Wine of the moment

When a parcel of 20 top wines from the late Eighties and early Nineties comes your way, you don’t say no. But a pleasure shared is an even greater pleasure, as they say, so we tasted this collection of Bordeaux crus (including Lafite and Haut-Brion) plus a couple of „pirates“ (Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon, Poggio Antico …

If you want to be the best, you have to put yourself to the test against the rest. And this is exactly what Cantina Kurtatsch did. Unusually for South Tirol, they produce a Merlot-dominated Bordeaux blend, Tres, (yup, as the name suggests, there are two other Bordeaux varieties alongside the Merlot) and this was the …

So when is a white wine golden yellow in colour? Three possible reasons: Oh, and a fourth reason – the wine could be oxidised, dead, no longer drinkable. I had feared the latter, but in fact with this Inama Soave Classico Vigneto du Lot, it was a bit of a combination of 1) and 3). …

When tasting one of the most famous wines in the world, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, it is important to make sure your jumper matches the label. By the way, the artist was Georg Baselitz, appropriately a German, as 1989 was of course the year in which the wall fell between East and West Germany. This was …

From one dormant volcano and one active one, both these wines show that typical saltiness and minerality associated with wines grown on volcanic soils. The Anydrous Assrytiko from Santorini comes from old ungrafted vines (woven into a basket shape, a bit like a bird’s nest to give protection from the strong winds and allow dew …

(if your name is Axel Neiss): 1) wind – plenty of it, ideal for dring the grapes after a bout of rain to avoid those pesky cryptogammic diseases; 2) elevation – height brings slopes and cooler temperatures – just the ticket when temperatures rise; 3) stoney soil rich in limestone – great for water retention …

As if Italy did not have enough indigenous grapes, there is now a new white wine star, rising from the ashes like Phoenix. Timorasso. From small beginnings, Walter Massa re-energised this fascinating grape variety so that today 300 hectares are planted in the Colli Tortonesi (which is, rather strangely, called Derthona on many wines labels, …

That unmistakable label. An icon. And Schütt, an extraordinary site in Austria’s Wachau, for both Riesling and Grüner Veltliner, with cooling winds from the north giving herbal notes of dill despite the warmth of the 2018 vintage. A mix of apricot and marzipan with some white pepper intermingled with acacia honey. Complex, concentrated and poised, …

Everyone needs one: a house Champagne that is. Ours comes from brother and sister team, Nicolas and Clotilde Chuavet who are masters of the vineyards and cellar respectively, in Rilly en Champagne in the Montagne de Reims. Their Champagnes do not undergo malo and hence have citrus-fresh structure and longevity, yet without losing out on …

The Feldmarschall has been a cult wine for several decades. Just goes to show what a 1000 metre high, south-facing single vineyard mountain site, Fenner, in Kurtatsch, South Tirol (and a lot of TLC) can do for that once maligned grape variety, Müller Thurgau. Originally believed to be a crossing from 1882 of Riesling and …