The flavor of spice cake in wine

Whenever I visit Domaine Richaud, just outside the village of Cairanne, the winemaking team remind me of friends I made at free parties in the 1990s in fields and disused warehouses. I’m not talking dreadlocks and dogs on strings, but there’s always an anarchic frisson in the air. You get the impression they know how to enjoy themselves. Perhaps it’s to be expected, given the radical furrow Marcel Richaud has ploughed. He’s approaching 70 now, but still thrums with pent-up energy, his ice-blue e ...

Not so long ago, most Hermitage was a blend of different vineyards from across the hill. However, since the 1990s we’ve seen an increasing range of single-vineyard wines being made. Getting a handle on the most important sites will help guide you to a style you enjoy, and even if you prefer blended wines, becoming familiar with the individual Hermitage lieux-dits will enrich your drinking experience. Scroll down to see Matt Walls’ tasting notes and scores for seven wines from Hermitage lie ...

The concept, developed by design teams from both companies, borrows ideas from the automotive world in its use of a horizontal, rather than vertical, bottle design, and in holding back some important information about the product to be released at a later date. Macallan master whisky maker Kirsteen Campbell has already finalised the liquid for Horizon, following a visit to Bentley’s headquarters in Crewe, but no details about the whisky, its price or its availability, will be released until earl ...