Muscadet Crus Communaux
The Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine appellation experienced little short of a seismic shift in July with the approval of three Muscadet crus communaux, or communal crus, by INAO. It’s Muscadet, Jim, but not as we know it.
The future of English sparkling wine
English wine is the flavour du jour, but is it set up to capitalise on the recent awards and consumer demand?
Ten minutes with … Tom Carson
Tom Carson is pushing the envelope when it comes to making pinot noir in Australia, and is a strong advocate of wines of place.
Elgo Estate
Strathbogie Ranges is a wine growing region to watch, not least due to a mere handful of pioneering producers. Elgo Estate, owned by Grant and Suzanne Taresch is one such property on an upward trajectory.
A Kamptal quintet
During a recent visit, a group of five growers hosted a tasting from their small corner of Kamptal, which is renowned for its grüner veltliners and rieslings.
Loess is more for grüner veltliner
In Lower Austria there is a divide between riesling and grüner veltliner which keeps riesling on primary rock and grüner veltliner on loess. Loess, it seems does remarkable things to grüner veltliner – the wines are creamier, fatter, richer, and more immediately fruity in youth.
The greening of the Douro Valley
A decade ago, the Douro vineyards were a brown, bare-earthed environment, where patches of dry, Mediterranean climate-adapted scrubland juxtaposed with bare earth beneath vines. As a result of a growing use of cover crop, the Douro vineyards are greening over, literally and environmentally.
Weinviertel – the DAC journey
The Weinviertel, an expansive and diffuse region north of Vienna, is Austria’s biggest wine-growing region, with over 13,300 hectares. Ten years ago it led the way into the new, DAC-orientated Austria.
Pantelleria rejuvenated
Pantelleria’s main claim to fame is as an historic producer of fine sweet wine. Along with other celebrated sweet wines of the 19th century, passito di Pantelleria has a distinguished heritage, and after a period of decline, one that has been revived in the modern era, almost single-handedly, by Donnafugata.
The Etna crescent
Mount Etna is a rather unique place in Sicily’s, let alone Italy’s viticultural heritage. Often referred to as an island within an island, its grape varieties are indigenous, its rainfall is prodigious, (relatively, around 1,000mm), and it’s an active volcano, the highest volcano in Europe, peaking at 3,323 metres.
