Rioja’s vineyard revolution
by Tim Atkin
Juan Carlos López de Lacalle doesn’t look like a man who storms barricades. Skinny, bespectacled and bald, he’s more academic than action man. But appearances can be deceptive. The owner...
Author: Tim Atkin
The Wine Time Capsule from 2015
by Ron Washam
I’m not sure what motivated my ancestor to bury a wine time capsule back in 2015, but I felt that after two hundred years it was time to dig it...
Back to the future
by Simon Woolf
Fine wines are timeless – that elusive combination of elegance, complexity and gravitas, plus ageing potential in spades. Their prices unfortunately are not. Top rank Bordeaux, Burgundy or mature Barolos...
The Stellenbosch Renaissance
by Tim Atkin
When the 400 tickets for this year’s Swartland Revolution went on sale earlier this summer, they sold out within two minutes. Since it was first held in 2010, the annual...
In praise of PR people
by Henry Jeffreys
Sometimes people’s names determine their whole life. A. J. Splatt and D. Weedon are both doctors of urology. There’s an Israeli tennis player called Anna Smashanova and a Dutch architect...
Riedel me this
by Ron Washam
In this piece, US-based wine writer Ron Washam pokes fun at Riedel, the wine glass company, a brand that I respect and use personally. This is a piece of satire....
Georgia: a visit to dreamland
by Tim Atkin
Visitors to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi were warned to stay off the streets last month. The city has seen its share of disorder over the centuries, but this had...
A letter from the Publisher of Le Pan Magazine
by Ron Washam
Hello Le Pan is the only wine magazine that answers the questions to which real wine connoisseurs need answers. Is my private jet a good place to store my First...
Are en primeur Bordeaux scores out of control?
by Tim Atkin
In his timely article on Wine-Pages about score inflation in Bordeaux, Stephen Brook sets out to prove that points reached a “preposterous level” in 2014. He also accuses me of...
Priorat: too little of a good thing?
by Tim Atkin
It doesn’t feature on many wine tours, but the village of Bellmunt del Priorat has its very own mining museum, a tribute to a time when lead was more important...
Jefford on Mundane: Palate and Column Fatigue
by Ron Washam
How do you maintain your nose? Your tongue is your most important tool, but whose box do you keep it in? How often do you need a liver transplant? And...
To spray or not to spray?
by Tim Atkin
Thibault Liger-Belair is the last person you’d expect to see in a court of law. He’s friendly, respected and a supremely honest bloke who makes some of the best wines...