The flavor of tarragon in wine of Wallonie

Last year, there was much mirth on wine Twitter about a particularly excruciating tasting note. You’re right. The wine trade needs to get out more. But still… this one was a beauty. It began well enough – really quite beautiful, in fact. But before long the imaginative descriptions were getting more ornate and strained. It moved from poetic to meaningless before finishing with a reference to Burnt Norton – the first of TS Eliot’s Four Quartets – that put it firmly in Private Eye magazine’s ...

On 19 September 2021, the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge in the island of La Palma, Spain began a massive, three-month long eruption, that was a catastrophic event for this westward island in the Canarias. The volcanic fumes caused breathing problems as well as the cancellation of flights and fruit harvests, including grapes. Despite 7,000 people needing evacuation from the flow of the lava, there was only one fatality during the entire eruption. As the lava flow eventually covered over 1,000ha, mo ...

A judge ordered a cumulative bail of €65 million (£56m) be set for six defendants in the case, and the court is asking for up to €25m in damages – based on information that the fraudulent scheme helped the company to generate more than €14m in net profits between 2019 and 2021 alone. The case started in late 2021 when news broke that three Denominations of Origin (DOs) in the Catalunya region – those representing Montsant, Priorat, and Terra Alta – had filed legal proceedings against the wine co ...