Wines made from Sercial grapes of Dão

St-Emilion’s Wine Council announced its eagerly-anticipated ranking this afternoon, bringing a decade of disputes and court battles to an end. The classification awards Premier Grand Cru Classé A status to just two producers, while it also recognises 12 Premier Grands Crus Classés (B) and 71 Grands Crus Classés. These rankings can cause a winery’s value to soar – they have been likened to the Michelin guide for restaurants – so winemakers across the region awaited the results with bated breath t ...

Having joined Domaine Barons de Rothschild in 1999, Congé has since held the role of oenologist and wine operations manager across Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Duhart Milon for over 22 years. He has now been appointed MD of  Saint-Estèphe fourth growth Château Lafon-Rochet. He takes on his new role with immediate effect. Congé will work closely with Emmanuel Cruse, director of Vignobles Cruse-Lorenzetti, which acquired Château Lafon-Rochet from the Tesseron family last year. The appoint ...

Onwards, upwards. The roads get narrower, the corners get tighter. I step out of the car when I finally reach the winery and the air is so much fresher here. I go to take a sip from my water bottle and a gust of wind makes it whistle. I stand with Thomas Jullien and we look over the vineyards. It’s not yet spring, and the vines look little more than sticks. ‘It’s a lunar landscape at the moment,’ he says, as a friend’s flock of 300 sheep has just passed through to graze on every scrap of green b ...