Impossible vineyards. Impossible to stand in the middle of Fully’s dramatic Combe d’Enfer in Fully, across the Rhone river from Martigny, and not be awestruck. There are higher vineyards in Switzerland and in the world, there are possibly steeper ones, there are wilder ones. My own home is higher than this. But the name gives […]
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Spain’s “The New Vignerons”: book review
Luis Gutiérraz makes you want to catch the next plane to Spain to explore the country’s exciting wine developments. He’s the author of a 2016 book in Spanish (English version recently out, e-book available), The New Vignerons, A new generation of Spanish wine growers, that forces you to question all the marketing bumpf you’ve happily […]
Parker Wine Advocate, latest notes on Swiss wines
The Swiss are still getting excited (Le Nouvelliste) about their wines being reviewed by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, the influential American newsletter. “Great Swiss wines you shouldn’t miss…” The latest batch of 167 reviews (available to subscribers) by Stephan Reinhardt, just out, is headed “Great Swiss wines you shouldn’t miss when you’re in Switzerland”, a […]
Hunting for great Arvines (Bern)
It’s hard to stay focused at a good wine fair. I went to Bern recently to visit Vinumrarum, an annual weekend wine fair for independent family wineries. I decided to focus on Petite Arvine wines. The more people who make this increasingly popular wine (Valais produced 1.9 million kg Arvine grapes in 2016, about 100,000 […]
What makes a wine traditional?
Tradition is a hot word in wine marketing right now, one that reassures consumers – and yet few of us who are on the buying end of the sales chain question what it means, I think. If you have been making wine the same way for 50 years, does that make your wine traditional? 100 years? Or what […]