The best winemakers of Alberta

The Krondorf facility is where Burge’s enigmatic wine empire began in 1978, when he created the successful Krondorf Wines label in partnership with the late Ian Wilson. After selling the Krondorf brand to Mildara Blass Wines, he bought the winery site to establish Grant Burge Wines in 1988, a label that grew to produce 750,000 dozen wines a year and turn over $70m. Grant Burge Wines is a brand now owned by Accolade Wines, having been sold by Burge and his wife Helen in January 2015 [announcement ...

The project began life in 2019 as a Facebook group, created by Graves-based winemaker Jean-Baptiste Duquesne of Château Cazebonne. The positive reactions from both the public and fellow winemakers that followed prompted the group to pursue official recognition. ‘The idea started with me and with my friend Laurent David of Château Edmus in St-Emilion. He gave me the idea of the name “pirate”,’ Duquesne told Decanter. ‘So in December 2019, I created a Facebook group called Bordeaux Pirate to show ...

There’s no doubt that 2021 was a challenging vintage. Most explanatory statements or technical sheets handed out over the past few weeks have mentioned the unfavourable, oft disastrous weather conditions, the sometimes very low and disheartening yields and the slightly varied or unusual blends on offer in 2021. Difficulties faced by vignerons both inside and outside of the cellar have been explained in detail as has the raft of highly important decisions needed be made throughout the year, ...