The Chateau La Curguetiere of Pécharmant of South West

It’s no easy task to establish a super-premium wine in an entirely new region, particularly when inviting potential retail partners or distributors to the vineyard involves journeying to a distant corner of the Himalayas in the outer reaches of the Yunnan province, southwestern China. For my journey, after four flights from Bordeaux to Shanghai, Chengdu then Shangri-La, it was a four-hour drive up through stunning mountain passes to the foothills (here, that means 2,200m above sea level) of the ...

Just over 6,400km in length, Chile is a country with a fascinating range of terroirs. This is fully reflected in the diversity of its wines. Heavily influenced by air currents from the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Andes to the east, all of Chile’s wine producing valleys have their own microclimates, as well as distinct complex soil composition. This variety means that individual vineyards experienced the harvest conditions of 2022 in different ways. It was a year that saw the continuation o ...

There’s been a focus on making wine production less energy intensive as well as environmentally friendly in order to address climate change. The efforts continue but, as is the case for electric cars where it’s the battery technology that needs innovating, it’s in wine bottles where we’re seeing rapid change. It comes in a two-pronged attack to reduce energy use in manufacturing and then an even bigger emphasis on reducing bottle weight for shipping to reduce fuel usage and thus CO2 production. ...