The Winery Gogni of Imereti

Niagara’s summer? It’s hot, and sticky. I tried a walk near my hotel in mid-July but could only find a large retail mall. It was early; the shops were still shut. Even so, I had to dodge from awning to awning, avoiding the prosecuting sun. I’ve been there in autumn, too, which happened to be mellow and easeful – though it can also be wild, wind-whipped, rain-drenched. The ‘shoulder seasons’ are feared here: you never know what’s coming. The first time I went it was deepest winter. That made an i ...

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 ...

Known to wine enthusiasts for one of the world’s best known annual wine fairs, Vinitaly, Verona is about to host a poli-functional wine museum and visitor centre that promises to rival similar enterprises in Bordeaux and Porto. The Museo del Vino (MuVin) project was officially unveiled at Vinitaly earlier this month, with the endorsement of Italian tourism minister Massimo Garavaglia, Roberta Garibaldi of Italy’s national tourism agency, and Prof Diego Begalli, director of the department of busi ...