The flavor of oak in wine of Haskovo

Described by Courvoisier as ‘daring’, ‘visionary’ and ‘a first-of-its-kind collaboration’, Courvoisier Mizunara was created by the house’s recently-retired maître de chai, Patrice Pinet, and Shinji Fukuyo, chief blender of Japanese whisky maker Suntory. The project dates back to 2015, when the president of Suntory visited Courvoisier at Jarnac shortly after Suntory took over Beam Global, the Cognac house’s then owner, in a deal worth US$16bn. Pinet expressed an interest in experimenting with miz ...

I haplessly strayed into this controversial territory last summer during a debate at the Paulée d’Anjou event, having noted a significant minority of VSIG producers (Vin Sans Indication Géographique, the customary French abbreviation for this category) in the Loire. It seemed a shame, I burbled innocently, not to make use of local appellations to build understanding of their unique character, as well as show solidarity with fellow growers. The room quietened a little; glances were exchanged. C ...

Vanilla was ranked as the most pleasant smell in a study involving 235 people and conducted by an international network of researchers, including those from the University of Oxford and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. This was closely followed by ethyl butyrate, ‘which smells like peaches’, said the researchers, who published their findings in the Current Biology journal. Vanilla notes can be found in several wine styles, such as some iterations of Chardonnay or Rioja, largely resulting from ...