Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2023 i Decanter

It is 15 years now since photographer Dragan Radocaj first visited the Barossa in South Australia. Initially a landscape specialist unfamiliar with wine, his powerful images have come to speak volumes about the vineyards, people and wines of this famous region ‘Marketing geniuses are always coming up with ideas to sell wines, but photographs are the way to get to the centre of the wine story. My photographs make the connection between the vines, the landscape, the people and the process of making wine. ‘I look long and hard, from every possible angle, to see what’s special about a vineyard. Once I’ve found the perfect angle, I’ll shoot again and again to capture all of its personality. I’ve done this for Rockford, Henschke, Seppeltsfield, and a year-long photographic essay on…

The Peloponnese, Greece, summer 2016. I’m sipping a young Assyrtiko and thumbing through my Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book. Hugh grabs my attention with his Santorini entry: ‘Assyrtiko – try ageing 10 years and compare with a grand cru Chablis. You’ll be surprised.’ I thought of my cellar at home where I had taken delivery of William Fèvre, Chablis Grand Cru Bougros 2013. It had to be done. Later that week, at Athens Airport, I bought a Santorini Assyrtiko from Sigalas, 2013. Patience!... Fast forward to this March. My wife and I invited some wine-loving friends to a blind tasting of both wines. I decanted them both an hour before and with some trepidation. Would the Sigalas have lasted? I uncorked said bottle and concern set in as there was…

‘More of this level of playfulness and experimentation in the world of rosé would be a dramatic and delicious development to the canon’ R oséis liquid Abba. Classic, yet enduringly entertaining with wide appeal and capable of endless reinterpretations to the delight of fans old and new. While summer is without question rosé’s greatest hit, from fizz to fortified, it seems to be on tour year-round these days – but sipping in a sunbeam is tough to beat. More than any other wine style, rosé’s approachability and informality is peerless, and paired with foods it can tackle everything from curries to a simple salad. While pale, dry, powerful rosé is fantastic to partner with intensely flavoured dishes such as those heavily laden with garlic or reduced tomato sauces and pungent…

There’s something special about Chardonnay. Endlessly adaptable, it’s a resilient variety that has taken well to a wide diversity of soil types, locations and climates. Its capacity spans far beyond terroir, too, making itself responsive to the crafts of its winemakers, who each play a part in the highs and lows of Chardonnay’s global standing. If it ever finds itself out of favour, Chardonnay seems always to have the capacity for a comeback. From the ‘ABC’ (Anything But Chardonnay) days of the 1990s and early 2000s to today, it is nothing short of a success story, and the proof is exemplified by Chardonnay in Australia.A decade ago, not one Gold medal was awarded to an Australian Chardonnay at the Decanter World Wine Awards. This year there were 12, alongside eight…

1 2 3 4 5 Is there anything better than a refreshing G&T on a hot summer day? If you fancy a new gin for your drinks collection, try one of these new releases or seasonal specials… 1 Amalthea Dry Gin £35/50cl Fortnum & Mason New from London department store Fortnum & Mason, this small-batch gin is made from a base of apple spirit. The Piccadilly premises has an in-house distillery on the third floor, home to a copper still named Amalthea. Botanicals include grapefruit peel, liquorice root, Fortnum’s Monarch Marmalade and Fortnum’s Earl Grey Classic Tea, which adds an exotic note to the palate alongside plenty of punchy juniper and peppery cassia spice. Clean and crisp, with citrus creaminess on the finish and a cleansing note of grapefruit, it…

Sancerreand Pouilly-Fumé are among the best-known – and most exported – Loire appellations, so it was interesting to see how wines costing £19.99 or above from the two appellations would show. Ben Llewelyn set the scene: ‘Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé have long been bastions of great, terroir-driven Sauvignon Blanc,’ he said. ‘Their respective sides of the Loire river remain meccas for wine lovers, tourists and gastronomes from around the world. As a result the names have almost become brands, which sadly have not always quite lived up to the hype.’ We tasted 72 wines: 49 from Sancerre and 23 from Pouilly-Fumé. There were 14 wines from the 2022 vintage, 41 from 2021, 12 from 2020, three from 2019 and one each from the 2018 and 2017 vintages. Wines from the sunny,…

90 Louis Vallon, Crémant de Bordeaux Blanc de Noirs, Bordeaux, France NV V £15 Sainsbury’s This blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc opens with toasty, creamy aromas, warm buttered croissant, white peach and mushroom, then flavours of raspberry, brioche and ripe citrus, plus brisk acidity. Enjoy with smoked salmon or as an elegant aperitif. JS Alcohol 12% 91 Cono Sur, Reserva Especial Riesling, Bío Bío, Chile 2022 £10 Tesco Under the excellent-value Cono Sur label, a fruit-forward Riesling combining depth of flavour and bright acidity, perfect to match spicier dishes. Sweet, fleshy peach and citrus zestiness, with a lingering stone fruit juiciness. A touch of residual sugar at 7g/L, but it tastes dry. AW Alc 13% 91 Stella Bella, Otro Vino Chardonnay, Margaret River, Western Australia 2021 £17.21 Wine Direct…

Single collections draw in the bids Blue-chip Burgundy and top Champagne have demonstrated their ongoing allure in two separate auctions of single-owner collections, despite reports of buyer caution in the secondary market as a whole. Christie’s built a Hong Kong-based online auction around top Burgundy bought on release by an unnamed UK collector. Domaine Leroy lots saw some of the biggest prices in the sale, which finished on 7 June. Twelve bottles of Leroy Bourgogne Rouge 2004 sold for HK$875,000 (£89,000), comfortably more than double the pre-sale high estimate of HK$350,000. A 12-bottle lot of Leroy, Vosne-Romanée 2004 fetched almost HK$1.19m (high estimate: HK$480,000). Prior to the sale, Christie’s also highlighted white Burgundy from Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey. Two six-bottle lots, one of Montrachet 2008 and one of Montrachet 2009, each fetched…

Inside a professional’s everyday life How did you get here? At a school career workshop when I was 14, I realised that I wanted to work in a rural environment and engage with the land in some capacity. It took 25 years to return to these early ideas via a Masters in Economics at Cambridge University, qualifying under the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and National Association of Realtors, and a career in commercial real estate development and portfolio investment in London and Los Angeles. What’s the best thing about your job? Wine is about passion, and I love being around the infectious energy of passionate, enthusiastic people. I love the way wine brings people together. And the worst? Reading French vineyard accounts. What’s the most common misconception about your…

Chilean winemakers were optimistic about 2023 vintage quality, after very varied weather conditions. ‘This year was unique as the reds have shown excellent colour but are also very mild,’ said Aurelio Montes, of Viña Montes. ‘For the whites, I’d say it was a year of low alcohol and very fruity expression.’ It has been a year of pain, too. Forest fires affected an estimated 600 producers, as well as old vines in Maule, Nuble, Itata and Bío Bío. New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay wine region has been named the world’s 12th ‘great wine capital’, joining an elite club that also encompasses Napa Valley, Bordeaux and Mendoza. Charlotte Read, general manager for marketing at New Zealand Winegrowers, said it puts Hawke’s Bay and the country ‘firmly on the world stage as a…

Un precedentedhot and dry conditions in 2022 led to small yields, and consequently highly concentrated wines with big tannin potential. Some vines suffered in the drought but many grapes adapted early on and, with careful and sensitive work in the vineyards, vines were able to stay active and green until harvest, with small but healthy berries. Picking dates were crucial, as was gentle extraction, while strategies for vinifications and preserving acidity varied. Where successful, the best examples show surprising freshness and supreme charm, with a large number of wines that are both immensely appealing and approachable but will also age. With any new Bordeaux vintage there is the inevitable hype – it’s the most scrutinised wine region in the world, with more than 7,000 people coming to the region this…

S ynonymouswith sparkling wine now, Prosecco was relatively unknown outside Italy 20 years ago, yet today it is renowned worldwide, as evidenced by its meteoric rise in popularity – more than 600 million bottles were produced in 2022, of which over 70% is exported globally. The area in northeast Italy where Prosecco is produced spans just under 40,000ha across the regions of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia; the one constant is Glera, the white grape used for the vast majority of production, known for its fresh acidity and aromatic notes of apple blossom, peaches and lemons. Add carbon dioxide and a touch of residual sugar, and you have a fresh, fruity fizz that goes down a treat. Prosecco is sold under a few denominations related to the area where the…

A ‘winemaking super couple’ in New York’s Finger Lakes, Kelby James Russell and Julia Rose Hoyle, have created Apollo’s Praise winery after buying Lahoma Vineyard from grower Ken Fulkerson. Russell will leave Red Newt Cellars after 11 years of making acclaimed wines there, but Hoyle will remain at Hosmer Winery. ‘This project is a dream come true,’ said Russell. Rieslings, Chardonnay, Grüner Veltliner, rosé and Cabernet Franc wines are among styles in the pipeline. Apollo’s Praise will begin making estate wines in 2023, despite unprecedented frost hitting Finger Lakes vineyards in May. ‘We wish there were more grapes, but we’re going to make people sit up and notice with the wines we do get to make,’ Russell said. Fulkerson is staying on this year as an advisor. Apollo’s Praise is named…

Reflecting on nearly five decades in the Napa Valley, Tor Kenward began to share stories of his experiences on his winery’s website during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. These stories would become a delightfully readable and personal account of his Napa adventures. The book is marked by heartwarming and honest storytelling about his relationships with Robert Mondavi, Julia Child and the father of Napa winemaking, André Tchelistcheff. $26 Abrams (available in the UK from £18.99) THE UK WINE SHOW Chris and Jane Scott host the UK’s longestrunning wine podcast, launched in 2006. Their company ThirtyFifty organises tastings and WSET courses, so no surprise that the weekly broadcasts have a strong focus on education. Despite the ‘UK’ in the title, the show roams around the world of wine. There’s…

Part of a range of poetry pamphlets that you can send to friends and family instead of a birthday card, Ten Poems about Wine is produced by independent publisher Candlestick Press, each ‘Instead of a card’ pamphlet featuring a selection of poems curated around a theme, with eyecatching cover designs. Topics range from baking and cricket to music, animals, happiness, friendship and weddings. Ten Poems about Wine is selected by Jonathan Davidson and includes verses from Keats and Wendy Cope. Pamphlets are supplied in compostable packaging with an envelope for posting and a bookmark for you to write a special message to the recipient. £5.95 candlestickpress.co.uk 95,500 The number of hashtags associated with the most Instagrammed vineyard in the world – Boschendal in South Africa – according to data compiled…

L ike diamonds or fine art, top wines are on the wish lists of thieves with an eye for luxury, and who appear to know their grands crus from their vins de table. Swiping hotel room toiletries is one thing, but it requires a different kind of nerve to check out with a bottle of Château d’Yquem 1806 worth an estimated €350,000 tucked into a rucksack. This nightmare scenario played out in October 2021 at Michelin three-star Atrio hotel restaurant in Cáceres, western Spain, when thieves brazenly left with 45 bottles of wine valued by the restaurant at €1.65m (£1.42m). It is one of several fine wine thefts at top restaurants and merchants’ warehouses in the past few years. Details can be Hollywood-esque, although tales of intrigue, skulduggery and sheer…

La Costiera Amalfitana, the Amalfi Coast, is also known as la divina costiera, ‘the divine coast’. This is no surprise to me because the whole area is magical, with its vertiginous terraces, historic churches and villas, pastel painted villages clinging to the cliffs, all suspended between a clear blue sky and the sapphire waters of the Mediterranean. The Amalfi Coast is also where I was born and where I lived until I was 12 years old. Our home is Minori, one of the 13 villages officially included in the costiera. Even after we moved to the UK, we would travel back to Italy every summer to stay with my grandparents. To me it was, and still is, a paradise – even if it is a little busier now than it…

MAPPING MARLBOROUGH TINA GELLIE ‘Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is not one-sizefits-all,’ says winemaker Matt Thomson of Blank Canvas. ‘But how do we explain our distinct sub-regional identities without a tool to do so?’ And so the Marlborough Wine Map was born. Thomson, at New Zealand’s High Commission in London for the map’s UK launch in May, championed its development, concerned that without one a long-held myth would be perpetuated. ‘It doesn’t all taste the same,’ he says, ‘and it’s dangerous to let people continue to think that.’ Blank Canvas is one of 54 members of Appellation Marlborough Wine (AMW), created in 2018 to protect the integrity, authenticity and brand value of the region’s wines. Within Marlborough’s 30,000ha of vineyards, unique terroirs such as Awatere and Wairau have long been known but…

93 Berry Bros & Rudd, English Sparkling Blanc de Blancs by Hambledon, Hampshire, England 2017 £36 Berry Bros & Rudd Aromas of freshly baked bread, candied peel, roasted nuts and stone fruit, with hints of meadow grass. Chalk soils lend a mineral core to the crisp and rounded palate, with brisk citrus and a nip of salinity. Stylish. JS Alc 12% 91 Troupis, Hoof & Lur Moschofilero, Mantinia, Peloponnese,Greece 2022 £20-£22 Bancroft, Epinoia, ND John, NY Wines Great aromatic lift in this high-altitude organic wine. 11 days of skin contact gives an orange-pink hue, which manifests in pink grapefruit juiciness, herbal bergamot acidity and Turkish delight richness. TG Alc 12.5% 94 Akitu, A1 Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand 2019 £42.99 Hay Wines Seductive and intriguing, aromatic depth and layered…