Driving through Napa and Sonoma, the land still bears the scars of 2020. The wildfires that raged through the region have left a long-lasting mark, whether it’s lengthy reconstruction efforts or the stark, charred tree trunks that cover the mountains. But it’s more than that. To an outsider, the fires feel intangible, terrifying yet somehow…
Second wines are no longer à la mode. In Bordeaux, these junior siblings – traditionally made with declassified fruit from the Grand Vin – are being rebranded as alternate expressions of a château. While this has fast become a familiar trope among the region’s master marketeers (who wants to suggest that anything is lesser?), for…
When the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce ranked Bordeaux’s leading estates by price for the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1855, I doubt they anticipated we’d still be using it over 150 years later. Napoleon III had asked the team to put together an exhibition for the world fair, and the Chamber of Commerce neatly passed…
While Bordeaux’s Left Bank was classified in 1855, the Right Bank didn’t establish an equivalent ranking until the 1950s. There are classifications for the Graves, Sauternes and Barsac, as well as the Médoc across the Gironde, but it is only Saint-Emilion that has been classified on the Right. How does Saint-Emilion’s classification work? The classification…
There are many exciting changes coming your way this year, including a new-and-improved buying and trading platform, industry-leading events and world-class buying and region guides. We examine how these changes will benefit you – and your collection This is a big year for Vinfolio. It has been six months since we first announced our merger…
Our team at FINE+RARE in London recently hosted an event with Château Ausone at Hotel Café Royal, tasting nine vintages of the wine, as well as a flight from the Vauthier family’s other estates. It was a rare opportunity for the team, the guests and Edouard Vauthier himself to taste so many vintages of this…
Sauternes might be the most distinctive wine on the planet. Its combination of power, unctuosity and aromatic complexity is unparalleled. These extraordinary wines consistently compete with the finest wines made anywhere in the world. But unlike most wines of the world, Sauternes’s journey from vine to bottle is a tumultuous affair. Typically, over half the…
For a long time, Tuscany was known merely for its squat jugs of rustic Chianti, almost inevitably in quaint straw baskets; thin, insipid wines that are a shadow of what the region has proven it can produce today. While Chianti had once been known for making fine wine – having been the first region to…
Much has been written about Promontory. The property was discovered by Bill Harlan in the 1980s, hidden behind a ridgeline in Oakville, and its story – one that almost feels mythical – has been told many times (including by us). Those stories, however, don’t prepare you for standing in this vineyard. “The territory”, as the…
Château Haut-Brion is one of the oldest and best-known names in fine wine. The Bordeaux First Growth estate was created by Jean de Pontac, back in 1533, and its wines were among the first to be exported. Records detail 169 bottles of the wine (then as “Hobriono”) served to guests in 1660 by King Charles II.…
Calon Ségur was my first ever en primeur purchase. There was such hype around the 2005 vintage and I was desperate to get my hands on something, anything. At the time I was a delivery driver for a small wine merchant and it was a luxury, but I could just afford a 12-bottle case of Calon…
Our team has spent the last week touring some of Napa and Sonoma’s best wineries, exploring the Golden State and what makes it so special. Sophie Thorpe considers why – three centuries after the Gold Rush – California remains a land of opportunity Think of the Golden State and you imagine sunshine, orange trees and…
