The Domaine Mery de la Tourette of Crémant de Loire of Loire Valley

In the wake of the second destructive wave of the phylloxera bug in California in the 1980s and 1990s, Cabernet Sauvignon rose to such prominence and dominance (especially in Napa Valley) that I, like most people, assumed it must now be the most expensive grape variety in the state. Wrong. That would be Cabernet Franc. Top 20 California Cabernet Franc wines Slowly, steadily and quietly, Cabernet Sauvignon’s father has displaced its son* as the priciest grape to buy and the grape that is generati ...

Annual domestic gas bills in the UK threaten to rival, in craziness, the price of a box of Bordeaux first growths. Those energy costs have sent the price of almost everything else ripping up after them. Is there, um, anything to be said for cheap wine? There is. First, though, we must sip the bitter harvest of alcohol taxes. These are high in the UK and higher still in Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand and India; they tend to vary by state in the US and by province in Canada, and in general th ...

Torres is best known for producing wines across Spanish regions including Catalunya, Rioja and Ribera del Duero. It also has an international presence with Miguel Torres in Chile and Marimar in Sonoma, California, but for more than a decade it has been producing wines in Galicia too. This aspect of its portfolio started with the purchase of a 6ha vineyard in the Salnés subregion, producing the upmarket wine Blanco Granito based on Rías Baixas’ star variety, Albariño. The wine is made from a uniq ...