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Gutter & Stars: Looking up
It is,” I said to my friend Clare, with whom I had a coffee after visiting Gutter & Stars, “about from here to that wall.” She burst out laughing; I was quite close to the wall. “It” is Gutter...
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Thoroughbred workhorses
David Schildknecht considers the changing fortunes of once-derided grape varieties such as Carignan, Aligoté, and Palomino. Ostensibly workhorse grapes sometimes gain luster thanks to prestigious...
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Oregon Pinot Noir: Staying true to the Pinot ideal
Andrew Jefford introduces a tasting of Oregon Pinot Noir shared with Anthony Rose and David Williams. Early 2025 will mark 60 years since David Lett first planted Pinot Noir in Oregon’s Willamette...
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Oregon Pinot Noir: Tasting tenderness, intricacy, and grace
Andrew Jefford, Anthony Rose, and David Williams taste a consistently high-quality line-up of Pinot Noirs from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Oregon Pinot Noir: Staying true to the Pinot ideal Walter...
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Seeking closure once and for all? Cork versus screwcap versus Diam
A sunny winter’s day found me striding alongside the River Thames to Farr Vintners in London for a tasting of cork versus screw cap, largely from Guffens-Heynen, in a vertical that stretched back to...
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The singularity of Château Rayas
From the sandy terroir, to the ethereal style of Grenache, Château Rayas is an estate unlike any other in the Southern Rhône appellation. Many of France’s greatest wines exemplify their appellations,...
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Well-researched and down to earth: A free-spirited, free-form buffet
Brian St. Pierre reviews Who’s Afraid of Romanée-Conti? A Shortcut to Drinking Great Wines by Dan Keeling. If you had enjoyed an especially lucrative Christmas, landing a bonus, dividend, or something...
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From the vaults: Hidalgo—a Sanlúcar story
In a piece first published in WFW68 in 2020, Simon Field MW learns of a winemaking approach based on the twinned terroirs of vineyard and cellar when he visits Bodegas Hidalgo in Sanlúcar de Barrameda...
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Prestige Cuvée Rosé with Marina Olsson
Rosé Champagne has taken some time to shake off a reputation for frivolity. Bollinger did not presume to make a Non-Vintage Cuvée until 2008, several decades after the death of the family’s eponymous...
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Wine in history: The world’s oldest wine
Stuart Walton on the contents of the 2,000-year-old glass urn discovered at a Roman necropolis in Carmona near Seville. For well over a century, it was believed that the oldest surviving wine to...
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At the table: Torta pasqualina
One of the most distinctive and evocative features of a traditional torta pasqualina, Liguria’s popular Eastertide savory pie, is that it was made with 33 layers of pastry, one for each year of...
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Missing link to the first fizz
When it comes to the first sparkling wine, we can be certain only of the first recorded sparkling wine—not what we might infer about what happened before. But even dated, documented evidence requires...
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From the vaults: Chalk downland details
In a piece first published in WFW55 in 2017, Andrew Jefford, inspired by a single bottle of Wiston Estate 2010 Blanc de Blancs, picked out the details of his developing relationship with the wines of...
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Marimar Estate Vineyards and Winery: La Sucesión
Born into one of Spain’s most important winemaking families, Marimar Torres left her native Catalonia to pursue her dream of becoming a winemaker at her own estate in Sonoma County. As she passes the...
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2020 Barolo: More than comfortable?
Andrew Jefford introduces a tasting of 2020 Barolo shared with Susan Hulme MW and Michael Palij MW. It was a year of acute discomfort among human beings—with Italy the first European nation to ask its...
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2020 Barolo: The wines of a serene season
Andrew Jefford, Susan Hulme MW, and Michael Palij MW look for depth amid the easy charm as they taste the 2020 Barolo vintage. 2020 Barolo: More than comfortable? Poderi Luigi Einaudi Barolo...
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Fred Peterson: Stories of fire and wine
Fred Peterson tells Margaret Rand about his path from the US Navy to being a part-time fireman and Dry Creek Valley fine winemaker. Would it be terribly rude, Fred, to describe you as the poor man’s...
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From the vaults: Lalou Bize-Leroy—Force of nature
In a piece first published in WFW67 in 2020, William Kelley, caught up with the ever-mercurial Mme Lalou Bize-Leroy of Domaines Leroy and d’Auvenay. Lalou Bize-Leroy, Burgundy’s reigning grande dame,...
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