The Cavistes’ Wines of the Year
In no particular order we bring you some of the personal highlights from our team of passionate and hard-working Cavistes, who were asked to nominate their favourite wines of 2017…
Wine is Politics: Part One
I am at a natural wine fair in Vienna. Growers and visitors come together. They drink wine, they talk, they learn about each other. The fair is about sharing wine…
A Price Too Far?
Of mark-ups and wine accountancy The one benefit of a recession, said a wine merchant to me way-back-when in 1991, is that good businesses emerge from it stronger, pared down…
Sir Wregg’s Wines of the Year
I don’t append scores to wines, or have an inner wine-orgasmatron that registers the veritable height of aesthetic and subjective waves of pleasure, but here are my uneven eleven best…
Doug Decants: Georgas Retsina, Greece
Buy me brandy, A snifter of wine. Who am I kidding? I'll drink turpentine. Barney Gumble, 'A Boozehound Named Barney', The Simpson's (a parody of 'Feed The Birds' from The…
Unicorn Wines: Part Three
Unicornucopia! There are wines which are so rare because to make them requires nature to smile on the vineyard, or for the vigneron to feel that the quality of the…
Of Cult and Icon Wines
Petrus – What is the wine about? Imagine a cathedral lit with every light and line focused on the high altar. And on the altar, very reverently placed, intensely there,…
Unicorn Wines: Part Two
Unicornucopia! There are wines which are so rare because to make them requires nature to smile on the vineyard, or for the vigneron to feel that the quality of the…
Doug decants: The Wines of Antonino Caravaglio
Nature is an aeolian harp, a musical instrument whose tones are the re-echo of higher things within us. -Novalis The history of artisanal winemaking in the Aeolian Islands off the…
The Natural Wine Idioticon
A is for additives such as acidification. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it and if it is broke if the fault of the way the wine is made in…
A Pocketful of Natural Wines near Rye
This is a follow up to the recent Q & A with Ben Walgate of Tillingham (which is the name of Ben’s nascent wine project in East Sussex). Outside of…
Nouveau Nouveau: Christina Rasmussen
Bojo Nouveau is vieux chapeau, n’est-ce pas? By no means! Christina Rasmussen describes how we are falling in love with a new style of new juice. Christina works as wine…
Doug decants: The Wines of Didier Barral (Faugères)
I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright. –Henry David Thoreau This Renaissance man, naturalist, and biodynamic…
Unicorn Wines: Part One
Unicornucopia! There are wines which are so rare because to make them requires nature to smile on the vineyard, or for the vigneron to feel that the quality of the…
New and grooving wines
Forthcoming new and grooving wines Natural Burgundy, Napoleon’s favourite tipple (sort of), rare volcanic gems, tiny production single vineyard Barolo, a natural Retsina (yes!), a cool Malbec-dominated wine from a…
Doug Decants: Andert Wine
Michael Andert was born into a large family and grew up on a farm with mixed agriculture, livestock and viticulture and learned to respect his family, his animals and the…
A guest podcast episode with: Si Vintners on The Vincast
Based in Melbourne, James Scarcebrook has worked on all sides of the Australian wine industry He blogs on his website, The Intrepid Wino, and is the host of the popular podcast The…
Chatting with: Ben Walgate, the qvevri-crazed English natural winemaker
Ben Walgate is currently making natural wines in Georgian qvevri on his farm in East Sussex. We ask him about his journey to the amber side and what the future…
Doug Decants: Rabasco Wines, Abruzzo
The Not-so-Full Montes Iole Rabasco inherited her family’s small vineyard and olive grove, neither of which have ever been treated with chemicals. And she’s taken that blessing and run with it.…
Another Rare Creature: Ribeyrenc
Our spare Ribeyrenc Ribeyrenc, also Rybeyrenc, though grape encyclopaediae will have it under the more prosaic-sounding Aspiran noir), is a variety that was traditionally grown between Minervois and Clermont…
Revisiting Taste, Tasters and Tastings
Looking at the glass-twitchers, sniffers and slurpers at one of our recent shindigs made me think that tasting is as much about mood as anything. The more generic the tasting…
Thirsty for Hungary
When you are in a country for a very short period you barely have time to get your bearings let alone taste enough wine to come up with a qualified…
Doug Decants: Minimus Origin Gouges Zivo Vineyard 2016
This is Chad Stock’s second foray into Pinot Noir Blanc territory. Yes, a red grape mutated into a white with partial skin contact. Go figure! Zivo is the name of…
Les Caves at The Great Sherry Tasting
The Great Sherry Tasting returned to London this month, a chance for us to mug up on our soleras and criaderas, and plunge quizzical beaks into copitas of Palo Cortados…
Chatting with: Wine Writer Simon J Woolf
Award winning writer, natural wine expert and Decanter contributor Simon J Woolf today announced the launch of his first book Amber Revolution. Subtitled “How the world learned to love orange…
Doug decants: Forlorn Hope
2015 Gemischter Satz by Forlorn Hope We love a crazily fearless blend and this wine is the mashiest of Austro-Germanic mash-ups. Matthew Rorick writes of his Forlorn Hope project: 'The…
We’ve got a not-so-little-list
“The list is the origin of culture. It’s part of the history of art and literature. What does culture want? To make infinity comprehensible. It also wants to create order.”…
Les Caves’s Autumn Trade Tasting!
Tuesday 3rd October, 10am-6pm at The Hellenic Centre Something new, something old, something fun to banish the wine blues Our autumn tasting is a timely dip into the wilds and werewolves…
One score and ten years in the wine business
Grizzled vets don’t have to grizzle to be accorded that status. But they have to have seen a reasonable amount of wine of all colours and all qualities flow beneath…
Don’t Pass Over These Yaks
Domaine d'Aurensan and Chateau de Leberon: Vintage Armagnacs Domaine d'Aurensan The Aurensan vineyard – a family venture run by father Bernard and his two daughters, Sophie and Caroline, spreads over…
Doug Decants: Casa Belfi, Raboso Colfondo
The birthplace of Casa Belfi natural wines is San Polo di Piave, Veneto, where the river meets the sea. The philosophy behind the project is the respect of natural processes…
Humour in wine
“Wine can of their wits the wise beguile, Make the sage frolic, and the serious smile” ~ Homer (the poet, not the Simpson). Wine has inspired beautiful poems, tracts of…
Beyond The Wine List
Mais naturellement, Les Caves de Pyrene are winier than winey, with around 1,700 “references” (as the wine trade is wont to call them) from around 500 vignerons hailing from 18…
Jazzing Up Restaurant Wine Lists
“The butler returned with a huge album bound in crocodile leather. You are looking at the binding, I notice, said the host. It is the skin of a crocodile I…
Doug Decants: The Wines of Céline & Laurent Tripoz
Lochéd and loaded All the Tripoz vineyards (11 hectares) are in or just outside of Loché in the Maconnais, where the cellar is located. With vines on eastern exposures rooted…
Topping up the Georgians
It is public knowledge that we’ve had a love affair with Georgia for the past few years and were one of the first companies to seriously focus on importing wines…
Rest in Peace Haridimos Hatzidakis
A few days ago, the great Santorini winemaker, Haridimos Hatzidakis, sadly took his own life. Tributes have been pouring in and we wanted to add our own panegyric to the…
Can Natural Wines Age?
The beauty of natural wines is their singularity. Constantly evolving, they need to find their own time and place. The best natural wines result from sensible farming. Healthier vineyards, tended…
What We Are Reading: The Dirty Guide to Wine + Tasting Georgia
The Dirty Guide To Wine Following Flavours From Ground To Glass by Alice Feiring We often think of wine in a very square way – for example, we might group…
Doug Decants: 2016 Burja Zelen, Vipavska Dolina
The third generation to cultivate grapes in his region, Primoz left the family estate in 2009 to start his own label, ‘Burja’, the name of the strong wind that blows…
Passion for Natural Wines – La Cav magazine, Chile
--By Francisca Jara V. Translation by Amy Morgan. In the world of wine, almost everything can be controlled. From the temperature of fermentation to its colour. But last May, 170…
Chatting with: Derek Morrison at The Good Wine Shop
Derek Morrison is the Retail Manager at The Good Wine Shop, an independent wine merchant with shops in Kew and Chiswick in West London. Derek is also the co-founder of…
Coming soon to a wine portfolio near you…
As the great Oscar Wilde didn’t say: “There’s only one thing better than talking about wine that has arrived in our bonded warehouse, and that’s talking about wines that have…
Doug Decants: Macon Cuvée 910, Clos des Vignes du Maynes
AKA Life in the Bojo slow lane and Cistercians doing it for themselves Macon-Cruzille Rouge “Cuvée 910” a field blend that harks back a millennium plus change. (or no change)…
Chill the Rouge!
Chilled reds are not just for summer. In summer, all reds should either spend an hour cooling their heels in the fridge, or be granted a swift bath in an…
All you needed to know about Oregon: Part Three – Alternative Perspectives
Alternative Perspectives As one may easily see Oregon is home to a highly unified, friendly and supportive producer network. I would go further: In my experience, Oregon presents the most…
All you needed to know about Oregon: Part Two – The Emergence of Wine Culture
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…
All you needed to know about Oregon: Part One – Pinot Noir and life beyond
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…
Doug Decants: Award-winning Saffas, Sherry-not-Sherry, New Slovenians, Matassa, Commando G + More!
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…
Oregon Tale
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…
Words to the Wine: Part Three
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…
Will global warming make wines more alcoholic?
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…
Why doesn’t Les Caves de Pyrene carry major brands?
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,…
Wines of Georgia Tasting in London
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…
Doug Decants: Champers, Sherry, Gramenon and more!
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…
The Strange Affair of the Missing Wine Mention
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…
June is Grower Champagne Month!
Our friends at The Good Wine Shop, in partnership with Les Caves de Pyrene and several other top notch distributors and retailers (as well the excellent Bottled Films), are spearheading…
What the bubbles is Pet Nat?
A Pet Nat (short for pétillant naturel) is a sparkling wine from a single vintage that undergoes a single fermentation. The wine ferments with its own yeast in tank or…
What is orange wine?
Orange is a colour in the wine spectrum. The colour denotes that grapes (which we may normally associate with white wines) have been macerated on their skins – as if…
Real Thanks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=OY6hTsfQF9k The Real Wine Fair 2017 Highlights. Video by Bottled Films. The Real Wine Fair is always a gigantic collaborative effort. As well as a big heart, it requires a…
Taste Slovenia
Towards the end of 2016, our Sir Wregg traipsed across Slovenia tasting the bounty of its most artisan of growers. Fast forwarded to present day we have wines from two…
Georgia on my… palate
Mandili Mtsvane Mandili is a project of Marina Kurtanidze (who is married to Iago Bitarishvili) and Tea Melanashvili. Both women wanted to make a wine that was both Georgian in…
What is en rama and what are we doing about it?
One of the most compelling developments of the nascent sherry renaissance has been the emergence of a new style known as en rama, which roughly translates to “on the branch”…
The Wild West: Cracking Californians and Outstanding Oregonians
The Real Wine Fair was attended by many of our Californian and Oregonian vignerons (don’t forget Vermont – Ed). The range of wines poured was incredible – we believe this…
The Fault-Finder General
Do not fret, it’s not a crisis But this wine has brettanomyces! “He was marked out by his relentless ability to find fault with others' mediocrity--suggesting that a certain type…
How to get the best out of the Real Wine Fair 2017
TRAVEL Check out Transport for London website for travel options and route planning (as well as news on any possible delays). Nearest stations are Shadwell – DLR and Wapping -London Overground…
ONE WEEK TO GO!
The Real Wine Fair is one of the original natural wine fairs and has become an internationally-renowned event since its inception in 2012. Growers come from all over the world…
Does the Real Wine Fair 2017 have a theme?
Doug Wregg, co-organiser of the Real Wine Fair: Someone asked me what the theme of the fair was and I had no idea - we don't really work to a theme. But then I…
Of Good Fairs, The Real Story, and Georgian Wine Culture
If I may rehash my chirpy cockney praise for natural wine fairs: A bit of natural wine, from the organic vine More than good, it’s fine – it’s out of…
Mimi, Fifi, Glouglou and me with Michel Tolmer
...at The Real Wine Fair Sunday 7th May 2.00 pm The Official Launch of the English version of Michel Tolmer's book, Mimi, Fifi & Glouglou, translated by our Sir Wregg! Who are…
English Wine at the Real Wine Fair: Davenport Vineyards
Will Davenport of Davenport Vineyards will once again be at the Real Wine Fair this year 7-8th May 2017, pouring a selection of still and sparkling wines. He’s been making…
Back to basics, or what makes wine the way it is
In the beginning… Is potential. This comprises a particular location and a sympathetic culture. That culture will include the greater wine environment, the history of farming, the gastronomy of the…
Three Restaurants = Six Wine Bars
International pop-ups! Sunday May 7th Celebrating The Real Wine Fair! #realwinefair In their own words… Paris meets Battersea: Le Verre Volé at Soif Who stole the glass at Le Verre…
Not the last word by any means on the natural wine kerfuffle
This article is inspired, if that’s the right word, by a proliferation of silly pieces about natural wines recently. Like the mythical London buses, these broadsides tend to come in…
Keeping it Real (Wine) with Co-Organiser Doug Wregg
We are proud to say that Doug Wregg, our sales and marketing director was named no. 28 in this year's ‘Harpers' Hot 100: Celebrating the most influential people in the…
Doug Decants: Limoux and Oregon (as you do), plus Natural Resistance and Farewell to Patricia!
New Wines -a-coming-around-the-corner Gilles Azam, Domaine Les Hautes-Terres – delicious Limoux Chardonnay and a Crémant made from Chenin, Mauzac and Chardonnay called Josephine. Organic wines from beautifully farmed organic vineyards.…
Oregon, not forgotten: A report on the Wines of Oregon Tasting
...at One Great George Street. Up the sweep of the grand staircase into the cathedral-like Great Hall, beneath the unfeasibly huge pineal chandelier and underneath the stern gaze of bushy-faced…
Beware Natural Wines
It is a truth universally acknowledged: there is no such thing as natural wine. This is because it is self-evident that nature does not make the wine, but man does.…
Words to the Wine: Part Two
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…
Chatting with: Christian Tschida
Winemaker, farmer, vigneron – how do you see your role? Is there an Austrian word or expression that captures the work that you do? Way more farmer than winemaker. I…
Ganbrukenjouillon at The Remedy!
Jurassic Bottle Bonanza The pleasure of wine is amplified when it is shared with friends and fellow-enthusiasts. A bevy of Jurassic bottles had been gathering considerable quantities of dust (testament…
Shock News: Les Caves sells Burgundies
Ever heard the following exchange? Where are you going today? We’re going to the Les Caves de Pyrene en primeur Burgundy tasting. I hear that they have an amazing range…
The Eagles have landed…again
New Wines! Kelley Fox Her new wine, Ahurani Pinot Noir, comes from grapes harvested in the biodynamic Momtazi vineyard. We love the label which illustrates the teeming diversity of wild…
Chatting with: Heidi Nam Knudsen of the Ottolenghi Group
Heidi Nam Knudsen is the wine-buyer for the Ottolenghi group and General Manager of Nopi restaurant. Why wine? How did you get your start? I was always fascinated by mixing flavours…
Viñateros Wows The Wine Trade!
Viñateros, a tasting of the best of Spanish artisan wines, presented by the producers themselves, took place on Tuesday 21st February at Switch House at The Tate Modern Gallery in…
A Northern Italian Voyage
This fantastic videologue was made by Benoit from Adam's Restaurant in Birmingham, who took part in our recent "Deep North" trip, visiting some of our talented northern Italian growers (1701 Franciacorta,…
Ditch the Dishwater
Was it Mariah Carey in We Belong Together (remix, feat. Jadakiss and Sty) who extolled the great PG: Big cups, Pinot Grigio Take it easy, yo No, we don’t yo…
An Evening with Jean-Pierre Frick: Fresh Air in the Natural Wine Debate
I was fortunate enough to attend a wine dinner at Terroirs Wine Bar hosted Jean-Pierre Frick who has written a book called Du Vin, De l’Air. This slim but beautifully-presented…
Meet the Austrians at the Real Wine Fair 2017
The Real Wine Fair is pleased to welcome a host of great growers from Austria for our 2017 event. Austrian wines are establishing a reputation throughout the world for their…
Doug Decants: The natural Burgundies of Domaine Ballorin and other news!
Focus on… The natural Burgundies of Domaine Ballorin Gilles wines are avowedly natural – organic and biodynamically farmed vineyards, ambient ferments with indigenous yeasts in resin-coated vats and stainless steel…
Autochthonous
I once tasted a Georgian wine that had over 400 grape varieties blended into it. If ever there was a declaration of the symbolic desire to preserve a multi-faceted grape…
Dial N for Overkill
“When first the crocus thrusts its point of gold/Up through the still snow-drifted garden mound”, then the world of wine suffers a peculiar invasion of bodysnatchers, wherein seemingly rational upstanding…
The Future’s Bright, The Future’s Orange
An appreciation of the Don’s alternative reality "During a rally in Florida yesterday Donald Trump boasted about his plans for ISIS and said he will “be their worst nightmare.”…
Chatting with: Amaya Cervera
Spanish wine expert Amaya Cervera runs the website Spanish Wine Lover. She is a passionate spokesperson for wines from her home country, as well as being successful wine journalist. Amaya…
Les Caves’s Relative Success and The Infinite Improbability Drive
Lovely article by way of interview by Andrew Jefford in Decanter detailing the unorthodox journey of Les Caves de Pyrene, how we ascended from the depths of rank amateurism (or…
Wine Writing for Antiquity and The Humdrum Reality
From Ode to Wine – Pablo Neruda Day-coloured wine, night-coloured wine, wine with purple feet or wine with topaz blood, wine, starry child of earth, wine, smooth as a golden…
Drink good wine, not rocket fuel, which is not rocket science.
My modest proposal is to ask anyone who is involved in the wine trade, be they importers or retailers, sommeliers or bloggers, to take a step back from what they…
Chatting with: Matthew Rorick of Forlorn Hope Wines, California
"At Matthew Rorick Wines, we love the longshots. We love the outsiders, the lost causes, the people/projects/ideas abandoned as not having a chance in the world. Rare creatures from appellations…
Doug Decants: New wines from Arbois, South Africa, and Itata!
Recently Arrivals Nom d’Un Nom d’un Nom d’Un Chien! Playful names to play with: 2015 Straight No Chaser, Hughes Beguet Superb value Arbois blend of Chardonnay and Savagnin from Patrice…
Bad Moon Rising
I’m not sure which day on the Marie Thun calendar the treatise Expectation or Sensorial Reality? An Empirical Investigation of the Biodynamic Calendar for Wine Drinkers…,by Wendy V. Parr, Dominique…