100 Great Natural Wines: Languedoc-Roussillon – Part Two

August 19, 2020

This is a series profiling the producers on our list who make natural wines. Within this series I will be highlighting some of the extraordinary and rare bottles and vintages that have helped to shape our appreciation of natural wines over the years. Previous posts from our 100 Great Natural Wines series include Austria, as […]

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Decanting: Adegas Guimaro

August 19, 2020

Sheer Brilliant Folly The Romans used slave labour to plant terraced vineyards along the Sil and Minho riverbanks. Today, Ribeira Sacra growers still have to work like slaves to prune, tend, and harvest grapes from these improbably situated vines. A few sites, including Cividade, Marcelino, and Viña A Ferreira, are so inaccessible that when the […]

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Interpreting Tasting with Jamie Goode: Part Two

August 19, 2020

Taste and the taster This is the second part of a conversation between Les Caves’s Doug Wregg and Dr. Jamie Goode concerning the nature of taste and the overall experience of “perceiving wine.” We start by examining the sensory processes and how taste is framed by a priori knowledge and filtered through expectation, how the […]

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The Unalternative Wine Glossary: E

August 19, 2020

Here is a lexicon of definitions of key wine words. The definitions are not intended to be scientifically objective and, in many cases, will be somewhat simplistic. Some will describe the technical side of wine(s), others will examine the more abstract and aesthetic ideas behind wine. Previously: A’s, B’s, C’s and D’s (that’s right, this is so unalternative […]

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Love and Wine in the Time of Coronavirus: Part Two

August 19, 2020

April April hath put a spirit of youth in everything. (Shakespeare, Sonnet XCVIII) Since the beginning of this crisis, the weather has been lovely. No cruellest month. No “with his shoures soote”. More than lovely, really quite invigorating. We’ve had bluer skies than normal.  The kind of intense blue that sends poets to the lexicon […]

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100 Great Natural Wines: Languedoc-Roussillon – Part One

August 5, 2020

This is a series profiling the producers on our list who make natural wines. Within this series I will be highlighting some of the extraordinary and rare bottles and vintages that have helped to shape our appreciation of natural wines over the years. Previous posts from our 100 Great Natural Wines series include Austria, as […]

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The Unalternative Wine Glossary: D

August 4, 2020

Here is a lexicon of definitions of key wine words. The definitions are not intended to be scientifically objective and, in many cases, will be somewhat simplistic. Some will describe the technical side of wine(s), others will examine the more abstract and aesthetic ideas behind wine. Previously: A’s, B’s and C’s… Decanting – A Short […]

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Decanting: Maison Valette

August 4, 2020

Maison Valette, based in Chaintré in the south of Burgundy between Mâcon and Beaujolais, comprises 8.5 hectares and is run by one of the region’s steadfastly independent families who have worked the estate for three successive generations, first as tenants and now today as owners. The day to day running of the estate is mostly […]

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Interpreting Tasting with Jamie Goode

August 3, 2020

Taste and the taster: Part One This is the first part of conversation between Les Caves’s Doug Wregg and wine scientist, author, lecturer and self-described “flavour obsessive” Dr. Jamie Goode concerning the nature of taste and the overall experience of “perceiving wine.” We start by examining the sensory processes and how taste is framed by a […]

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Return of The Obligatory Summer Rosé Article!

July 22, 2020

Not another rosé article! No, not another rose article – by this or any other name – to out-frivol the pink drink. Time, wethinks, to put some perspective into the matter and rain on some sun-bleached summer parades. Seasonal, yes, in that myriad articles every summer are rehashed, all invariably extolling the mimsy virtues of […]

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