All you needed to know about Oregon: Part Two – The Emergence of Wine Culture

July 17, 2017

History & The Emergence of Wine Culture The history of Oregon and its wine industry might be characterised as one that has progressed by leaps and bounds in a very short period. Geography and climate are factors, but it is the people who ultimately create the culture. And it is events that catalyse change. Although […]

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All you needed to know about Oregon: Part One – Pinot Noir and life beyond

July 12, 2017

Oregon produces quite a small amount of wine but an awful lot of noise. Which is not at all to say that the state’s wine industry is overrun by brash publicists – rather the reverse. The typical Oregon wine operation consists of relatively neat, high-trained vines round a few old wooden shacks manned by a […]

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Doug Decants: Award-winning Saffas, Sherry-not-Sherry, New Slovenians, Matassa, Commando G + More!

July 10, 2017

Elgin Ridge Takes Top Gold! Elgin Ridge Chaos White 2016 (98 points) wins top gold at the International Organic Wine Awards! We will have our tiny allocation of this biodynamically farmed Sauvignon-Semillon in a couple of months. If you are interested in reserving some, please contact your sales representative. Sherry, not sherry – but still amour […]

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Oregon Tale

July 7, 2017

I have just returned from Oregon Pinot Camp. This event has been organised annually since 2000. Approximately 270 members of the wine trade from the US – plus a smaller international delegation -are invited to Oregon by the Pinot Camp (a group of some 50 leading wineries) to learn about local viticulture, winemaking techniques, and, […]

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Words to the Wine: Part Three

July 6, 2017

Yet MORE twinkling English dialect words that might invigorate the tedious repetitions and formulations of wine-tasting descriptions. I’m not saying that they are remotely appropriate or that you have to use them, but if you feel like seasoning your prose with some rough-hewn local lingo then feel free to Borrow to your heart’s content. Rayner […]

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Will global warming make wines more alcoholic?

July 3, 2017

Global warming presents a vast array of challenges for the vine grower. It is not just that certain regions are becoming hotter, but that extreme weather events are becoming more commonplace. There is almost no time for the vine grower to adjust to such unpredictable circumstances. There are certain medium-term solutions – planting or sourcing […]

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Why doesn’t Les Caves de Pyrene carry major brands?

June 28, 2017

Once upon a time I wrote a short piece for a magazine deploring the banality of corporate jargon in the wine trade. Terms like upsegmentation, channel management, wine margin optimisers, gatekeepers, flagship wines and icons were (and still are) being solemnly bandied about ad nauseam as if they meant something. Maybe you can’t blame the […]

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Wines of Georgia Tasting in London

June 19, 2017

This week saw the inaugural Wines of Georgia tasting in London organised by Sarah Abbott of Swirl Wine Group. The Georgian ambassador wrote an introduction for the catalogue explaining the importance of wine to that small country: It is no secret that wine is Georgia’s finest ambassador. Currently Georgian wine is exported to 46 countries […]

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Doug Decants: Champers, Sherry, Gramenon and more!

June 16, 2017

Champagne Pierre Gerbais Grains de Celles Rosé Champagne Pierre Gerbais is a fourth generation domaine in the Aube. It is spearheaded today by the youthful Aurélien Gerbais, a winemaker who is unnervingly self- assured for his age, yet soft-spoken and humble. At Gerbais there are old vines, organic vineyard management, intelligence, respect, passion, relevance, training […]

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The Strange Affair of the Missing Wine Mention

June 13, 2017

Plus a critical case of natural wine vapours… –Doug Wregg Note: these are the opinions of Doug Wregg and do not reflect those of Les Caves de Pyrene as a company. Every time Jay Rayner mentions wine in his Observer restaurant column a fairy falls down dead from shock. Not just on account of his splenetic perorations […]

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