French wine brand, Calvet, striving for sustainability, quality & regional diversity
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- Published: 15 September 2022 15 September 2022
I am mostly aware of Calvet for their Bordeaux wines, including a very agreeable Cremant. I was pleased to be sent this selection of wines demonstrating that Calvet is striving to produce France’s regional styles at entry-level prices, and in a sustainably conscious way.
California - Wines On A Mission
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- Written by Brendan Barratt Brendan Barratt
- Published: 24 July 2022 24 July 2022
There were a few good wines but for the price, they were mad. They need a bit less Beach Boys and more Dead Kennedys (maybe even some NOFX or Bad Religion) in the wine-making game over there. Brendan Barratt reports.
Wines of Alentejo strike a Sustainability chord in London
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- Published: 26 May 2022 26 May 2022
On Tuesday 24th May the Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Programme (WASP) accompanied by 8 wine producers, came to London to present both the work they have been doing in establishing a rigorous sustainability certification scheme and the certified wines that they are entering into the market.
Blind Tasting Cabernet Franc at Tenuta Sette Cieli, Tuscany
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- Published: 09 May 2022 09 May 2022
We have ascended the 400 metres to Tenuta Sette Cieli, located in the hills behind Castagneto Carducci, in Pian delle Vigne in Monteverdi Marittimo, for an opportunity to examine the potential of Cabernet Franc grown here in this corner of Tuscany in a comparative blind tasting with examples from the Loire, Napa, and Bordeaux.
Sustainable wineries & aligning values with taste
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- Published: 02 May 2022 02 May 2022
The first impression of Verona under the weight of the VinItaly wine expo is not dissimilar to the scene in the original ‘Italian Job’ movie with cars gridlocked around a central square, one guy perched on the edge of his sunroof reading the paper with his foot pressed down on the horn. The city was pulsating with the influx.
Saint Péray by Vidal Fleury 2020
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- Published: 24 March 2022 24 March 2022
Saint-Péray is a small area in the Rhone Valley and not so well known. Vidal Fleury is one of the oldest houses in the Côtes-du-Rhône and so when they turn their attention to this small AOC we are right to be intrigued.
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Ventoux AOC - Is this high altitude Rhone appellation having it's day in the sun?
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- Published: 14 March 2022 14 March 2022
A few years ago in London, I met James King from Chateau Unang in the Ventoux AOC in the Rhone. This is an area of the Rhone that is currently enjoying an ascending reputation due to a warming climate, better ripening while maintaining acidity.
Recently at VinExpo, Paris, I met with James's wife, Joanna King, who then introduced me to Frederic Chaudiére, President of the Ventoux Appellation. In this short interview with Frederic, we discuss the climate imprint so far and also the efforts that are now underway to join global efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
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Discord in Odesa; pruning at Shabo goes on!
Last week a picture was posted on Twitter of vines in Shabo, a large estate that lies to the west of Odesa on southern Ukraine’s Black Sea coastline. The image seemed benign at face value but the reality, of course, is that the city of Odesa has been bracing itself for attack by Russian forces.
An aperitif by the coliseum
As COVID-19 conspires with the grimmest of winds and rain to force a societal retreat behind our own front doors, the word ennui springs to mind. The muddle of displeasure is pierced when Natalia hands me a large bulbous glass of a liquid I do not recognise.
Artichoke pasta and very fine Pigato
Britain’s lamentable exit
On the eve of Britain’s official departure from the EU, my partner and I decided to explore a small town on the Italian Riviera where thewintry cold doesn’t feel so much like cold war bite.
I had warned my significant other that I would be having an inverse departure party, a release of the sanity valve if you like!
Soave: volcanic wines with elegance and longevity
Sitting inside the ancient castle walls inside the town of Soave, a short drive from Verona in northern Italy, the unique slightly almond aroma of the indigenous grape, Garganega, rises gently from my glass. The castle sprawls up the side of an extinct volcano that gives the region its variant soil structures that mark out the better quality of Soave wines.
An American In Paris; Tanisha Townsend (@GirlMeetsGlass) discusses podcasts, Paris wine bars, & what she's drinking at the moment
Tanisha Townsend decided to move to Paris 4 years ago after regularly passing through the city en route to the world’s most famous vineyards. In fact, it was about 2 years ago at the Printemps de Champagne Bouzy Rouge tasting in Reims that I saw (who we shall now refer to as) GirlMeetsGlass chirpily speaking to her web followers on Snapchat.
Wine tasting in Galicia: The pilgrims search for Albarino
The cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, the final resting place of Saint James, rises out of the landscape, infested with antiquity. The rambling steep streets give way to shafts of dramatic light, emblazoned chapels, and tightly packed tapas bars, dusty, as old novels pressed together in antiquarian bookshops.
