Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2024 i Decanter

EDITOR’S LETTER It’s easy to think of Bordeaux as immutable. But of course that’s just not true, as the regional marketing board are so keen to convey to us via their extensive new ad campaign (see ‘Editors’ picks’, p119). En primeur doesn’t stand still either. As leading Bordeaux négociant Mathieu Chadronnier observes (see p146): Bordeaux en primeur ‘goes in cycles’, and ‘currently demand is soft’. He believes it will endure as a model, however, ‘providing we continue to adapt’. Adapt or die, as the saying goes. Challenging market conditions mean there may be bargains to be had among the Bordeaux 2023 releases, but even if you don’t plan to buy en primeur, I hope you find our expert coverage of the new vintage helpful – both the highlights here and…

It was Covid that did it. April 2020: some 16,518 entries were sitting patiently in the Decanter World Wine Awards warehouse… as the world locked down. We finally managed to judge, with a much-reduced team, in August 2020: all hands on deck. I led the USA & Central America panel – including flights from Paso Robles. This was my first systematic exposure to the 16,600ha AVA sited almost exactly halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. I still remember the quality of their Cab tannins: ample, tender, melting. Mental bookmark in place, I resolved to visit as soon as I could. That chance came in January 2024. Driving US101 southwards via the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA was pure excitement. I’d loved the novels of John Steinbeck when I was young;…

Many people associate the rise of Bordeaux en primeur with the legendary 1982 vintage, but in fact, selling Bordeaux wine en primeur – while the new wines are still ageing in barrel, potentially many months prior to their bottling and release – boasts a storied history, dating all the way back to the 1740s. By the early 20th century, it had become a significant event in Bordeaux, with frenzied autumnal ‘campaigns’ taking place among prestigious châteaux and Bordeaux négociants. However, it wasn’t until the 1950s that the practice began to evolve into its modern form. Today, ‘EP’ as it’s known, remains an important way to buy Bordeaux wine ‘futures’, often as a form of investment. For the producers, it’s a hedging tool that reduces price volatility and secures cashflow. How…

Let us introduce you to the captivating and exciting wine world of Ukraine, which is full of unique wines and new discoveries we’re sure you’ll be eager to try. Situated in Eastern Europe, Ukraine is a large country not only in size but also in terms of its potential for high-quality winemaking. International consumers are now waking up to the exciting promise of ancient wine producing countries such as Ukraine. In fact, a new term has come into usage: ‘the New Old World’. Ukrainian winemaking boasts thousands of years of history, and has seen its share of great achievements. The current war, however, is clearly a tragic and extremely challenging time. But in the pages of this magazine, we want to focus on one thing: recognising and sharing all the…

Good wine reads are few and far between. There are brilliant reference guides and a few classics that deserve to be read in full, but it’s rare to find a wine book that you want to dip into before bed, sink into an armchair with, or bask under on a sunny day. A handful of recent releases, however, break the mould. THE EVOLUTION OF ENGLISH WINE Henry Jeffreys’ Vines in a Cold Climate (paperback £10.99 Allen & Unwin, June 2024) has been snaffling up awards – and justifiably so. The book is a gentle stroll through the history of English wine, meeting the people who have been party to the industry’s evolution from hybrids made by hobbyists to serious wines (sparkling and still) that have earned a place on the…

The name mezcal comes from the Aztec for ‘cooked agave’ (metl ixcalli). Unlike tequila, which can only be made from Blue Weber agave, mezcal can be made from any type of agave, though the most commonly used variety is Espadín. More complex and smoky than tequila, its flavour profile should appeal to whisky drinkers – and it’s an interesting substitute for tequila in cocktails. 1 Bandida Blanco £230/70cl bandida.com This new ultra-premium, small-batch mezcal is made in Oaxaca, southern Mexico, from mature organic Espadín agave, harvested after 11 years. Elegant aromas with grassy, citrus freshness and subtle woodsmoke lead to a very smoky palate with the dry ashiness of bonfire embers. A velvety texture and a long, clean, spicy finish layered with apple, grapefruit, fresh lime, slate and black pepper.…

You might wonder if you ought to serve Sherry with a gazpacho andaluz. It certainly works, though it needs to be a super-fresh fino or manzanilla of the kind you can reliably find in Jerez but not always as easily on a supermarket shelf back home, particularly if it doesn’t sell quickly. Spain also has plenty of accommodating dry whites to offer – tartness being the quality you should look for with this sharply flavoured uncooked soup, which is basically like a salad in liquid form. Dry whites from Málaga or neighbouring Cádiz would work – you can find great examples of dry Pedro Ximénez these days. Albariño would be a good match. Rueda, too, depending on your palate. Verdejo and Sauvignon work well with raw tomatoes but might be…

STUNNING SPRING MOUNTAIN CABERNET TINA GELLIE It’s always refreshing to catch up with Napa Valley winemaker Lisa Togni (pictured, below), who has been making wines on Spring Mountain with her father at his eponymous Philip Togni Vineyard since 2000. The Tognis have earned a reputation for ageworthy ‘Margaux-type’, Cabernet-focused blends. Their 18 blocks over 4.2ha have been organic from day one – back in 1975 when Philip (then winemaker at Cuvaison) began to clear land near the top of the mountain, at 600m, to start his own project. Since 1987, the estate’s main label wine has followed the plantings: 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot (with the plush second wine, Tanbark Hill, made of 99% Cabernet Sauvignon, generally with some ‘declassified’ main label wine…

This tasting showed off the pedigree of Cabernet Sauvignon from Stellenbosch, as well as the nuances of its top wards. The quality was high, with about two-thirds of the wines scoring above 90 points. Cabernet is the most-planted red grape in South Africa (9,110ha in 2023: SAWIS) and the majority of plantings are in Stellenbosch. The differences can be subtle, but each delineated area has its own discernible character. The Outstanding wines (opposite & p132) were a reflection of this. Key to the region are the many diverse aspects and altitudes created by mountains. The climate here is Mediterranean/maritime. Some wards are closer to the ocean than others – for example, you can see the blue line of the Atlantic from the Helderberg. Two of the Outstanding wines were from…

Duca di Dolle, XBRT Prosecco Rive di Rolle Extra Brut, Veneto, Italy 2021 £23 Armit From a single vineyard whose Glera vines are more than 50 years old. The extra brut style lends precision to lemon sherbet, peach and jasmine aromas, and freshness and intensity to the bright lemon and peach flavours. JB Alc 11.5% Dog Point, Section 94, Marlborough, New Zealand 2018 O £25.99-£32.50 Widely available via UK agent Berkmann A mouthfilling Sauvignon Blanc to impress Bordeaux Blanc fans. Fermented and aged in older French oak barrels. Flinty struck-match aromas and leesy, nutty undertones, grapefruit acidity and peach blossom flavours. TG Alc 14.5% Oenops, Kidonitsa, Macedonia, Greece 2022 £22.50-£25 Great Wines Direct, Shelved Wine, Strictly Wine, The Solent Cellar, Winesquare This 100% Kydonitsa from Kilkis in Macedonia offers complex aromatics, with herbal…

WORKING WINE TO 5 What does a négociant do? We buy wines from wine estates and distribute them globally, providing estates with a reach they could not achieve on their own. And we help our distributor clients access a far broader range of wines than would be possible if they had to go to each winery directly. How did you get here? My father was CEO of CVBG, but the plan was never for me to work with him. My interest was elsewhere: I wanted to work in tech. I found my first job at wineandco.com, a pioneer in the field. Although it was the tech aspect that attracted me, I quickly fell in love with wine. I was part of the buying team, tasting wines from all over Europe…

KATHERINE COLE is the author of five books on wine and host and executive producer of the awarded wine-themed podcast The Four Top. Based in Willamette Valley and California, she has contributed to wine publications worldwide TOM HEWSON is Champagne correspondent for Decanter and Decanter Premium online, and a DWWA judge. A jazz musician, he writes on sparkling wine more broadly on the Six Atmospheres Substack HANNAH CROSBIE is a wine writer and communicator. The regular wine presenter on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, her debut book Corker: A Deeply Unserious Wine Book was released in March 2024 (£16.99 Ebury) PANOS KAKAVIATOS is a widely published journalist, wine writer, judge and educator based in Strasbourg. Publishing at wine-chronicles.com and @PanosKakaviatos, he also organises wine tastings and tour groups SHAWN HENNESSEY is a food…

A century ago, in the summer of 1924, Rudolf Steiner delivered a series of eight lectures on farming. Drawn from his scholarship, observations of old-world bucolic customs and conversations with a traditional herb gatherer, they served as the basis for the agricultural practice known as biodynamics. The first anti-industrial, anti-chemical farming movement, predating organics by a couple of decades, biodynamics was a timely reaction to the agrarian population’s recent abandonment of cover crops, rotation and composting in favour of chemical fertilisers made from ammonia – the same substance that had just contributed to unprecedented death and suffering in the trenches of World War I. A century later, biodynamic viticulture is equated with quality, and young enthusiasts continue to find Steiner’s ecologically motivated messaging compelling. Claire Jarreau, head winemaker at Brooks…

Contrary to popular belief – and if the 20 wines selected here are anything to go by – you can taste terroir through the lens of a blend. In South Africa’s case, white cuvées are the most transparent, with imaginative winemakers building a picture of place from a range of different grapes, sites and techniques. For the tasting to make this selection, I called in white blends from across the country and ended up sampling more than 60 examples, most of which scored above 90 points. South Africa’s white blends can be broadly divided into three categories. First, the Bordeaux-style Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon blends, made using traditional ‘protective’ techniques and ingredients, such as chilled grapes, anaerobic fermentation and cultured yeasts. These wines are steadily improving in quality but are sadly often…

Ukrainian winemaking has demonstrated an exciting culture of experimentation in recent decades, embracing both international and traditional grape varieties in its winemaking regions. The result is a wide range of wine styles from hearty, food-worthy reds to delicate, aromatic whites, fortified and sparkling wines as well as brandies. Ukraine’s flagship grape varieties Odesa Black Also known as ‘Alibernet’, the Odesa Black variety is today often seen as the country’s calling card. A cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Alicante Bouschet, developed at the Tairov Institute of Viticulture and Winemaking in Odesa in 1948, Odesa Black received its name in 1967 and was officially added to the Register of Plant Varieties of Ukraine five years later. Traditionally, Odesa Black was used to add colour and body to red blends, but in recent…

What a good year 2022 was for white Burgundy,’ remarked DWWA Co-Chair Andrew Jefford as he revisited the wines of the Decanter World Wine Awards’ newly unveiled top 50 (Best in Show) list for 2024. Burgundy’s complex wine landscape includes vineyards fragmented by multiple ownership, hundreds of premiers crus, climats within grands crus, soil diversity and vintage variation. With so many variables, Burgundy is perhaps the region to watch when our DWWA results are announced. Blind-tasted and rated by top specialists, annual results can be mixed given the inherent challenges. However, a glance at the DWWA 2024 results makes it clear we should be racing to Burgundy’s whites, with exceptional 2021 and 2022 vintages topping the charts. Burgundy’s three Best in Show winners (below), each from the 2022 vintage and…

The city of Jerez de la Frontera is at the heart of the Jerez-Xérès-Sherry DO that shares its name. This is one the oldest wine-producing regions in Spain, thought to have been established by the Phoenicians more than 3,000 years ago. The old part of the city is built around the medieval Moorish fortress of the Alcázar and the 17th-century Christian cathedral. But the region’s distinctive architecture owes much to another kind of cathedral: the old bodegas or ‘Sherry cathedrals’, typically built during the zenith of the Sherry industry in the 19th century. Jerez is also famous for its Feria del Caballo (which took place on 4-11 May this year – see turismojerez.com, ‘Festivities & events’), a traditional spring fair that reflects the city’s twin obsessions: wine and horses. Flamenco…

Premium Spanish sparkling (see criteria, below) turned out to be a wide-ranging brief, capturing wines from several parts of Spain, vinified in both the traditional and ancestral methods and available at a range of price points. As Sarah Jane Evans MW said: ‘This tasting was [just] a snapshot.’ Pét-nat wines were tasted from various appellations and, as expected, were among the youngest in the line-up, typically from the 2021 and 2022 vintages. These were textural, often a touch smoky or saline, and the best showed vivid detail. While the quality varied, the panel had no difficulty finding an outstanding example (see opposite). ‘A delightful surprise,’ is how Valentin Radosav described the performance of the ancestral-method wines. At the opposite end of the scale, Corpinnat, Gran Reserva Cava and Classic Penedès…

Gratien & Meyer, The Society’s Celebration Crémant de Loire Extra Brut, Loire, France 2021 £13.31 The Wine Society Quince, yellow apple and pear up front, followed by layers of citrus, almond croissant and some umami notes. Poised, with lovely weight on the mid-palate and very good persistence. A spicy tail adds to the savoury appeal. IS Alc 12% Cleto Chiarli, Nivola, Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro, Emilia Romagna, Italy NV V £14.99 Majestic Deep violet, with a bouquet that’s equally bold: dark cherries, mulberries, plums and a lick of sherbet. The same dark fruits grace the palate, along with a grippy texture and lively acidity. Serve slightly chilled with charcuterie. AW Alc 10.5% Mouchão, Dom Rafael Branco, Alentejo, Portugal 2022 £16.50-£18.40 Hometipple, Quercus Wines An alluring blend of Antāo Vaz and Arinto, the…

Sponsored by Fierce bidding for rare vintages in Avery sale Rare Bordeaux, Burgundy and California wines have featured in a Christie’s auction of ‘last treasures’ from the Avery family’s private cellar. All lots offered in the London-based auction found buyers, said Christie’s, with total sales reaching £2.57m, including buyer’s premium. Bottles in the collection were acquired by different generations of the family that is behind historic Bristol-based wine merchant Averys, and the auction was a follow-up to a similar sale held in 2016. Top lots this time around included Burgundy wines from the 1940s. Two bottles of Clos de Tart, Grand Cru 1945 (pictured, right) sold for £43,750, including buyer’s premium, against a pre-sale high estimate of just £3,000, Christie’s said. One magnum (1.5 litre) of Domaine Comte Georges de…

“Being a wine producer in several countries (Argentina, Spain, Italy, United States), I also import the wines that I produce as part of Vinos de La Luz in Ukraine. But actually producing wines in Ukraine was the ultimate goal. In 2022, the decision was therefore made, alongside Big Wines LLC, the Ukrainian subsidiary of Vinos de La Luz, to support the effort to grow the national Ukrainian wine industry – bringing a century of experience and the energy of four generations to this new project. The great Ukrainian winemaking tradition served to create very good – and large – producers of international and local grape varieties. Significant investments were made. A great effort, but by few. The winemaking industry needs many players of all sizes, who, by producing for national…

Summertime is here, and with it, all manner of ways to be disappointed by the weather. It’s why in Corker, my book that pairs wine with a variety of everyday situations, I have two entries for the picnic: one where the weather is glorious and one where the weather feels as if it’s been pulled from an LS Lowry painting. But, being an eternal optimist, the promise of dining outdoors is enough to have me stocking up my wine rack with easy-drinking, summery wines – palate-enlivening whites, reds to be served chilled and no- and low-alcohol options redolent of seasonal botanicals. WHITE WINES Forage Supply Co, Spliced Eden Valley Riesling, South Australia 2022 Suitably named after Australia’s Splice ice lolly, this refreshing, zesty Riesling is laden with lime, green apple…

When I think of Andalucía – a region I have explored over several decades while also working and living in London – I don’t think only of the Sierras and of El Zauzal, my own property in Aracena. I am equally attracted by its Atlanticfacing and Mediterranean coastal worlds, the small towns and beautiful cities dotted throughout the largest region of Spain. To appreciate the complexity of the cocina de Andalucía we need to go back in time to understand the importance of the legacy left by the different cultures who came and went, whose food has layered and is still present in the Andalucían cooking pot: Roman, Jewish and especially Moorish from North Africa and the Middle East. This book celebrates the popular food and ingredients from the area,…