Wines made from Primitivo grapes of Sicilia

I’d like to say we took advantage of the lockdown and its related commotion to do a stock-take, explore new avenues, turn over intriguing stones, widen and deepen our drinking, taking careful notes as we went. Sadly, no. I won’t say we got stuck in a rut, but we did tend to stick with comfort wines – and “comfort”, in our case, means familiar. Regular readers of this quarterly column can probably guess the labels on the resulting empties. We have a wider range of comfort foods, I’m afraid, than ...

Vanilla was ranked as the most pleasant smell in a study involving 235 people and conducted by an international network of researchers, including those from the University of Oxford and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. This was closely followed by ethyl butyrate, ‘which smells like peaches’, said the researchers, who published their findings in the Current Biology journal. Vanilla notes can be found in several wine styles, such as some iterations of Chardonnay or Rioja, largely resulting from ...

Finding a thoughtful Valentine’s gift isn’t an easy feat. But a special trip to the Rhône Valley with Decanter couldn’t be a more perfect gift for a wine and food enthusiast. That’s why, in the name of love, we’re offering $500 off all bookings on our Rhône Valley Wine Tour made this week between 13-18 February. If food and wine are your one true love, then this holiday was designed for you. Alongside fine wine tastings, private tours and picnics in the vineyards, guests will also enjoy Michelin ...