Wijnnieuws

Going crazy about Kadarka and Kékfrankos in southern Hungary … Szekszárd, pronounced, rather memorably, ‘sex-sard’, is one of Hungary’s red-wine regions. This small county, with its 2,153 ha (5,320 acres) of vineyard, lies almost directly south of Budapest on the Transdanubian Hills, around 70 km (43 miles) from both the Serbian and Croatian

The next entry for our 2020 summer wine writing competition is from Paul Temperton, who describes himself as 'Economist and neighbour of David and Lynne Levin in Buckinghamshire, UK'. As usual, we will present entries as they were sent to us. See this guide to the entries so far published. For believers in nominative determinism, it will be no

Jacky Blisson is a Canadian wine writer and educator in the final phase of study for the coveted Master of Wine title. Upon completing an international wine commerce master’s degree in Beaune, France, Jacky worked harvest seasons in Burgundy and the Walker Bay, South Africa. During her 11-year sojourn in France, Jacky was employed as UK and North

See this guide to our considerable, and growing, coverage of the exceptional 2019 vintage and other current releases of German wine. In this instalment, devoted to two of many German-wine lovers' favourite regions, Michael Schmidt presents nearly 170 tasting notes. They should be read in conjunction with many more in two articles on wines offered

Here are links to the entries in this year's writing competition that have so far been published. The competition – deadline 15 August, with a prize worth £380 – is designed to encourage articles about the producers who are making wine in such a way that leaves the smallest possible footprint on the planet and invests in the future. As Tim

In the spring an old man's fancy lightly turns to cheering us all up. Brian Croser ruminates in the Adelaide Hills. The annual cycle turns regardless of drought, bushfires and COVID-19. The wattles are in full blossom, the jonquils and daffodils are flowering, the magnolia and almond blossoms are just emerging and we are pruning Tiers Vineyard.

When he first tasted Barolo 2016s late last year, Walter was excited. His second major tasting, conducted in strictest socially distanced conditions as shown above, left him eager for more. The clear triumph of Barolo in 2016, an exceptional vintage that potentially eclipses the highly acclaimed 2010, continued in my second tasting of this

The final tranche of Languedoc and Roussillon 2020 presents reds from producers whose (sur)names are M to Z, with the sweet wines at the end. See reds part 1 for producers with (sur)names from A to L. Whites and sparkling wines are reviewed here and the rosés made their way into a subsection of Rosés for 2020. There were so many great – not just

A superior dry white and an extremely superior, but rare, rosé from the Pyrenean foothills. From €17.90, 22 Swiss francs, £22 Find L'Esprit de l'Horizon Blanc 2018 Two wines I’d like to draw your attention to this week: Dom de l’Horizon, L’Esprit de l’Horizon Blanc 2018 IGP Côtes Catalanes is a really exciting white, but Dom de l’Horizon

As explained in this week's wine of the week, L'Esprit de l'Horizon Blanc 2018 Côtes Catalanes, UK retailer Swig is offering 20% off these three very special wines from Domaine de l'Horizon for those who order pre-arrival in late August. Wine Usual price Price for Purple Pagers L'Esprit de l'Horizon Blanc 2018 £27.50 £22 Do

Proof of the efficacy of the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme … My story starts in a place called Mitchells Plain where I grew up with my family. Mitchells Plain is what one would call a ghetto, a township on the Cape Flats south-east of Cape Town where Cape coloured people live. While staying there I was exposed to many things (mainly

When the number of red wines exceeded 280, a sensible decision was made to divide this presentation of reds and sweet wines into two more manageable chunks. Today's tasting notes concern producers with (sur)names from A to L. Tomorrow we'll present more thoughts on Languedoc and Roussillon reds, and notes on wines from producers from M to Z plus a

With the South African wine business on its knees, thanks to a domestic ban on all alcohol sales, we have been keen to ensure that as many voices working in one of the world's most beautiful sources of fine wine are heard. As explained in South Africa – fewer halos?, we are publishing a series of personal accounts of experiences in South African

Stuck in a red-wine rut? Richard offers many a solution. Despite wine’s infinite variation, it’s easy for us to become fixated on a limited number of regions and varieties. Look no further than our lengthy forum discussion on Bordeaux’s 2019 en primeur campaign to witness how obsessive and excited we can easily become. These are some of the

Walter falls under the spell of the philosopher of Friuli. I will not easily forget the first time, in 2019, I saw the cellar of Josko Gravner, the iconic Friulian winemaker famous for being the first to use qvevri, the then exotic Georgian clay vessels. They are now hugely popular, not only in Italy but in much of the wine world. Four metres

Tam introduces us to tasting notes on over 100 fashionable pink wines, and also provides many of them, notably those on wines from the Languedoc and Roussillon. At £120 a bottle, pink is no longer pretty. Pink is getting serious. To be fair, few would blink at a £120 price tag for a bottle of bordeaux or burgundy. Some Napa wines would look

The first entry for our 2020 summer wine writing competition is from Mike Bartlett, 'a 53-year-old Londoner, passionate amateur wine enthusiast and professional exponent of corporate and strategic communications'. As usual we will present entries as they were sent to us. Many years ago I went on the trip of a lifetime with two of my best mates

Mountain sunshine is transformed into precise whites and reds, some notably local, by one of Alto Adige's smallest co-ops. Cantina Kurtatsch had the misfortune to be celebrating its 120th anniversary in May 2020, with plans for a big party to mark the opening of their spectacular new winery pictured above. The event was postponed rather than

Fancy a bit of escapism? Jonathan Reeve, who inspired our first escapist photo-portrait of a wine destination, Chambolle-Musigny, contributes his own pictorial account of the south and east of Sicily. Palm trees, sandy soils, bright heat, and colourful, weathered paintwork characterise Planeta’s Buonivini estate (above). Tunisia is only 100

The rise and rise of a small Austrian cooperage business. A version of this article is published by the Financial Times, my last for four weeks. Fashion is an important element in wine. Think of the Pinot Grigio craze, then Prosecco, Picpoul de Pinet, Pecorino… (Perhaps all that’s needed is a P?) There’s a whole entry on fashion in the Oxford