The Domaine des Lones of Grignan-les-Adhémar of Rhone Valley

Andrea Franchetti, one of the most talented and visionary Italian producers, has died at the age of 72 in Rome. In 30 years exactly, he positioned his superTuscan Trinoro among the top Italian references, producing a wine with stylish elegance and outstanding potential for ageing. Franchetti’s Bordeaux blends were without the over-extractions that were on-trend in the 2000s, nor the excess of fruit following phenolic maturity. He followed a precise idea to produce classic wines for the long haul ...

In recent years, more and more people have been paying attention to Uruguay’s wine scene thanks to the distinctive identity of its coastal regions, which are swept by winds from the Atlantic Ocean and the Río de la Plata. The country’s proximity to the ocean and one of the largest rivers on the planet means that the vintage effect is quite prominent here. Each harvest depends on the rainfall, sun and strength of the winds experienced that year. Today, Uruguay has around 5,966ha under vine distri ...

‘When I started producing wine, the wineries were all in a very bad condition,’ said Askaneli Brothers president Gocha Chkhaidze, recalling the poor state of the Georgian wine industry shortly after the country declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. ‘There was inadequate sanitation, a lack of know-how and old-fashioned bottling lines. People were unable to make wine sustainably, vineyards were not sufficiently cared for, agronomists were unskilled and used to harvest the maximu ...