The Winery 3 Oaks Vineyard of California

Thousands of wine lovers, sommeliers and trade professionals across the world have benefited from Lenoir’s educational tools over the past four decades. He was born into a winemaking family in Burgundy, and he often joked that he learned to taste as he learned to walk. Lenoir was a paratrooper during the Algerian War, and he then pursued a career at the Maison de la Culture in Chalon-sur-Saône. He was eventually promoted to assistant director, but he never lost his passion for wine, and he studi ...

For many, the appeal of modern-day Napa Cabernet is found in its unabashed excess. The Napa Valley, after all, is epitomised today by bold, fruity wines with an over-the-top ripeness, alcohol and muscularity. However, a recent retrospective tasting spanning 50 years of production from Bella Oaks Vineyard was a thrilling reminder that historically, a very different style of Napa Cab existed. And while climates have changed and winemaking styles may shift, beneath the excess, Napa is still a place ...

Our feet crunched through layers of dry oak leaves as we climbed a pebbly path towards the vineyards behind the farmhouse. Roots go deep here. Not just the tall oaks and squat vines, but families too. I walked the vineyards at Mas de Libian with Hélène Thibon, but it was her father Jean-Pierre that greeted me when I arrived. Hélène’s sister Catherine was out front with Bambi the horse, ploughing the sandier plots. Later, we tasted in the winery with Hélène’s son Aurélien. Three generations of a ...