The Winery Curran Alexander Vineyards of Yadkin Valley of North Carolina

St Hilaire is the patron saint of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, the pretty Champagne village which is famous for scoring 99 on the Echelle des Crus. (This classification of Champagne vineyards was developed in the mid-20th century as a means of setting the price of grapes grown through the villages of the Champagne wine region.) Prime territory That the village missed out on grand cru status by one point is generally agreed to be an injustice – all the more so as it is home not only to the superlative Clos de ...

Bordeaux’s administrative court of appeal has effectively validated the St-Emilion 2012 Classification after rejecting long-standing complaints from three châteaux. France’s national appellation body, INAO, said the decision upholds an original court ruling from 2015. It added the complainants still have two months in which to appeal the judgement, however. Legal challenges to the St-Emilion 2012 Classification have been a feature of the past decade in Bordeaux. INAO said it was ‘reassured’ by t ...

It’s no exaggeration to say that in 2022, the majority of wines I sampled – and many that I drank and enjoyed – were Napa Cabernets. Looking back over my notes during the months compiling the 2019 Napa Cabernet vintage report, I spent valuable time tasting with several of Napa’s top winemaking talents. I spent time with Jean Hoefliger, Nigel Kinsman, Thomas Rivers Brown, Atelier Melka’s Maayan Koschitzky, consultant winemaker Julien Fayard, Harlan’s Cory Empting and Bob Levy, just to ...