Top 100 white wines of Lombardie

While vineyards are managed one vintage at a time, farming practices take a longer view. A survey of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers members found that, on average, about 90% wanted more education and resources for water conservation, climate resilience and climate-smart farming opportunities. This grant will go a long way to help provide those resources. ‘Farmers are by nature risk averse,’ said Molly Williams of Napa Valley Grapegrowers. ‘Climate change poses considerable risks. We aren’t plantin ...

The De Marchi family established the 56ha estate back in 1956, and it is now firmly established as one of the region’s leading producers. Isole e Olena played a key role in reviving the quality of Chianti in the 1970s, and its flagship wine – Cepparello, a barrique-aged Sangiovese from old vines – is regarded as one of the original Super Tuscans. A Piedmont lawyer called Francesco De Marchi founded the business, but his visionary son – Paulo De Marchi – has driven its rise to prominence. He is r ...

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking up at some terraced vineyards in St-Joseph with an Australian friend. He remarked that he’d never seen a steep vineyard like this in his home country. Who could afford to rip out the trees, build the access roads, construct the terraces, and plant the vines, without being certain beforehand that the resulting wine could be sold at prices high enough to recoup the investment? It might not be the most romantic way of looking at it. But that’s the modern reality ...