The flavor of hay in wine of Primorje

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 ...

How do we define a great winemaking estate? Extraordinary terroir, winemaking excellence and a long track record for quality are three criteria that spring to mind. Clos de la Bonnette can only claim the first two, as Isabelle Guiller-Montabonnet has only been making wine since 2009. Scroll down to see Matt Walls’ tasting notes and scores for eight Clos de la Bonnette wines As for the third element, however, I suspect it’s only a matter of time. {"content":"PC9wPgo8cD48ZGl2I ...

Some Cornas estates, like Domaine Clape, feel as ancient and unchanging as the granite hills themselves. Others, like Domaine Alain Voge, go through periods of flux. When this is due to vineyards being ripped out, bought or sold, then the whole profile of an estate can be altered. That’s not the case at Voge. Instead, it’s due to the coming and going of people and the unavoidable change that entails. I visited Lionel Fraisse, the current managing director at Domaine Alain Voge, to taste a select ...