Decanter magazine May 2026 issue: See what's inside

Welcome to the Decanter May 2026 issue

Wine without barriers

Leader by Amy Wislocki, Decanter magazine editor

When I was interviewed for the editor’s job at Decanter, I said that I wouldn’t use the term ‘en primeur’ on the front cover, as potential readers might assume the magazine isn’t for them if they don’t buy wine in this way.

Granted, even the word ‘Decanter’ might put some off – many wine lovers don’t actually own one. But I hope that we fulfil, within our pages, our mission to cater for all wine lovers, beginner to expert and supermarket-wine buyer to serious investor and collector with a deep cellar.

Let’s pick a couple of examples from this issue. For the serious buyer, we have a report on the 2023-vintage Napa Cabernet Sauvignons, a year rated 5/5 by our Napa correspondent Jonathan Cristaldi; while for the wine lover seeking out value whites to drink this summer, we taste and rate the best current-release Picpoul de Pinets.

And please don’t assume that the content of our annual Bordeaux guide is only relevant to the former audience. It’s packed with advice on how to seek out value in a surprisingly dynamic and forward-looking region.

In my glass this month

A sunny Easter weekend coincided with my birthday – the perfect opportunity to open a bottle I’d been saving: Viña Ventisquero’s Tara Viognier, 7th Edition (£39.05 Les Caves de Pyrene), a solera-style blend of vintages, made from grapes grown in Chile’s Atacama desert. An extraordinary wine, displaying Viognier’s fleshy peach and weighty texture, but with Tara’s characteristic salinity, and surprisingly crisp.

Inside Decanter magazine's May 2026 issue

In focus

• Oregon’s origins Clive Pursehouse charts the history and continuing influence of some of the Willamette Valley’s key pioneering producers
• Vintage report: Napa Cabernet 2023 In short, it’s fantastic, says Jonathan Cristaldi, who picks 50 wines, including 10 impressive 100-pointers
• Is farming Napa’s new luxury? Anna Lee C Iijima writes about a ‘reset’ that’s bubbling under, as Napa returns to its agricultural roots
• Sonoma Chardonnay’s many faces Ana Carolina Quintela picks 20 wines that deliciously capture the region’s impressive breadth of soils and styles
• Champagne Tom Hewson gets the inside track from Laurent-Perrier’s cellar master Olivier Vigneron
• Under the radar: Stargazer This top Tasmanian producer likes to celebrate difference, says Cassandra Charlick
• Ultra-processed wines As Linda Johnson-Bell explains, it’s time for us to move beyond the ‘industrial’ wines that have come to dominate the shelves
• Welschriesling This popular Central European grape is gaining renewed momentum, says Caroline Gilby MW
• Portugal: the Douro Boys Ines Salpico meets the next generation keen to preserve and promote the Douro valley’s legacy and identity

Spirits

• Distilled Spirits news & cocktails
• Cocktail essentials Julie Sheppard sets up a perfect home bar starter kit

Food & travel

• What to pair with pizza Great offbeat matches, by Henna Bakshi
• Travel: San Francisco for wine lovers Amber Turpin reveals the City by the Bay’s kaleidoscopic wine scene

Learning

• Books etc Sophie Thorpe takes a dim view of a book on wine colour theory
• Wine wisdom Expert advice to help you on your ongoing wine journey

Buying guide

• Introduction
• Editors’ picks Decanter staff share highlights from their recent tastings
• Panel tasting: Picpoul de Pinet The popular dry white style from the south of France earned good results: 65 wines tasted, with three Outstanding
• Panel tasting: Right Bank Bordeaux Good value choices for easy, everyday enjoyment. 137 wines tasted
• Expert’s choice: Zinfandel ‘Uniquely, historically American’ – Clive Pursehouse picks 18 top examples of California’s signature red variety, which inspires something of a cult following among its admirers
• Weekday wines Decanter’s tasting team brings you 25 top picks, ready to drink now and priced at £30 or less
• Weekend wines Priced £30-£60, seven standout buys to impress
• DWWA 2025 highlights: Asia Top medal winners from China & Japan

Collecting & investing

• Marketwatch Auction news and new releases, plus Bordeaux 2025

Regulars

• Writing this month Meet four of the authors who contributed to this issue
• News The latest from the wine world
• The brief Ideas and inspiration
• Andrew Jefford’s column
• Hugh Johnson’s column
• Guest column Kate Lofthouse urges us not to overlook the fun and sheer joy to be found in discovering wine
• The ethical drinker Natalie Earl ponders whether wine should be subject to the same scrutiny as food in terms of what goes into its production
• Subscribe to Decanter
• On the rack: Kyle MacLachlan How David Lynch’s influence led to the Twin Peaks actor owning his own winery. By Adam Morganstern

New Bordeaux Guide

Decanter's Bordeaux Guide for 2026

A welcome message by Bordeaux editor Georgie Hindle

Hello Bordeaux lovers, and welcome to this year’s guide! There’s nowhere quite like Bordeaux when it comes to pure wine joy.

It’s a region bursting with possibility – diverse, multi-generational and always ready to surprise you with something new, whether it’s a brilliant hidden-value gem or a legendary bottle that stops you in your tracks. Every sip feels like an invitation to dive deeper, laugh louder and connect over glasses that tell stories.

This year brings a poignant yet uplifting reminder of how to embrace that joy fully, with the passing of two major figures of the industry, Michel Rolland and Daniel Cathiard. Their legendary reverence for life, passion for great wine, good food, lively conversations with friends, travel and pure pleasure should stay with all of us. So let’s open bottles, share them generously, debate passionately and let wine do what it does best: bring people together.

And bring people together it does. While headlines love to say we’re drinking and buying less, Bordeaux quietly proves otherwise. It remains one of the very best – if not the absolute best – regions on earth for sparking real excitement and enjoyment, with outstanding wines in every style and at every budget.

This is best emphasised by Marc Bouffard’s article covering his pick of 10 top-value estates among the 1855 Grands Crus Classés – yes, it is still possible to find bargains among these well-known names.

Panos Kakaviatos assesses all 14 third growths to see who is overdelivering on quality for price, and I take an intimate look at Château Batailley, a ‘pillar of value’ for Pauillac.

In our coverage of what turned out to be an extraordinary and very high-scoring panel tasting, you’ll also find a tranche of 35, no less, 95pt-plus Outstanding wines from the excellent 2020 vintage on Bordeaux’s Right Bank. These include numerous at accessible prices as low as £20 per bottle in bond, and there are nearly 100 others rated at 90pts or more, with 54 wines in all being awarded our ‘Value’ status, for price and quality within this category.

Plus, in her ‘Expert’s choice’, Valeria Tenison sifts through the vast number of St-Emilion Grand Cru estates to pick 18 worth tracking down.

I hope you enjoy reading this guide as much as I loved putting it together – and that it inspires you to find some wonderful bottles to continue your Bordeaux journey.

What's inside the Decanter Bordeaux Guide 2026

• Writing on Bordeaux A spotlight on four of this year’s contributors
• What’s new? Georgie Hindle charts some of the developments in the region in wine, tourism – even sake
• Guest columnist Why is it that Bordeaux, like Napa, is the target of so much negativity, ponders Californiabased wine writer Karen MacNeil
• Obituary: Michel Rolland Bordeaux born, but a global winemaking legend
• Obituary: Daniel Cathiard Georgie Hindle remembers with affection the owner of Château Smith Haut Lafitte
• Finding value in the 1855 Classification Marc Bouffard picks 10 Médoc Grands Crus Classés that give incredible bang for your buck
• 2016 revisited Gareth Birchley reports back from the annual ‘10 years on’ tasting at Bordeaux Index, London
• The third growths in focus Panos Kakaviatos on the 14 third growths, and where he would place them in a hypothetical revision of the ranking
• Producer profile: Château Batailley Georgie Hindle visits the Castéja family-owned Pauillac fifth growth, which has a great reputation for value
• A region opens its doors Georgie Hindle reports on an award-winning program launched to help remove barriers to entry in the Bordeaux wine industry, and bring fresh perspectives
• Panel tasting: St-Emilion & Pomerol 2020 – 147 wines tasted. A spectacular success, resulting in 35 wines rated Outstanding and 98 Highly recommended
• Expert’s choice: St-Emilion Grand Cru Valeria Tenison picks 18 stars from this value Right Bank category
• Travel: The authentic Bordeaux Our expert local guide, Ira Szmuk, unveils the real Bordeaux that lies behind the glitzy exterior
• Drink now or wait? Vintages back to 2011 at a glance, across key appellations

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