Winery Vincent Laroppe Cuvée Spéciale Rosé

Do growers make wine – or do markets? Growers, of course. Yet markets define the scope of the grower’s creative efforts by what they reward or sanction. When markets are neglectful and unresponsive, there’s little the grower can do but conform. It’s a problem the world over. Here’s an example. The river Moselle/Mosel rises to the wet west of the Vosges mountains, then curves in a long green arc heading north through Epinal, Metz and (along the left bank) Luxembourg’s Grand Duchy, turning east at ...

Although Cru Beaujolais has been having its moment in the sun for a few years now, its younger, lighter-bodied ‘nouveau’ cousin is coming back into its own. How Beaujolais Nouveau Day started The tradition of Beaujolais Nouveau dates back to the 1800s. Winemakers would bottle their just-fermented wine, produced from grapes harvested just a few months prior, an unusually tight timeframe in winemaking terms. This occasion called for a massive celebration among Beaujolais-based vigneron ...

Frost returned to French vineyards early this month as France recorded its coldest April night since 1947. Temperatures plunged to minus nine degrees Celsius in some parts of the Champagne region on the night between 3 and 4 April, with minus seven reported in areas around Bordeaux and minus six in Chablis. Some winemakers lit candles and fires between vineyard rows to help protect young buds. Yet while scenes were reminiscent of the devastating frosts that struck French vineyards in April 2021, ...