Wines made from Bobal grapes of El Terrerazo

‘Por fin se ha hecho justicia.’ (Finally, justice has been served) This strongly-worded statement was made by the Denomination of Origin Utiel-Requena in Spain’s Autonomous Region of Valencia as part of a press announcement in July. It refers to a Spanish Supreme Court ruling that was fully ratified at the end of September, closing a decade-long conflict between the region’s three DOs that pitted Valencia against Utiel-Requena and Alicante. The latter two had demanded that grapes fro ...

My book The Complete Bordeaux, which has been revised every five years, is soon to be published in its fourth edition. This may seem like excessive haste, given the scope of the book, but it is astonishing how rapidly changes can take place in the region. Burgundy, in contrast, is relatively stable, since most properties are family-owned and tend to stay that way. But not so in Bordeaux, where there are ample opportunities for newcomers to acquire established properties, as they have been doing ...

Bordeaux winemakers launched a large protest earlier this week to renew calls for state help, notably a subsidised scheme to pull up vines, as part of a social plan to help growers. Those marching through the city’s streets sought to highlight a cocktail of financial pressures facing winemakers. While Bordeaux is best-known as the home of major châteaux, there are thousands of winemakers across the region. Bordeaux’s wine bureau, the CIVB, has warned some growers are in ‘great econom ...