The Château Rocher Coutelin of Saint-Estèphe of Bordeaux

The largest-ever year for entries, an incredible 18,244 wines were judged at the 2022 Decanter World Wine Awards – with just 163 wines awarded a Platinum medal. ‘Winning a Platinum medal is something really exceptional’ said Decanter World Wine Awards Co-Chair Sarah Jane Evans MW. ‘Platinum is like the stratospheric level’ she commented, ‘so it’s really saying to the winemaker: this is a great wine.’ Making up just 0.87% of the total wines tasted at the 2022 c ...

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 ...

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, ...