Wine Knowledge

The People Who Can't Choose a Wine Are Usually Choosing It Right

You love wine, but you don't really understand it.That is not a failing.Forget grape varieties and scores: what matters is what you plan to eat and who you are drinking with.That instinct is the mo...

How Pinot Noir Changes Across Burgundy - Reading the Regional Appellations

One grape, and yet Pinot Noir wears a startlingly different face from one corner of Burgundy to the next. Climate, soil, altitude and generations of differing thinking in the vineyard all leave the...

Wine as a Gift | How to Choose the Right Bottle for Any Occasion

Taking a bottle of wine as a gift.It sounds like the easiest thing in the world - until you are standing in front of the shelf trying to decide. You do not know what they like.You are not sure what...

Seven Wines for the Christmas Table - Pairings to Savour

At Christmas, the food takes centre stage.The ideal wine adds a little sparkle to the occasion while quietly making the food taste better. "Champagne, obviously.""Red or white? I never can decide."...

Sugar alone changes everything — the styles of dry Champagne, and how Brut Nature, Extra Brut and Brut differ

Two Champagnes with much the same label, and yet completely different in the glass — have you ever had that experience? Grape variety and ageing matter, of course, but the taste of a Champagne chan...

How to find the Champagne that suits you

Grape × dosage decides the taste We tend to choose Champagne by the look of the label, a shop's recommendation or the price. In fact, the direction of the taste is decided almost entirely by just t...

Four Southern Rhône appellations in a phrase each: Lirac, Vacqueyras, Gigondas and Cairanne

The southern Rhône is a great wine region of many appellations, led by Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Among them, Lirac, Vacqueyras, Gigondas and Cairanne differ so clearly in style that a side-by-side tasti...

The four main varieties you need to know to understand Rhône white wine

Viognier/Grenache Blanc/Marsanne/Roussanne When people think of the Rhone region of France, many first think of powerful, spicy red wines. However, the Rhone is also a treasure trove of white wi...

Rethinking Châteauneuf-du-Pape: Three Fruits and Selection Tips

Chateauneuf-du-Pape, an AOC (AOP) that represents the Southern Rhone, is well-known to wine lovers. Just hearing the name might conjure up words like "rich," "powerful," and "suitable for aging." W...

From "power" to "suppleness": Poderi Gianni Gagliardo's vision of Barolo for a new era

When you hear the word "Barolo," many people will imagine a powerful, heavy wine that is the "wine of kings" and requires long-term aging. But Poderi Gianni Gagliardo, based in the village of La ...