The Château Sirjean Valat 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 ...

It’s easy to forget that the southern Rhône’s four most prevalent red varieties aren’t indigenous. Grenache, Carignan and Mourvèdre all appear to originate from Spain; Syrah made its way down the river from the northern Rhône. Of the long tail of other grapes, most have their roots closer to home. Plantings have dwindled in recent years, but today local varieties are experiencing renewed interest. One that’s finding a lot of fans – both in the Rhône and further afield – is Counoise. Scroll down ...

The final 11-strong shortlist includes four drink books – Wines of the Rhône by Matt Walls; The South America Wine Guide by Amanda Barnes; Inside Burgundy by Jasper Morris MW and Foot Trodden by Simon J Woolf & Ryan Opaz.    Commenting on the shortlist, Nicholas Lander, chair of the André Simon Memorial Fund, said: ‘A number of this year’s food and drink nominees, including Wines of the Rhône, address the urgent environmental and global issues of today in ways that are original, inspiring an ...