Top Wine Countries in the World

Lesser-Known Regions from the Top Wine Countries in the World Are Growing Fast in Reputation and Quality

When you think of French wine, you probably picture bubbly Champagne, savory Rhone, or rare Bordeaux and Burgundy blends. However, writer Sophia Schweitzer points out that France has so much more going on for it, all hidden in the countrysides of lesser-known regions. In the past, collectors only considered French AOC wines to be worth…

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Wine Inheritance Tax

In France, Inheritance Is a Privilege, Not a Right: What the Wine Inheritance Tax Means for Estates

In the 1930s and 1940s, French winemaking families could easily pay off even the steepest wine inheritance tax within one harvest season. Today, paying off inheritance taxes on vineyards can take 10 years or more on family-run estates. Domaine Armand Rousseau’s Eric Rousseau explains, “It’s even more crippling for domaines that have difficulty selling their…

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dry farming wine

Winemakers Return to Dry Farming Wine to Make Great Wines in Dry Climates

  When regions like Oregon and California are crippled with drought, it seems counterintuitive to withhold water from vines. Yet more winemakers in these regions are turning to dry farming practices as a way to make better tasting wine; so far, the change is working. Dry farming has been around for centuries, long before humans…

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eu wine regulation

EU Wine Regulation Gives Producers More Freedom, But What Does It Mean for France’s Iconic Wine Regions?

  Change doesn’t come easily to French wine culture, as we have seen with wine enthusiasts lamenting the sale of wine land to foreign buyers in Bordeaux. The country’s reputation for fine wine has given it an esteemed reputation, and any minor change can elicit worry among its winemakers. The EU recently passed a regulation…

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wine investments

Liv-Ex Reveals What’s Hot on the Wine Market: For Wine Investments, Look to California, Italy, and Burgundy

  Now that 2015 has come to a close, the London International Vintner’s Exchange (Liv-ex) has released its annual report detailing the best-performing wines and wine regions in the world. This year’s report suggests that Bordeaux has lost some of its hold on the market over the past year, but that other regions like California,…

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Bordeaux bubble

China’s Attempts to Avoid a Second Bordeaux Bubble: This Time, the Country Is Primed for Meaningful Change

  Bordeaux has enjoyed a long, prosperous history as France’s great wine region, but after 2011, wine collectors around the world were cautious of investing in the region’s bottles. The reason? In the early 2000s, Chinese wine enthusiasts became obsessed with all things Bordeaux, going from investing in an average of 12,000 hectoliters of wine…

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