Wines made from Chardonnay grapes of Graves

What to drink now… Mimosa Perfect for spring brunch, the Mimosa is a mix of equal parts Champagne and orange juice. The cocktail is attributed to Frank Meier, head bartender at the Paris Ritz, who served the first Mimosa in 1925, though the recipe appeared elsewhere in France at the same time. Either way, it’s a twist on the British Buck’s Fizz, invented in 1921 at the Buck’s Club in London, which used more Champagne and could include gin. Avoid vintage fizzes or special cuvées: a classic ...

Do growers make wine – or do markets? Growers, of course. Yet markets define the scope of the grower’s creative efforts by what they reward or sanction. When markets are neglectful and unresponsive, there’s little the grower can do but conform. It’s a problem the world over. Here’s an example. The river Moselle/Mosel rises to the wet west of the Vosges mountains, then curves in a long green arc heading north through Epinal, Metz and (along the left bank) Luxembourg’s Grand Duchy, turning east at ...

Franciacorta has lost one of its fathers; Franco Ziliani died aged 90 this Christmas. He was the winemaker who, along with the Count Guido Berlucchi, changed the destiny of an entire region and helped make Franciacorta one of the most consistent areas in the world for sparkling wines made in the traditional method. Their fateful encounter was in 1958 at Palazzo Lana, in Franciacorta. Count Berlucchi began to question the young winemaker about how to improve his unstable white wine produced in Co ...