Yearly Archives: 2020

What is it about cattle? As my mentor Bart Simpson has said on many occasions: “Don’t have a cow, man!”. And we all have our pet beefs (or is it…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…