Decanter

California reds under £30 / $30: Panel tasting results

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 14:25:40 GMT

Susy Atkins, Keith Kirkpatrick and Romain Bourger tasted 84 California reds, with one Outstanding and ten Highly Recommended.

Entry criteria: Producers and UK agents were invited to submit their Californian red wines with availability in the UK and/or US, with a retail price of up to £30/$30

See all wines tasted here

There may have been no fireworks, but our expert trio were encouraged by improved levels of quality in this competitive price bracket, if slightly disappointed by an overarching fruit-forward simplicity.

‘I was pleasantly surprised,’ said Susy Atkins. ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve tasted so many Californian wines in such a concentrated period of time and I do think the quality has gone up.

‘There’s a lot of good wine – even very good wine – for the price point, but I was disappointed that there were few really stellar wines, which we know California can deliver.’

Keith Kirkpatrick felt that Californian producers need to understand the UK market better before their wines are fully appreciated. ‘Our European palate is quite different from the North American palate,’ he explained. ‘Even for wines at entry level, not everybody is looking for sweet, forward fruit with lots of oak and alcohol. We want savouriness, elegance and balance as well.’

That finesse seemed most lacking in the Pinot Noirs which, nevertheless, were roundly enjoyed by all three judges. ‘I was looking for elegance and balance in particular, and was pleased that there weren’t too many overly sweet wines, though some tasted rather overcooked,’ noted Atkins. ‘But what was sadly lacking were the more complex notes – that lovely earthy, forest floor quality that Pinot can give.’

Unsurprisingly, the other consistently good-quality variety highlighted by all the judges was Cabernet Sauvignon. While Romain Bourger was impressed by the wines from specific AVAs, Kirkpatrick praised the entries that already had some age and therefore more aroma and flavour interest beyond primary fruit. ‘The younger 2018 wines were as I expected – powerful, ripe and intense – but at this stage of their life quite homogenous and often simplistic,’ he said.

In the Zinfandel flight, Bourger and Kirkpatrick preferred the lighter, more ‘old-school’ wines to the more concentrated, high-alcohol styles appreciated by Atkins. ‘But in general, whatever kind of Zinfandel you like there were some good, balanced, well-made examples,’ said Bourger.

Kirkpatrick was disappointed there were so few Syrahs: ‘California’s doing some great things with Syrah and I’d like to see more in the UK. So far we tend to see only those at a mid to high price, but I think it’s a grape that could work at a more affordable level too.’

Our expert trio found the ‘mixed bag’ flight of varieties such as Barbera, Carignan, Counoise, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Valdiguié hard to judge as there were no benchmarks. However, all agreed that while it was exciting to see the diversity of choice available, the wines would struggle in the UK in terms of price point, compared to more authentic, higher- quality counterparts from Europe.

As usual in Decanter panel tastings, prices were not revealed to the judges, nor which wines were available in either or both of the UK or US markets. But the consensus was that lovers of Californian wine on both sides of the pond had good choice and quality available to them. As Bourger concluded: ‘We’re lucky to have some excellent wines at the top end and some perhaps not so good wines at the cheap end, but if what we tasted here is an example of the intermediate range coming from California, there are some encouraging signs.’

Discussion copy by Tina Gellie.

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Affordable California reds

Is there a middle-ground in California? Our three expert judges assessed how the state’s producers perform up to the £30/$30 level, aiming to find where the best value lies, writes Susy Atkins…

California dominates US wine production, delivering 81% of the country’s output. Pitted against whole nations, the Golden State emerges as the world’s fourth largest wine producer, yielding $43.6 billion in retail value and $1.36 billion in exports. According to California’s Wine Institute, there are 5,900 wine grape growers in 49 of its 58 counties, and across 139 AVAs (American Viticultural Areas), with some 110 varieties grown. This is big wine country.

So, one would expect a huge diversity of wine styles at different price points to pour out. However, that’s at odds with the generalised perceptions of the state’s portfolio. There’s a strong belief that California produces either wildly expensive, dazzlingly complex, ageworthy premium wines, or cheap, rather sweet and oaky mass-market brands, mainly from the more obvious grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay. This view holds that, in-between, there’s not enough finesse, nuance, or value.

This tasting puts those preconceptions to the test by looking at California reds under £30/$30 (we’ll look at whites next month). As well as the big three red varieties grown in California (see below), there are wines made from Syrah, Carignan, Grenache, Barbera and more – even such relatively obscurities as southern France’s Counoise and Valdiguié.

The big questions

In the past, producers here tended to put variety before provenance. But the modern-day move towards better site selection (often in cooler spots) has perhaps thrown that generalisation into question. Would generic California labels provide the best value in our tasting? Or which of the specific AVAs might triumph? While red blends are increasingly popular, California is known as a producer of varietal wines: which would take the lead? And would any single-vineyard wines be among our high scorers?

In 2018, Napa Valley had California’s highest average price per US ton of grapes, at $5,571, so one might not expect to find any Napa entries meeting our £30/$30 cut-off. Nor might we dare hope our best bargains would come from more marginal cooler climates where grapes can retain their natural acidity. Yet this balance between ripeness and freshness was exactly what we were looking for – particularly in the Pinot Noirs. Would we find it?

It stands to reason that California’s best-value reds should come from the state’s hot, dry, relatively fertile traditional farming heartlands, such as Lodi in the Central Valley, 160km east of San Francisco. Here, 40% of the state’s Zinfandel is grown, some from ancient, low-yielding vines. As with any full-bodied reds, you need balanced tannins, restrained sweet ripeness. Did they deliver?

Also a key factor is the judicious use of oak. American and French oak barrels are widely used in California, but still plenty of chips and staves too, especially for more commercial, entry-level wines. The most compelling question of all, perhaps, was whether smaller wineries or the often-derided big brands would rise best to this challenge of affordable Californian reds. The results were intriguing…

California’s Big Three: did you know?

source: California Wine Institute

Cabernet Sauvignon

The second most widely planted wine grape in the state (after Chardonnay) at 37,200ha. Average price per US ton: $1,553. Many of the best-known plantings are concentrated north and south of San Francisco in warm wine regions with significant temperature fluctuations between hot days and cooler nights. The first vineyard-designated Californian wine was Heitz, Martha’s Vineyard 1966 from what would become Oakville AVA in Napa Valley. It cost $7 a bottle (the winery’s regular bottling was $1.63).

Pinot Noir

The third most widely planted grape in the state at 18,300ha. Average price per ton: $1,688.Pinot didn’t become popular in California until after Prohibition ended as it was considered difficult to grow. By the 1970s and ’80s it was planted widely, generally in cooler spots, and sometimes for sparkling wine. By the 21st century, most quality Pinot was being grown in cool locations, often with fairly direct exposure to the Pacific ocean.

Zinfandel

Ranked fourth in California with plantings of 17,480ha. Average price per ton: £591. Zinfandel is concentrated in the north and central part of the state, especially in the Gold Counties of El Dorado and Amador in the Sierra Foothills. It was the most widely planted red variety in California until Cabernet Sauvignon overtook it in 1998.

A large proportion of the fruit is used for white/blush Zinfandel. The oldest documented grape vines in the state are the Zinfandel vines in the Grandpere Vineyard in Shenandoah Valley, Amador County, planted in 1869.

Affordable California reds panel tasting:

84 wines tasted

Entry criteria:

Producers and UK agents were invited to submit their Californian red wines with availability in the UK and/or US, with a retail price of up to £30/$30

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 1

Highly Recommended 10

Recommended 49

Commended 20

Fair 4

Poor 0

Faulty 0

Top scoring affordable California wines

See all wines tasted here

Burgundy 2019 en primeur: Full report plus top-scoring wines

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 13:00:36 GMT

Full report Burgundy vineyard / cote d'or

Côte d’Or whites score

4/5

Côte d’Or reds score

4.5/5

COMING SOON

Individual appellation overviews for:

Côte de Nuits, Côte de Beaune, Côte Chalonnaise & Mâconnais

Individual commune overviews for:

Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vosne-Romanée & Nuits-St-Georges, Pommard & Volnay, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet & Santenay

Overview

In describing the 2019 Burgundy vintage, François Labet, proprietor of Château de la Tour in Clos de Vougeot and co-president of the BIVB, the regional wine board, said: ‘2018 was Arnold Schwarzenegger but 2019 is Maria Sharapova!’

If the 2018 wines were notable for their (albeit stylish) power and mass, the 2019s bring finesse and elegance to the equation without sacrificing concentration. The vintage takes its place alongside other exceptional recent years in Burgundy, carving out a niche for its outstanding balance of intense fruit, firm structure and supple texture.

Scroll down for Charles Curtis MW’s top-scoring Burgundy 2019 tasting notes and scores

See Charles Curtis MW’s top-scoring Burgundy 2019 tasting notes and scores

The following wines scored 98 points or above.

Chablis 2019: Full vintage report and top-scoring wines

The post Burgundy 2019 en primeur: Full report plus top-scoring wines appeared first on Decanter.

Five of Napa’s most stunning wineries

Sun, 17 Jan 2021 12:00:19 GMT

Inglenook’s famous château at night

Covid-19: Napa Valley is in the State of California’s Covid-19 Regional Stay At Home order, and currently most wineries are only allowing pickups of wine orders, or offering virtual tastings.

When Joseph Osborne arrived in Napa in the 1850s and dug deep into the soils of Oak Knoll, he never would have imagined that those first vines would mark the birth of one of the world’s most highly reputed wine regions. California’s Napa Valley may not lay claim to the centuries of existence that wine regions in Europe do, but it shares the same passion for beauty in both wine and design.

The region is home to some of the most fascinating and stunning wine properties, with architectural and landscaping influences being drawn from all corners of the world. From the grandeur of French châteaux to modern art retreats, from medieval forts to palaces erected in Italian marble, Napa is home to an eclectic mix of wineries spanning all shapes and sizes. There’s even a winery with a ski lift!

The days of the simple tasting room set-up are gone as wineries have to think further outside the box for ways to stand out in this competitive market. ‘Experiences’ are increasingly offered by wineries – and beautifully manicured gardens, majestic cellars and grand architecture are fundamental cornerstones in this, to entice in the crowds.

Napa has more than 550 wineries – some stand out more than others, but one common theme is the vast outdoor spaces where people can admire the surrounding beauty of the winery before even stepping inside.

From instantly recognisable and historic properties to cutting-edge masterpieces, here follows a selection of Napa Valley wine estates known for their unique architectural values.

Best for nostalgia

Inglenook

Napa’s first estate winery, the Inglenook property (pictured top) was bought by Gustave Niebaum in 1879. Work began on the iconic château in 1881 and when completed in 1887 it was the first to introduce gravity-flow winemaking – considered one of the greatest winery structures in the western hemisphere at the time.

Film director Francis Ford Coppola bought the property in 1975 and still owns it today, having put his own distinct twist on the visiting experience with his film and photography museum. Steeped in history, the building is a nod to Napa’s rich winemaking past; sensitive restorations in 1997 make it feel as if you’ve been transported back to the 1800s, walking in the footsteps of the founding fathers of Napa viticulture (Inglenook was actually the first estate in the region to plant Merlot, back in 1882).

The property’s most breathtaking feature is the vast network of caves that sit within the mountainside, leading out to a picturesque valley view. As part of its continuing 140th anniversary works, this maze of tunnels is undergoing a giant expansion, to be completed by the 2021 harvest.

Chateau Montelena

Best for historic charm

Chateau Montelena

Coming to fame by triumphing over Burgundy’s best Chardonnay wines at the 1976 Judgement of Paris tasting, Chateau Montelena’s past tells a much larger story, entwined within the foundation of its architecture.

Conceived in 1888 by Alfred Tubbs, this medieval castle-styled building is said to have been designed by a French architect, built by French masons and on mostly European foundations. Rumour has it, it was inspired by Château Lafite in Bordeaux. With rustic stone walls, narrow arched windows and even faux arrow slits, this fortified gatehouse has stood the test of time.

In 1958, its next architectural evolution came at the hands of Yort and Jeanie Frank, a couple who emigrated from Hong Kong prior to World War II. Their retirement home was not complete without a Chinese-inspired garden, so Jade lake was born. Considered one of Napa’s most beautiful sanctuaries, it is home to many species of plant and wildlife, and is surrounded by weeping willows on all sides.

In 1976, the estate was bought by Jim Barrett, whose success at the Judgement of Paris that year gave the property its winemaking name. It is still owned by the Barrett family today.

Raymond Vineyards. Credit: Raymond Vineyards

Best for creative wackiness

Raymond Winery

Many of the properties on this list hold great historical value, but Raymond Winery is perhaps the most intriguing and visual of them all for an entirely different reason. Like Alice in Wonderland, you seem to be entering another dimension – an eclectic mix of all things whimsical.

While the Raymond family arrived in Napa during the 1930s, it’s Burgundy-born Jean-Charles Boisset who now runs operations. His creative outlook has made Raymond one of the most talked-about wineries in northern California due to its unique and provocative design. Half-nude mannequins hang from pipes and giant chandeliers loom above fermentation tanks – like so many other discoveries, their presence is hard to explain, yet somehow works.

Boisset is also a leader in biodynamic farming and offers visitors a glimpse into what the practice means in the Theater of Nature. In addition to its many collections and selections of wines, Raymond Winery also produces celebrity collaborations, including singer John Legend’s LVE range.

Art installations at Hall. Credit: John Bedell Photography

Best for art

Hall

This new-age, industrial-meets-contemporary utopia fires the imagination. Avid art collectors Craig and Kathryn Hall moved to Napa in 1995, with Kathryn’s family winemaking history (and their love of Cabernet Sauvignon) inspiring the pair to combine the two.

The winery melds the old and the new: the original 1885 stone building was completely restored and now, under sweeping mountain views, visitors can enjoy the work of critically acclaimed artists from all corners of the globe.

Hall was also California’s first production winery to receive LEED Gold Certification from the US Green Building Council and continues to push the boundaries of green innovation.

Lokoya Spring. Credit: Michael Sugrue

Best for mountain views

Lokoya

The winery is one of many in the Jackson Family Wines global portfolio. Founded in 1995, it is known for its Cabernet Sauvignon produced from Napa’s four major mountain district AVAs: Spring Mountain, Mount Veeder, Diamond Mountain and Howell Mountain. Nonetheless, it is the architectural magnetism of the estate’s European-inspired castle that is arguably the biggest drawcard.

In the heart of Spring Mountain, this stone fortress with its gothic-inspired quatrefoil windows offers a sense of grandeur, yet there’s an understated elegance and warmth too. Luxurious, open-plan interiors with locally sourced artisan furnishings and grand chandeliers overhead create a spell of enchantment and comfort.

Some of the best places are difficult to get to, and that statement couldn’t be truer in this instance.

The post Five of Napa’s most stunning wineries appeared first on Decanter.

Top scoring 2018 Bordeaux dry whites: Re-tasted in the bottle

Sun, 17 Jan 2021 09:00:31 GMT

See the full Bordeaux 2018 report here

See individual appellation overviews for:

St-Estèphe, Pauillac, St-Julien, Margaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc, Listrac, Moulis and Pessac-Léognan & Graves

In addition to the hundreds of recently-bottled Bordeaux wines Jane Anson usually tastes for her in bottle report, this one included the full line up of dry whites from both Médoc classifications.

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See Jane Anson’s top-scoring 2018 white wines

Full report on Bordeaux 2018 in the bottle

Top Bordeaux 2018 Left Bank wines in the bottle

Top Bordeaux 2018 Right Bank wines report

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Best Japanese whisky: Ten to try

Sat, 16 Jan 2021 14:00:10 GMT

The Japanese whisky scene was created by the twin dynasties of Suntory and Nikka, inspired by Masataka Taketsuru’s fact-finding trip to Scottish distilleries over a century ago.

While distilleries such as Yamazaki and Yoichi were set up later to serve a domestic audience, the growing appeal of Japanese whiskies meant they were soon being sought on the international market, along with cult ‘lost’ distilleries Karuizawa and Hanyu, which have fetched staggering prices in auction.

These recommendations are a more accessible selection, whether you’re a beginner or an aficionado in search of a special bottle.

Best Japanese whisky: for beginners

Nikka Days Blended Japanese Whisky

This is an introductory blended whisky produced in the Miyagikyo and Yoichi distilleries of Nikka. Bright and golden in colour, the lightly peated Nikka Days features a bouquet of cereal, roasted nuts, marmalade and spiced apple pie, with a round and creamy texture and vanilla spices on the palate. Alc 40%

Suntory Whisky Toki Whisky

A blended whisky sourced from Suntory’s Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita distilleries. The key ingredients are Hakashu single malt, which is aged in American oak, and Chita grain whisky. Lightly golden in colour, Toki has a spiced nose of creamy vanilla, white peach, apple and walnuts, honeyed and smooth on the palate, with spiced citrus fruit and a touch of acidity to balance. Alc 43%

Hatozaki Blended Whisky

The Hatozaki range is made by master distiller & blender, Kimio Yonezawa at Kaikyo Distillery in the port town of Akashi in south-west Japan. It’s named after the lighthouse ‘Hatozaki’ in Akashi harbour which is shown on the label. This is a blended whisky made with a minimum malt content of 40% and aged in a broad selection of cask sizes and types. Honeyed vanilla jumps out from the glass, followed by malt, butterscotch and minty freshness. Rounded and buttery on the palate, with bitter grapefruit peels, vanilla and white pepper on the palate, followed by a spicy finish. Alc 40%

Best Japanese whisky: under £50

Togouchi Premium Blended Japanese Whisky

Made from a combination of Scottish malt and Canadian grain in the Chugoku distillery in the town of Togouchi, this blended whisky is aged in an abandoned railway tunnel. It features a slightly peated nose of salted caramel, coconut, citrus peel and sweet spices, light-weighted and saline on the palate, smooth and creamy, filled with ripe orchard fruits. Alc 40%

Nikka From The Barrel

A blended whisky from Nikka’s Miyagikyo and Yoichi distilleries that supposedly deliver full flavours and richness ‘from barrels’. After blending, the liquid goes into used barrels for another few months to smooth out the edges. Bright amber coloured, with woody dried tangerine peels, bruised apple, malt, creamed sweet corn on the nose, followed by a pungent flavour profile of caramel, candied citrus, roasted nuts and vanilla. Alc 51.4%

The Chita Single Grain Whisky

A signature product from the Chita distillery of Suntory, which is located on the misty, calm shores of Chita Peninsula. With corn as its core material, this single grain whisky is aged in wine and sherry casks, in addition to the American White Oak casks. Salted caramel, candied blood orange peel, with vanilla wood and butter as the undertone, saline attack with a smooth palate of butterscotch, grapefruit and ripe peach. Alc 43%

Hatozaki Pure Malt

Another whisky from the new Katozaki range by the Kaikyo Distillery, the ‘Pure Malt’ version is a blend of single malt whiskies aged in ex-bourbon, ex-Sherry and the native Mizunara oak for a minimum of five to six years. Wood-spiced malt, dried grapefruit peel and coconut on the nose, the palate is sweet-spiced with an umami tone, plus butterscotch, dried fruit and a hint of bitter herbs. Abv 46%

Best Japanese whisky: under £100/$100

Hibiki Japanese Harmony Whisky

The Hibiki brand was first launched in 1989 to commemorate Suntory’s 90th anniversary. The ‘Japanese Harmony’ version of Hibiki is a blend of malt whiskies from the Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries and aged in a blend of casks including American white oak, Sherry barrels and the native Mizunara oak. A perfumed nose of potpourri, candied citrus fruits, sweet vanilla and raisins, sweet and smooth, with honey, butterscotch, cigar box bitterness and white pepper on the palate, complex and long. Alc 43%

Yamazaki Distiller’s Reserve Single Malt Whisky

This single malt whisky is from Japan’s oldest distillery, Yamazaki of Suntory. It has been aged in Bordeaux wine barrels, which give it distinct red fruit notes, in addition to ex-Sherry casks and the native Mizunara oak. A refreshing nose of strawberry, dried cranberry, toffee, cereal and a hint of incense, which comes from the Mizunara oak. Sweet and creamy on the palate, with spiced notes of vanilla oak, butter brioche and lime zest bitterness. Alc 43%

Taketsuru Pure Malt

Taketsuru Pure Malt is named after Nikka’s founder, Masataka Taketsuru. It is a blend of aged single malt casks from Yoichi which is aged in ex-Sherry casks; and Miyagikyo which has been aged in American oak. A complex nose of rice cakes, salted caramel, soya sauce and malted barley, with tangerine, pear drops and white flowers as the backdrop. Buttered and creamy with toffee, bitter grapefruit peel, coconut, vanilla and a hint of peat, followed by a lingering, cereal finish. Alc 43%

Understanding whisky styles

How to invest in whisky

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Learn about Japanese whisky – all you need to know

Sat, 16 Jan 2021 12:00:37 GMT

Photo by Shirota Yuri on Unsplash

Whiskies were first brought to Japan by the US military expeditions in the 1850s. Drawing the know-how from Scotch whiskies, now the nation is producing some of the best and most fashionable examples of the grain-based spirit, plus a pinch of its own twist.

From Suntory Toki at less than £30, to Yamazaki 55 Year Old which was recently sold for more than £600,000 in an HK auction, Japanese whiskies are not only gaining popularity among everyday drinkers but also are attracting a cult following among collectors.

Came with the Black Ships

The first records of whisky being drunk in Japan can be traced back to 1853, marked by the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry’s ‘Black Ships’. The US military expedition consequently ended the island country’s 220 years of intended isolation.

The Americans invited the local officials to banquets and treated them to the amber-coloured alcohol, likely from either Scotland or America. They were apparently impressed by this rich flavoured treat – even some of the powerful Shoguns were said to have enjoyed getting tipsy by these tasty gifts, recorded Yukio Shimatani, former Director of Suntory in his book The journey of Japanese whisky to the top of the world.

Though there were records of low-quality blended ‘whisky’ being given to the soldiers during the civil war, it was not until the Meiji era, when the Japanese people were embracing Western culture and lifestyle, that quality whiskies became available on the consumer market. Although they were still seen as a luxury beverage that’s only enjoyed by the rich and powerful.

The dawn of Japanese whisky

The nation-wide industrial revolution combined with government support generated a booming wine and beer industry. Whisky production, however, was a harder sell at that time. The lack of knowledge is one thing, the fact that whiskies demand an extensive ageing time to become drinkable scares potential investors away.

At the turn of the century, a pioneer appeared.

Trained as a businessman, Shinjiro Torii (鳥井信治郎, 1879-1962) worked for a pharmaceutical wholesaler from an early age. Therefore, he had rare access to imported wines and spirits, which at the time were seen as medicines from the West.

In the early 1900s, Torii started an imported wine company named ‘Kotobukiya’ and made a fortune by creating a popular blended red ‘wine’ by mixing Spanish wines with sweeteners and spices.

By coincidence, he noticed that liquor aged in wine barrels after a long period of time showed some similar characteristics to those malted spirits he’d tasted before. This discovery inspired him to venture into whisky production, despite objections from his own staff.

In 1923, he established the first-ever whisky distillery in Japan – Yamazaki Distillery – in the suburb of Kyoto, an area known for its natural supply of high-quality groundwater.

Masataka Taketsuru (竹鶴政孝, 1894–1979), who studied whisky production for three years in Scotland, was taken on board as the distillery executive. His knowledge and understanding of Scotch whisky have laid the foundation for the Japanese take of whisky.

In 1934, Taketsuru decided to leave the company to start his own distillery, Yoichi in Hokkaido, and established the Nikka brand.

Back to Kotobukiya, in 1936, the company changed its name to Suntory. A year later, after more than a decade of trials and errors, Yamazaki Distillery released a 12-year malt whisky, marking the dawn of quality Japanese whisky.

The Kakubin whisky

Suntory’s first whisky was named as ‘Kakubin 角瓶’, or ‘square bottle’. The sweetly scented, golden-coloured spirit bottled in square-cut, tortoise-shell-shaped ‘bins’ is still one of the signature products of Suntory.

Taketsuru, later regarded as the ‘father of Japanese whiskies’, launched his first commercial whisky in 1940 under the Nikka brand, named ‘Rare Old Nikka’.

Suntory and Nikka as old-time rivals remain two of the most prominent Japanese whisky producers until today.

They are now joined by an increasing number of artisan producers to keep on rolling out new styles and expressions of Japanese whiskies, reaching beyond mere ‘copycats’ of Scotch whiskies to gain global recognition.

What’s the difference between Japanese and Scotch whisky?

Japanese whiskies tend to carry a strong Scotch influence, not only because of the similarities in production methods but also because of the ingredients.

Image by Jason Goh from Pixabay

In the early years, Japanese distilleries used to be made with only domestic barleys. However, summer heatwaves and high humidity during the growing season mean that the quality of the domestic variety ‘Nijyo Omugi 二条大麦’ is lesser than those imported from Europe. Therefore almost all of the barley used to make Japanese whiskies are imported.

However, there are several elements that set Japanese whiskies apart from their Scottish counterparts, namely:

The collection of stills
Style
Water
Oak casks

To begin with, each distillery in Japan usually has a considerable variety of stills, creating a colourful range of components for the master blenders to choose from to make a ‘single malt’.

Stylistically, Japanese whiskies tend to be less peated compared to Scotch whiskies, although there are also premium samples that take on a strong peat influence, such as the Hakushu Heavily Peated and Yoichi Heavily Peated.

Water is another key factor that contributes to the characters of Japanese whiskies.

‘The newly established distilleries in Japan are almost all situated on spacious lands on higher altitude… with plenty of surrounding vegetation and close to quality water sources,’ said Shimatani. The former Suntory director noted that these ‘classic Japanese landscapes’ are different from those in Scotland.

Japanese distillers and blenders believe that the chemical composition of each freshwater source contributes to the unique aroma characteristics of the whiskies made.

The use of domestic oak casks, on the other hand, brings a more direct impact on the flavour profile of Japanese whiskies.

The Mizunara oak

The first casks used to age Japanese whisky were imported sherry barrels from Spain, which were previously used for Torii’s spiced red ‘wines’. However, due to a shortage of imported casks after WWII, Japanese distilleries started to use domestic wood to age their whiskies.

Mizunara (Quercus crispula) is among the best known and rarest materials for ageing premium Japanese whiskies.

The Mizunara oak, which is predominantly found in Eastern Asia, tends to give a distinct ‘gorgeous sweet perfume’ in addition to an ‘orange hue in the amber colour’ to the whisky. After prolonged ageing, whiskies tend to pick up an increasingly ‘incense-like’ aroma, according to Shimatani.

Without legal regulations over the choice of whisky casks, today Japanese distilleries can bring in casks from abroad without too much hardship. Nonetheless, many producers still believe that domestic oak is an essential element to the originality of Japanese whiskies.

In fact, the fame of the precious Japanese oak has caused more distilleries in the US and Scotland to start using Mizunara oak to age their whiskies. Chivas Regal Mizunara is an example.

How to enjoy Japanese whisky

Like how you enjoy your Scotch, you can drink Japanese whisky neat or on a rock. Alternatively, enjoy them by stirring in water and ice.

However, Japanese whisky is especially enjoyed in Japan as the heart of the hugely popular cocktail, the Highball.

The cocktail is made by firstly filling the thin and tall highball glass with ice. Next, add around 50ml of whisky and top up the glass with soda water, then garnish with a wedge of lemon or grapefruit.

The classic cocktail, with numerous variations, is widely enjoyed in diners and bars in the country. Its popularity is said to have contributed to a new boom of single malt whiskies in Japan in the new millennium.

Similar to the way you enjoy hot Shochu, you may also dilute your Japanese whisky with two-thirds of hot water as a heartwarming alternative to a hot toddy.

Understanding Whisky Styles

Best whiskies for cocktails

The post Learn about Japanese whisky – all you need to know appeared first on Decanter.

Bordeaux 2018 wines in bottle: Best-value wines under £20/$28

Sat, 16 Jan 2021 09:00:10 GMT

In her Bordeaux 2018 in bottle report, Jane Anson discovered some outstanding wines from across the famous appellation’s left and right banks – spanning red, white and sweet styles – and she also found pockets of great value within the vintage.

Scroll down to see Jane Anson’s best-value Bordeaux 2018 tasting notes and scores

Many of the wines below fall into the 91-93 point range, but in her report Anson was keen to praise wines that acheived 94-points, which, she says, can offer tremendous value albeit often at a slightly higher price point.

Jane Anson’s best-value Bordeaux 2018 in bottle

Full report on Bordeaux 2018 in the bottle

Top Bordeaux 2018 Left Bank wines in the bottle

Top Bordeaux 2018 Right Bank wines report

The post Bordeaux 2018 wines in bottle: Best-value wines under £20/$28 appeared first on Decanter.

Best 2018 Bordeaux second wines: Re-tasted in the bottle

Sat, 16 Jan 2021 09:00:07 GMT

See the full Bordeaux 2018 report here

See individual appellation overviews for:

St-Estèphe, Pauillac, St-Julien, Margaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc, Listrac, Moulis and Pessac-Léognan & Graves

Decanter’s Bordeaux correspondent Jane Anson tasted more than 550 wines from the Bordeaux 2018 vintage now that they’ve been bottled, including second wines from some of the regions most famous châteaux.

These include those from estates with 100 point grand vins; Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Ausone and Château Cheval Blanc.

See Jane Anson’s top-scoring 2018 second wines

Full report on Bordeaux 2018 in the bottle

Top Bordeaux 2018 Left Bank wines in the bottle

Top Bordeaux 2018 Right Bank wines report

The post Best 2018 Bordeaux second wines: Re-tasted in the bottle appeared first on Decanter.

What is oxidation in wine? - Ask Decanter

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 16:00:41 GMT

Some types of Sherry are made in an oxidative style.

Oxidation, in wine terms, refers to a group of chemical reactions that occur when wine comes into contact with air.

It can result in a wine losing its primary fruit characters and developing a brown hue.

But for certain styles of wine, controlled oxidation – and also what some would call ‘micro-oxidation’ – encourages desirable characteristics to develop, such as more complex flavours and less astringency.

When the wine is exposed to the air for too long, alcohol is first oxidised to acetaldehyde, which smells like bruised apples at high concentration levels.

It finally becomes acetic acid, when the wine is literally turned into vinegar.

The enemy of wine?

Over-exposure to oxygen in air is a constant threat throughout winemaking.

It begins when the grape berries are crushed; the freshly released phenolic compounds from the seed, skin and stem are ‘among the most readily oxidised wine constituents’, according to research on Oxidation mechanisms occurring in wines, published in 2011 in Food Research International.

Oxidised phenolic compounds form deep-coloured polymers that give the wine an amber hue. This deepens with time, just like what happens to an apple when it’s peeled and left aside.

White wine turns to a browner shade, whereas red wine becomes less vibrant and paler in colour, before gradually developing a tawny character.

The oxidation process also reduces the phenolics compounds available to develop varietal aromas and enhance the body of the wine at a later stage.

It’s generally considered that oxidation spoilage is a bigger danger for white wines. Red wines contain higher amounts of phenolic compounds, thanks in part to the pigments and tannins extracted from skin maceration.

In order to preserve the fresh colour and varietal aromas of a white wine, winemakers may choose to take protective measures during winemaking. That might include using stainless steel to minimise the exposure to oxygen, or adding SO2 or other inert gasses.

However, for non-aromatic white grape varieties, such as Chardonnay, some producers might deliberately give the juice a ‘shot’ of oxygen prior to fermentation to help generate more complex flavours.

The double-edged sword

Despite the risks, oxygen isn’t entirely an enemy to wines. For example, allowing some red wines to be in contact with small amounts of oxygen during winemaking (e.g. via pumping over) can help to stabilise colour and to soften the bitterness.

This is due to a series of complex chemical reactions happening between oxygen and the phenolics in wine. One of them is called polymerisation, where small molecules of tannins and anthocyanins join together to form larger chains – or polymers.

The binding effect of tannins and the protein in our saliva is believed to be one of the key reasons for the astringency we feel when we taste a young wine. But salivary proteins cannot interact with large molecules, thus aged or slightly oxidised wines appear to be smoother in texture.

Moreover, as oxygen speeds up the degradation of wine, even by small degrees, it also encourages more complex aromas and flavours to arise.

As wines slowly oxidise with time, you may notice whites wines starting to pick up a honeyed, waxy smell, while reds may develop an earthy, dried fruit nose. When present at lower levels, these aromas add an extra layer of complexity to the primary fruit characters of the wine.

However, over time, these tertiary flavours eventually take over to the point at which a wine completely loses its fruit character.

Racking and ageing in porous vessels, such as oak barrels, are among the methods that provide gradual exposure to oxygen during winemaking and maturation.

Producers can choose different types of closure to determine the desired rate of oxidation after bottling.

Wine lovers may also wield the power to oxidise, as we swirl the wine in the glass or let it ‘breathe’ in a decanter.

By speeding up the oxidation process, it’s commonly thought that we enhance a wine’s aroma and soften the texture of young wine, in particular. Old wines tend to be much more fragile, thus should be aerated with caution.

The ‘oxidative’ styles

Winemakers who prefer their wines to maintain a youthful, fresh and fruit-forward style may take extra steps to minimise oxygen contact.

Green-hued New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs and flinty Chablis are typical examples of such ‘reductive’ winemaking.

At the other end of the spectrum, you’ll find wines that display clear hallmarks of deliberate oxidation. Oloroso Sherry, Tawny Port and Madeira are among the most classic examples.

In the case of Madeira and aged Tawny, the oxidation is combined with heat during storage, making them almost indestructible in the bottle.

The prolonged oxidative ageing in barrels often creates rich aromas of caramel, toffee, roasted nuts and dried fruits.

‘Premature’ oxidation

Finally, it’s perhaps worth a quick note about the risk of premature oxidation (‘premox’) in your precious old bottles.

Premox is arguably one of the most mysterious risks haunting the premium end of the wine world.

This phenomenon essentially refers to a wine growing old before its time; it may have been built for long years in the cellar but it has developed oxidative characters associated with ageing in a relatively short period.

In the late 1990s, people identified the issue in white Burgundies but it was also discovered that premox could affect other age-worthy white wines. In 2014, Jane Anson wrote about whether the problem was becoming an issue for some red wines in Bordeaux.

At first, some people associated premox with poor cork quality at the time or insufficient level of SO2 in the bottle.

Renowned Bordeaux oenologists, the late Prof Denis Dubourdieu and Dr Valérie Lavigne-Cruege, later suggested that it may also be linked to insufficiency of glutathione, a natural antioxidant produced in vines, due to lack of water and nitrogen supply in vineyards.

References:

Oxidation mechanisms occuring in wines
June 2011, Food Research International, 44(5):1115-1126
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2011.03.050

Salivary Protein-Tannin Interaction: The Binding behind Astringency
By Alessandra Rinaldi and Luigi Moio
DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.93611

The Oxford Companion to Wine
By Jancis Robinson and Julia Harding

More ‘ask Decanter‘ articles:

What is orange wine?

How long should you keep wine open?

How do wine yeasts affect flavour?

The post What is oxidation in wine? - Ask Decanter appeared first on Decanter.

Top Sauternes & Barsac 2018 wines: Re-tasted in the bottle

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 14:00:25 GMT

Scroll down to see Jane Anson’s Sauternes & Barsac 2018 top scorers

See the full Bordeaux 2018 report here

See individual appellation overviews for:

St-Estèphe, Pauillac, St-Julien, Margaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc, Listrac, Moulis and Pessac-Léognan & Graves

A concentrated and powerful year, where patience was key due to the late onset of the botrytis. September saw just 0.5mm of rain fall in the area, meaning that there was no water to kick start the noble rot process and some estates saw grapes concentrating through simple water loss known as passerillage.

See Jane Anson’s top-scoring Sauternes & Barsac 2018 wines

Full report on Bordeaux 2018 in the bottle

Top Bordeaux 2018 Left Bank wines in the bottle

Top Bordeaux 2018 Right Bank wines report

The post Top Sauternes & Barsac 2018 wines: Re-tasted in the bottle appeared first on Decanter.

Top wine trends for 2021: countries, varieties and styles worth exploring

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 13:41:51 GMT

Most people are glad to leave memories of 2020 behind; to wave goodbye to one of the most challenging years in our lifetime. But amid seemingly endless clouds, there were silver linings.

The Covid-19 global pandemic presented us with an amazing opportunity to learn, adapt and demonstrate resilience both as individuals and professionals.

Scroll down for Dirceu Vianna Jr MW’s tasting notes on wine trends for 2021

Wine trends for 2021: the bottles to buy

French wineries to get aid as new US tariffs bite

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 13:31:04 GMT

US trade officials pressed ahead with plans to impose a 25% import tariff on French and German still wines above 14% abv this week.

Cognac and other grape-based spirits from France and Germany were also targeted, as part of an expansion of products targeted in the long-running US-EU trade dispute over aerospace industry subsidies.

The latest move comes in the final days of the Trump administration and adds to the 25% import tariff imposed in October 2019 on still wines from France, Germany, Spain and UK at 14% abv or less, and shipped in containers up to two litres.

Since then, some US merchants and retailers have noted lower availability and higher prices for some European wines.

In France, finance minister Bruno Le Maire told a news conference on Thursday (14 January) that winemakers hit by tariffs would be able to get up to €200,000 per month in extra aid if they had lost 50% of their revenue, reported Reuters.

Fewer shipments to the US saw French wine and spirits exporters lose €600m in sales between October 2019 and November 2020, trade body FEVS said earlier this month.

Across the Atlantic, lobbying group the US Wine Trade Alliance has called for president-elect Joe Biden to take action to resolve the dispute.

‘We’re hopeful that the Biden administration will recognise that this trade war benefits no one, and that it has been particularly damaging to small, family-owned businesses here in the US,’ Ben Aneff, president of the Alliance, told Decanter before the extra tariffs were brought in.

However, economic experts have also observed that, while the Biden team has spoken of warmer relations with the EU, there are many immediate challenges facing the incoming administration – especially the Covid-19 crisis.

In a note to members earlier this month, Aneff said it was important to convince the Biden administration not to wait on tariffs. He said repealing the levies could bring some relief to restaurants and the trade more broadly.

The president of the California-based Wine Institute, Bobby Koch, has also called this month for an end to the tariffs.

‘This dispute has absolutely nothing to do with wine and we call on the US and EU to urgently redouble their efforts to reach an agreement that removes these harmful tariffs,’ he said.

US officials have imposed the tariffs as part of $7.5bn of levies on EU imports, endorsed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) after the EU was judged to have paid illegal subsidies to the Airbus group. In a parallel case brought by the EU against American group Boeing, European officials imposed $4bn of tariffs on US imports late last year, but excluded wine.

Both sides have said they wish to find a resolution.

Will a Biden presidency cut US tariffs on EU wine?

China hits Australian wine with ‘provisional’ tariffs

The post French wineries to get aid as new US tariffs bite appeared first on Decanter.

Decanter World Wine Awards 2021 open for entries

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 16:54:51 GMT

The Decanter World Wine Awards has the largest global reach of any wine competition worldwide, and it is the trusted relationship that Decanter – the world’s leading wine media brand – has with an international audience of both consumers and trade that sets DWWA apart from other competitions.

Trusted internationally for its rigorous judging process, and proven to help producers increase wine sales, secure new markets and improve brand awareness worldwide, entries to the 18th edition of the Decanter World Wine Awards are now open.

Enter DWWA 2021 here

Why enter the Decanter World Wine Awards? Find out more in our entry pack or watch the video below.

‘There are many wine competitions out there at the moment… I still think the Decanter World Wine Awards is the one that people refer to,’ said Andrew Jefford, DWWA Co-Chair.

‘It is the benchmark. It is the biggest… It is the best judged. We go to great trouble to get qualified judges working on their specialised areas, so the level of expertise that is going in is unrivalled.’

New entry system for 2021

NEW for the 2021 competition, we’ve introduced a new awards platform. All entry information, DWWA assets and more are now available on one website.

All Decanter Awards account holders should have received an email today (14 January 2021) from awards@decanter.com with instructions to activate your new account. Once you’ve followed the simple steps, you will be able to enter wines for DWWA 2021 on the new awards system.

Need help? Please see our FAQ page for all questions you might have regarding the new website, your account and entering DWWA 2021.

Key dates for 2021

14 January 2021
Consolidated shipping depots & warehouse for direct deliveries open

29 January 2021
Last day to save previous DWWA & DAWA certificates here

2 April 2021
Consolidated shipping deadline

6 April 2021
Entry, payment and delivery deadline

Enter DWWA 2021 here

DWWA 2020: Read how the world’s largest wine competition was made possible during a pandemic

The post Decanter World Wine Awards 2021 open for entries appeared first on Decanter.

Anson: Where are the diverse voices in Bordeaux wine?

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 14:49:52 GMT

Saskia de Rothschild tastes the grapes for the 2017 vintage

You’ll rarely find me getting involved in arguments on Twitter, but the closest I have come recently was over the En Magnum publication of a sexist cartoon that created a rare moment of reflection for France’s wine industry.

I made a fairly mild point about the French wine media being walled off to everyone outside of a tiny circle, whether men or women – meaning that a lot of the issues in French wine are about privilege rather than specifically about sexism.

I was told that I was missing the point, and perhaps I was.

I was certainly not suggesting that I am ignorant of sexism in this industry, nor does it mean that I haven’t had to work hard to be taken seriously. My wider point was that the specific insularity and privilege of the industry in France excludes all kinds of minority voices, including but certainly not limited to women, and it needs urgently to be addressed.

All of which made me look with interest at a question raised this week by Florine Livat at Kedge Business School in Bordeaux.

Armed with a PhD in Economics, Livat worked as an economic analyst for a wine broker before joining Kedge Business School, where she teaches on wine economics and microeconomics.

She released a statement drawing attention to the not only ‘patriarchal but often patrilineal’ wine industry. It is this second part that drew my attention, as key to the exclusion not just of women but also whole groups of those outside the inner circle.

‘The transmission of knowledge in wine families tends to give priority to male children,’ Livat told me when I called her to discuss the question further. ‘Even though getting experience outside of the family circle allows for the acquiring of new competencies that can help navigate difficult times such as we are facing today.’

Anyone who spends time in Bordeaux knows just how deeply certain key families are entrenched here. It means that even without actively trying to exclude newcomers, a patrilineal industry puts up psychological, social and practical barriers to new groups.

Livat said, ‘I have become increasingly tired of reports by my female students telling me that finding work placements and permanent positions, even from the masters of wine business programmes that I teach, is difficult.

‘Administration and marketing roles are available, but they are still told that managerial roles are not for them.’

Livat pointed me towards a study released in California in December 2020 by Santa Clara University.

Led by Lucia Gilbert PhD and John Gilbert PhD, the study compared the number of women lead winemakers working across California in 2020 versus 2011.

In 2011, they found the number of women holding the lead winemaker position across California stood at 9.8%. In 2020, the percentage had climbed to 14%.

The highest percentages were found in Sonoma/Marin and South Central Coast regions, at 17%. In Napa Valley, women were the principal winemakers in 12% of cases.

How do these numbers compare to what is happening in Bordeaux? There is not an official study from recent years, and the best Livat could find was a 2013 study by Valérie Kociemba and Hélène Velasco-Graciet, using the 2007 Féret guide as a base.

So, I thought it might be useful to give you a state of play of châteaux, merchants and brokers at the top level, as recorded in my Inside Bordeaux book published in April 2020.

What follows is an informal audit of classified properties in the Médoc, Pessac-Léognan and St-Emilion, plus high-profile estates in Pomerol.

That covers:

61 Médoc classified estates;
27 in Sauternes and Barsac
14 Pessac-Léognan (Cru Classé de Graves)
82 in St-Emilion;
and around 25 estates in Pomerol.

I make that 209 estates, although, yes, that makes Haut-Brion count twice.

I am tracking this in a separate database to share with Livat so that we can build a picture of how things stand today and going forward.

Please feel free to point out any that I have missed. It would also be worth adding to this with women working in key roles in the cellar and vineyard.

Women owners

This numbers in this category are partly due to a generational lottery. For example, women have recently been at the head of Mouton Rothschild and Haut-Brion, but their sons have now taken over.

However, for the sake of record, female owners of classified Bordeaux estates include:

1855 Classified, Médoc, Sauternes and Barsac

Saskia de Rothschild, Château Lafite Rothschild
Corinne and Alexandra Mentzelopoulos, Château Margaux
Nathalie Perrodo, Château Marquis d’Alesme (also female technical director, giving them a clean sweep of women in the top two positions, I think only one of two estates in 1855 reds to see this, along with Léoville Poyferré).
Sara Lecompte, Château Léoville Poyferré (also female technical director)
Anne-Françoise Quié, Château Rauzan-Gassies
Claire Villars-Lurton, Château Ferrière and Haut-Bages Libéral
Caroline Frey, Château La Lagune
Sophie Schyler, Château Kirwan
Justine Tesseron, Château Pontet Canet (alongside her father Alfred Tesserson)
Lilian Barton, Château Léoville Barton and Langoa-Barton (her daughter Mélanie is winemaker at another family estate, and along with brother Damien forms the next generation)
Céline Villars Foubet, Château Camensac
Aline Baly (co-owner with uncle), Château Coutet
Bérénice Lurton, Château Climens
Laure Compeyrot, Château Sigalas Rabaud (also female technical director, so joining Marquis d’Alesme and Léoville Poyferré in the 1855 rankings)
Laure de Pontac, Château Myrat

Cru Classé de Graves

Sophie Lurton at Château Bouscaut
Florence Cathiard at Château Smith Haut Lafitte (two daughters form the next generation, but both rather have their hands full with their own business empires…)

St-Emilion Classification

Pauline Vauthier, Château Ausone (also technical director alongside winemaker Philippe Baillarguet)
Juliette Bécot at Château Beauséjour-Bécot
Stéphanie de Boüard, Château Angélus (also a woman technical director at this estate)
Hélène Garcin-Lévêque, Château Barde Haut (also winemaker along with her husband)
Sylvie Cazes, Château Chauvin (also part-owner of Château Lynch Bages, and previously held roles as CEO of Château Pichon Longueville and president of Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux). Her daughter Julie is next in line at the estate.
Anabelle Cruse-Bardinet, Château Corbin
Magali Decoster, Clos des Jacobins
Denise Adams, Château Fonplégade (there is also a female director at this estate)
Emilie Faniest, Château Rochebelle (owner and winemaker)
Jacqueline Sioen, Château La Marzelle
Florence de la Filolie, Château Laniote (owner and winemaker)
Sylvie Pourquet-Becot, Château Grand-Pontet

Pomerol

Frédérique Vayron, Château Bourgneuf (owner and technical director)
Hélène Garcin-Lévêque, Clos L’Eglise (owner and winemaker along with her husband)
Denise Adams, Château L’Enclos
Constance Durantou, Château L’Eglise-Clinet
Marine Treppoz, Château de Sales (president of a family board)

Châteaux CEOs

Among the 61 1855 classified estates in the Médoc, there are two female CEOs/general managers:

Ariane Khaida, executive director at Mouton Rothschild (succeeding the role of Philippe Dhalluin, meaning she is also be on the board of Opus One and Almaviva)
Marjoliane Maurice de Coninck at Château Marquis d’Alesme
(plus at non-classified but high profile Château Phélan-Ségur we have Véronique Dausse as CEO).

Cru Classé de Graves

Véronique Sanders is CEO of Haut-Bailly

St-Emilion Classifieds

Gwendoline Lucas, general manager at Château La Dominique
Martine Cazeneuve, managing director at Château Franc Mayne
Marie-Laure Latorre, managing director at Château Jean Faure
Hakima Dib, director at Château Fonplégade

At Château Dassault, Laurent Brun was long-time director until her retirement in 2019. She succeeded her father André Vergiette in 1995 and became vice president of all Dassault Wine Estates, as well as president of the Association des grands crus de St-Emilion.

Over in Pomerol, things are a little different as estates tend to be smaller, and run directly by family members. It is therefore less surprising that I don’t record a single female director, although there are numerous technical directors, which is in-line with the Californian description of a ‘lead winemaker’.

I note below, for example, that Diana Berrouet Garcia has been promoted to assistant general director across Petit-Village and Beauregard as of last month.

Technical directors

I count 20 out of more than 200 estates, but I could be missing people here. Please let me know if so.

My list would mean 10% of technical directors at these estates are women, so in fact not so very far away from the percentage in Napa cited by the Santa Clara study. The proportion is also certainly a lot higher than a decade ago.

1855 Médoc, Sauternes & Barsac estates

Hélène Génin, Château Latour
Cécile Dupuis, Château Ducru Beaucaillou (moved over in 2019 from Clos du Clocher in Pomerol)
Isabelle Davin, Château Léoville Poyferré (so woman owner + technical director, although this is relatively new after the retirement of owner Didier Cuvelier, who hired Davin).
Caroline Artaud, Château Clerc Milon
Anne le Naour, Château Grand Puy Ducasse
Christelle Spinner, Château Grand Puy Lacoste
Angélique Meynieu, Château Cos d’Estournel
Virginie Salette, Château Gruaud-Larose
Sandrine Garbay, Château d’Yquem
Caroline Chevalier, Château Suduiraut
Marion Clauzel, Château Sigalas Rabaud (so female owner + technical director)

Cru Classé de Graves

Jeanne Lacombe, Château Pape Clément
Valérie Vialard at Latour Martillac (also the first female technical director in the Pessac-Léognan appellation back in 1987)

St-Emilion Classified

Emmanuelle Fulchi, Château Angélus/Château Bellevue (so female owner + technical director)
Carmen Onclin, Château Villemaurine
Sophie Mage, Château Franc Mayne
Penelope Godefroy, Château Le Prieuré (assuming she is remaining under new owners)

Pomerol

Marielle Cazeaux, La Conseillante
Penelope Godefroy, Château Vray Croix de Gay (assuming she is remaining under new owners)
Diana Berrouet Garcia, Château Petit-Village (also assistant general director across Petit-Village and Beauregard since December 2020)

Broker firms/Courtiers

Livat and I looked at the contact names given for the 76 listed firms that are included in the Syndicat de Courtiers en Vin directory.

It does not give job titles for the people listed, but going on the ones that I know, the contacts seem to be high up in the firm’s structure.

The women listed include:

Valérie Bernard at Bourgeais Courtage
Sylvie Cotreau at Emmanuel Brun brokerage
Marie Charron da Esperanca at MDE Courtage
Katia Farau at Farau Courtage
Marie-François Granet (independent, based in St-Emilion)
Anne-Marie Gibaut at Bureau Lillet
Sylvie Latestere (also seems to be independent)
Caroline Lévêque at Bureau Lévêque
Stephanie Robert at Bureau Ripert.

There is also Aurélia Lillet, not listed by the Syndicat contacts books, but who heads up the powerful brokerage firm Les Grands Crus alongside her brother Valentin.

This is in-line with Livat’s own experience, working in a brokerage firm in 2000.

‘I worked in the industry around 20 years ago, so things may have moved on,’ she said. ‘But at the time women were sometimes given the role of working with smaller estates, but classified Bordeaux was an entirely closed, masculine domain.’

Speaking to me by phone this week, Katia Farau said, ‘I am certainly used to being one of only a handful of women in meetings. It’s not a problem though, you just get on with it’.

Farau has been a broker for almost 20 years, working alongside her mother-in-law and husband, but as of next year will be running the company alone.

‘I am self-taught, having grown up as a winemaker’s daughter in Cognac,’ she said. ‘I used to enjoy seeing the wine brokers coming to buy our Colombard grapes for Cognac, and became interested by the role.

‘I saw my (now 97 year old) mother-in-law tasting wines when heading up the brokerage that had been started by her father, and I wanted to join.’

Farau Brokerage specialises in petits châteaux, largely on the Right Bank, an area where it is easier to get a foothold as an outsider, but she sees the path to the profession as being a little more open today.

‘When I took the exam back in the late 1990s, I had to stand in front of a panel of nine men and justify why I wanted to be a broker,’ she said.

‘Today it is at least more open, as young women wanting to be in the industry today can follow a clearly set-out pathway, are able to get traineeships across different parts of the trade, and take an exam.’

Farau is referring here to a process that was finally clarified in October 2020, after years of discussion. Brokers can now be certified only after six months of work experience in a wine company (or following specific wine studies), followed by an exam and an interview in front of a jury.

Négociant houses

There are 300 négociant houses in Bordeaux, give or take. Many are staffed with women in key export roles, and a few of the smaller ones were created by women (or husband and wife teams, such as Benoit and Valerie Calvet).

However, when it comes to the big names dealing primarily with Cru Classé estates, the diversity appears to shrink.

As far as I know, Ariane Khaida was the only woman running a major Bordeaux négociant house when she was at Duclot.

She is now at Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA, and I am no longer sure that there is a woman at the top of any of the big négociant companies in Bordeaux.

I’m very happy to be wrong on this, but it underlines the story that Khaida told me herself a few years ago, of a dinner aimed at over 100 négociants, where the host opened with, ‘Good evening gentleman. Good evening Ariane’.

Consultancies

There are female consultants working throughout Bordeaux as part of teams of oenologists, but very few that are high-profile. The exceptions are:

Corinne Comme (biodynamic specialist);
Valérie Lavigne (white wine specialist and consults for many classified estates);
Cécile Dulimbert (also the president of the Union of Oenologists of France, southwest chapter, since 2013).

How does this stack up in terms of other minority voices?

You don’t need me to tell you that the world of wine in Bordeaux (and in France as a whole) is extremely white, so comparing the (already small) numbers above to the numbers of black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups working in these roles is almost a non-starter.

‘As with women, black and other minority wine professionals in Bordeaux have to justify and prove their worth far more than white men in the same situation,’ Livat said.

Is there a black wine professional heading up a classified Bordeaux château? You can look to Château Saint-Pierre in St Julien as having the ‘damning with faint praise’ honour here, with co-owner Orphée Amougou, son-in-law of owner Jean-Louis Triaud.

Owners, CEOs and technical directors from Japan, China, Singapore and other Asian nations are also surprisingly rare in classified estates, despite being well represented in terms of châteaux ownership across Bordeaux.

I can think of Peter Kwok at Bellefont-Belcier in St-Emilion and Toshiyuki Tanaka, president of Château Lagrange in St-Julien. Japanese firm Suntory owns Lagrange and 50% of Château Beychevelle.

Again, I would love to be missing prominent members of technical teams at classified estates in Bordeaux, so please do contact me so I can update this.

To widen the conversation, I would have to step back from the classified châteaux surveyed here, and point you towards a brilliant property in the Haut-Médoc called Domaine Saïkouk in Saint Seurin de Cadourne.

It’s run by Latifa Saïkouk, a self-taught winemaker of Moroccan descent. Saïkouk was born in the Médoc in 1977, five years after her father had moved to the area and found work as a tractor driver at Château Coufran, where he worked for 40 years.

She was mentored by neighbouring winemaker Jean-Pierre Dupuy, who rented her 2.5ha of vines which she first vinified at the local cooperative cellar in 2001. Since 2006 she’s been running her own estate.

Saïkouk was rewarded with an Ordre du Mérite Agricole in 2020 by the French Ministry of Agriculture, but provides one of a frankly shamefully-small handful of stories of diversity in this region.

I hope I can help promote a few more by working with Livat in the years to come.

Bordeaux 2018 wines in the bottle: Full report and top scorers (2021)

Anson: The women who shaped Bordeaux (2018)

The post Anson: Where are the diverse voices in Bordeaux wine? appeared first on Decanter.

Bordeaux wine returns from space mission

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 12:08:05 GMT

The International Space Station.

Twelve bottles of Bordeaux red wine and 320 vine canes aboard a SpaceX ‘Dragon’ cargo craft plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida this week after a year at the International Space Station (ISS).

Rather than merely providing a hobby vineyard for astronauts, the wines and vine canes were blasted into space in November 2019 as part of a scientific research project led by start-up firm Space Cargo Unlimited.

‘It’s exciting but I probably won’t sleep too much tonight,’ Nicolas Gaume, the firm’s CEO and cofounder, told Decanter a few hours before the splashdown. Bad weather had already delayed the cargo spaceship by a day.

The bottles and the vines – including 160 canes of Cabernet Sauvignon and 160 of Merlot – were due to be flown to France later this month for analysis by a team at the University of Bordeaux’s wine institute, the ISVV.

Properties in the wines and vines will also be compared against control samples that stayed behind on earth.

‘We’re going to look at everything that has evolved,’ Gaume said.

‘We’ll do a whole genome sequencing of the plants, to provide a clear view of all the DNA changes that could have happened on the stay on the ISS.’

A chemical analysis of the wines is planned, as well as a private tasting scheduled for early March.

The identity of the Bordeaux red wines has not yet been revealed, but they are from a single producer and one vintage.

Gaume described the absence of gravity, or microgravity, as the ‘ultimate stress’. He said researchers involved in the project were interested in learning more about how the vine canes may have adapted or evolved in a relatively short time to be resilient to the stressful conditions.

This, he said, could have implications for understanding how vineyards – and agriculture in general – might adapt to stress factors related to climate change.

The experiments are part of Space Cargo Unlimited’s ‘Mission Wise’ programme, which seeks to contribute to understanding of sustainable agriculture.

It’s not the first time that wine has been sent to space. Château Lynch-Bages saw its 1975 vintage launched into space aboard NASA’s Discovery shuttle in 1985.

Bordeaux wine fired into space to test ageing

The post Bordeaux wine returns from space mission appeared first on Decanter.

Pic St-Loup: regional profile plus the 12 wines worth seeking out

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 11:18:02 GMT

Château de Lancyre’s Clapassous vineyard surrounds the Romanesque Aleyrac chapel

A long march, a novel, a saga: there are many analogies for the slow emergence and differentiation over the past 40 years of Languedoc’s appellations.

Why slow? Geography, in a word. In contrast to regions such as Burgundy or the Rhône, Languedoc’s appellations unfold east to west, not north to south.

That means that there are no clear climatic contrasts of the sort that distinguish Chablis from the Mâconnais, or Côte-Rôtie from Châteauneuf-du-Pape. All lie in ‘the Mediterranean zone’ – so differences between them in soil, climate and performance are a matter of nuance. With every year that passes, though, those nuances acquire more light and shade, and the personality of each appellation can be perceived more clearly.

Scroll down for Andrew Jefford’s Pic St-Loup tasting notes and scores

None, I would argue, more clearly than Pic St-Loup. Lean, clean, fragrant, vital and fresh: it’s the track athlete of the Languedoc.

Its wines are less rich, fruity and opulent than those of Minervois, La Clape or the limestone zones of St-Chinian. It has more homogeneity of terroir and hence style than the equally concentrated Terrasses du Larzac; it is less stony-sweet than Faugères or the schist zones of St-Chinian; but it’s also more distinctively Mediterranean and garrigue-scented than Cabardès or Malepère.

If Hermitage or Cornas could be said to have an authentic southern echo in the Languedoc, it would be somewhere in the beautifully lit stone fields that swirl and skirt the Pic.

See Andrew Jefford’s pick of 12 Pic St-Loup wines worth seeking out

Regional profile: Terrasses du Larzac plus 67 wines tasted
Languedoc gems: 24 Minervois-La Livinière wines tasted
Regional profile: St-Chinian plus 59 wines tasted
Understanding IGP Pays d’Oc

The post Pic St-Loup: regional profile plus the 12 wines worth seeking out appeared first on Decanter.

Top Pomerol 2018 wines: Re-tasted in bottle

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 09:00:08 GMT

Scroll down to see Jane Anson’s Pomerol 2018 top scorers

See the full Bordeaux 2018 report here

See the individual appellation overview for St-Émilion

An earlier-ripening area, as with Pessac-Léognan, which meant there were lots of rich fruit flavours and welcoming tannins, but on the flip side there were also some overly-concentrated wines and drying tannins.

See Jane Anson’s top-scoring Pomerol 2018 wines

Full report on Bordeaux 2018 in the bottle

Top Bordeaux 2018 Left Bank wines in the bottle

Top Bordeaux 2018 Right Bank wines report

The post Top Pomerol 2018 wines: Re-tasted in bottle appeared first on Decanter.

Discovering the value in Chablis

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 15:34:24 GMT

If the role of a great wine, among others, is to speak deeply of its place of origin, then Chablis has surely earned its title of the world’s most distinctive Chardonnay.

Grown in the north of France’s Bourgogne region – halfway between Beaune and Paris, the cool-climate region covers more than 5,600 hectares planted with only one grape.

As one of the most neutral grape varieties, both for flavour and aroma, it tops the list as the best for expressing terroir – the notion that addresses the environmental and farming practices that affect a wine’s particular taste or character profile.

But while Chardonnay enjoys a reputation for the world’s most widely distributed grape, grown across the globe from Chile to China, no one region can replicate the specific style of Chablis.

Similarities can be found, the best sharing attributes of tension, minerality and crystalline acidity but Chablis is alone in offering a particularly thrilling flavour profile thanks to its unique soils, with the oldest dating back 150 million years.

The region’s best vineyards are planted on what were once Jurassic sea beds with a mineral-rich soil type known as Kimmerdigian limestone. The soil is characterised by the presence of fossilised oyster shells and marine skeletons which is displayed in the glass as gun flint and steely notes on the nose and a chalky, mineral salinity alongside apple flavours and energetic acidity on the palate.

Credit: BIVB Boulard S

In order to offer the most precise and direct examples of these special vineyard expressions, Chablis winemakers differ substantially in their vinification techniques compared to those further south in the Côte-d’Or. Stainless steel is preferred for fermentation, as opposed to oak barrels, in order to preserve the intense purity, crispness and steely minerality that is particular to the fine wines of Chablis. The use of oak for ageing is a stylistic choice and varies widely among producers.

Vineyards are subdivided into four appellation levels taking into consideration geological location and aspect, each with strict production rules on yields, potential alcohol, planting density and residual sugar levels.

Chablis Grand Cru and Premier Cru AOCs occupy the highest quality levels, and have the tightest regulations, producing wines with strong characters and long ageability. These wines tend to need time to evolve and soften and generally start at around £30/$35 a bottle reaching upwards of £50/$55.

Next is Chablis AOC – the largest of the four appellations containing 66% of the region’s total plantings with 3,676 hectares under vine. The wines offer a combination of freshness and sophistication and can be enjoyed young with lower prices and wide availability.

Petit Chablis AOC follows and is differentiated by its Portlandian soil type and outlying vineyard locations. These wines have more fruit-forward characters and less minerality while still displaying the Chablis trademark acidity.

Value can be found in each tier when comparing prices to wines of similar quality produced around the world, and can rival top white wines from California, Sancerre and the Mosel for budget-friendliness.

Credit: BIVB Image & Associates

Chablis also finds its affordability sweet spot at the everyday level – a price point of less than £20/$25 – where there is a wide selection of food-friendly and apéritif styles that can not only be consumed and shared regularly but also aged for future appreciation.

Petit Chablis, though technically translated as ‘little’ should be considered more as a younger sibling than lower quality. Rather these are light, fresh and more immediately appealing wines that don’t need, and won’t benefit from, cellaring for years.

John Charles Townend, managing director of House of Townend and Decanter’s Best Specialist Retailer for Bourgogne at the 2020 awards said: ‘Chablis remains the forgotten corner of Bourgogne where the wines can rival the world’s greatest whites year in year out but where prices are far friendlier’. He recommends ‘spending a little time in selecting your choice of producer’, and suggests trying ‘to buy those that are at least two years old, when the character of Chablis starts to develop in the wine’.

Chablis harvests are traditionally a little later with higher grape acidities and lower sugar levels compared to the Côte-d’Or. Vintage variations however are just as important, impacting both flavour and style as well as price.

Given the region’s marginal winemaking climate, growers face challenging conditions where spring frosts, hail, drought and excessive rain can have a major impact on yields. Difficult and small vintages in 2016 and 2017 saw prices rise and demand decrease, though a plentiful crop in 2018 was a welcome relief for growers and the market.

Low yields were once again recorded in Chablis in 2019 though Andy Howard MW said in his Decanter vintage report that ‘consumers can buy with confidence’ as ‘quality is high across all tiers’ with good immediate approachability for Chablis and Petit Chablis but also the acidity to age well particularly at Premier Cru and Grand Cru level.

Buying and securing wines en primeur can make for price savings and look to specialist merchants for wines from high-quality years; 2017, 2014, 2012 and 2010. While the 2017s can be kept for some time, the others as well as 2016 and 2018 are drinking well now and are showing classic Chablis characters.

The post Discovering the value in Chablis appeared first on Decanter.

Top St-Emilion 2018 wines: Re-tasted in bottle

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 15:00:35 GMT

Scroll down to see Jane Anson’s St-Emilion 2018 top scorers

See the full Bordeaux 2018 report here

See the individual appellation overview for Pomerol

I have rarely enjoyed the wines from this appellation as much as I did in 2018.

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See Jane Anson’s top-scoring St-Emilion 2018 wines

Full report on Bordeaux 2018 in the bottle

Top Bordeaux 2018 Left Bank wines in the bottle

Top Bordeaux 2018 Right Bank wines report

The post Top St-Emilion 2018 wines: Re-tasted in bottle appeared first on Decanter.

Wine.com: the best buys available in the US

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 14:30:58 GMT

Founded in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wine.com bills itself as the world’s largest wine store. It is the biggest online wine retailer in the US, offering 17,000 different labels from regions around the world.

Featuring a mix of both well-known and well-distributed wines to smaller boutique brands, the company works hard to deliver what consumers want.

Wine.com aims to make buying bottles online easy, fun and informative. It offers live-chat wine recommendations with sommeliers as well as virtual tastings with some of the industry’s top wine personalities. Such savvy technology is also used by Total Wine.

Wine.com also has a wine-club program called Picked, which customises wine deliveries to a member’s unique tastes.

Annual shipping membership options – free to 42 states – as well as competitive pricing set the business apart as a consumer-friendly, wine-savvy retailer that caters to both collectors and new wine lovers alike.

‘Wine.com is a wine-discovery engine,’ says CEO Rich Bergsund. ‘With our vast selection of wine and spirits, our algorithm that sorts by “most interesting”, plus our live-chat sommeliers, we help you discover the incredible world of wine with confidence.’

Bergsund is particularly proud of Wine.com’s mobile app. ‘People can keep track of what they’ve purchased and how they’ve liked it. Imagine having a record of every wine you’ve ever had, with your rating and notes attached?’

Decanter’s selection of top Wine.com wines to try

The wines below are a current selection from the Wine.com portfolio. The most recently tasted are at the top of the list. Disclosure: Stacy Slinkard does some contract work for Wine.com. She does not receive free samples

The post Wine.com: the best buys available in the US appeared first on Decanter.

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Individual appellation overviews for:

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See Charles Curtis MW’s top-scoring Burgundy 2019 tasting notes and scores

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