Central Otago is not only the southernmost wine region in New Zealand, but it is also the southernmost commercial wine region in the world. At a latitude of 45° south, the only other vineyards that compete are experimental plantings in South America’s Patagonia. The …
While Colchagua is one of Chile’s most prominent wine valleys, Alto Colchagua is still somewhat off the radar. The highest altitude vineyards in Colchagua start from the higher estates of Los Lingues at altitudes of over 300 metres and run up to over 1000 …
One of the most famous but least coveted of Piedmont’s red wines, Dolcetto is very much the underdog. And it is also most certainly underestimated. Known for being a softer, fleshier wine than its Piedmont rivals of Nebbiolo and Barbera, Dolcetto is overlooked by …
Island viticulture isn’t common in the New World and it certainly brings its own fair share of challenges. “It costs us more to bring the barrels the 50km from Auckland than it does to bring them some 20,000km from France!” long-time Waiheke Island winemaker, …
It isn’t the views but rather the aromas that capture you as you drive through the Dão wine region: pine, eucalyptus, the fresh forest pours through the crevices of even a closed car door window. The aromas are overwhelming. The view, however, is surprisingly …
How are wine corks made? It’s a much longer process than you might imagine – it can take up to half a century to get your first quality wine cork from a tree. Following my visit to the cork harvest in Portugal, I put together a …
The Couvent des Jacobins is an integral producer in Saint Emilion’s wine history. It’s not very often you get to taste a vertical going back half a century, but while in Bordeaux recently I was lucky enough to do an excellent vertical at one …
What is Baga all about and why does it suit the Bairrada terroir? We find out with one of Portugal’s most famous wine producers – the Luis Pato wine family. The Pato family have been making wines for several generations, but Luis Pato changed the …
The Douro is easily one of the most spectacular wine landscapes in the world… The Douro river snakes its way through the valley where vines and stacked stone terraces appear to almost tumble down dramatically steep schist hillsides, the very sight of which induce …
Rías Baixas is practically synonymous with Albariño, and it’s not hard to see why. With the greatest concentration of Albariño vineyards in the world, Rías Baixas DO is considered the birthplace of this unique Galician variety and Albariño still reigns supreme as the main wine made in …