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Tasting & Trends
Andrew Jefford
Tasting & Trends
As a wine region, Burgundy embodies both the past and the future. On the one hand, Grands Crus that have been celebrated for centuries remain in the hands of multi-generational family domaines. On the other hand, outside investment, adjustments to the appellation system, and the realities of...
Maurizio Broggi
Tasting & Trends
While Italian red wines still garner much of the attention, there are, without doubt, many outstanding white wines that deserve consideration. While white wines like Soave, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi or Fiano di Avellino, are already well-known, there are also lesser-known — but rightfully...
Andrew Jefford
Tasting & Trends
In the second part of our three-part series, acclaimed wine writer and Academic Advisor for the Wine Scholar Guild Andrew Jefford surveys the latest wine trends in Alsace. From larger vineyards to the prospect of Premier Crus — not to mention the impacts of climate change on the region’s bevy of...
Andrew Jefford
Tasting & Trends
As an accomplished wine writer — and now as the Wine Scholar Guild’s Academic Advisor — Andrew Jefford has decades of experience watching the French wine industry evolve. Here, he takes a look at the wine trends that are shaping the Champagne region, its landscape, its climate, the industry and...
Andrew Jefford
Tasting & Trends
After a generous 2018 French-wine harvest, nature has dialed back on its beneficence by around 12% in 2019: initial estimates put the crop at around 43.4 million hl compared to 49.4 m hl last year. That’s not disastrous, though, especially since clouds have been gathering over the export scene in...
Andrew Jefford
Tasting & Trends
Andrew Jefford, award-winning author and columnist in every issue of Decanter and World of Fine Wine, Co-Chair Decanter World Wine Awards; Vice-Chair Decanter Asia Wine Awards as well as Wine Scholar Guild Academic Advisor, gives us his insight about the 2018 vintage in France. As October 2018 got...
Kirra Barnes
Tasting & Trends
The best thing about studying wine is the moments that call into question every “truth” you think you know. These are the tiny lightbulbs that impel questions to be asked, that engender reflection and that ultimately serve as the springboard to a deeper understanding of wine. It is often the...
Kirra Barnes
Tasting & Trends
The best thing about studying wine is the moments that call into question every “truth” you think you know. These are the tiny lightbulbs that impel questions to be asked, that engender reflection and that ultimately serve as the springboard to a deeper understanding of wine. It is often the...
Timothy Magnus
Tasting & Trends
Burgundy is a very dynamic region in a constant state of flux. On one hand it’s a region deeply rooted in tradition. Just take a look at the Fête de la Saint-Vincent tournante – a festival celebrating the patron saint of winemakers – and you clearly see that this is a region with one foot in the...
Andrew Jefford
Tasting & Trends
Andrew Jefford, award-winning author and columnist for Decanter Magazine and World of Fine Wine as well as Wine Scholar Guild Academic Advisor, gives us his insight about the 2017 vintage in France...
Kirra Barnes
Tasting & Trends
If you are planning a romantic Valentine’s Day celebration and want to impress your partner with the best possible wine for the occasion, overlook everything you think you know about wine pairing. Forget choosing a red to match the steak or a white for the flounder. Lose the Champagne with...
Sarah Graham-Beck
Tasting & Trends
Following on from The Wine Scholar Guild’s excellent October Bordeaux wine tour, our locally based Tour Manager, Sarah, is continuing her series of articles about travel tips to Bordeaux. This third blog looks at some of Bordeaux’s top wine-shops. Unlike many other wine regions in the world, the...
Sarah Graham-Beck
Tasting & Trends
… including excellent restaurants out in the wine regions. Preparing your next Bordeaux wine tour? Sarah Graham-Beck, Tour Manager on the Wine Scholar Guild’s Bordeaux wine tours will be writing a series of articles about travel tips to Bordeaux. In this first article, Sarah shares a selection of...
Tom Hyland
Tasting & Trends
Thanks to a string of successful vintages, there has been a great deal of recent publicity regarding Barolo and Barbaresco wines. Produced entirely from Nebbiolo, these two iconic wines have changed in style over the past 20-30 years; where once, the wines were reserved upon release, today, the...
Lisa Airey
Tasting & Trends
Anyone who has been to Bordeaux is familiar with this signature sweet. It almost defies description: a rich popover dough with a custardy interior, coated in a dark, thin, crispy caramel. It is love at first bite and the souvenir shops know this. They sell the molds. But buyer beware…insiders...
Kirra Barnes
Tasting & Trends
Much has been written about the beautiful Loire Valley, well known as “the garden of France.” The wine region follows the meandering Loire River more than 600 miles through the gently rolling hills of a picturesque countryside. There is an abundance of vines and food crops in this fertile stretch...
Bruce Smoller
Tasting & Trends
I am pleased to share my Burgundy wine tour experience with the Wine Scholar Guild, as it was the trip of a lifetime. My wife and I arrived a couple of days early and enjoyed fine wine and dining in Paris before our quick train trip over to Beaune (via Dijon). We spent Sunday on our own, touring...
Kirra Barnes
Tasting & Trends
Recently, Barbara Philip MW hosted a virtual food and wine tour webinar for the Wine Scholar Guild. The cuisine of central Italy is as fascinating as it is delicious. This is where tomatoes and olive oil begin to replace the butter and cream of the north. Heavy, stuffed pastas give way to long...
Wink Lorch
Tasting & Trends
As everywhere, it is the nature of the geography that most influences the food and drink traditions of the Jura and Franche-Comté. The diverse landscape of mountains, dense forests, high meadows, vineyards, lakes and the river plain have all shaped what the local population ate and drank....
Kirra Barnes
Tasting & Trends
Italian red wines may get all the attention, but insiders know that Italian whites are as varied and interesting as the country’s reds. Italy’s multitude of mountains and hills ensures wines with bright acidity—the hallmark of Italian whites. Acidity is what makes a wine food friendly, and Italian...