In Greece, it is known as Tsapournako, in Spain as Verdejilla Tinto, in the Basque country as Achéria, and in Romania and Switzerland simply as Bordeaux. Most wine people know this variety by its common name – Cabernet Franc. Cabernet Franc is one of the oldest varieties of red grapes, the parent of Merlot and […]
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Moscato di Scanzo, the smallest Italian DOCG
Do you know what the smallest DOCG in Italy is? It is called Moscato di Scanzo or just Scanzo. The area comprises 31 hectares in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. When we think of Moscato, Asti or Pantelleria usually come up, but Moscato di Scanzo is a different story. It is a red-skin grape, […]
Blending against climate change with Alois Lageder
Climate change is affecting wine industry in many various aspects. One of the most important issue is acidity in wine. Deprived of this crucial element, wine turns out to be flabby and flat. Blending against climate is a great initiative of Alois Lageder winery to attract the attention of wine professionals to this burning problem. […]
- Gastronomy
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Madeira, a treasure island
In 1419 a fierce storm threw two brave Portuguese sailors João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira ashore of Porto Santo, one of the islands of the Madeira archipelago. A year later, a bigger island was discovered. Impressed with an abundance of forests and greenery, the sailors called it Madeira, a “tree” in Portuguese. The […]
Gilles de Baudus: “Biodynamics does not work miracles if you have no good order in the vineyard.”
Gerard Bertrand empire embraces 15 wineries, and it is the largest in Europe in terms of vineyard area cultivated in a biodynamic way. This is astonishing 850 hectares of vines. I talked with Gilles de Baudus, winery manager and biodynamics specialist how this project started and what is its present and future. You started to […]
Château Marquis d’Alesme Becker, revival of a Grand Cru Classé
When you think about Margaux appellation, definitely, the first thing that comes to your mind is the glorious Château Margaux, though there is much more to know about it. The designation of Margaux is the biggest of all the most important ones and consists of 5 villages – Arsac, Cantenac, Labarde, Margaux and Soussans. It […]
Colares, the unicorn wine
There are not so many rare wines in the world that collectors are dreaming about. Colares is one of them, but you will not have to break your piggy bank to get a bottle if you find it. Surprisingly, even very old vintages (and saying old I mean the 1930s) do not cost a million […]
Different Bordeaux – Domaine Les Sadons
Many people think (not without reason) that Bordeaux in terms of wine is very commercial and overpriced. Magnificent châteaux, steep prices, and perfect but soulless wines. We often see the owners of world-famous Grand Cru Classé, but we barely see people standing behind this work. But, as always, there are exceptions. Recently I was pleased […]
Cahors, the French Black Wine
Cahors, a town and a wine appellation in the South-West of France, is not too famous worldwide but extremely renowned in the ex-Soviet countries under the name of Kagor. Numerous bottles of fortified sweet wine are produced every year in Crimea where Massandra is the historical producer, Moldavia, and Azerbaijan. An Azerbaijani friend confirmed they […]
I am drinking the stars!
This pretentious sentence, according to the legend, belongs to Dom Perignon, the most famous monk in the history of wine. Though we know that monks, in general, contributed a lot to the recognition of the best parcels and improvement of the winemaking techniques, most of them remained anonymous except for the glorious brother of Abbey […]