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Having joined The Wine Society’s team in 1973 as promotions manager, Payne became the head buyer in 1985. He stepped down from this position in 2012, when Tim Sykes took over, but has remained on the buying team ever since. As part of his responsibilities, Payne has bought in every region throughout the years but, in recent years, focused mainly on Italy and Bordeaux. He was also instrumental in introducing wines from Eastern Europe and Greece to the portfolio. The Wine Society described Payne’s ...

Tina Gellie, Content Manager and Regional Editor (Australia, South Africa, New Zealand & Canada) It was a big year of Decanter travel for me, heading to Napa and New York in June, South Africa in October and most recently a week each in Margaret River and South Australia. These trips have formed the basis of my festive selections. Christmas lunch on North Stradbroke Island (reunited with my family after four years, no thanks to Covid) always starts with oysters, followed by a bucket of prawn ...

While vineyards are managed one vintage at a time, farming practices take a longer view. A survey of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers members found that, on average, about 90% wanted more education and resources for water conservation, climate resilience and climate-smart farming opportunities. This grant will go a long way to help provide those resources. ‘Farmers are by nature risk averse,’ said Molly Williams of Napa Valley Grapegrowers. ‘Climate change poses considerable risks. We aren’t plantin ...