The Château Malfard La Renardière of Bordeaux

I’m fortunate enough to taste a fair amount of fine wine each year and I have come to the conclusion that each of us is forced to build our own stylistic preferences, regardless of the appellation or classification of a wine. Instead of simply choosing a bottle of Bordeaux over Barolo, for example, most of us probably aim to drink each on the right occasion and, in doing so, carve out our individual preferences for these wines. My personal bias – which I must confess, to be fair and transp ...

Several of those suspected of involvement in the alleged fraud scheme to pass Spanish wine off as French went before Bordeaux’s tribunal correctionnel criminal court on 27 October. Authorities have estimated that 34,587 hectolitres of wine was involved, which is equivalent to around 4.6 million bottles, according to French news publication France Bleu. The wine in question was allegedly sourced in Spain and brought across the border in more than 130 tanker trucks, before being eventually bottled ...

Frost returned to French vineyards early this month as France recorded its coldest April night since 1947. Temperatures plunged to minus nine degrees Celsius in some parts of the Champagne region on the night between 3 and 4 April, with minus seven reported in areas around Bordeaux and minus six in Chablis. Some winemakers lit candles and fires between vineyard rows to help protect young buds. Yet while scenes were reminiscent of the devastating frosts that struck French vineyards in April 2021, ...