News from Jancis Robinson

How our attitudes to oak have changed. A slightly shorter version of this article is published by the Financial Times. Jean-Marc Roulot of Meursault is seen above with just one of his many alternatives to oak barrels. For the next two months or so the wine business’s two great ancillary suppliers, cork producers and coopers, will be anxiously

The Institute of Masters of Wine has just announced 10 new MWs of five different nationalities, including the first MW based in Italy. This brings the total number of MWs in the world to 418 – 149 women and 269 men living or working in 32 countries. Below are the biographies supplied by the Institute. James Doidge MW (UK) James is the buyer

A low-alcohol classic that nowhere else in the world can rival. From €20, £21.88, 24.90 Swiss francs, HK$220, $36.45 Find this wine  Winemaker Dorothee Zilliken might have been reading my mind (or looking in my wine rack) when she wrote, ‘Kabinett is always my favourite because it offers so much intensity of fruitiness and juiciness, but

It takes time for this obscure Piemontese variety to show Walter what it's made of. Uvalino is one of those delightful, rare Piemontese grape varieties that survives only because someone decided to take custody of it and in doing so rescued it from extinction. This may sound simple but it isn't. It demands serious infatuation as well as

25 February 2021 Walter writes Now that the presentation of the new Chianti Classico vintage in Florence has been postponed indefinitely, my annual report will take longer to piece together. My, some would say controversial, classification of Chianti Classico’s best, and today’s Throwback Thursday, is a little reminder of how the wines featured

See these previous verticals: Sassicaia 2007 back to 1975, Sassicaia 2010 back to 1985 in magnum, Sassicaia 1999 back to 1970, Ornellaia 2003 back to 1985 and Ornellaia 2010 back to 1990. Above the full team, representing wine (left) and art (right), with facilitator, at the official online launch of Ornellaia 2018. The 2018 vintages of arguably

A heterogeneous collection of Bordeaux 2018s. They keep on coming. The starting point of this unpremeditated collection of notes on the unusual 2018s – see this guide for all our coverage, including my explanation of why it was an extraordinary vintage – started with the new wines from the home estate of Pierre Lurton, Ch Marjosse, launched in

Last week Tam introduced us to her snatched holiday on the Atlantic island of Madeira. Now she gets down to the serious business. On our third day in Madeira, we met up with chef Octávio Freitas, at his new ultra-sustainable eco hotel, Socalco, in Calheta. Perched high above Calheta harbour and beach, with a 180-degree sweep of the ocean, the

A 2019 burgundy straggler and some fine English still wines, including a notable newcomer. See also this guide to our coverage of 2019 burgundies. I've long enjoyed the wines of Domaine Françoise & Denis Clair. They are relatively easy to find in the US. Haynes Hanson & Clark import them into the UK and recently sent me the 2019s described below

Back in May 2020, which seems like a lifetime ago, I was due to go on a trip to the Loire. COVID-19 put paid to that, so instead, with the help of some brilliant, make-it-happen people, the Loire came to me. Well, just a taste of the Loire. In about 250 bottles. Project 'pack the Loire onto a pallet and send it to England' was born. Click on the

The JR.com team is expanding... Expect to read articles by two new names, one on each side of the Atlantic. Richard is off to Singapore in August since his wife Kathryn has been offered a plum job there setting up a primary school for the celebrated North London Collegiate school (one of the UK's major exports currently seems to be education)

Tokaj might be famous for the being the wine of kings, but when it comes to the wine of queens, it's the Loire that holds a little-known secret. When it comes to red grape varieties in the Loire, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Gamay and Malbec (Côt, in Loire-speak) come to mind. Even a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon is to be expected. But Berligou? I

Gavin Quinney of Ch Bauduc shares his observations, and his graphs, in an annual report that is admired even by the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux. His picture shows Cabernet grapes arriving on 23 September 2020 at Ch Beychevelle, St-Julien. Here is my detailed report on the amount of wine produced by the whole of Bordeaux in 2020. Each year

I liked the wines, but where can one buy them? Brexit is probably only partly to blame. A version of this article is published by the Financial Times. For all the relevant tasting notes see More bordeaux 2018s. The Bordeaux wine establishment is very proud of its sales system, known as the Place de Bordeaux. Over centuries a system has evolved

Nick investigates the sole of discretion. The Cornish fishing authorities appear to be at it again. I refer to the current plans to rename some of their fish and shellfish to make them more attractive to the British public, and more popular with the fish-buying members of your family as well as, more importantly in terms of influence, leading

A biodynamic, crown-capped, red Austrian natural wine that breaks the rules. From 3,180 Hungarian forints, €10.50, 11.40 Swiss francs, £12.95, $17.99 Find this wine Hannes Michlits with the Meinklang Angus cattleThe very large Meinklang family farm in Burgenland, right on the Hungarian border, is pretty remarkable. It’s not the typical commercial enterprise one would expect from an

We too rarely have the chance to taste vintage port at optimum maturity. But this tasting of 63 of them, back to 1963, was an exception. Tim took this picture of an 'exceptional' example, Warre's 1977. In early September 2020, Team Jancis was invited to join a major tasting of vintage ports, organised by The World of Fine Wine magazine. Jancis

In view of the topic of today's tasting article, we thought it would be fun for this week's Throwback Thursday to revive one of our earliest articles about California, written more than 18 years ago. 18 February 2021 A real blast from the past below, about plans for what was to become Harlan's very successful Bond range of cult Cabernets from a

We see too few California wines in the UK but we review some of those that made it across the Atlantic. A relative newcomer to UK shelves and lists is Daou of Paso Robles whose extensive vineyards in the Adelaida District of Paso Robles are pictured above. See also today's Throwback Thursday from 2002. Jancis writes The California Wine Institute

The Ciderologist Gabe Cook follows Tam’s recent look at no- and low-alcohol drinks with his own favourite non-potent ciders, and a perry. I suspect there are many people reading this article who find the concept of a non-alcoholic or low-alcohol (henceforth, NOLO) beverage anathema. The purpose of consuming an alcoholic drink is precisely to