Decanter

For three days in May 2008, German winery Richard Richter became the site of a dazzling exhibition by artist Ingo Bracke (pictured). His medium of choice? Light. As part of the first-ever Kunsttage Winningen festival, Bracke transformed Richter’s atm

From the rise of virtual tastings to unconventional packaging formats, we examine the trends that took 2020 by storm and are set to continue in 2021. Nothing replaces vineyard visits or sharing wine face-to-face. Yet Zoom masterclasses and home tasti

I read the ‘Women of Champagne’ feature in your December issue with great pleasure. I found it inspiring and refreshing in a world of wine that, to a 24-year-old female, seems to consist predominantly of middle-aged men. It was with regret that I rea

Along 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 ap

Appellation established As Languedoc, 1985; Languedoc-Pic St-Loup, 1994; Pic St-Loup, 2017 Area under vine 1,300ha out of 4,000ha Elevation Vineyards 100m-300m (summit of Pic St-Loup 658m) Soil type Hard and soft limestones; marls; glacial limesto

Describing the 2019 Burgundy vintage, François Labet, proprietor of Château de la Tour in Clos de Vougeot and co-president of the BIVB regional wine board, said: ‘2018 was Arnold Schwarzenegger, but 2019 is Maria Sharapova!’ If the 2018 wines were no

The single-minded pursuit of purity in Riesling expression is Jeffrey Grosset’s obsession, although it’s not manic energy that fuels his relentless engine. The quietly spoken, self-effacing Clare winemaker’s intrinsic nature is to be contemplative an

For many of us, Viognier is inextricably associated with the Rhône – and especially, perhaps, the iconic wines of Condrieu and Château-Grillet. But it is of course produced elsewhere, so we thought it would be intriguing to explore what other countri

Devon distillery Salcombe has partnered with premier cru Château Climens to make a limited-edition gin finished in Sauternes casks. Salcombe Gin Phantom (Alc 46%) spent eight months in barrels from Château Climens’ 2015 and 2016 vintages. ‘This is t

It started as a tiny trickle. One lone bottle called Seedlip suddenly appeared on the market in 2015. I remember tasting it at the drinks magazine I was working on at the time. ‘It tastes OK – but who’s going to buy it?’ As it turned out, the answer

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.

Liv-ex records transactions between its merchant members in the UK, US, Asia and Europe. All prices are in GBP and exclude sales tax. The numbers in green indicate those prices which have increased since last month, whilst the numbers in red have dec