The flavor of wax in wine of Villa de Leyva

It’s no easy task to establish a super-premium wine in an entirely new region, particularly when inviting potential retail partners or distributors to the vineyard involves journeying to a distant corner of the Himalayas in the outer reaches of the Yunnan province, southwestern China. For my journey, after four flights from Bordeaux to Shanghai, Chengdu then Shangri-La, it was a four-hour drive up through stunning mountain passes to the foothills (here, that means 2,200m above sea level) of the ...

There are dozens of UK restaurants with excellent lists showcasing the wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy. Finding one with a good Rhône offering isn’t so easy, but if you’re craving for Cornas or longing for Lirac, here are some options with excellent selections. I’ve grouped them into three levels: gold, silver and bronze. I considered a number of criteria: quality of producers, value for money, range, vintages on offer, and availability of mature bottles and rarities. I was only judging the Rhône ...

Champagne doesn’t have much of a reputation for collective-mindedness. Ever since the region’s governing body decided to force growers to lower their yields during the Covid-hit summer of 2020, fearful of an oversupply of bottles and an undersupply of occasions to drink them, growers and houses have been grappling with a series of disagreements. First there was confusion and protest from a group of ecologically minded vignerons unhappy with the region’s quiet retreat from a proposed herbicide ba ...