The Winery Meadow Croft of Southern Highlands of Nouvelle-Galles du Sud

An electronic dart was tossed at us recently by Decanter reader Tim Frances from Kent. It landed on the screen of our magazine editor Amy Wislocki; Amy lobbed it across the virtual room to me, suggesting a column-length reply. ‘Here’s a poser,’ Tim began. ‘How do your experts grade a wine that they find intellectually well made, but that they truly madly deeply dislike? I’ve tasted wines I can admire dispassionately, but would stab my feet with forks rather than drink them. Must be a conundrum f ...

Higher growing season temperatures over the next 20 years are likely to further increase the UK’s potential for wine production, according to new modelling on ‘near-term’ climate change impact on the sector. Yet wineries also need flexibility to adapt to challenges, said the study, published in the Oeno One journal and part of a wider project on climate resilience in UK wine. Conditions seen in the excellent 2018 vintage are set to become more common in several areas, including East ...

Optimism is high around the UK wine harvest in 2022, even if winemakers are generally reluctant to fully ‘call’ a vintage so early in the process. ‘So far quality has been excellent,’ said Simon Roberts, head winemaker at Ridgeview in Sussex, southern England. ‘We are heading for one of Ridgeview’s biggest harvests ever, possibly topping the record 2018 vintage. The fruit is tasting exceptional,’ he added. ‘Excitingly it looks like a particularly good year for Chardonnay.’ One of the ...