The Winery Beaupierre of Rhône méridional of Rhone Valley

In 2001, George W. Bush was sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States. Meanwhile in the UK, Tony Blair led the Labour Party to its second landslide victory. A lot can change over the course of 20 years. According to many Rhône winemakers and wine collectors, this is how long a bottle of Hermitage should lay undisturbed until you open it. Is it really worth the wait? I recently tasted 11 Hermitage 2001s – seven red, two white, two sweet – to test the 20 year hypothesis and see how these ...

There are few things better than whiling away the hours picnicking in a sun-drenched vineyard, sampling fantastic wines. That’s just a taste of what can be expected on our exclusive Rhône Valley wine tour this June with Walls. We’re down to the last handful of places following the popularity of last year’s trip so if a luxury wine tour is on your radar for this summer, now is the time to book. This year we’re promising a more refined itinerary with carefully selected doma ...

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 ...