son Jean-Etienne.

They make numerous Cairanne cuvées, all with a unique raison d’être, and they excel at both white and red. Their white Estévenas is deep and rich but not heavy.

Of their reds, their Jean de Verde is the essence of Cairanne Grenache, and their red Estévenas is highly distinctive, brimming with mocha and black olive, thanks to its old vine Syrah.

Their 2016 Estévenas red was drinking brilliantly this year, with another decade ahead of it.

Domaine Richaud

If Domaine Alary embodies classical Cairanne, then Richaud personifies its wild side.

Richaud might not be the most consistently reliable estate in the appellation, but when the wines are on form, they’re unbeatable.

Don’t let the simple labels fool you: these can be highly complex wines.

Marcel Richaud has largely passed on the estate to his children Thomas and Claire now. They work organically, add nothing to their wines, or take anything away; yields are very low.

Even their cuvée classique is fresh, zesty and exuberant; their 50% Mourvèdre L’Ebresecade can be phenomenal; powerful and concentrated but crackling with energy. Their white is also delicious, rich or fresh, as the vintage dictates.

Les Chemins de Sève

What Loïc Massart has achieved since establishing his estate in 2013 is nothing short of extraordinary.

In a matter of 13 years, Les Chemins de Sève is among the top names of the appellation. The winery might be new but their vines are up to 85 years old.

He makes two red Cairannes. Métamorphose is 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah, aged in concrete for a round, approachable, juicy but structured style.

Apanage is 50/50 Grenache/Syrah, aged in recent barrels for a darker, more intense expression.

His white Cairanne Opale (40% Roussanne, 30% Clairette, 30% Grenache Blanc) is also highly accomplished. His 2014 Opale and 2015 Apanage, some of his first attempts, were still showing very well in 2026.

Domaine des Amadieu

Yves-Jean Houser, took over this 7ha estate in 2007 and promptly converted it to biodynamics.

His style is uncompromising – authentic wines with no make-up that offer a clear-eyed vision of this terroir.

His whites are broad, rich, supported by mineral freshness rather than acidity. I prefer his vibrant and invigorating reds.

Garrigues is juicily delicious, Vieilles Vignes more structured, made for the dinner table. His first vintage, 2007, was still holding up well in 2026, complex and compelling.

Clos Romane

Clos Romane is a fourth generation organic family estate in the heart of the village, their 30ha of vineyards are dotted around various soils and appellations.

Their wines have been improving from year to year and are now reliably excellent. The style here is all about richness and power, in both colours.

Domaine A. Berthet-Rayne

The Berthet-Rayne family has been making wine in Cairanne since 1880. Current owner André is the fourth generation, his daughter Alexandra joined the estate in 2017.

Their reds are very good, especially their Castel Mireio, which is particularly refined.

A generous 20% of their estate is planted with whites however, a house speciality; their Castel Mireio white is often among the best in the appellation.

Domaine Oratoire Saint-Martin

There were two branches of the Alary family who were instrumental in the history of wine in Cairanne. Domaine Alary is home to one; Domaine Oratoire Saint-Martin was, until recently, home to the other.

This latter estate was run by tenth generation brothers Frédéric and François Alary until 2020, when they sold the estate to the Abeille-Fabre family of Château Mont-Redon in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

The estate is still being run biodynamically. Red wines are medium-bodied in style and can be enjoyable in good vintages.

Their strength here is their whites (which was always the case) which, in vintages like 2024, can be among the finest in the Southern Rhône.

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Endless flux

Real life is not, sadly – or perhaps fortunately – like in the movies.

If you’re thinking of investing in a winery and making it your retirement project, think again. You might be signing up for early cardiac arrest.

Travelling with photographer Abel Valdenebro, who specialises in wine and other beverages, food and architecture, among other topics, we were certainly left almost out of breath after a few days following two leading Rioja bodegueros – a term that loosely translates as ‘general manager’ (the latter not fully capturing the symbolic weight of the job title in Spanish).

Tailing Richi Arambarri Perez of Vintae and Jose Ramón Urtasun of Remírez de Ganuza as they went about their business was neither easy nor boring.

The fast pace and multiple, often competing, demands that shape the days of a bodeguero reflect the many ways in which the wine industry has changed over the last couple of decades – and the many different challenges and opportunities that continue to arise.

There’s a restlessness in their days, catalysed by a sense of urgency – the need to grab (and create) prospects and compensate for tough market conditions.

However, that sense of urgency and creative anxiety is as much a product of their personalities as it is of the context that surrounds them.

Intensity in focus

These are individuals who don’t know either idleness or loitering.

You won’t find them resting on a hammock, enjoying the comfort of having built successful ventures.

In fact, it’s a deep awareness of the fragility of success that keeps them motivated and determined; an acknowledgement that this is the tough yet beautiful essence of what they do.

The wine industry is, primarily and above all, a farming venture; transience and vulnerability live alongside heritage; it’s a long-term project shaped by short-term, ever-shifting variables.

So Abel and I set our alarm clocks for painfully early wake-ups before jumping onto two intense, albeit very different, rollercoaster rides.

The routines and personalities of the two bodegueros we shadowed are very different – but equal in intensity and focus.

The structure of their days mirrors not only their idiosyncrasies but also the nature of their very different companies.

What did we learn?

That passion and grit take you to the end of each day; competence and strategic thinking keep you going for years.

And that, through it all, you need a good, equally committed team around you.

Morning fever

Arambarri gets out of bed while the house is still quiet and changes into his running gear.

‘I just need the movement and energy to start the day. In winter I might even go to the slopes,’ he explains, referring to Valdezcaray, the pistes around the San Lorenzo peak, 15km southeast of the quaint mountain town of Ezcaray and a mere 45-minute drive southwest of Logroño.

However, spring has sprung, so Arambarri leaves for a run across Logroño’s old town – where he lives with his young family – over the Puente de Piedra bridge and along the Ebro river.

He keeps an eye on his watch and loops back for a shower before taking four-year-old Sofia to the nursery.

After cycling back home to drop off his bike, Arambarri cuddles one-year-old Nicolás before checking in at Vintae’s Logroño offices, down the road from his flat.

The headquarters are the beating heart of the group’s many wineries, brands and projects, including Rioja producers Hacienda López de Haro and El Pacto, Toro’s Matsu and Aroa in Navarra.

Perpetual commute

Urtasun’s day starts very differently – 355km away from Rioja.

Based in Madrid, on any given morning he’s either walking his boys to school, heading to the airport or driving to the winery in Samaniego, 15km west of Haro, north of the Ebro.

Today he’s en route to Remírez de Ganuza for a regular catch-up with the team.

‘It’s important to come back regularly. Beyond the logistical and management side of things, it’s essential to stay in touch with what really matters and the reason we do this in the first place,’ he says.

The drive takes him just over three hours; all going smoothly, he’s in Samaniego in time for lunch.

Weeks can easily go by without time to visit the winery, though.

Juggling personal life, work at the Madrid office and the tough travel schedule he’s been fighting against – with limited success – is notoriously difficult.

‘We’ve expanded the [commercial] team; mostly so that I’m not dealing with so many markets myself and travelling so much. But as soon as [the importers and PR agencies] hear we’ve employed someone, I start getting phone calls: “So Jose, does this mean you now have more time to visit us?”. It’s a losing battle…’

In an industry built upon trust and human connection, Urtasun acknowledges that it’s important for wine companies to have a face. ‘Relationships are the basis of our work.’

Tricky balance

The perpetual tension between ‘working the global room’ and staying put, going through to-do lists, is one of the main challenges of the bodeguero’s life.

Time away means that other things in the business don’t move as quickly or are left on hold. But the quest for balance is not just an operational matter.

‘Time with the kids is precious,’ says Arambarri.

‘[Having children] has changed the way I relate to work. I used to travel more than half of the time, without giving it much thought. Now, I’ve set limits. Nothing makes up for time away from them,’ he concludes.

Those limits are still, however, very much above those of a civilian: no more than two weeks a month, with no more than five consecutive days if possible.

Urtasun echoes this feeling, amplified by the fact that he shares custody of his two boys with his ex-wife.

‘I plan travel around the time I have with the kids. It’s tough, both logistically and emotionally.’

Business of people

With all cogs turning at the office, Arambarri leaves for Cárdenas, the small village between Logroño and Ezcaray that is the epicentre of El Pacto, a range of wines produced in the Sonsierra, in the far northwest of the Rioja Alta sub-region, and Alto Najerilla at Rioja Alta’s southern edge.

Ever the master of optimisation, he’s combined a catch-up with the viticultural team with a visit from Asturian distributors and a nourishing Riojan almuerzo (like ‘elevenses’).

The entourage convenes at Cárdenas’ main square, seemingly doubling the village’s population in a matter of minutes.

The group consolidates by the two four-wheel drives piloted by Arambarri and Fernando García, El Pacto’s viticultural manager, and everyone heads to the two plots – Pieza la Villa and Senda de Haro – that supply the grapes for the El Pacto flagship Jesús Acha wines.

From there, they head to the 100-year-old Valdechuecas vineyard (see ‘Rioja Report 2026. Garnacha & friends - Tapping into history and modernity ).

Following a walk through the gnarly vines, the team sets up a tasting of El Pacto’s new releases and makes a fire from sarmientos (vine cuttings) to barbecue some lamb chops.

Back in Samaniego, Urtasun is catching up with Jesús Mendoza, the star winemaker who has been at Remírez de Ganuza’s technical helm since 2001, having joined the team in 1994.

The relationship between the two evolved through years of a gradual leadership transition from Fernando Remírez de Ganuza to Urtasun, whose family acquired the winery in 2019.

Urtasun spent the following years, until Remírez de Ganuza’s death at the age of 73 in 2024, working alongside the founder to ensure continuity and a full understanding of the winery’s ethos, which Mendoza helped to shape.

The two discuss the evolution of the wines, analytical samples and operational planning before synchronising watches ahead of a visit and tasting with a journalist (yours truly).

‘Jesús is obsessive. His attention to detail, precision and cleanliness are just incredible,’ says Urtasun as if the latter wasn’t obvious, given the pristine condition of the winery – and as if he didn’t share some of that obsessive nature himself.

Focused restlessness

Not wanting to waste either samples or time, Arambarri loads the bottles from the mid-morning barbecue into the boot and calls the team at Nublo, the one-star Michelin restaurant in Haro, to say that he’ll pop in before service if convenient.

The answer is an easy and eager yes.

But before going to Haro, Arambarri needs to stop by the aerodrome where he keeps his small plane.

‘You have to fly regularly. It’s a necessity so you can be safe.’

The wind, however, is not cooperating. ‘I’d fly alone today, but not with a passenger [Decanter’s very relieved photographer] who has never flown with me before. It gets wobbly up there on a day like this and it’s not good if you freak out inside such a small plane,’ he says, not even half joking.

He’s flown his plane to the Balearics, Madrid, Málaga, Galicia and Jerez. ‘Isa [Isabel García Castellanos, Arambarri’s wife and Vintae’s marketing director] is not a fan, though,’ he says. We certainly don’t blame her.

Arambarri is a man of many hobbies. Look closely, however, and you’ll realise that there’s a focus to all of them, an accumulation of personal resources that allow him to perform best on his intense entrepreneurial front.

In early May, Vintae announced a structural and financial plan to take over Bodegas Riojanas after the historic winery went into administration earlier this year.

This comes after the announcement, in 2025, of Vintae regaining 100% ownership of iconic vermouth brand El Bandarra, and of a partnership with Bodega Terramoll in Formentera, whose operations and sales it now oversees.

Sitting (not winding) down

Meanwhile, at Remírez de Ganuza, Urtasun and I are sitting down for a long session of analytical tasting.

He takes a step back and lets the winemaker lead, listening eagerly and commenting occasionally while repeatedly checking his phone.

‘This thing is relentless. There’s no downtime.'

As the tasting wraps up and Mendoza begins tidying up, the winery hospitality team is already waiting for their meeting with Urtasun.

‘Visits and cellar-door sales have grown a lot,’ he explains. ‘It’s important to have the right people and keep things running smoothly.’

Then it’s off to check on how Olagar, the 1978 plot in San Vicente de la Sonsierra that yields the fruit for Remírez de Ganuza’s white Gran Reserva (see ‘Rioja Report 2026. White Rioja: A Successful quest for excellence), is responding after two months of intense rains.

Against the backdrop of dramatic, thunderous clouds, Urtasun acknowledges that it’s time for dinner before it starts pouring down.

Sure enough, the skies open as he’s driving to Haro, for dinner at Los Caños, where the team welcomes him with both familiarity and deference.

He discusses which wines customers have been interested in lately, which bottles most excite the team at the moment; he asks the sommelier to suggest a bottle.

Is he relaxing now? Is he still on the job? These questions are perhaps meaningless.

‘This is not just work,’ he says. ‘It’s almost the way that we see the world.’

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This isn’t the time for bold, oaky or concentrated Champagnes that demand large glasses (which warm up faster) and mild serving temperatures.

We want wines that offer ultimate refreshment value, and can be served very cold.

The key is to look for clean-cut Champagnes that, even if uncomplicated and affordable, don’t skimp on class.

Which styles to go for?

Head for Chardonnay-dominant Champagnes, made exclusively from Champagne’s brightest, zestiest grape variety.

Chardonnay tends to be a little lighter on its feet than Pinot Noir, often with slightly higher acidity and lots of refreshing citrus flavour.

For the clean-cut, polished examples, look for classic blanc de blancs from Champagne’s top maisons.

There are crisp, youthful and affordable non-vintage blanc de blancs from the likes of Henriot; classy, longer-aged versions such as Charles Heidsieck’s Blanc de Blancs; or purity and poise from Laurent-Perrier’s Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature.

Independent growers in Champagne make a range of Chardonnay-led styles, sometimes crisp and snappy, sometimes bolder and more suited to the table.

In the former camp, Etienne Calsac makes Les Rocheforts from Chardonnay, ripe but bristling with refreshing bitter citrus and stony intensity – a real pick-me up.

Other parts of Champagne, though, can still turn out beautiful and refreshing Chardonnays, even if they are often a little rounder and less piercing.

Charpentier’s Terre d’Emotion Blanc de Blancs, from the far western end of the Marne Valley towards Paris, shows beautiful clarity and texture from this under-rated biodynamic grower.

Rosé refreshment

There are plenty of rosé Champagnes that feature Chardonnay heavily, too.

Up-and-coming boutique house Lallier is a Chardonnay expert based in the Côte des Blancs, and its Réflexion R.021 Rosé sits beautifully between pink-grapefruit snappiness and fresh strawberry juiciness.

Pushing the Chardonnay influence even further brings us to what is informally called rosé des blancs, or rosé from white grapes – essentially blanc de blancs with a splash of light red Pinot Noir added before being bottled for second fermentation.

You get the colour, and a lick of red fruit, but the build is pure, racy refreshment.

Delamotte Rosé, from the Chardonnay-specialist house, is a sophisticated treat, while in independent Champagne you could look towards the slightly more fruit-forward, rounder A Bergère Rosé NV from just to the south of the Côte des Blancs.

Four Champagnes to beat the heat

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The sense of rivalry that once existed among winemakers globally has largely faded, replaced by a culture of exchange and mutual support.

Today, producers build their experience across borders and hemispheres, travelling widely and working harvests in different regions. Sharing knowledge has become the norm.

Historically, Spanish wine producers haven’t always excelled at collective action or setting aside individual interests for the greater good; however, a new generation of winemakers has begun to redefine that narrative.

Embracing the idea that together they are stronger, they’ve moved beyond small groups to form broader movements that cut across traditional boundaries.

Under the radar

This shift has gained momentum in Rioja with the launch of VIR, a terroir-focused collective that debuted in Madrid in early March with a tasting showcasing 38 producers from 18 villages across the DOCa region.

Many of the participants represented emerging projects that remain largely under the radar.

‘We firmly believe that Rioja is home to the greatest variety of exciting projects, which, unfortunately, are overshadowed by industrial-scale wineries that have appropriated the narrative of family-run, artisanal producers,’ argues regional rising star Miguel Merino, one of the organisers.

The March tasting offered a snapshot of Rioja’s growing terroir movement, bringing new names to the fore and highlighting the diversity of styles within this vision.

It also presented a more specific Rioja, with a focus on villages, sites and individual vineyards, as well as a bolder reinterpretation of tradition informed by a global perspective.

‘We are the best-prepared generation yet,’ says Alberto Pedrajo, co-founder, alongside Javier Alonso, of the forward-thinking project Alonso & Pedrajo, based in Villalba de Rioja, near Haro. ‘We have travelled extensively and witnessed other movements that have inspired us.’

A pivotal event

For those attending the VIR event, the atmosphere echoed that of the I Encuentro de Viticulturas (‘First Wine Growing Encounter’), a conference on Spain’s wine regions, rural areas and unique vineyards, held in May 2016 at producer La Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri in Labastida (Rioja Alavesa).

Set in the foothills of Monte Toloño, a peak in the Sierra de Cantabria range, the gathering forged lasting connections between Spain’s early terroir pioneers – not least host Telmo Rodríguez – and a younger generation then beginning to raise the profile of fine wine across regions such as Galicia, Gredos, Priorat and Valencia.

Among those present at the 2016 conference were young Rioja producers who had taken over their parents’ small wineries, as well as others who had started projects from scratch.

Some were members of Rioja ’n’ Roll, a group founded the previous year to champion small-scale vignerons with strong ties to the land and rural life.

Its founding members – Alegre & Valgañón, Artuke, Barbarot, Exopto, MacRobert & Canals, Olivier Rivière, Sierra de Toloño and Tentenublo – were already producing, or would soon be producing, some of the most compelling and exciting wines in Rioja.

Less well known at the time, but equally committed, were two young wine-growers from San Vicente de la Sonsierra, a little southeast of Labastida: José Gil, whose family runs Bodegas Olmaza, and Miguel Eguíluz of Bodegas Cupani (pictured, below).

The 2016 Wine Growing Encounter proved pivotal. ‘We realised how important it was to share ideas, build connections with other producers and move in the same direction,’ explained Gil a few years later, as his wines began to gain international recognition.

It’s no surprise that they went on to establish their own group, 'Martes of Wine', alongside other emerging producers, including Carlos Sánchez (Labastida); Miguel Merino, who in 2017 returned to start working full-time at the winery founded in 1994 by his father in Briones (Miguel Sr died in 2021); Ricardo Fernández (Abeica), who steered his family estate in Abalos towards a terroir-focused approach before turning 30; and Alvaro Loza, who returned to Rioja in 2019 after gaining experience abroad.

Shared values

Martes of Wine began informally as a tasting group, with sommelier Iván Sánchez from the Michelin two-star Venta Moncalvillo restaurant in Daroca de Rioja (southwest of Logroño) also taking part.

What started as informal blind tastings held on Tuesdays (martes in Spanish) gradually evolved into a functional network, sharing resources, acquiring cellar equipment, finding importers, visiting wine-producing regions and inviting wine professionals to share their knowledge.

The shared values of Rioja ’n’ Roll and Martes of Wine ultimately laid the groundwork for VIR.

Its origins were simple: a meeting between the two groups that led to a joint list of like-minded producers whom they would like to bring together for a tasting of contemporary Rioja. ‘Almost everyone got involved,’ they say.

The aim was not just to raise awareness, but also to convey a vision of wine based on protecting origin, vineyard identity and respect for the landscape.

‘We are committed to a sustainable model – economic, social and environmental – that safeguards both the dignity of the wine-grower and the future of our villages,’ states their manifesto, which was read out twice during the event.

The group also called for ‘solidarity among producers pursuing and championing their own projects’.

Changing mindsets

Despite their dynamism, this new golden generation, which produces some of Rioja’s most exciting wines, still faces significant barriers in reaching importers, distributors and sommeliers.

Many express frustration that the market’s upper end continues to view Rioja through a narrow, outdated lens.

‘Some importers see Rioja as a source of cheap, boring, homogeneous wine,’ notes Vicky Fernández, partner of José Gil at Vignerons de la Sonsierra, and closely involved in planning the VIR tasting.

‘They even have the wrong idea about what the region looks like,’ adds Pedrajo. ‘They expect something similar to La Mancha [in central Spain’s vast plains], so they’re really struck by the real landscape of Rioja.’

The goal for all these independent producers is now to convince importers to include not just one Rioja in their portfolio, but six, eight or 10 – and by doing so, to reveal their awareness of both the region’s quality and diversity.

The energy generated by this gathering of like-minded producers reflects the collaborative spirit that has come to define this new generation, rather than being a response to the current – challenging – market situation.

‘We wanted to encourage our distributors and customers to meet our fellow producers,’ explains Arturo de Miguel of Artuke in Baños de Ebro. ‘There are many fascinating small-scale projects in Rioja now.’

The tasting drew strong interest to producers such as Artuke, José Gil, Miguel Merino and Laguardia-based Oxer Bastegieta, among others.

The presence of San Vicente de la Sonsierra-based Abel Mendoza, who has embodied the vigneron role model better than anyone else in Rioja, added weight to the event.

Together with his wife, Maite Fernández, he has supported rising star Jade Gross in launching her own project in the region.

Other producers who have encouraged winegrowers to make the leap into winemaking include Telmo Rodríguez, who has supported Remelluri suppliers such as Alain Quintana from Familia Quintana in this transition. Alain and Jade were at the VIR tasting.

Bodegas Tierra also showcased its wines alongside those of nearby Area Pequeña after inviting brothers Joseba and Koldo García Quintana to make use of Tierra’s facilities in Labastida.

Practical benefits

Collaboration in Rioja now extends well beyond these groups.

In September 2024, Menudas Bodegas was established, bringing together 11 microproducers, each producing fewer than 5,000 bottles.

While modest in scale, the initiative has proved to be a significant step forward for its members, who typically farm their own vineyards and often have other jobs.

They’ve gained visibility and access to public funding, and support one another by pooling resources for practical matters, such as buying a barrel-washing machine or corks for the whole group.

They are also advocating for a reduction in bureaucracy, arguing that small producers face the same administrative burdens as large wineries.

Among their priorities is the removal of the DOCa requirement for a minimum of 50 barrels to certify ageing.

Navarrete-based Elena Corzana, one of the association’s most prominent members, known for her varietal wines, took part in the VIR tasting.

Subsierra, an association focusing on the Sierra de Cantabria foothills, which stretch from Briñas, just above Haro, to Moreda de Alava, north of Logroño, was also established in 2024.

Its members – Amaren, Area Pequeña, Artuke, Bodegas Tierra, Carlos Sánchez, Loli Casado, Ostatu and Teodoro Ruiz Monje – are committed to owning their own vineyards or maintaining long-term relationships with growers in the Sonsierra, paying fair (above the average) prices for fruit.

They’re equally determined to ensure the continuation of manual harvests, to preserve old vineyards, to remain family-run, with a registered address in the Sonsierra, and to have vineyards that are certified organic or in conversion.

All these groups share an underlying theme: a deep commitment to the land and a determination to enhance its value. Rioja is lucky to have them.

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The best bottles are always something more.

They are talismanic rites of passage to a place distant from the putative truths of empirical analysis, or the shallow notion that a wine is only as good as what is in the glass.

In the brittle cold of Paris in early January, as I struggled with the ignition of my rental car, I reminded myself that I was on my way to experience one of those bottles: a Romanée-Conti 1899, believed to be the last remaining.

This sort of bottle is usually traded at considerable profit.

Indeed, Romanée-Conti 1945 holds the record for the highest price ever fetched at auction: US$812,500 at Acker’s La Paulée sale in March this year. But the 1899 was purchased by Soo Hoo Khoon Peng to drink, a belated celebration of his 50th birthday.

A collector, businessman and co-owner of renowned Australian Pinot Noir producer Bass Phillip, Soo Hoo believes that wine ‘isn’t about status, but learning and human connection’, and was adamant that the bottle be shared among friends. I was glad to be among them.

I arrived at Michelin one-star restaurant Auprès de Clocher in Pommard to glimpse the time capsule set on a mantle, replete with a gloriously tattered label and a relatively healthy fill.

Its heavy lead capsule was unblemished but for a chip here and there and a crease of rust.

The bottle augured well for the long lunch ahead, while photographers from major news networks dispersed and guests arrived.

‘Mercifully, the bottle wasn’t corked. Miraculously, it wasn’t volatile!’

Among those guests was Maison Pion fine wine director and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) specialist Régis Cimmati, who estimated the bottle’s worth at about US$118,000 based on provenance alone, going to great lengths to decipher the label’s nomenclature,

‘Seign…et’ indicating that the bottle had been sold to Bordeaux trader Seignouret, owned by the de Brou de Laurière family.

The guest of honour, however, was DRC co-owner Aubert de Villaine, who at 87 wove an array of anthologies with a historical loom, bringing the magical bottle to life with a glint in his eye and a spritely cadence to words that felt like an incantation.

He explained that the wine would have been bottled in Santenay back then, the barrels transported by horse and cart.

When the wine was made, Romanée-Conti was owned by families Guyot and Chambon, each surname visible on opposite sides of the label.

The Guyot clan later sold in 1912 to Jacques Chambon and Edmond Gaudin de Villaine and the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti was established.

Cimmati explained that the bottle was sold at a local auction in a six-pack, designated ‘19th Century Red Wines’, after the last member of the de Brou de Laurière family died, in 2011.

Due to label damage, the bottle went unrecognised and the entire lot sold for barely €50!

De Villaine celebrated this with a grin, inferring his displeasure with the secondary market and its extreme pricing, while admitting he had never tasted a pre-1900 bottle; the oldest in the domaine’s stock dates to 1911.

The 1899 was later salvaged by a discerning buyer and eventually sold to Soo Hoo.

Another guest, Wine Advocate editor in chief William Kelley, was nominated to draw the cork. I breathed a sigh of relief that the responsibility wasn’t mine.

Mercifully, the bottle wasn’t corked. Miraculously, it wasn’t volatile!

A shimmering tawny tinged with red, vital and poised, there were hints of dried quince and tea leaf, sure, but the wine transcended any obvious fruit flavours with an incandescent, ineffable beauty.

Monsieur de Villaine swooned over the lingering finish, while Kelley noted a ‘heady vinosity’, born of prephylloxera vines. Cimmati enthused: ‘These pre-war ungrafted bottles are the pinnacle of the craft.’

There were other great bottles served that day, with my hat tipped to the 1980 La Tâche. Yet as friendships were kindled, wine’s spellbinding capacity to bring people together in celebration of a moment, resolute and invigorating, was clear.

A memento mori amid a cast of stars, the 1899’s semiotic powers were unrivalled.

In my glass this month

Under the aegis of Federico Seghesio, Renzo Seghesio is a Barolo name on the rise, offering visceral joy across the range. However, it’s an outlier, Nebbiolo from the sandy turf of Roero – Roè 2023 – that sits in my glass most nights.

From a warm vintage, yet Nebbiolo’s perk and twirl are in full flight, as if the rose petal, kirsch and briar of Grenache has met the forestry accents of Pinot, all nicely compressed by Nebbiolo’s sinewy tannins.

One sip soon leads to a large draught and then an empty bottle. Best guzzled on the cooler side.

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While most people plan to visit Spain during their summer holidays, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy its best-known wine region throughout the year.

Whether it’s hitting the ski-slopes, joining a wine battle or tucking into some lamb chops with a bottle of wine, Rioja is a region for all seasons.

Winter

Hit the slopes in Valdezcaray

There’s no better place to combine a cold-weather adventure with sipping wine than Rioja, and in the colder months, many locals head to Valdezcaray.

Halfway up Pico San Lorenzo, the tallest mountain in La Rioja, it’s the region’s number one winter sports destination and the local alternative to the skiing on offer in the Pyrenees.

Remodelled in 2022, it has 24 different slopes and more than 22km of marked trails, with 12 advanced-level runs for expert skiers and snowboarders, and plenty of beginner and intermediate slopes.

Didn’t bring your own skis? No problem. Rent them on the mountain or from a local shop in the picturesque village of Ezcaray, where you can also enjoy an aprés-ski bottle of wine.

Spring

Pretend you’re a pilgrim

Rioja lies along the Camino de Santiago, or Way of St James, a medieval pilgrimage route across northern Spain that ends at the tomb of the apostle St James in Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia’s coastal northwest.

Though the traditional stages are in 20km-30km chunks, from Rioja’s administrative capital Logroño it’s only 12km to the nearby village of Navarrete.

Leaving Logroño, the Camino passes through La Grajera park before following the motorway through vine-covered countryside along a mix of dirt and paved paths, and passing the ruins of the 12th-century pilgrims’ hospital of San Juan de Acre shortly before entering Navarrete.

While you’re in the village, visit local winemaker Elena Corzana, who works with traditional local grape Maturana Tinta.

Taste wine in a castle

At the end of May, the historic hilltop town of San Vicente de la Sonsierra invites visitors to Catas en el Castillo (‘Wine Tastings at the Castle’), where they can discover local wines in the underground cellars within its walled castle grounds.

Attendees can explore the historic surroundings while tasting wines and chatting with growers, with the opportunity to buy wines directly from the winemakers.

This year, the €23 ticket included a wine glass, glass holder and seven tasting tokens.

Summer

Fight in Haro’s wine battle

At about seven in the morning on 29 June, hundreds of people dressed in white make their way to the cliffs of Bilibio, about 7km north of the town of Haro.

Their clothes don’t stay white for long: over the course of the day, revellers drench one another in red wine using everything from water pistols to buckets in the La Batalla del Vino de Haro (‘The Haro Wine Battle’).

To participate, just follow the dress code, bring plenty of red wine and make sure you have something to spray it with.

It’s also not a bad idea to bring goggles and waterproof bags.

Once you’ve arrived, there aren’t really any rules – just have fun!

Taste your way through the Barrio de la Estación

For those who prefer to keep their wine in a glass, the Cata del Barrio de la Estación is Haro’s other don’t-miss event.

Held every two years in the Barrio de la Estación, or Station Quarter, the event typically includes tastings of about a dozen wines, gourmet food pairings, guided winery experiences and live music.

Still home to historic wineries such as CVNE, La Rioja Alta and R López de Heredia, Haro’s Station Quarter dates back to the second half of the 19th century, when the arrival of the railway coincided with the arrival of French winemakers and traders looking for new places to make and source wine after vineyard crises caused by infestations such as phylloxera and mildew, leading to wineries springing up around the railway station.

Autumn

Celebrate the harvest in Logroño

Each September, Logroño hosts the Fiestas de San Mateo, a week-long harvest festival and the most important celebration in Rioja’s capital.

Timed to coincide with the start of the harvest, around 21 September, one of the most important events is the symbolic crushing of the first grapes, where freshly harvested fruit is pressed into must and offered to the Virgin of Valvanera, the patron of La Rioja.

Throughout the week, there’s plenty on offer between concerts, parades, fireworks and, of course, wine tastings.

Fall in love with lamb chops in Rioja Alavesa

Though they’re more often seen in the warmer months, when villages across Rioja light communal grills and cook in the streets, there’s something about the slight chill in the air of early autumn that makes chuletillas al sarmiento even more appealing.

Preparation is simple: lamb cutlets are seasoned with coarse salt before being grilled over a bundle of dried vine cuttings, or sarmientos.

A magical dish that can pair as well with a young, semi-carbonic Rioja as it does with a long-aged Gran Reserva, one of the best versions can be found at Asador Alai, in the Rioja Alavesa village of Labastida. @asadoralai

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Finding something to say about the collection of wines known colloquially as Super Tuscans isn’t particularly difficult.

But what kept guests at our recent masterclass at the Decanter New York Fine Wine Encounter hanging on right until the end was the unique way it was presented.

Led by Michaela Morris – long-time Decanter contributor, DWWA Regional Chair for Piedmont, and expert on all things Tuscan – alongside myself – Decanter’s Regional Editor for Italy – the featured wines were arranged not by vintage, as is the norm, but as a timeline telling the story of the development of the category.

Evolution of an icon

In the 1970s and ’80s, Chianti (the birthplace of most Super Tuscans) was handicapped by legislation demanding the inclusion of white grapes, prioritising quantity over quality.

‘The SuperTuscans helped to improve the quality of wine coming out of Tuscany,’ explained Morris.

Antinori, Tignanello 2021

The first wine in the lineup needed little introduction: Tignanello’s place as one of the first Super Tuscans is cemented in history.

A Sangiovese-dominant blend with proportions of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, tasting the 50th vintage of this storied wine was a breath of fresh air: dark fruits, zesty acidity, and balsamic herbs, tied together by fine tannins.

Isole e Olena, Cepparello 2021

Next came a pure Sangiovese, the flagship wine of the Isole e Olena property since its first vintage, 1980.

‘Cepparello was his [former owner Paolo de Marchi’s] study of Sangiovese,’ commented Morris, pointing out that rather than a single-vineyard selection, the best fruit from across the entire estate was used.

Juicy cherry fruits, refined tannins, a fragrant herbal twist and underlying sapidity mark this out as a classy, poised example of Italy’s most renowned red grape.

Fontodi, Flaccianello 2021

Arriving 10 years after Tignanello, this 100% Sangiovese shows great contrast between dark fruits and super-bright acidity in its 40th vintage.

Morris explained that Fontodi started as a family hobby, playing second-fiddle to the family's historic terracotta business.

As a result, it was younger brother Giovanni Manneti who inherited the winery, while his older brother was given the keys to the main family business.

The original plan was to switch every few years, but Giovanni fell in love with the wine industry and refused to leave!

Born as a single-vineyard expression, since 2001 Flaccianello has been a selection of the best fruit from the estate.

Concentrated, saline and zesty with structural tannins, the 2021 will reward ageing – as we found out at the end of the masterclass...

Bibi Graetz, Colore 2023

The final part of the Super Tuscan story brings us to the turn of the 21st century, when things had began to come full circle.

The new-look Chianti Classico had shed its restrictive and damaging requirement for white grapes in the blend, and the focus had swung to Sangiovese.

In this environment, and ‘not shackled by traditions,’ young Bibi Graetz set up shop in Fiesole.

His style has meandered over the years, finally settling on wines which showcase purity and finesse in equal measure.

Colore 2023, his flagship old-vine Sangiovese selection, shows ripe, creamy strawberry and raspberry on a long, precise, and textural palate.

The older vintages

While the first four wines mapped the story of the Super Tuscans, the back four were poured in vintage order, newest to oldest, enabling guests to understand how the wines evolve with age.

Bibi Graetz, Colore 2018

This 2018 vintage includes 5% Canaiolo and 5% Colorino compared to the 100% Sangiovese of 2023.

Showing beautifully, it develops black tea and blood orange notes which overlay dark berry and cherry fruits.

Isole e Olena, Cepparello 2015

From a generous, sunny but balanced vintage, Cepparello’s deep and concentrated cherry character is deeply inviting and perfectly translates the vintage, lifted by fresh minty notes and a dancing, vibrant palate.

Antinori, Tignanello 2013

This complex and deep pour shows its plummy, herbal side alongside appealing black tea and olive evolution.

It’s a fantastic vintage to discover, not just with Tignanello but with many other Tuscan reds, too.

Fontodi, Flaccianello 2006

Stealing the show, this structural and still-youthful sip is full of minty dark berries outlined by bright acidity.

According to Morris, this is ‘one of [owner] Giovanni Manetti’s favourite vintages’ – and it’s easy to see why.

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It's unlikely to be a final for the ages. Indeed, the majority of the post-match discussion (even several days later) has been on the antics of the losers, both during and after the game.

La albiceleste, unfortunately, did not cover themselves in much glory, playing an unprepossessing, undignified and cynical game – before lashing out at the opposition after the final whistle.

And while it took Spain 106 minutes to finally find the back of the net, find it they did (twice, some would say) and held their form to be crowned worthy champions.

Congratulations to Spain and also to our regional editor Ines Salpico, who gets office bragging rights for the next four years.

As a reminder, all the way back in early June, we picked 16 teams representing major wine-producing countries and eight of us on the editorial team took two teams each to cover.

Over the course of the tournament, we recommended 77 wines, making wild pairings and links with (at times) the unlikeliest of match-ups.

How do you pair Swiss Syrah with Qatar? Or Uruguayan Dolcetto with Cape Verde? Through a mix of ingenuity, out-of-the-box thinking and good old-fashioned brute force, everyone found a way.

Spain's wine route to the World Cup final

For eight games, Ines drew upon, not only her own intimate knowledge of the country's wines, but the sheer wealth and breadth of tremendous winemaking in Spain today.

This included classics such as CVNE's Imperial Gran Reserva and the new face of Rioja in wines such as Artuke's La Condenada.

Or there was Navarra's under-appreciated rosés, the almost unknown rosés from Txakoli and white wine from Jumilla.

The result is a small snapshot of contemporary Spain in eight wines.

With these wines as your base, throw in some wines from Catalonia, perhaps something from Andalusia and just one more from Galicia and you'd have a rather compelling mixed case to enjoy.

Game 1 (vs Cape Verde): Viña Zorzal, Garnacha Rosado, Navarra

Game 2 (vs Saudi Arabia): CVNE, Imperial Gran Reserva, Rioja

Game 3 (vs Uruguay): Telmo Rodriguez, Gaba Mencía, Valdeorras

Round of 32 (vs Austria): Stratum Wines, El Cerrico, Jumilla

Round of 16 (vs Portugal): Soca-Rel, Escursac, Mallorca

Quarter-final (vs Belgium): Rezabal, Txakoli Rosé, Basque Country

Semi-final (vs France): Francisco Barona, Finca las Dueñas Reserva, Ribera del Duero

Final (vs Argentina): Artuke, La Condenada, Rioja

Spain's World Cup wines

Wines here are listed by colour and by score

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Much has been discovered and celebrated about Rioja’s wine over the last decade as the region has finally experienced the level of attention it deserves.

Less discussed is how breathtakingly beautiful a travel destination it is – Rioja has a home away from home for you.

You won’t find Rioja in the Thomas Cook package holiday directory, but if you’re a wine lover who also appreciates a great view, you’re certainly heading in the right direction.

From luxurious winery stays in a building designed by legendary architect Frank Gehry to humble B&Bs and even rustic campsites, there really is a way for every type of traveller to experience this iconic wine region.

The backpacker

You’re a bit old to spend your time in hostels now, but you haven’t lost your sense of adventure and desire for a more authentic, rugged experience.

Fortunately for you, Rioja is a vast expanse of rolling hills, windswept vineyards and hiking trails.

Whether you drive here or take some other form of transport from Madrid or Bilbao, there’s no need to spend a fortune to enjoy the region’s great outdoors.

Camping de Haro

Carretera Vieja de Miranda 1, Haro

There’s nothing quite like enjoying the great outdoors, especially in the company of those who want to do the same.

For €30 a night, you can pitch a tent, park a car and have access to electricity, all barely 10 minutes’ walk from Haro. If the sound of rain hitting your tent isn’t your cup of tea, glamping bungalows are also available.

In the summer months, you can cool off after a long day of sightseeing with a swim in the vast outdoor swimming pool.

Typical peak season rates from around €30 a night camping, or €70 a night glamping. campingdeharo.com

• Insider tip Make sure you find the time to visit the Vivanco Museum of Wine Culture in nearby Briones, barely 10 minutes’ drive away.

The authentic traveller

You want to get into the heart of the region but you don’t necessarily require luxury or want to spend a lot of time in the hotel itself.

You’ll be visiting wineries during the day and need a base for operations, ideally out in the villages themselves.

Casa Robla

Calle Hornos 11, Elvillar

A charming B&B set in a former winery in the heart of Elvillar, Casa Robla is a quiet place to put your head down at night, with enough of the original exposed stonework to really connect with its productive past.

Better yet, the proprietor makes wine nearby in Lanciego, and recent vintages are readily available to try.

There’s no onsite dining here, but feel free to use the kitchen to whip up some sandwiches or cold snacks.

Typical peak season rates from around €100 per night.

• Insider tip For a more lively night out, head to nearby Laguardia (10-minute drive) for a vibrant social and tapas scene.

The upscale adventurer

Being out in the thick of it is important to you, but you also appreciate your home comforts.

Some days might be spent out exploring, while others will definitely be in the hotel, enjoying the finer things in life.

There’s no need for luxury, but a little space, privacy and understated beauty is appreciated.

Santa María Briones

Calle Concepción 37, Briones

This charming boutique hotel is set in a 16th-century manor house in the heart of one of the region’s most important winemaking villages.

There are only 16 rooms, but each is carefully considered, with exposed stonework, wooden beams and individual views.

There are also two restaurants onsite: El Calado for traditional, rustic dishes and wine tastings in an informal setting, and Allegar for fine dining.

There’s also a gym, a well-appointed library and even local kennels for those travelling with pets.

It’s worth noting that this isn’t a good option for young families, as guests must be 12 years or older.

Typical peak season rates from around €250 per night. santamariabriones.com

• Insider tip The Berones Suite has a duplex layout and grants access to the largest balcony on the property. Alternatively, ask for room 33 – it has the property’s best views!

The luxury traveller

Needless to say, the hotel you choose will make or break your trip.

You may be in Rioja for the wine but that doesn’t mean that you can’t live it up while you’re here, and you’re likely to be spending a lot of time enjoying the facilities when not on the occasional foray into the region.

Fine dining is a must and there also has to be something going on at the hotel beyond the gym.

Marqués de Riscal

Calle Torrea 1, Elciego

An icon of the region for its wines, its history, its legend and its incredible, swooping winery and hotel.

Opened in 2006, this Frank Gehry-designed masterpiece is as eye-catching as it is unique. Multi-coloured ribbons of titanium ripple and twist across its surface, glinting in the sunshine.

For the luxury traveller in Rioja, welcome home!

There are 61 rooms, each with large windows from which to enjoy the view.

Beyond that, there’s a Caudalie Vinotherapy spa, a fitness centre, a swimming pool and no fewer than three restaurants from which to choose.

You’re in the perfect location for day trips, but with so much going on, you may want to spend your time at the hotel instead.

Typical peak season rates from around €450 per night. marquesderiscal.com

• Insider tip Spend your evenings in the rooftop bar for spectacular sunset views. For something really special, ask them to show you their list of back vintages for a bottle to enjoy as the sun goes down.

The city breaker

You’re only here for a few days and you want to be somewhere that offers restaurants, nightlife and transport links.

You may do a day trip but you also want to experience wine bars, wine lists, coffee and conversation.

Your perfect city would, ideally, have a couple of wineries very close by so you can cram everything in and still have the energy to live it up in the evening.

Hotel Arrope

La Vega 31, Haro

In the heart of Haro, Arrope is a small, no-nonsense hotel ideal for a couple of days in the bustling little city. Its terrace is a popular meeting point for locals and tourists alike.

The rooms occupy the top floors above a restaurant known for its comprehensive wine list.

The small, passionate team is always happy to help and offer inside knowledge on where to go and who to meet. And the sommelier will eagerly recommend interesting, beyond-the-obvious bottles.

Typical peak season rates from around €90 per night.

• Insider tip If you’re on a short break, book your visits to the Muga and CVNE wineries before you arrive. Not only are they icons, but they’re located within the city walls, right near the train station – a mere 15 minutes’ walk from the hotel.

The foodie

Someone once told you that the best way to learn about a local culture was to eat the food and drink the wine, and that seemed like a great idea to you.

You’ve been practising just that for years now and you’ve found your place in the world.

It’s imperative to be in local places, eating real local food and enjoying the unique atmosphere that defines each village, town and city.

You’re happy in fine-dining locations as much as the pub down the street, so long as flavour is involved.

Sercotel Calle Mayor

Calle Marqués de San Nicolás 71, Logroño

This four-star boutique hotel is in the very heart of Rioja’s wine capital Logroño, making it a perfect location for those looking to experience not only the wine culture of Rioja, but its famous tapas scene.

It’s a five-minute walk to Calle del Laurel and its famous tapas crawl, yet also surrounded by excellent restaurants; there are few better places to be for those looking to discover the local cuisine.

The hotel itself also has a gym and, importantly for those looking for reservations, a 24-hour front desk and concierge service. ¡Buen provecho!

Typical peak season rates from around €145 per night. sercotelhoteles.com

• Insider tip If you’re looking for a wine experience close by, check out Javier Arizcuren’s urban winery – one of the region’s greatest producers, right in the heart of the city.

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Many wineries have solar panels to offset some of their energy needs – but are still reliant on the grid. But how realistic is it for wineries to be completely off-grid, running their operations entirely on self-generated green energy?

It depends on many factors, including scale of production, but certainly helps if one of the business partners spent 20 years working in the renewable energy sector.

Gearóid Lane is a founding partner of Gredos producer Bodega El Reventón, alongside Catena Zapata’s Adrianna Catena and Argentinian winemaker Alejandro Vigil.

Lane is a mechanical engineer by training, and the former managing director of the British Gas sustainable energy division. In 2021, the three equal partners bought La Reina, a 6.2ha vineyard at 820m-860m in the Sierra de Gredos mountains in central Spain.

When they came to convert a derelict barn on the land into a working winery, they faced a problem. ‘The nearest three-phase grid was so far away, it would have cost us a lot to get a grid connection,’ says Lane – around €500,000, in fact. So they didn’t. Instead, Lane sat down with his spreadsheets.

Lane had been at the heart of the UK’s green energy transition while at British Gas. He left to set up his own business facilitating the roll-out of government-mandated home energy efficiency programs in low-income households, including community solar projects.

A lifelong wine lover, when he came to sell this business he decided to put his energy into the wine world. A chance meeting with Adrianna on a WSET course was the project’s spark.

He’s no sideline investor, though; Lane is fully immersed in the project, learning winemaking directly from Vigil and the Catena Zapata team, and doing harvests in both Mendoza and Gredos.

He slowly built up an understanding of the Gredos winery’s energy needs throughout the year. The most energy-intensive period is harvest: the destemmer, pneumatic press, pumps and pressure washers all need power.

Temperature management is also key: cooling tanks at the start of harvest to help with smooth fermentations, and gently warming them at the end of harvest as nights turn cold and fermentations risk getting stuck.

It turned out that twenty-four 550-watt solar panels mounted on the south-facing barn roof could supply what they needed, plus three battery units for energy storage. And it would cost €40,000, instead of half a million.

The sustainable choice and the financially rational choice were the same – for once.

They found that they could also be self-sufficient in water. Two wells, replenished by winter rainfall, supply their needs for cleaning and production (not irrigation – the vines are dry famed).

It didn’t all go smoothly. The power surge needed to start the heating and cooling system couldn’t be met by the solar supply. A fix was found – another €3,000.

One issue remains: the pressure washer still occasionally overtaxes the supply, and a small petrol generator had to be used during the last harvest. But 10 additional solar panels, planned for the roof of a building conversion currently awaiting permission, should solve it.

This is all happening in a region that barely existed on the wine map just 20 years ago.

Dani Landi and Fernando Garcia of Comando G built a movement here. They created a community, and are now nurturing and inspiring a new generation of growers to show the world what Gredos tastes like.

And now it has attracted interest and investment from far beyond Spain: it was Landi who sold the El Reventón vineyard to the trio, which they bought after La Reina, and which gave the project its name.

Gredos was built on the belief that this land, which was gradually being abandoned, was worth fighting for. Arguably, the El Reventón project, and its focus on self-sufficiency, is a vote of confidence, and reflects the values that made the region worth coming to in the first place.

Sip to make a difference

From a 1ha vineyard planted in the 1940s on slate and quartz soils at 950m, Bodega El Reventón’s El Reventón 2023 (91pts, £69.95 Uncorked) is generous and giving, with gorgeous aromatics of dried cranberry and black cherry.

Soft and delicate in texture, with deep-set acidity, very ripe fruit and spice. A little way to go before reaching the heights of Gredos finesse, but it’ll get there.

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The cool breath of February blows gently, swaying the Spanish moss draped across the arms of a live oak.

A small group has gathered at the Green-Meldrim House, a historic home in Savannah, Georgia.

Gas lanterns cast a warm glow across the threshold as we step inside the 1853 gothic revival style manor for an after-hours tour called Potable Gold.

The docent, an affable yet studious man in his mid-60s, hands us each a glass of cut crystal filled with liquid the hue of the afternoon sun. We take a sip of ambrosia, then follow him into the parlour to hear about Madeira parties in the southern states.

Madeira held a special position in the social lives of early Americans, the docent says as we take seats around a mahogany table. He offers a second pour of wine.

Candlelight flickers as we imagine men in similar rooms across the East Coast drinking the afternoon away.

The drink of a future President

For nearly 200 years, Madeira reigned as the favoured drink of the political elite. Perhaps no one embodied that national devotion more than George Washington.

Though 18th-century invoices rarely listed grape names, Washington was clear about what wine he liked.

In a 1763 letter to his island suppliers, Washington requested ‘a rich oily wine,’ which could only come from the inclusion of Malmsey (Malvasia).

Correspondence and ledgers, shared publicly on the National Archives’ Founders Online, detail Washington’s regular purchases.

An account of expenses as the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army logs his purchase of 108 bottles of Madeira on a single day in October 1775. Washington prosecuted a revolution without letting his supply run dry.

If Madeira could win a war, it would be the toast of victory. Every Founder filled a cup to celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on 4 July, 1776.

How Madeira became America’s wine

Madeira’s grip on America began with the island’s geography and a quirk of British law. Sitting at the nexus of the Atlantic trade winds, Madeira offered a logical provisioning stop for merchant ships headed west for the Indies and New World.

The island’s producers loaded pipes of Madeira into ship holds as ballast. Long voyages through the tropics left an unusual imprint. Heat, oxygen, and the constant rocking of the ship ‘cooked’ the wine into a new oxidised style that Americans soon loved.

A second economic advantage came from the British Parliament. Dating to the 1660s, the Navigation Acts required European goods bound for American colonies to pass through British ports on British ships.

Madeira, whether an oversight or not, eluded the provision by virtue of location. The exemption allowed Madeira to flow freely to the colonies. Bartholomew Broadbent, of the import company Broadbent Selections, believes it may have been ‘America’s first tax loophole'.

Exuberance for Madeira stretched up and down the eastern seaboard. However, the ‘south had a unique love affair with the wine,’ writes Emanuel Berk of the Rare Wine Co. Berk ranks among the foremost authorities on Madeira, having spent decades documenting its American history.

North-South divide

‘The Southern elite’s leisurely way of life allowed for liberal indulgence,’ he writes in his booklet Antebellum Nectar.

Charleston, the wealthiest city in the colonies, was thought to possess the only ‘true leisure-class society,’ admired by 18th- and 19th-century Northerners who welcomed invitations to festive repasts.

Such affairs started mid-afternoon and lasted through the evening, as hosts showed off their collections as both social currency and lubrication.

Curiously, tastes in Madeira differed between the south and the north. Casks rarely bore the name of the producer, and final style decisions fell to the buyer.

Collectors in the Northeast transferred their wine from cask to glass demijohn for extended ageing, while Southerners bottled directly from cask within a year or two of receipt, explains Berk.

The low country Carolina taste for lighter, drier wines, against the sweeter palate of the North, bred a snobbish conviction that ‘the Yankees never understood the wine,’ says Berk.

Madeira on the decline

The Madeira of the early republic bears little resemblance to the wine today. Before the 1850s, producers shipped Madeira within two or three years of the vintage.

The wine had a paler hue and tasted ‘dry and incredibly vibrant,’ says Berk.

Two crises would change that. In 1851 the powdery mildew oidium struck island vineyards, cutting production by 80%. Phylloxera followed in 1872, crippling growers for two decades.

As harvests shrank, producers held the wine in barrels. The longer time in wood gave Madeira a dark colour and nutty, caramel depth.

‘Post-Oidium, Madeira just fundamentally changed,’ says Berk. ‘It became this much more powerful, concentrated wine.’

Concurrently, the American market faded. Champagne, especially popular in Charleston, became the wine of celebration.

Then the Civil War erased the Southern market overnight. Cocktail culture poached some remaining enthusiasts before Prohibition shut the door.

By the 1920s, a wine that had defined American taste had all but vanished.

A modern revival

In 1989, Broadbent set out to reintroduce Madeira to America. Before his San Francisco tasting, few restaurants in the country served it, among them Bern’s in Tampa, known for its legendary cellar.

He poured 19 wines going back to 1845. ‘Despite a very jaded wine trade, we had a massive turn out of about 300 people,’ he says. Within a week, city restaurants sought Madeira for their wine lists.

He dealt in old vintages, including an 1845 Cossart Gordon he sold for around $60 a bottle. ‘I actually got criticised for doing my job too well,’ he says, after selling 100 cases to one buyer. That wine now fetches about $3,000/bottle.

Given the wine’s prominent position in early America, how did the country forget that connection?

Broadbent put the question to a guest in one of his seminars, a schoolteacher who offered an answer. American textbooks, she said, stripped every reference to alcohol. The Founders’ wine had been edited out of national memory.

Around the same time, Berk started Rare Wine Co. after he chanced upon hundreds of cases of 19th-century Madeira from a London merchant unloading them at a deep discount.

As he sold through that stock, he conceived of a new project. He partnered with Ricardo Freitas of Barbeito to develop the Historic Series, paying homage to the regional palates of the past, from the driest Charleston Sercial to the sweetest New York Malmsey.

Despite interest, Madeira remains far from enjoying a market comeback. While Broadbent sees the 250th story circulating, he credits tourism as a significant driver of interest.

‘Portugal has become a major tourist destination. Madeira is already swamped with tourists but within maybe four years it will be as packed as the Amalfi Coast.

'Fifteen years ago, I received maybe two people a year telling me they wanted to go to Madeira. Today I am contacted at least once a week,’ says Broadbent.

A visit to the source

While both importers sell older vintages, drinkers chasing a taste of history will find the island itself the richest ground.

Pereira D’Oliveira in Funchal, imported by Rare Wine Co., has aged wines in cask since 1850. The tasting room display of 19th-century selections provides eye candy for giddy oenophiles.

At Blandy’s, where the family’s wine lodge dates to 1824, guests can visit the museum before tasting vintages dating back to 1920.

‘It’s amazing to think how over 200 years ago, they were making wines with much more limited resources, but are also so legendary,’ says Chris Blandy, Chairman of Blandy’s Madeira.

Freitas, however, may be the island’s most forward-looking producer precisely because he looks to the past. He makes drier, more delicate wines, closer to what crossed the Atlantic in pipes than to wines made in the 20th century.

This year, Rare Wine Co. released its Declaration of Independence Madeira to mark the 250th anniversary of that seminal American moment.

Blended to reflect historical tastes, it's a wine that might have fuelled a long afternoon in a Lowcountry parlour – or an American revolution.

Madeira and America: a shared history in 10 wines

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

North Italian Pinot Grigio: Panel tasting scores

61 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 3

Highly recommended 25

Recommended 30

Commended 3

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

Quality and diversity

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

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

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

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

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

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

'There is a style for everyone’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The judges

North Italian Pinot Grigio panel tasting results:

Wines were tasted blind

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Work your heart out

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rocky descent

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Commercial realities

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For the love of it

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The story of Clos Cibonne represents not just the history of coastal Provence, but also of one family's stubborn belief in their traditions.

It has resulted in one of Provence's most iconic cult wines, often regarded by other Provence winemakers as not being Provence-like because of its atypical style.

Over 200 years of history

The estate traces its origins back to the late 18th century, when naval captain Jean-Baptiste de Cibon, based in nearby Toulon, built a hilltop bastide (a type of fortified manor) with a direct view of the sea, and called it Château Cibon.

Upon Cibon’s death in 1797, the property, a symbol of elite ownership, was taken over by France’s new Republic after the French Revolution, divided into small lots and sold to the general public.

A portion was sold to the Roux family, although not the Château Cibon bastide.

Provence's fortunes grow

The 19th century saw the development of the coastal industry. In 1857 the Cap Garonne sandstone quarry was opened on the hill just to the south of Cibon.

Copper and lead were discovered in 1862, and by the 1890s the copper was being used for Bordeaux mixture – a fungicide used on grapevines to prevent downy mildew.

The advent of the railway from 1859 revolutionised Provence, opening up the region to trade and to tourists seeking the summer sun.

The Roux family profited from this prosperity, planting citrus groves, vineyards and other horticulture to supply tourists and hotels.

Following the devastation of phylloxera in the 1880s, many vineyards were re-planted with high-yielding varieties, and Tibouren, Provence’s only indigenous variety, was abandoned.

Tibouren’s susceptibility to powdery mildew, uneven ripening and oxidative characters made it unpopular, endearing it only to those who loved its rich apricot flavours.

Early rebels, the Roux family was one of the few to replant the grape.

Part of the landscape

By the 1930s, Marius Roux (1875-1958) had developed the estate’s wine production. He bought large 5,000-litre beer barrels from southern Germany and, like the Otts at nearby Clos Mireille, started to sell his wine in bottles.

The current label design dates from this era.

Marius was followed by his son André (1905-1989), who changed the name from Château Cibon to Clos Cibonne.

André was active in getting Clos Cibonne recognised as a cru classé in 1955. The key requirements were that the wine was sold in bottle and could prove its ageing potential.

By the time the appellation rules were being written up in the 1970s, they had a clear precedent allowing them to continue selling their wines with Tibouren on the label – no other Côtes de Provence wines are permitted to label their wine varietally.

Following André's death in 1989, his daughter Jacqueline took over the estate with her husband, Emile Mourchou.

Emile restructured the estate by buying land, replanting Tibouren and developing a new cellar, choosing to retain some of the 5,000-litre foudres.

Their daughter Brigitte and husband Claude Desforges took over the estate in 2003, bringing the cellar up to date with modern technology.

Clos Cibonne catches the attention of sommeliers

It was around this time that local sommeliers were increasingly talking about Clos Cibonne’s exceptional wines.

Faced with the growth in popularity and fame for Provence rosé, there was considerable pressure on the family to change from their traditional dark glass bottles to a clear glass bottle, and to adapt to a modern image of pale, fresh Provence rosé.

Instead, they resisted this pressure, and the wines have retained their unique rich and concentrated style, and are still bottled in dark glass.

Clos Cibonne today

Some of the wines go through malolactic fermentation, and some develop a layer of flor while in foudres, although any oxidative flor character is barely noticeable.

As Claude acknowledges, their aim is to make good wine, not just rosé.

Claude continued to buy adjacent parcels that once made up the original Château Cibon property, bringing the estate to its current size of 24ha – except the original bastide, which still has numerous owners.

Although close to the sea, the vineyards nestle behind a range of low, coastal hills (on the other side of the hills lies the coastal region of La Londe).

The vineyards are located on the Colle Noire massif, and erosion has given rise to a mix of soil types.

Tibouren has different flavour profiles depending on its location and soil type: high up, the schist gives spicy flavours; in the middle there is clay-limestone and loam, with the more silty soils giving citrus freshness.

The warmer, sandier soils on the lower slopes are used for red wine.

The surrounding flat land is criss-crossed with drainage channels, lined with canes and reeds, and has a high water table – a problem for mildew-susceptible Tibouren.

Nevertheless, Cibonne has been cultivated organically since 2012, and certified since 2020.

Tibouren buds early, but luckily spring frosts are not a problem, and it achieves good sugar levels, even when one of the first grapes to be harvested.

The combination of ripe fruit and oak gives the wines great concentration.

Defiant wines

Clos Cibonne remains a family-owned domaine, increasingly rare in Provence, and Claude’s son Olivier is currently taking over.

He says he has no intention of changing the style of the wines. He also aims to continue the tradition of making special cuvées to honour family members: cuvées Caroline (his sister), Olivier, Marius, as well as new cuvées to mark the birth of Olivier’s children: Simon (born in 2023) and Valentin (born in 2019).

The rosés remain the standout wines in the range. Their ageing potential means they can be cellared and can accompany complex food pairings.

The wines may be idiosyncratic, not always perfect, defy market trends, and show more vintage variation than most rosés, but they definitely stand out from the crowd.

Clos Cibonne through time

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It's the hope that kills you. Every time.

French and English hopes dashed and broken after two confounding, astounding and upending semi-finals.

Flashy France disarmed and despatched by a clinical Spain. Dogged England discouraged and diminished by a no-holds-barred Argentina.

While France and England will face off for the third-place match on Saturday we've decided not to give wine pairings for what is a rather flat and unloved affair.

All the focus, rightfully, is on just two teams – our finalists, and brilliant wine producing nations both.

It's also an all hispanophone final, something that hasn't happened since the very first World Cup final in 1930 when Uruguay played Argentina (and Uruguay won 4-2).

In these circumstances, only the very best will do. Ines and Julie, our last editors standing, have selected two World Cup final-worthy wines from each country.

Whoever you're cheering on come Sunday, make sure you have a glass of something suitably epic to go with it.

¡Vamos!

Ines: Spain

Spain: If you, like me, grew up with the brilliant Asterix comic books you’ll be familiar with the ‘Ils sont fous, ces Romains!’ exclamation and Obelix’s larger-than-life strength.

Well, well, well… seems like it was the Spanish players’ turn to fall into the Getafix's potion and ward off the French invasion.

La Roja unearthed all the precision and effectiveness it needed to neutralise France’s Napoleonic luck.

Unlike other World Cup contenders, it is a team that hasn't relied on blinding star power alone.

Meanwhile, the French were stunned when confronted with the realisation that – excusez-moi – the whole thing ain’t that easy.

Spain now needs to muster even more strength and presence of mind as it prepares to face an archenemy, Argentina, in the final. Popcorn out fellas!

It’s the tender-fleshed Lamine Yamal against veteran Lionel Messi. It’s the former empire against the former colony. Yikes.

Argentina’s grit – perhaps even more so than its technique – is something to be reckoned with.

Spanish players might want to look at Rioja’s own Obelix-like Arturo and Kike de Miguel, the brothers – big in both size and talent – behind Artuke.

Their wines were the highest-scoring at this year’s Rioja Report.

Among them, La Condenada (the condemned) is a show of elegant rusticity from a nearly forgotten, abandoned old vine that shows that excellence needs perseverance and focus and can often be found when and where you least expect it.