The Winery La Croix Palatine of Rhône méridional of Rhone Valley

I’d like to say we took advantage of the lockdown and its related commotion to do a stock-take, explore new avenues, turn over intriguing stones, widen and deepen our drinking, taking careful notes as we went. Sadly, no. I won’t say we got stuck in a rut, but we did tend to stick with comfort wines – and “comfort”, in our case, means familiar. Regular readers of this quarterly column can probably guess the labels on the resulting empties. We have a wider range of comfort foods, I’m afraid, than ...

‘Faced with extreme, repeated and cumulative climatic hazards, how can we best support and adapt our vineyard? Considering these changes, how can the balance of wines be preserved?’ Like many winemakers, Ambre Delorme of Domaine de la Mordorée is embracing 2023 with hope, but also a degree of trepidation. With a chaotic climate and capricious consumers to contend with, Rhône winemakers are weighing up the best ways to move forward. Here are three trends to look out for in 2023. {"content&qu ...

When most winemakers retire, their most important legacy is the wines they made, tucked away in cellars around the world. But Serge Férigoule of Domaine le Sang des Cailloux leaves more than just his superlative red and white Vacqueyras. Diary of a winemaker Every day of his working life, Serge took notes of climatic observations from his vineyards, filling stacks of notebooks. They will provide an invaluable insight into a changing climate for generations to come. Scroll down to see Matt Walls& ...