Tropical Boundaries
by Nic Spencer
My first encounter with Indian wines left me unimpressed. They had a hint of two-stroke exhaust and DEET on the nose, reminiscent of the smell that hits you when the...
Author: Tim Atkin
Bulking Up
by Andy Neather
In the vast factory I’m surrounded by the clink of bottling lines. Despite the huge space, there aren’t many workers, and most of them are either adjusting robots or zipping...
The Dilution of Terroir
by Guy Woodward
First up, a trigger warning… I’m approaching this article from the premise that terroir exists. It’s a position to which I would hope most readers of this site would subscribe....
Uncomfortable Truths
by Kate Lofthouse
Champagne is one of the elegant extras in life. These words, borrowed from Dickens, capture some of the glamour and sparkle of Champagne, its decadence and luxury. It is a...
The Truth About Myths
by Sara Danese
Contrary to popular belief, the Chinese don’t mix Bordeaux with Coke. Yet, between November 2017 and September 2018, I lost count of how many times I was told this, along...
An Uncertain Road
by Peter Pharos
I stood there watching Mark Zuckerberg welcome the new year with an announcement that Meta goes MAGA, and I knew that I should feel worried, angry or afraid, but a...
Resuscitating The English Patient
by John Atkinson MW
Two decades ago, I gave a PowerPoint presentation on Champagne in Champagne. At the end, there was a ripple of applause that fell decibels short of ‘polite’ on the clapometer....
The Need For A Story
by Margaret Rand
When did winemakers become philosophers? Is it that if you charge more than a certain amount for a bottle of wine you have to justify it by some intellectual heft,...
Aiming High
by Tim Atkin
Where are the highest vineyards in Europe. Switzerland? The Alto Adige perhaps? Both have sites that are vertiginous when you compare them to most of the continent’s classic wine regions....
Singing The Same Tune
by HÃ¥vard Flatland
It’s just over 100 years since Rudolf Steiner delivered his eight-lecture Agriculture Course in Kobertwitz (Kobierzyce in present-day Poland). Sometimes described as the world’s first organic agriculture course, one that...
The Vauxhall Paulée
by John Atkinson MW
The Jesuit promise to take the child and return the man holds loosely for wine. Â Making the right calls during the formative stages of production should help deliver successful outcomes....
Reasons To Be Cheerful
by Andy Neather
This is never a particularly joyful month for the wine industry. Nobody is ever buying much just after Christmas. And these days, the festival of self-denying piousness that is Dry...