Treasure maps

James Button

To understand the concept of terroir is one thing, but to see it in action is another altogether. On a crisp, sunny February morning I met ‘map man’ Alessandro Masnaghetti for a tour of the Chianti Classico commune of Gaiole. Masnaghetti’s incredibly extensive research of the DOCG has resulted in a groundbreaking book, Chianti Classico, The Atlas of the Vineyards and UGAs (€70 Enogea, September 2022). Following on from his hugely influential books on the MGAs of Barolo and Barbaresco, this latest book seeks to map Chianti Classico in never-before-seen detail and define the region’s recently announced UGAs – unità geografiche aggiuntive, 11 in total – following close consultation with the regional consorzio. I strongly recommend purchasing the book if you’re a wine and/or soil geek (it also helpfully includes some itineraries for your next visit to the region). However, for a simpler overview of Chianti Classico, Masnaghetti has also worked with the consorzio to produce an interactive drone’s-eye view of the landscape. Visit chianticlassico.com to find out more.

A trio of South Africans

Tina Gellie

Last month, following UK importer Hallgarten & Novum Wines’ annual tasting, I caught up with three of its South African producers. Decanter has charted Samantha O’Keefe’s journey – including her recovery after the 2019 fires that destroyed her Lismore property in Greyton. While her Estate Reserve Syrah 2018 blew me away, it’s not yet available in the UK, so snap up a bottle of the Lismore, Estate Reserve Viognier 2021 (£49.95 Handford Wines) and revel in its heady jasmine and nectarine opulence.

I could geek out for hours listening to Richard Kershaw MW talk about the fastidiousness with which he attacks every aspect of the winemaking process at his Elgin estate. The 2018 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are stunning, but the Kershaw, Clonal Selection Syrah 2017 (£39.99 Lay & Wheeler, The Wine Library, Wine Republic) is a beauty: supple and sappy with violet and pepper elegance.

Elizma Visser and the unique, terroir-driven wines she creates at Olifantsberg in Breedekloof first came to my attention in 2019, and quality has only improved since. Grenache Blanc is her standout varietal wine, and while you wait for the delicious 2021 to arrive, I recommend you to seek out the last of the Olifantsberg, Grenache Blanc 2020 (£20-£23 Shelved Wine, Strictly Wine, The Oxford Wine Co), packed with waxy quince, samphire and white blossom.

Loire new vintages

Amy Wislocki

Specialist Loire importer Charles Sydney Wines represents some 75 growers, its roster a roll-call of some of the region’s finest names. For this reason its annual London tasting, showcasing an extensive range of new releases, is always well-attended. This year’s tasting, the first since Covid, focused mainly on 2022, a vintage that growers desperately needed to be successful after the frost-ravaged 2021. It wasn’t without its challenges in the end, and these included extreme heat, hailstorms and some frost damage in Muscadet. Overall, though, it was thankfully easier than 2021, with both quantity and quality putting a smile back on growers’ faces.

Highlights included an intensely perfumed, lemony André Figeat, Les Origines Pouilly-Fumé; Jean-Max Roger’s Marnes et Caillottes Sancerre; Cent Visages Touraine from Jean-François Mérieau (a regular favourite of mine – 100% Côt, aka Malbec); and two (2020 vintage) deliciously pure Chinon wines from Charles Joguet. Some of the 2022 wines may take a while to find their way onto retailers’ shelves, but when they do, they’re worth seeking out.

Cadence: Staying steady on Red Mountain

Clive Pursehouse

Ben Smith and his wife Gaye McNutt opened the doors on Cadence winery on 1 April 1998; in 2004 they would buy 4ha of land on Red Mountain, which would become the Cara Mia Vineyard. Cadence celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and the style has been consistent: elegant and harmonious. These are indeed wines of place coming from one of Washington state’s hottest sites, Red Mountain. The Cadence wines stand out, owing to Smith’s deft hand and McNutt’s blending acumen, but they are unique on two counts: Cadence always picks first on Red Mountain, anywhere from one to three weeks ahead; and the couple’s deep embrace of Cabernet Franc. It’s a grape seemingly perfect for Red Mountain, where it gets reliably ripe, giving their wines wonderful herbal and mineral character.

A retrospective tasting from across Cadence’s 25 vintages showed the Cabernet Franc-based Bel Canto to be exceptional in every vintage. The Bel Canto 2019 (US$70) offers savoury hints of fresh sage, mustard seed and crushed stone mingling with red and black fruits. Their remarkable first estate release Bel Canto 2006 was revelatory: 17 years on, it’s fresh, lush and layered with bright red fruit, savoury herbs and notes of green and black tea.

Etna to Barolo: A captivating journey

Ines Salpico

Iconic producers from iconic regions tend to shy away from comparisons and confrontations. Yet some of the most insightful tasting experiences can occur when drawing parallels and finding connections between different grape varieties, terroirs and geographies. This was precisely what happened when I embarked on a fascinating tasting journey from the slopes of Etna to the hills of Barolo, hosted by Mattia Tabacco of OenoTrade. His guests were Federico Graziani, from the eponymous Etna estate, and Andrea Farinetti of renowned Barolo producer Borgogno.

It was a privilege to be able to delve into the history and stories of two of Italy’s most interesting regions, for their rich heritages both viticultural and cultural. From the strong personalities of Nerello Mascalese and Nebbiolo to the moodiness of vintages, by way of the many points of intersection between Etna and Barolo’s history – not least the period, in the 1930s, when a shortage of fruit in Piedmont led Barolo producers to source Etna grapes – the itinerary could not have been more captivating. Among the most delicious stops were Borgono’s Liste Barolo 2016 (£70 Millésima) and Federico Graziani’s Profumo di Vulcano 2019, an Etna Rosso blend of Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Alicante and Francisi (£99 The Wine Place).

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Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW, Sarah Jane Evans MW and Pierre Mansour tasted 53 wines with 8 Outstanding and 37 Highly recommended.

2004 and 2005 Rioja: panel tasting scores

53 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 8

Highly recommended 37

Recommended 7

Commended 1

Fair 0

Poor 0

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit red wines from the 2004 and 2005 vintages only, with any Rioja classification of gran reserva, reserva, crianza or genérico permitted

We had high expectations of this tasting. It is well known that great Rioja shows its full potential after extended ageing in the bottle, and 2004 and 2005 are both excellent vintages.

The 2004 vintage is the more irregular of the two. It was the last late vintage (from the following year onwards all good vintages have been quite early, likely due to climate change), and some areas performed much better than others. Fruit selection and good vineyard siting were crucial factors, but those who worked well got top wines.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores from the 2004 and 2005 Rioja panel tasting

2004 and 2005 Rioja panel tasting scores

The judges

Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW is a widely published wine journalist, educator and judge. He holds a degree in agronomical engineering and a Masters in viticulture and oenology, is a national expert for Spain at the OIV organisation and a DWWA joint Regional Chair for Spain.

Sarah Jane Evans MW is a Decanter contributing editor and Co-Chair of the Decanter World Wine Awards. Her latest book The Wines of Central and Southern Spain is set for release in early 2024.

Pierre Mansour is director of wine at The Wine Society, where he has worked for 23 years. Starting out with merchant Berry Bros & Rudd, he joined The Wine Society in 2000, moved into buying after four years and has been buying The Society’s Spanish wines since 2008.

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I’ve had the ‘decant or not decant’ conversation countless times with wine lovers and industry insiders, and have discovered that most either love or hate these seemingly benign glass containers.

I fall firmly into the hate ’em camp, especially when it comes to decanting old wines. Aged wines are fragile, and after years of being under cork the sudden explosion of oxygen creates the worst possible shock. On impact, the wine loses aromas and flavours that will never be recovered. Decanting is like opening a novel on page 50: you lose the intro and never get the plot.

And if you want to totally destroy an aged wine, double decant it by pouring the wine first into a decanter then back into its original bottle, presumably cleared of sediment. This practice is quite common at restaurants.

I was on the receiving end of this travesty several years ago when I attended a tasting of aged Barolos at a highly esteemed New York City establishment with an award-winning wine list. The line-up included celebrated producers and stellar vintages, spanning 1964 to 1989. I had fond memories of tasting many of the same wines and vintages on other occasions and was excited to revisit them.

But that night all six Barolos were lacklustre, deprived of aromas, flavours and vibrancy. Could this have been due to poor storage by previous owners of the bottles? Yes, it’s possible. But all six? Not likely. Having a lot of experience with older Barolo, I expected a constant evolution of aromas in the glass, ranging from forest floor, tar, dried rose, tobacco and camphor that I usually find in aged Nebbiolo from the best names in outstanding vintages. I also anticipated an array of flavours such as dried cherry, cake spice, dried mint and beyond.

Yet there were none of these sensations or evolution. Not even at the end of the night after the wines would have had ample time to breathe, if that had been the issue. I asked the sommelier when the wines had been opened, and he declared they had been double decanted a few hours beforehand, which explained their vapid state.

So why does anyone decant? Sommeliers and wine lovers tell me they decant aged wines because they’re turned off by the sediment that usually sits at the bottom of bottles. Another reason is because many believe decanting is the best way to aerate wines in a short time frame.

But the risk of ruining a great old vintage outweighs the meagre benefit of avoiding sediment. If sediment is your issue, don’t drink the last ounce or two left in the bottle that would have stayed in the decanter anyway.

It’s worth noting that sediment in aged wine is perfectly normal. As the late Franco Biondi Santi used to say, it was his favourite part of tasting older vintages as it contains all the substances, including colour and flavours, that wines cede over time.

Fine wines made with Nebbiolo and Sangiovese are particularly penalised by decanting. When cultivated in the best sites, both grapes are rich in norisoprenoids. This class of aromatic compounds contributes to a wine’s varietal character, allowing the development of intense aromas in the best Barolos, Barbarescos and Brunellos that evolve throughout the years. These wines need gentle aeration or they lose their enticing aromas.

That’s why, when I pull a wine from our cellar, I uncork it three or four hours ahead of time for gradual, consistent aeration. If I’m at a restaurant, I order the older red right away, and have them uncork it at the table while I sip a young white or bubbles with my starters and first courses.

Would I ever decant a young, robust wine that could hold up to decanting? Nope. For all the same reasons: even with young, sturdy wines, I want the whole story and to watch the wines evolve. It takes time, but I’m never in a rush when it comes to enjoying fine wine.

I’m not the only Don’t Decant Diehard: nearly all Italian winemakers shun decanting, especially for their older bottles. As they say, when in Rome do as the Romans do. And in this case, even when not in Rome.

Based in Italy, Kerin O’Keefe is a wine critic, author and speaker, as well as founder of kerinokeefe.com

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While the export market is flooded with pale pink Pinot Grigio and Chiaretto, and more recently with pink Prosecco, the trends in planting paint a confusing picture for Italian rosé.

Italy appears to be one of the few countries where the production of rosé is declining, even if there are more and more producers adding rosé to their portfolios.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of 18 of the finest Italian rosé wines

Italian rosé: 18 of the finest wines to try

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Mattia Scarpazza has worked for the best part of a decade at Petersham Nurseries Café, near Richmond-upon-Thames, currently as head sommelier. Since completing his WSET Diploma in 2019, he has pursued his interest in wine communication, with articles published in The Buyer and Sommelier Collective, also producing a podcast @lookingintowine.

Like many other Italian grapes, Pignolo is part of a group of obscure but remarkable varieties. Producers of Pignolo are releasing an ever-increasing number of accomplished wines, but the market is yet to catch up with it. I’m ready for it when it does.

The heartlands of Pignolo are Colli Orientale and Gorizia in Friuli. Both of these regions in northeast Italy are typically associated with white wines, but production of reds is growing steadily.

Pignolo produces wines that are deep red in colour with aromas of fresh flowers, bramble and olives; the tannins are robust and packed, balanced by uplifted acidity. Long maturation is proving the right way to produce Pignolo – think of the attributes of a gran reserva Rioja, although such an appellation does not exist in the region, yet. The wines are typically aged in large botti, though experimentation with amphorae is ongoing.

In my experience, the most soulful Pignolos are released into the market at around the 10 year mark – for example, Josko Gravner’s Rosso Breg 2006 (£305/magnum in bond, Starling Wines) was released in 2020 and Le Vigne di Zamò, Rosazzo Pignolo 2009 released in 2019.

What I’ve loved most from my explorations of this variety is how many producers tend to buck the trends, growing a variety that until recently wasn’t on anyone’s radar and then maturing it for a long time – showing a true belief in its potential. Pignolo is low-yielding compared to the more widely planted Refosco grape, and plantings had fallen sharply – but the trend is slowly reversing, thanks to a better understanding of the grape.

It will be interesting to see what the future has in store for Pignolo, as producers are coming together to promote the variety. At the moment there are only about 50 estates that produce varietal Pignolo, but I’m certain this number will increase as its popularity grows. And not just in the region itself – I know of two producers who are looking at planting it in California.

Pignolo has the right to sit at the table of varieties known for their ageing ability, among the likes of Nebbiolo, Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. I believe that the best examples of Pignolo can easily age for 20 years or more, developing notes of cedarwood, cracked pepper and sweet spices as they evolve.

When it comes to food matching, much like Sangiovese, Pignolo shows at its best when served with a slow-cooked lamb shank with herbs and spices, polenta and seasonal greens – or try it with feta and tapenade on grilled bread.

A last word of advice: Pignolo wines are usually only available from specialist independent wine merchants, and in small quantities – these are not wines you will come across on the supermarket shelves. But it is worth the effort to seek them out.

Discover Pignolo: Scarpazza’s three to try

Ermacora, Pignolo (2016, £35 Vindinista) is a superb way to explore the variety, with its distinctive freshness, rich tannins and typical black olive aromas.

I would also highly recommend Radikon, Pignoli (2004, £72/50cl Buon Vino). Aged for a minimum of five years in botti and then cellared for six years, this is one for those who are looking to experience a mature, prime example of Pignolo. Enjoy the aromas – a medley of ripe red fruits and sweet spices – and the alluring palate.

For a more modern take on the grape, try the Visintini, Amphora series bottling (2014, £18.95 Lea & Sandeman). Fermented and matured in clay vessels, it’s abundant in wildflower and plum aromas.

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Get through the working week, and it’s time to crack open something a little bit more special.

As a companion selection to our 25 wines under £20, the Decanter team has selected seven standout bottles that are sure to impress, all available in the UK and priced between £20 and £50.

Wines for the weekend: April 2023

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The Decanter in-house tasting team spends an awful lot of time out and about at tastings, finding new and exciting wines, or new vintages of existing wines, for everyday drinking. Here, we bring you 25 top picks that are all ready to drink now, available in the UK and priced at £20 or less.

This month’s highlights

Must-try white: Greywacke, Sauvignon Blanc, Wairau Valley, Marlborough, New Zealand 2022

Must-try red: Textura da Estrela, Tinto, Serra da Estrela, Dão, Portugal 2018 

Must-try sweet: Aldi, Specially Selected Pedro Ximénez Sherry, Jerez, Spain 

As a companion selection to our 25 wines under £20, the Decanter team has selected seven standout bottles that are sure to impress, all available in the UK and priced between £20 and £50.

Wines for the week: April 2023

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All the world’s major cities have more than their fair share of Italian restaurants, and London – with more than 2,000, according to one recent estimate – is no exception. But over the past 36 years Italian food has had a disproportionate influence on the dining scene here, thanks to one restaurant, The River Café, which opened on the banks of the Thames in Hammersmith in 1987, and placed the same importance on wine as it did on food.

It also spawned a whole generation of entrepreneurial young chefs who adopted the philosophy and set up their own restaurants in the River Café mould. Most notably Jamie Oliver, but also including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Sam and Sam Clark, Stevie Parle and Theo Randall.

None of them were Italian, and neither were their River Café mentors Ruth Rogers and the late Rose Gray, two women who were just passionate about Italian food. Nor indeed was another ambassador for regional Italian cooking, Angela Hartnett, who came to fame through the Gordon Ramsay stable (but at least has an Italian grandmother). The only Italian to dominate the London scene in quite that way has been Giorgio Locatelli, who opened his eponymous restaurant Locanda Locatelli in 2002.

Wines to match

Maybe it’s because they were outsiders that these chefs appreciated just what simple Italian food had to offer without having the desire to reinvent it. Coincidentally, the wine offering at many of these establishments was moulded by another outsider, Canadian David Gleave MW, who used to work for Italian importer Enotria before setting up his own business Liberty Wines, and who has consistently championed the huge diversity of Italian wines.

These pioneer restaurants were fortunate to have been established when they were. Today’s restaurateurs are no less interested in wine, but are having to operate under far greater constraints, not least the crippling expense of trading in central London. This has led many to focus on just pasta or, even more profitably, pizza, and high-margin cocktails rather than wine. But there are still some real gems with fantastic wine lists out there, so treat yourself at one of the best London Italian restaurants you may not have heard of.

Bocca di Lupo

12 Archer Street, W1D 7BB
Nearest tube: Piccadilly Circus/Leicester Square

Savvy Italophiles cherish the knowledge that there is a small oasis of civilisation in the midst of the West End theatreland madness – Jacob Kenedy’s small convivial restaurant Bocca di Lupo. Kenedy, one of those rare chefs who is genuinely interested in wine, spends time in Italy sourcing bottles for his imaginative, regionally based wine list, picking up ideas for dishes along the way. The seafood risotto I had there recently was inspired by a summer trip to Campania.

Although the compact dining room is cosy, it’s more fun sitting at the bar to watch the kitchen at work and the food going out at the pass. Great for a pre-theatre drink and a snack.

Don’t miss Kenedy’s regularly changing themed menus that make the most of seasonal ingredients such as artichokes and truffles.

Brutto

35-37 Greenhill Rents, EC1M 6BN
Nearest tube: Farringdon/Barbican

Credit: Paul Winch-Furness

A new restaurant from Russell Norman (ex Polpo) is always newsworthy, but this self-consciously kitsch Farringdon trattoria extends his usual territory – beyond the cicchetti bars of Venice – to Florence. It’s a homely menu full of hearty rustic dishes like pappardelle with rabbit and sausages with lentils, accompanied by hearty Tuscan wines (although there is also bistecca alla Fiorentina if you feel like splashing out). No culinary fireworks, no wallet-busting wines, just a really fun place to hang out with friends – though be warned, it can be noisy. Oh, and there’s Chianti in fiaschi (the straw-covered bottles).

Don’t miss Kicking off with one of Norman’s excellent £5 Negroni cocktails.

Eataly

Broadgate Circle, 135 Bishopsgate, EC2M 3YD
Nearest tube: Liverpool Street

If Las Vegas created an Italian deli it would look something like Eataly, a mind-blowingly huge selection of every type of Italian food and drink you can imagine, with walls full of different wines. You will probably be so exhausted going round it you’ll need a pitstop, which is the main reason to eat at one of its three restaurants and bars. These are not, I think it’s fair to say, in the same league as the rest of the restaurants in this line-up. So why am I including Eataly? Because you can buy one of the excellent bottles and take it into a restaurant for a modest corkage fee, and if you stick to salumi, cheese or pizza you could spend a very congenial couple of hours doing your midweek shopping. And it’s an extraordinary experience.

Don’t miss The opportunity to shop for your next dinner party.

Enoteca Turi

87 Pimlico Road, SW1W 8PH
Nearest tube: Sloane Square

Around for more than 30 years, Enoteca Turi only recently moved to its current home in Pimlico – but it fits it like a glove. It’s highly personal and quite charmingly old-fashioned. When I visited, a slightly doddery octogenarian was being escorted to the door on the arm of one of the waiting staff with a cheery ‘See you on Saturday’. The other draw is the quite exceptional wine list, clearly a passion of the owner Giuseppe Turi and something that no restaurant starting from scratch these days could possibly afford. If you were dining alone it would keep you happily engrossed throughout the meal. Traditional dishes like calf’s liver and rabbit in porchetta are also matched with wines on the list.

Don’t miss The chance to dive into some stellar old Barolo wines.

Luca

88 St John Street, EC1M 4EH
Nearest tube: Farringdon/Barbican

An unlikely offshoot of London’s famous Clove Club in Shoreditch, Luca combines a top-end fine-dining restaurant with an exceptionally cosy trat-style bar. With a great list of its own, the restaurant is very focused on wine lovers. Let them know what you want to drink in advance and they’ll make sure it’s perfectly served – or bring along your own bottle for a corkage charge of £35. The food is more Britalian than classic Italian: pretty and light, although pasta is a particularly strong suit. I could eat the celestial crab cacio e pepe every day. Skim through the wine list (which comes on an iPad) for a suitable match. There’s a particularly good selection by the glass.

Don’t miss The addictive Parmesan fries (with a glass of Franciacorta).

Manteca

49-51 Curtain Road, EC2A 3PT
Nearest tube: Old Street

Credit: Anton Rodriguez

One of the leading lights of the new breed of natural wine bars and restaurants but with an Italian twist and the USP of an ‘in house’ salumeria (ask for a seat opposite the slicing machine so you can watch the action). There are also lots of other fashionably on-trend features such as house-made ricotta, home-made sausages and hand-rolled pasta. It’s a very short stroll from Old Street station in the lively Shoreditch/Hoxton area, and the excellent Passione e Vino is almost next door if you want to do a bit of a natural wine crawl. (Manteca also offers more classic wine dinner options, too.)

Don’t miss The house Mortadella.

Murano

20 Queen Street, W1J 5PP
Nearest tube: Green Park

Credit: John Carey

Angela Hartnett has become such a familiar face on our screens that it’s easy to forget she’s also a successful restaurateur. Murano in Mayfair is her original – and most expensive – restaurant, but it’s not in the least bit stuffy and, unusually for an Italian restaurant, offers both vegetarian and vegan menus. For those who don’t want to stick to Italian wine there are plenty of other options, including a significant amount of Burgundy, though by-the-glass is definitely not the way to go here. Dive into the less familiar byways of the list – including a surprisingly large selection of sweet wines – and there are some much more affordable picks.

Don’t miss Hartnett’s pied de mouton mushroom risotto (part of an innovative vegan set lunch).

Theo Randall at the InterContinental

1 Hamilton Place, W1J 7QY
Nearest tube: Hyde Park Corner/Green Park

Credit: Chris Terry

If you don’t fancy schlepping over to the River Café’s somewhat out-of-the way Hammersmith location (or don’t fancy its prices), you could do worse than try its former head chef Theo Randall’s restaurant at the InterContinental on Hyde Park Corner. Hotel restaurants aren’t always the most exciting venues but this is an elegant, quiet, central spot with very accomplished cooking and a more than decent wine list (an advantage of being part of an international hotel chain). The pasta is particularly good, as you’d expect from a River Café alumnus.

Don’t miss The excellent monthly regional menus. The weekend brunches are great value, too.

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Decanter is committed to providing you with trusted, independent, expert wine recommendations on what to buy, drink and cellar.

How we taste: Decanter panel tastings

Panel tastings are a core component of Decanter magazine’s monthly buying guide, and results are also published online alongside other regular tasing articles by our experts.

Each panel tasting is judged by three experienced tasters chosen for their authority in the category of wine being rated.

All wines are tasted blind and are pre-poured for judges in flights of eight to 10 wines. Our experts taste and score wines individually but then discuss their scores together at the end of each flight.

Any wines on which scores are markedly different are retasted; however, judges are under no obligation to amend their scores. Judges are encouraged to look for typicity in wines, rewarding those that are true to their region.

Do experts know the price of the wines?

When judging, experts are aware of wine price bands – under £15, £15-£30 and over £30 – with the aim of recognising and rewarding quality and value.

Where are panel tastings held?

The tastings are held in the controlled environment of Decanter’s tasting suite: a quiet, purposely designed room, with natural light.

We limit the number of wines tasted to a manageable level – a maximum of 85 per day – allowing judges to taste more thoroughly and avoid palate fatigue.

Drinking windows

Drink-by dates indicated are based on how long it is prudent to keep the wine in question. However, some wines will have a longer ageing capacity if stored in pristine conditions throughout their lifespan.

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No yeast; no wine. Yeast is the only ‘wine maker’ in that sense. Imagine a world in which we had to content ourselves with tasting and drinking grape juice: sweet, with no ability to alter our mood, and largely undifferentiated in sensual terms. Our interest would evaporate. Mysteriously, only yeast can unlock personality and even origin in must.

Unlock? Perhaps even that word is misconceived. Yeast is, with grape juice, the progenitor of wine. It is not neutral, abstract, a twinkly wand that transforms in a trice. It’s a complex mass of fungus chomping its way though sugar, excreting alcohol and CO2, then eventually dying and dumping its necropolis at the bottom of the vat. It’s an upheaval, a revolution. Wine is the name of a changed state.

With young, inexpensive wine, it’s possible that most of the personality of what’s in your glass is decided by selected yeasts (and other additives). These can emphasise almost any desired character, and notably the ‘thiol’ notes which tend to dominate much Sauvignon Blanc (privet and broom, passion fruit and grapefruit, citrus zest). They can magnify or restrain fruit character, too. There are red-wine yeasts designed to minimise vegetal or herbaceous notes or to underscore what we think of as ‘varietal character’ – and rosé yeasts to sustain fruit character even when the musts have been rigorously clarified and the wine fermented very cool.

Many modern selected yeasts have been engineered to have a ‘killer’ function, ensuring that the desired yeast strain is the only one fermenting the wine. This is partly because unwanted yeast strains can impart a negative character to wines (notably brettanomyces yeasts), but partly because the yeast needs nitrogen to work effectively. Nitrogen can be in short supply in fermenting must, particularly for white wine; killer yeasts ensure that the chosen strain remains well fed.

Faced with all this, you might think that the ‘wild’ or indigenous yeasts vaunted by many fine-winemakers are a more natural solution, giving the complexity of character we all desire. At best this is so – but a huge gang of different yeast strains will result in a greater number of accident-prone fermentations, and wild yeast populations will generally take much longer than selected yeasts to finish fermentation, entailing further spoilage risk.

Yeasts, remember, don’t just produce alcohol and carbon dioxide as they work; they also produce higher alcohols, glycerine, a range of acids and complex secondary aromatic compounds. This, too, is ‘personality’, for better or worse – and you never know quite what nature is going to give you.

What of the corpses? The very things we love most about certain wine styles – think of the ‘creamy, biscuity’ notes of certain traditional-method sparkling wines and Chardonnay-based wines, or the protein-like notes which bring interest to some qvevri, amber or orange wines – may be the legacy of dead yeast. There’s danger here, too, since dead yeast cells can absorb a huge amount of oxygen, leaving wines in a stinky, ‘reduced’ state; the best way to avoid this is to move them around, but that can over-emphasise their flavour print, and sometimes oxidise in turn. Yeasts produce sulphur, too – 80ppm or more, astonishingly, in some cases.

It’s easy to overlook the role of yeast since there need be nothing at all ‘yeasty’ in a finished, adequately aged or fully mature wine. Yet everything that’s in the glass, even the notes acquired during ageing and maturation, is the legacy of the revolutionary upheaval that yeast brought about. When wine speaks to us, it does so in a language it learned from yeast.

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Mattia Spedicato, wine manager at Michelin three-star Geranium in Copenhagen (No1 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022 list), impressed producers last October in Sicily when he confessed that two-thirds of the restaurant’s wine list is dedicated to white wines: in the past, an old vintage of a Chardonnay, a Fiano or a Trebbiano was presumed unsellable as consumers were wary of white wines more than a year or two old.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 20 of Italy’s finest white wines

‘Fine white wines are lacking in Italy,’ stated Antinori’s CEO Renzo Cotarella during the launch of a new top-shelf Chardonnay, Nibbio, produced at the company’s Umbrian estate Castello della Sala, also the source of the prestigious Cervaro della Sala.

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When the Prosecco DOC was written into law in 2009, along with two DOCGs – the hilly prominences of Asolo and Conegliano Valdobbiadene – it meant that Prosecco could now be produced in a 250km-wide zone encompassing nine provinces, from Vicenza in Veneto to Trieste in Friuli Venezia Giulia.

It was a vast expansion from the traditional centre of production of Conegliano Valdobbiadene, which had been recognised as a DOC since 1969. Whether this was down to the need to embrace the town named Prosecco, located in Trieste, to justify the naming of the new DOC, or that the minister of agriculture responsible for signing on the dotted line, Luca Zaia, was from Conegliano (and the following year was appointed president of Veneto, a position he has held ever since), the fact is that these game-changing moves turned Prosecco into a powerhouse whose ascent seems unstoppable.

Scroll down for a selection of top Proseccos to try

But, nearly 15 years on, the key questions are: have consumers begun to tire of Prosecco’s typical apple, pear and flowers profile; and is there more to this area than affordable bubbles?

Broad appeal: the variety of taste in Prosecco

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Michelle Bouffard is the founder of Tasting Climate Change, a series of conferences exploring solutions to adapt and mitigate climate change, from the vineyard to the glass. It is meant for all wine professionals and covers all aspects of wine production as well as marketing and communication. Conferences also look at how the wines themselves are evolving in a rapidly changing climate. Through these conferences, Bouffard brings experts on resilient viticulture and climate change to wine regions throughout the world, so that local wine producers can benefit from their expertise. The next edition of Tasting Climate Change takes place in Nova Scotia. 

‘When it comes to climate change, I have decided, I cannot be a pessimist. If I allow that to happen, I am left with nothing. So I see it instead as a new reality, a part of life that we all must deal with.’

‘I moved to Vancouver to finish my Bachelor’s in classical trumpet, because the best trumpet teacher in North America is there. Then when I got there, I was studying, but it was also the first time in my life that I didn’t earn money as a musician. I didn’t have the networks that I had in Quebec where I performed regularly.’

‘So, I had to improvise. I started to work in restaurants and I just pretty much fell in love with wine. I was talking about it all the time. I started to think, well I love to play, but for a trumpet player in an orchestra, there aren’t that many opportunities. There are only three in each major city… So, one thing led to another. I registered for WSET Level 1, just for fun in 1999. It took off from there.’

‘I did my WSET diploma, then Michaela Morris and I had a business together in Vancouver for 13 years. We managed large cellars and consulted for collectors and investors. We also put on educational wine events for regions visiting from around the world. After those 13 years, I felt I had finished a chapter and came back to Quebec. I had this internal feeling that I needed to do other things – and it ties back to climate change.’

‘Back in 2005, which is the year I finished my diploma, you had to pick a topic of choice for your final paper. I had just watched the documentary An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore. So I decided to do my paper on climate change. But the thing is, there was nothing on it. It was very difficult to find any information.’

‘Using Google, I happened upon Dr Gregory Jones. He is really well known today, but at the time, he was still very much getting started. He was one of the few who had done this kind of research and he would literally record stuff on CDs and send them to me in Vancouver, so I could listen to some of the conference presentations he had done.’

‘I was just getting started in the wine industry and I was also studying and just starting a business. But I thought: one day, when I have more knowledge and more connections, I want to do something about this, because it’s going to be the most important thing.’

‘When I moved back to Montreal, I thought: this is the right time to do something [on climate change]. I was more experienced, with the right connections in wine. So, I did my first conference in 2017. In Montreal, I wasn’t sure whether the industry was prepared for it. So I only did half a day, but I had some really good speakers, and it was sold out. I had 300 people.’

‘I reached out to the trade and said: “What would you like if I were to do another edition?” They all said: “We want more, longer, content.” So I did [another conference] in 2019 and it was set to run every two years (before COVID) – 2021 was virtual. It’s just been me up to this point, doing everything: sponsors, speakers, logistics and moderating the panels. But I’m hiring someone for the next conference.’

‘My goal is to move the conference each time so that it can also benefit wine producers and growers in a particular region. I’ve found, when I do something like in Montreal, outside experts will come to help the local producers and growers, and as the conference moves it will benefit more people.’

‘The wine industry is rapidly becoming aware – and proactive. It has changed quickly. When I first started it was a little shocking. I was trying to pull my first conference together and looking for sponsorships to put on the event. I won’t name specific regions, but there were wine regions that I was contacting; asking if they wanted to participate as sponsors or be a part of some panels. They actually did not want to be part of it, because they did not want the region to be associated with climate change – even though they were often the ones suffering the most from it.’

‘The biggest misconception is that things are just getting warmer. The way the human brain works, we like things to be black and white; it’s easier. We like to say that some wine regions will disappear and others will emerge. But it’s not that simple.’

‘For example, if you’re talking about Quebec, vintage 2021 was one of the best vintages for Quebec’s wine regions. The 2021 Pinot Noirs are delicious! It’s fresh, juicy, crunchy. But the next vintage, 2022, is maybe the worst vintage they ever had to deal with.’

‘Now, in Quebec, we often have frost occurring in June and September. There are more mildew issues – and these are new mildews. Growers have never seen them before. This is very challenging despite the fact that we are having longer growing seasons. 2022 was particularly challenging.’

‘In the two-day format of the conference, the first day will be… more general topics that touch people anywhere in the world – whether it’s communication, packaging, water conservation, that sort of thing. Then the next day, we’ll have more regionally specific topics. They may touch on more than one region, but will be particularly helpful for the host region. So, for example, in a region on the west coast of the Americas, we’ll have experts addressing the issues of smoke taint and wildfire mitigation.’

‘I want this to be an event that brings people together all across the industry. Really from the vineyard to the glass. I was realising that you could get a bunch of producers, sommeliers, or wine journalists talking to each other, but the industry is fragmented. So they are focused on the same issues, and unaware sometimes of others.’

‘Take bottle weight. Producers in some appellations may not realise that this is an issue in the industry. Then importers talk about the added weight and cost to ship the wines. We then get to the cost of that unnecessary weight on the environment.’

‘The part of the conversation that we all must remember is that climate change is chaotic, and it’s here to stay. However, we all have the power to do something.’

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The year 2017 was a memorable one in Rioja for two reasons. First, on 28 April, came the great frost, which also wreaked its chilly havoc over Bordeaux and swathes of northern Europe. Some producers were lucky enough to suffer less than others, but even then, the vintage was greatly reduced. In due course, nature revived – as it nearly always does.

The second event has caused more long-lasting effects. This was the decision to introduce a category of Vinos de Municipio, commonly translated in English as ‘village wines’.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 10 great Rioja village wines

It sounds like a long overdue step to give recognition to Rioja’s villages. After all, this is one of the many charms of Rioja. As you drive through the wine country, a series of strikingly lovely villages are stretched out along the road, each one beckoning the visitor.

A selection of 10 distinctive Rioja village wines

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Something wicked this way comes…

by Neil Ridley 

A stunning new Scotch whisky collection celebrating arguably Shakespeare’s most famous work, has been released. Macbeth is a series of 42 whiskies, each one reflecting a different character from the so-called ‘Scottish play’. The labels for each bottling have been beautifully brought to life by iconic British illustrator and cartoonist, Sir Quentin Blake.

The project is the brainchild of Alexis Livingstone Burgess, director of Livingstone and Burgess Studios, which specialise in creating design concepts for a number of high-end whisky releases. Burgess has worked with Blake for over 20 years.

‘The history of Scotch whisky really mirrors that of Macbeth,’ he explained. ‘The whole structure appeared in one moment: the most famous Scottish play, full of fantastic characters… All waiting to be cast as Scotch whiskies.’

From Blake’s initial highly distinctive pen and ink sketches, which set each character as different bird-like figures, the final concept has been realised by Sukhinder Singh and Oliver Chilton from independent bottlers, Elixir Distillers.

The duo have painstakingly sourced the different whiskies over the past four years. They also worked with celebrated whisky writer and Decanter contributor, Dave Broom, who provided tasting and characterisation notes for each whisky.

An initial batch of nine whiskies – or ‘Act One’ – kicks off the range. Highlights include The Bloody Sergeant, imagined as a bold and fruity 10-year-old Blair Athol, matured in ex-wine casks. The First Witch is a smoky, dark and brooding 19-year-old Ardbeg, part-matured in Pedro Ximénez Sherry casks.

Lady MacDuff is ‘a gentle, but steely character’ according to Broom, which has been matched with an elegant-yet-complex 31-year-old Linkwood. While King Duncan – ‘The most noble of all the characters’ said Broom – is the oldest dram in the collection so far, cast as a 56-year-old Glen Grant: full of rich dried fruit and deep spices.

Prices for a 70cl bottle range from £95 for the Bloody Sergeant to £10,000 for King Duncan. Available from The Whisky Exchange

What is… shōchū?

This Japanese spirit (typically about 25% abv) is usually distilled from a base of sweet potatoes, grain or rice. It’s distinct from sake, which is a rice wine. The name means ‘burned liquor’ – referring to the heating process during distillation. The flavour of shōchū depends on what it’s made from, but it’s often described as a cross between vodka and whisky, with nutty, earthy notes. Like other spirits, it can be enjoyed neat or with mixers. It’s also used in cocktails such as the Chūhai, a fruity shōchū highball.

What to drink now… White Negroni

As the dark days of winter recede, appetites turn towards lighter drinks, so why not try this alternative to a ruby-hued Negroni? The White Negroni is a French twist on the Italian classic that replaces Campari with the French bitter aperitif Suze and also uses a French white vermouth, Lillet Blanc. It was invented in 2001 by the late and great British bartender Wayne Collins, at drinks trade show Vinexpo in Paris. Collins was taking part in a cocktail competition for Plymouth Gin. His drink won and has gone on to become a modern classic. Flavoured with gentian root, Suze (Alc 20%, Amathus Drinks, Gerry’s, Highbury Vintners, Master of Malt, Soho Wine Supply) is more delicate than Campari, with dried herbs and citrus peel notes, but the same bittersweet intensity.

White Negroni

Ingredients: 30ml gin, 30ml Suze, 30ml Lillet Blanc

Glass: Rocks

Garnish: Grapefruit twist

Method: Fill a rocks glass with ice, add all of the ingredients and stir to mix.

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A leading figure in Asian wine circles, Lu Yang is the world’s first and only Chinese Master Sommelier. He became global wine director, then wine consultant, for Asian luxury hotel brand Shangri-La Group in 2012. He is the founder of TOP|SOMM Studio, a wine consultancy for the hospitality industry in China, and Grapes & Co Institute, the leading wine education and service firm in China. He also works with non-wine brands, including San Pellegrino and Gaggenau.

Ever since James Hilton’s Lost Horizon was published in 1933, the name Shangri-La has become something of a legend. But despite the name of Shangri-La being so well known, few are familiar with it as a wine region – even the most dedicated sommeliers won’t be able to tell you much. Let’s hope that changes, because, for me, Shangri-La – in the northwest corner of Yunnan province in China’s southwest, sandwiched between Sichuan and Tibet province – has the potential to be one of the most exciting, high- quality wine regions in the world.

The reds are typically very intense, ripe and flavourful yet fresh with vibrant berry fruit, and distinctive graphite notes – vigorous yet polished wines of powerful structure, destined to age.

The terroir here is unique. The latitude is only 27°N, on a par with southern Morocco, giving a sub-tropical climate down in the valley. However, most vineyards are planted on the mountain ranges above 2,000m (some close to 3,000m). This means the UV light is very high, giving the wine intense colour and helping the tannins to ripen and soften. The high altitude also leads to a huge diurnal range, sometimes more than 15°C between day and night, giving the wines a marked freshness.

The mountains also provide shade, with 30% less sunshine than normal reaching the vines. But this is offset by the long growing season, stretching to 160 days between flowering and harvest. This not only guarantees sugar ripeness (alcohols above 15% are easily achieved), but more importantly pushes physiological ripeness to a whole new level, all without the sacrifice of freshness.

Challenges remain, including labour costs, logistical issues, language barriers, not to mention differences in local culture and religion… but this also means that Shangri-La can only aim for limited, and high-quality production.

While most current planting is of red varieties, dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, we have only reached the tip of the iceberg in terms of the region’s versatility and potential. With planting at different altitudes, exposures, soil types and so on, the possibilities are almost infinite. Syrah and Cabernet Franc are a given. Chardonnay can perform well at higher altitude. Why not Pinot Noir and Riesling? Watch this space.

Lu’s top-pick producers in Shangri-La

Ao Yun

This ambitious project by LVMH aims to put China on the fine wine map. Since its inaugural 2013 vintage, Ao Yun (2018, £255-£343 Berry Bros & Rudd, Brunswick, Hedonism) has succeeded beyond expectations. Winemaker Maxence Dulou crafts a structured, muscular style based on Cabernet Sauvignon to showcase the power and ageability of Shangri-La. Ao Yun also made three village-designated wines in 2018, and has made a Chardonnay since 2016.

Muxin

This wine label created a buzz with its first release last autumn. Owner-winemaker Mu Chao trained in Burgundy and sharpened his claws by working vintages at Clos de Tart, JL Chave in the northern Rhône, Clos des Fées in Roussillon, and Vérité in Sonoma. It’s safe to say he’s not only technically solid, but also aesthetically sound and globally visioned. He makes an elegant, sensual Cabernet- based red, as well as a textural and mineral-driven Chardonnay in minuscule quantities. facebook. com/chao.mu.52

Xiao Pu

Created by Ian Dai, who sources grapes from different regions across China and makes low-intervention wines, including orange wine and pét-nat. He produces a couple of labels from Shangri-La, which are not as serious as Ao Yun or Muxin, but have a fun and post-modern vibe, and sell at a much lower price.

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Sarah Jane Evans MW, Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW and Pierre Mansour tasted 105 wines with 7 Outstanding and 76 Highly recommended.

Red Rioja £20-£40: panel tasting scores

105 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 7

Highly recommended 76

Recommended 22

Commended 0

Fair 0

Poor 0

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their current-release red Riojas priced at £20-£40 (or $20-$40), with any Rioja classification of gran reserva, reserva, crianza or genérico permitted

How low can red Rioja reserva and gran reserva go? A quick web search reveals that in price terms it’s down to £5.75 and £10 respectively. Just how can Spain’s first DOCa – created in 1991 – sell itself so cheaply?

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top-scoring wines from the red Rioja £20-£40 panel tasting

Red Rioja £20-£40 panel tasting scores

The judges

Sarah Jane Evans MW is a Decanter contributing editor and Co-Chair of the Decanter World Wine Awards. Her latest book The Wines of Central and Southern Spain is set for release in early 2024.

Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW is a widely published wine journalist, educator and judge. He holds a degree in agronomical engineering and a Masters in viticulture and oenology, is a national expert for Spain at the OIV organisation and a DWWA joint Regional Chair for Spain.

Pierre Mansour is director of wine at The Wine Society, where he has worked for 23 years. Starting out with merchant Berry Bros & Rudd, he joined The Wine Society in 2000, moved into buying after four years and has been buying The Society’s Spanish wines since 2008.

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The conical volcano mount Pico dominates the remote, 48km-long Azorean island that takes its name. In fact the highest peak in Portugal (2,531m) makes such an imposing backdrop – not to mention the dazzling azure Atlantic Ocean to the fore – that it’s easy to miss one of the Azores’ most ambitious wine tourism projects.

The Azores Wine Company opened its minimalist winery, cellar door, restaurant and hotel in 2021. Discreetly clad in black basalt rock, hewn from the lava-bed of mount Pico, the building is almost subsumed within the gentle folds of the rolling volcanic slopes.

It sits surrounded by a chequerboard network of thousands of small walled vineyards, built to protect vines from wind and sea spray, which are known locally as currais. This intricate and distinctive vineyard landscape was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 2004.

A sense of place

Credit: Francisco Nogueira

The project was founded by winemaker António Maçanita and Filipe Rocha, former director of the Azores School of Tourism & Hospitality. Like the duo’s revolutionary wines, the hotel and restaurant showcase Pico’s volcanic and oceanic terroir with terrific verve, finesse and impeccable attention to detail.

As functional as it is stylish, the building’s naturally sloping roof draws on the vernacular – specifically the island’s vineyard water tanks. It also serves a similar purpose: harvesting around 1,500,000 litres of water per year that can be used to water the vines.

Wine has been produced in Pico since the 15th century. The currais are peppered with a few surviving adegas –  a type of rustic man cave, where locals would eat and drink with friends, not just make wine.

The adega at Azores Wine Company is built on a different scale however, with five sophisticated studio apartments, a two-bedroom apartment, cellar door and restaurant. Still, intimacy is the goal.

Rest and relaxation

Guests are invited to gather around the fire pit in the inner cloister. They can share plates at the open kitchen’s U-shaped dining counter or indulge in six- or seven-course wine pairing menus at the eye-catching boulder-cleft chef’s table.

Each guest room has an ocean vista and its own terrace. Inside, stylish charred-wood finish carpentry echoes the stark black basalt volcanic landscape. Luxurious Burel blankets dial up the warmth, whilst the extra-large beds promise an ultra-comfortable night’s sleep after a day spent hiking up mount Pico.

Other guest activities on offer include walking the island’s heritage trails and wild swimming. The Azores is also one of the world’s top destinations for whale-watching.

Food and wine

Of course the greatest comfort of all is to be found upstairs in the restaurant, where dynamic young couple chef José Diogo and Inês Vasconcelos, who looks after front of house, deftly draw on their experience at top kitchens in Europe and Asia.

The menu makes good use of the rich bounty of fresh, local produce from the Azores archipelago: from the vineyard to the distant pastures of Faial and São Jorge islands and the glittering ocean between.

Moresish caramelised Rainha do Pico butter is served with local bread. Whilst an exquisite amuse bouche of São Jorge cheese crisp is dressed with nasturtium and bonito and pumpkin flakes. Elegantly sauced or garnished catch of the day might include limpets, amber-jack, snapper or lobster tail.

Share small plates at the counter or sample a cheese platter at the cellar door, while you enjoy a rare opportunity to taste the Azores Wine Company’s range: from the entry level Vulcânico label to its miniscule production flagship cuvées and 10-year-old Licoroso.

Wines from Maçanita’s eclectic Fita Preta label from Alentejo are also on offer, while themed wine pairing menus include an innovative ‘Islands’ head-to-head between Portugal, Spain and Italy.

The restaurant and cellar door are open to the public by appointment. For more information, visit antoniomancita.com.

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Once used as mere support for Tempranillo, the red varieties Graciano, Mazuelo and Maturana now have a voice of their own. They may be a little more challenging than the versatile, charming Garnacha, but changing conditions resulting from climate change, coupled with the thirst for something different, are driving a new breed of varietal reds in Rioja.

Scroll down for a selection of 18 Graciano, Mazuelo & Maturana wines to try

Tasting notes and scores for 18 Graciano, Mazuelo & Maturana wines to try

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Foundational to the notion of terroir is the story of Burgundy. It is a relationship between Pinot Noir and the monks’ investment in defining place, identifying growing conditions in a complex tapestry of climat and cru that has inspired winemakers worldwide.

Countless vintners have sought to replicate its magic elsewhere, planting Pinot around the globe. With it has developed an assertion almost unquestioned – Pinot Noir is the grape most expressive of terroir. But in wines grown outside the Côte d’Or, we rarely find the magic of eastern France. If we can learn a lesson from Burgundy, it’s that the world’s great wines cannot be replicated by relocating their vines. The newer region must build its own defining relationship between the grapes best suited to its conditions and those who invest in them. Burgundy’s climate cannot be found in California; nor limestone with year-round rain.

In California, history has demonstrated no grape is better suited to the varied conditions of the state than Zinfandel. Its ability to adapt exceeds that of Pinot even. It matures successfully in every growing region, with vineyards dotting the landscape from its southern border to north of Mendocino, from the Pacific coast to the eastern foothills, the lower elevation river valleys to its mountain peaks.

Tasting through three examples from Turley’s 2019 vintage illustrates the variety’s diversity. DuPratt vineyard grows mere miles from the ocean at 450m on Mendocino Ridge, surrounded by redwoods. The wine smells of wildflowers and bramble with resinous forest and stony undertones. The tannin is corded but refined, like the texture of shantung silk, the acidity mouthwatering.

From the desert slopes of Howell Mountain at 790m on the eastern side of Napa Valley, the wine of Rattlesnake Ridge is inky and brooding with earthy notes of graphite, the tannin melting across the palate into a long, savoury finish.

From Amador County in the Sierra Foothills, home to the oldest vineyards in the state, Judge Bell grows around 450m in a rolling plateau near the Gold Rush town of Plymouth. The wine brings notes of orange zest, dried rose, crushed berries and a mix of fresh herbs. The tannin is fine-boned while abundant, the wine’s character more reminiscent of classic Barolo than the stereotype of high-octane Zin.

Classic wineries such as Turley, Ridge, Robert Biale, Frog’s Leap, Carlisle and Bedrock, as well as winemaker Joel Peterson, first through Ravenswood and now Once & Future, have invested decades in demonstrating the site-expressive power of Zinfandel. And the best can age. A quality Zin readily lasts 10 years. Exceptional sites can develop in bottle for decades, assisted by the elevated acidity natural to the variety.

The grape does have a troubled history. Producers who indulged in its potential for opulence created a perception of jammy fruit and alcohol, reaching as much as 16%. It was a style that peaked in the late 1990s and early 2000s but generated a stereotype the variety still struggles with today.

Zinfandel and Pinot Noir have one thing in common. Picked overripe, they lose their terroir expression in favour of excess fruit mistaken as California sunshine. It is a fault of winemaking rather than variety or place. The grape most readily finds its balance at alcohol levels out of fashion in post-Parker wine culture. Even so, celebrated Zinfandels from Ridge, an icon of well-balanced wines, tend to be between 13.5%-15%.

Over the last 10 years, Zinfandel has gone through a market correction. Its least interesting vines have been pulled in favour of more lucrative varieties. Farming costs have driven out lower-end price points. Sites with a track record of quality remain. Classic producers have been joined by newer brands looking to capture the energy of California’s oldest vineyards with fresh enthusiasm.

The changes have driven an increase in quality single-vineyard wines. But unlike Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir, prices for the best Zinfandels remain accessible. The result is a category of wine that, compared with other red varieties, delivers on quality while offering the opportunity to taste California terroir. Let’s celebrate a future of Zinfandel as fine wine.

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