Decanter

This year’s wine harvest in France could be one of the smallest of the past 100 years, thanks to the widespread effects of spring frost, hail and downy mildew, according to official forecasts. The French agriculture ministry’s Agreste statistics unit

Malbec and Carmenère may have become South America’s most emblematic red varieties, but in keeping with the rest of the wine world, the most-planted wine grape is actually Cabernet Sauvignon. With 50,677ha of vines in Chile and Argentina alone (2022)

When it comes to Vitis vinifera genetic diversity, the New World could save the Old World.’ This dramatic statement was made in 2023 by Dr Etienne Neethling, a South Africa-born viticulture researcher now working in France. This view may be surprisin

It was a complete shock,’ says Alvaro Espinoza, remembering the fateful moment 30 years ago. Jean-Michel Boursiquot, the French ampelographer, had just informed him that his prized Merlot vineyard was not what he thought it was. ‘He told me it wasn’t

The path that leads to Leonardo Erazo’s winery is narrow and slippery. The mud is thick from rain that has not stopped for almost a week, and the pine forests on both sides barely let in the light. I should have listened to Erazo when he told me to r

This thick-skinned, deeply coloured grape variety first arrived in Uruguay from Spain’s northerly Basque country in the 1870s. Today it accounts for a quarter of Uruguay’s vineyard plantings and is the undisputed king of Uruguayan wine. Tannat is one

The low-yielding 2021 crop of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in Napa Valley delivered astounding wines of total intrigue and authenticity that can border on the flirtatious, with captivating complexity and staying power designed to build impressionable nu

Trying to get a handle on Roussanne is like trying to grasp a cloud. Just when you think you’ve got it – pouf! – it slips through your fingers. It doesn’t help that it’s often blended with more assertive grapes. To shine a light on it, I pulled toget

The motivation for this piece was, at the outset, to document the evolution of the exciting projects that, over the last 20 years, have been carving out an ‘alternative’ face of Ribera del Duero. It quickly became apparent that the real story concern

It seems that everywhere you turn in the wine world, you’ll find a grape called Malvasia – according to the ultimate scientific grapevine database VIVC.de, there are as many as 290 of them. And many are delicious, so are definitely worth exploring. T

What is a field blend? How is it different from a blended wine? Imagine a meadow of wildflowers picked all at once and made into perfume. Field blends are wines made from different grape varieties that are grown together in one vineyard and then co-

If you’re keen to expand your rum knowledge, a new book by global rum ambassador Ian Burrell has you covered. Published this month, Rum: A Tasting Course explores the history and culture of rum, covering everything from how and where it’s made to dif

You might, in seeking out a special bottle of tequila, gravitate towards those amber-coloured, long-aged luxury expressions – añejos and extra añejos – in their fancy packaging. But a growing number of noteworthy blanco tequilas are doing things diff

When cooking with fruit, let simplicity be your guide. Honest cooking begins with fresh, flavourful ingredients. It’s easy to improve almost any dish by tasting the ingredients first. In the case of fruit, this means tasting for ripeness and flavour.

Rio de Janeiro is Brazil’s first city of sun and fun, but São Paulo is its capital of dining and cocktails. Thanks to the melting pot of communities that migrated there from diverse corners of Europe and Asia, Brazil’s largest city will satisfy even

In summer, Provence offers brilliant blue skies and Mediterranean beaches. The winters can be a bit wetter, but they are still relatively warm, especially by the sea, where pines and oaks give way to palm trees, vibrant purple bougainvillaea and citr

Each month our experts answer your burning wine questions. Email your queries to [email protected] Why do some sparkling wine producers choose to age their wine underwater? Joe Mason, by email Anne Krebiehl, Decanter contributor, replies: Four thi

The stellar reputation of South America’s premium red wines has been built on the region’s iconic varietal wines: Argentinian Malbec, Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenère, and Uruguayan Tannat. Yet these wines are a relatively recent phenomenon,

Andrew Jefford is a contributing editor to Decanter and a long-standing columnist, as well as a Co-Chair of the DWWA Off we go, into our third decade, and with a spring in our step. 2024 sees the DWWA Co-Chair team swell to five, with the appointment

18,141 WINES BLIND-TASTED 243 EXPERT WINE JUDGES FROM AROUND THE WORLD FIFTY-SEVEN COUNTRIES WHERE THE TOP MEDALS WERE AWARDED AROUND THE WORLD Where the top medals were awarded globally 50 BEST IN SHOW 643 Gold 8,016 BRONZE 5,977 SILVER 117 Platin

£38.10 Hedonism It’s hard to believe, today, that the first vines in Gualtallary weren’t planted until 1992 – and then only for sparkling wine. Three decades have seen an explosion of interest in its high-altitude, often steeply sloping sites, and we

£78.99 Top Selection Exhibiting striking Gualtallary character with luminous pear, apple and lime fruit, which cascades bounteously over a flinty, wet stone mineral core. Alert and intense with a fine bead of succulent acidity and a very long, stylis

95 Pierre Sparr, Réserve Brut, Crémant d’Alsace, France NV (12.5%) $19-$24 Bauer Wine & Spirits, Columbus Circle Wine, Cool Springs Wine & Spirits, Somm Cellars, Total Wine & More, Wine.com Sparkling with personality and charm; parading delicious pea