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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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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How many wines can you name that contain over 20 grape varieties? Here’s one: Château de Montfaucon’s Lirac, Vin de Monsieur le Baron. Having tasted every vintage back to 2007, I can state with certainty that it’s one of Lirac’s greatest red wines.

If this sounds like faint praise, it’s not meant to. Admittedly, Lirac doesn’t currently have the same cachet as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but it’s just on the other side of the Rhône river and has some pockets of exceptional terroir. What’s more, while the greatest Châteauneuf might set you back £400 a bottle, you can find Vin de Monsieur le Baron for closer to £40.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for verticals of Vin de Monsieur le Baron and Vin de Madame la Comtesse

See the full verticals for Vin de Madame la Comtesse and Vin de Monsieur le Baron:

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Looking for inspiration? Here are the best things to read, watch and listen to for wine lovers. We’ve picked out some of the top wine-related books, TV shows and podcasts for your enjoyment!

Books:

Message in the Bottle

From Tim Gaiser MS, former director of education of the Court of Master Sommeliers Americas, this Guide to Tasting Wine compiles strategies and insights gained over more than 30 years of teaching. While many sections are aimed at helping sommeliers pass the tough MS exam, there are useful tools for wine novices through to those wanting to brush up on blind tasting skills. It’s an academic textbook, but Gaiser injects friendly tips and anecdotes.

Available through Amazon UK

New British Wine

Written by Abbie Moulton, with engaging photography by Maria Bell, New British Wine offers a fresh take on the UK’s wine scene. Focusing on organic, natural and low- intervention wines, it introduces the boutique vineyards, sustainability champions, urban wineries, cutting-edge restaurants and new-wave bottle shops that are driving this creative young industry. Cleverly curated, it’s a vibrant snapshot.

Available through Amazon UK

The Bordeaux Club

Written by historian Neil McKendrick, this is the true story of a group of male friends – including wine writers Hugh Johnson, Steven Spurrier and Michael Broadbent, and Neil himself – united by their love of claret. Founded in 1949 and active until 2019, The Bordeaux Club met to drink, dine and discuss fine wines. This book profiles its leading members, with meeting minutes, and tasting notes including Latour 1865, Petrus 1920 and Lafite 1945.

Decanter readers can get £5 off a copy from Académie du Vin Library using the code: Decanter23

Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine 2023

First published 46 years ago, this compact annual guide is packed with information and recommendations of top names from every wine region. Its quick-reference vintage charts are always a useful resource for collectors. This year, Johnson also highlights new-wave bottles from non-classic regions, showcasing native grape varieties and unconventional winemaking methods.

Available through Amazon UK

TV and film:

@TheMillennialSomm

Based in Washington DC, Isis Daniel is The Millennial Somm. Falling in love with wine while working in hospitality, she now uses social media to introduce a new generation of drinkers to the subject and is a powerful voice for diversity in the wine trade. With almost 150,000 TikTok followers, Daniel broadcasts live #TastingThursday (sing it) videos and snappy shorts packed with a range of basic wine education. TikTok, Instagram, Patreon.

Tellement Soif

This subscription-based web TV channel publishes engaging daily videos in French about wine, beer and spirits, from book and wine shop reviews to interviews and vineyard visits, deep dives into wine regions, and discussions on industry issues. Editor-in-chief Antoine Gerbelle, previously a journalist for La Revue du Vin de France, has a keen palate and laid-back but respectful style. Highly accessible, relevant and eye-opening.

The Wild Side of Wine: Lebanon

As a follow-up to his three-part documentary series about making wine in Georgia, Decanter contributor Peter Richards MW takes another walk on The Wild Side of Wine – this time in Lebanon. Filmed on location, Richards visits wineries such as Chateau Musar and uncovers the long history of winemaking in this eastern Mediterranean country, from the Phoenicians up to the modern day, exploring how wine is helping to heal the scars of war.

Sommvivant

Napa-based sommelier Amanda McCrossin is also known as sommvivant, with more than 8,000 subscribers on YouTube and 172,000 followers on TikTok. Her knowledgeable and fun-to-watch videos cover a variety of topics from California Pinot and Australian Cabernet to sweet wines and Champagne, as well as travel guides and food matching. Tune in for $15 Fridays to pick up value recommendations plus tips on pairing food and wine on a budget. tiktok.com/@somm_vivant

Podcasts:

The Grape Nation

Veteran broadcaster Sam Benrubi’s informative weekly podcast features winemakers, sommeliers, writers, retailers and more. With his easy interview style, Benrubi is equally at home talking to big names like Jancis Robinson MW and Eric Asimov, or local heroes such as the engaging Kilolo Strobert, owner of Brooklyn’s Fermented Grapes wine store. Recent episodes include a review of Bordeaux 2020. Apple, Heritage Radio Network, Simplecast.

Drinking Well

As wine merchant Berry Bros & Rudd marks its 325th anniversary this year, it will broadcast a special edition of its Drinking Well podcast on 29 March, discussing the BBR family reserves. You can also catch up with seasons 1 and 2, which feature tips for collectors – including when to drink certain vintages and how allocations work – plus buyers sharing their love of particular regions. Season 3 will be out this summer. Amazon Music, Apple, Audible, Food FM, Spotify.

Guildsomm

GuildSomm’s podcasts are pitched at wine service professionals – with an emphasis on tastings with top sommeliers – but they are available for anyone to listen to. Broad-ranging content includes topics from blind tasting and food pairing to vineyard management and regional focuses. There are also Spanish language episodes, such as ‘Rioja with Alberto Gil’. Available on Apple, Spotify.

In Vino Veritas

In each episode of this new podcast from Jamie Theakston and Alexander Armstrong the duo recommend a wine and match it with music, while sharing wine facts and chatting about their wine passions, food and travel. Episodes often focus on specific wine regions, from Margaret River to Piedmont, with pairings including Barbaresco with Vivaldi’s Gloria in D Major and Pfalz Riesling with the album Where is Home/Hae ke Kae by South African cellist Abel Selaocoe.

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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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Rioja was distinctive because of its sweet vanilla scents, medium body and smooth finish. Today, most wine drinkers will order a glass of Rioja expecting something similar, albeit at much higher quality levels.

However, many wine lovers aren’t yet aware of the new wave of wines in Rioja. These are the wines driving change in the region – and creating a turning point for Rioja on the world’s premium wine scene.

There are many reasons for this lack of awareness. First and foremost, every year Rioja produces more than 200 million litres of very decent and affordable red wine, in a style that delivers what many drinkers want – and what they are willing to pay for.

Secondly, the EU legal framework for appellations of origin can be quite confusing. For the best-known appellations in France or Italy, the geographical indication refers to a very particular style of wine. For instance, AP Margaux is a red wine; Château Margaux’s white wine cannot bear the name Margaux but is called Bordeaux. Brunello di Montalcino is an oak-aged red wine made of Sangiovese, while Chablis is always Chardonnay, white and dry.

Complexity and diversity

In Spain, a ‘Denominación de Origen’ often means a territory in which a wide array of wine styles is made. In this respect, Spain is closer to the New World than classic Europe.

Rioja is an excellent case in point. Within the appellation of Rioja, you can find red, white, rosé, sparkling and even sweet wines. Any of those wines can be young or aged, using the legal definitions of crianza, reserva or gran reserva, which determine minimum ageing periods.

In terms of geographical origin, these wines can be just Rioja, or come from one of the three sub-regions: Rioja Alta, Alavesa and Oriental. Within each sub-region, they can be made in a particular municipality, or even be made with grapes from a single vineyard (viñedo singular). Not so simple, then…

Such complexity is not capricious red tape, but the legal reflection of Rioja’s reality. Rioja is not –and cannot be–a type of wine. It is a whole wine country. Its territory gives ground to produce an impressive diversity of wines, which is bound to increase.

The Rioja region spreads across 100km in length, covering a huge variety of soils, exposures and climates, in four ‘autonomous regions’ (a bit like counties). It is also home to nine valleys, featuring markedly different macro-terroirs. In addition, three different climate patterns converge in Rioja: continental, Mediterranean and Atlantic. The appellation rules embed these complexities.

Pushing boundaries

Nowadays, Rioja is a hotspot for quest and innovation. A new generation of vine-growers and winemakers is rethinking the region, trying to understand its thousands of terroirs from a different perspective. They’re making wines that could not even be imagined previously.

For red and white wines, site specificity is the key driver. More than 120 single vineyards have been approved to date by the appellation’s council. A creative – and, in consequence, somewhat chaotic – movement towards a Burgundy model is taking place. Once it is proven that the wines are worth the effort, I think that a simpler terroir classification will be developed.

White wines, mostly those fermented and aged in oak, are a particular focus. The wine trade and drinkers alike are talking enthusiastically about these wines, which develop a lot of complexity after years in bottle. On top of that, grape varieties that were authorised a few years ago are now demonstrating their contribution to Rioja’s quality panoply. Maturana Blanca, Tempranillo and various clones of Malvasía are behind some of the great new Rioja whites.

Sparkling wine is the most recent category in Rioja’s catalogue. It was approved with a high ambition: méthode champenoise, minimum 15 months on lees, limited yields. The first vintage in this new sparkling wine category was 2017, with just a handful of wineries producing examples, including Bodegas Vivanco.

There is a sound rationale for this new category. Firstly, a century-old experience of producing sparkling wines in Rioja. Secondly, the excellent adaptation of some particular terroirs, and of Viura and Malvasía grape varieties, to this type of wine. Finally, the experience gained from the early days when Bilbao’s citizens drank a brand of Rioja sparkling popularly known as ‘Bilbao water’.

Hidden gems

I finish with the two less well-known types of wine in Rioja. The first is supurao – a traditional, very particular style, made with desiccated red grapes. Production is minimal and the wines are difficult to find – but trust me, it’s worth the effort.

Second, the current array of amazingly distinctive rosé wines in Rioja is impressive. One area, Cordovin, would merit an appellation on its own, just for its Grenache-based rosé wines, so distinctive are they. The gran reserva rosés, whose flagship is Viña Tondonia, are the subject of speculation for avid collectors. Meanwhile, other styles of rosé, such as the Carignan-based example from Murrieta and many others, are adding complexity and fun to a category of Rioja wines that is set to be prominent in the future.

As I’ve said, Rioja is not a wine, it is a whole wine country that is now in a period of effervescent creativity, based on sound knowledge and love for the land. Be ready to be surprised by Rioja.

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Julien and Nadia d’Abrigeon stood before me like new parents: proud, exhausted, thrilled. Tasting with them in their rented cellar space, I shared their excitement for their new arrivals. It’s not often you get to taste the first vintage of a new domaine, especially not one so promising.

We’d just returned from visiting their vineyards in the village of Buisson. Not so long ago, this was an undesirable location. Cairanne and Rasteau inhabit the sun-warmed southern face of the Ventabren massif, whereas Buisson is located on its chilly northern slope. But today, cooler spots like this are beginning to come into their own.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for five Domaine d’Abrigeon wines

Matt Walls’ tasting notes and scores for five Domaine d’Abrigeon wines:

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In Bordeaux it’s not unusual to walk through echoey corridors stacked floor to ceiling with bottles of older wines. But the culture in the northern Rhône is different. Most producers will squirrel away a few cases for special occasions, but winemakers usually sell through an entire vintage rather than hold a proportion back.

It’s understandable. A Bordeaux estate is typically five times the size of a domaine in Côte-Rôtie. Older vignerons from around Ampuis still remember when selling their wine wasn’t as easy as it is today, or as rewarding. Holding stock back wasn’t financially viable for many.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the Domaine Burgaud Côte-Rôtie vintage vertical

Domaine Burgaud Côte-Rôtie 1988-2008:

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I’d visited Kakheti, Kartli and Imereti before – Georgia’s dominant central wine-producing zones; but never the wild exterior. From the ice-crisped cemetery grass of the 11th-century church of St George, dominating the mountaintop village of Mravaldzali, we looked north across the mountains of the Greater Caucasus, Europe’s highest. The silence, and the vista, was daunting. Hundreds of dry, drab valleys lost themselves in as many snowy peaks. Russia lay beyond. There was, apparently, a way over: the Mamisoni pass. But you’d need a strong horse. And a compelling motive, too.

Racha is not a large wine-growing region – just 609ha. The quality of its vineyards and its own suite of indigenous varieties (notably the red Aleksandrouli, Mujuretuli and Usakhelouri, and white Rachuli Mtsvane, Tsolikouri and Rachuli Tetra) make it a source of growing interest, and many of Georgia’s larger wine enterprises have hurried to acquire vineyards here in recent years.

But there’s a problem. The best-known wine from Racha is the sometimes charming but rarely complex, semi-sweet PDO red Khvanchkara. It sells for high prices – in Russia. Most of those buying land here did so to make Khvanchkara… but since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Georgians are more troubled than ever by sales to this particular client. Russian war crimes in Ukraine aside, the loss of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali/South Ossetia to Russian-backed separatists is still fresh in Georgian minds. Why slake the thirst of a vicious, expansionist neighbour?

In 2021, wine exports from Georgia amounted to 107 million bottles (according to its national wine agency) – and Russians took 62 million of those. The situation is not only uncomfortable, but it also holds Georgian wine developments in check. Contemporary Georgian wine can only flourish if it develops long-term responsive relationships with consumers who value dry wines of texture, finesse and nuance.

Some Georgian wine companies, like Tbilvino, have turned their backs entirely on the Russian market. Others are diverting a percentage of their profits to the Ukrainian cause – so that Russian drinkers unwittingly help frustrate Putin’s unprovoked invasion. Pending significant change in Russia, though, Georgia’s wine future must surely lie elsewhere.

There was a notice pinned to the gate: Gogi, it said in Roman script, plus a phone number. We phoned, and Gogi Margvelidze arrived. He refused to let us in at first, since we said we could only make a short visit; visits in Georgia aren’t meant to be short. Point made, he smilingly relented. He showed us the hazel-wood treading tanks, earth-buried qvevris (called churi here) and ancient implements in his marani (wine cellar). We drank chill water from the deep well, and ate rich Racha walnuts whose shells are soft enough to crush by hand. Gogi poured us tumblerfuls of Tetra and Aleksandrouli.

It was easy to make semi-sweet wine, he said, when the winter cold lasted until April’s end; now the climate was warmer, the wines tended to ferment dry. They were rough – but in Gogi’s effortlessly structured Aleksandrouli, in particular, you could see Racha’s potential.

So, too, at newer wineries – such as Naberauli, where the California-trained Giorgi Tevzadze is winemaker; Gonadze Vineyards, advised by Davit Maisuradze, one of Georgia’s leading winemakers and from Racha himself; and Melitoni, run by the young winemaking descendents of a famous Racha winemaking couple from the mountain heights of Mravaldzali.

Outside, up on the hillsides, orange persimmons punctuated the bare woods; hard yet sweet little round pears littered the vineyard edges. There’s still winter to get through, but spring will come to Racha.

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In the same way that a private domaine can support a family, a co-operative winery can support an entire village. So when the Cave de Cairanne was effectively declared bankrupt in 2014, a whole community of growers was left hanging from a thread.

‘Closing a co-op is like closing a church. It supports businesses, families, generations,’ says Denis Crespo. He’s an unlikely saviour, as his roots are in natural winemaking. But he provided the necessary electric shock to get the co-op’s heart pumping again. Today, it’s a model of large-scale, no-added-sulphite winemaking. But its recovery was far from guaranteed.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for five Cave de Cairanne wines

Matt Walls’ tasting notes and scores for five Cave de Cairanne wines

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I’m a massive fan of English sparkling wines, which are getting better with every vintage, aided by the changing climate, of course – the grapes are filling up with sun, and you can taste that in the glass. So how can we convince consumers not to overlook English sparkling wine, and show them that it is a real contender: often just as good, if not better than Champagne? Perhaps by pitting the two against each other in a special blind tasting by the experts, Judgement of Paris style. Judgement of London, let’s say… Who knows what would happen?

Of course, the Champenois have more to lose by participating in such a tasting. But it’s not as simple as Champagne vs English sparkling. Right from the early days when Francophile and wine lover Major-General Sir Guy Salisbury-Jones planted the first vines at Hambledon, in 1952, he did so with help and advice from his friends at Pol Roger. Today, Taittinger and Pommery are among the high-profile Champagne houses to have planted vines on English soil, and this association should help growers on both sides of the Channel.

Realistically, there’s no need for the Champenois to feel threatened by English sparkling – the quantities of the latter are tiny in comparison, and the category just doesn’t have the power and market penetration of Champagne. Or, of course, the reputation among consumers. There is no wine category as bound up with social status and image as Champagne. If you’re a Krug drinker, you’re obviously in the upper echelons of society and very successful. If Moët or Veuve Clicquot is your drink of choice, you are more in the mainstream. If it’s artisanal, small-grower Champagne that you turn to, it shows you probably have a greater knowledge of the region.

The name Champagne holds such a high status for the consumer that I sometimes question whether we are actually drinking what’s inside the bottle – or just the label. With marketing playing such a huge role in Champagne’s success, and the name ‘Champagne’ being protected for traditional-method wines from that region, sparkling wines from elsewhere (not just England, but Tasmania, Franciacorta and everywhere else) do have hurdles to climb. But the quality is there.

A monumental shift needs to happen here, and it’s not going to happen overnight. It will require English sparkling brands to invest heavily in marketing – at the moment the wines are not as readily available as Champagne on the high street; you don’t see the same spend on advertising; and although many UK restaurants and bars do now list English sparkling wines, there aren’t enough offering them by the glass.

English sparkling wines also need to be confident enough to plough their own furrow. The focus needs to be on mass marketing rather than a massive rebranding. It doesn’t surprise me that the [once-proposed] term ‘Britagne’ didn’t catch on – why the need to emulate Champagne? Awarding PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status to Sussex was perhaps another misstep – yes it made English sparkling into a talking point, but why do something that implies the county of Sussex is superior to the other regions?

English wine estates need to play the long game. Once quality is established, it’s about establishing the brands. Coca-Cola and Pepsi have never stopped advertising, even after all these years – these big brands have been marketing their products since they started. With Champagne, people tend to be very loyal to one or two brands. English sparkling wine hasn’t established itself in the same way yet, and people are still wary. They know it’s on the up, but the wider market is yet to see it.

There needs to be more conversation in order for English sparkling wine to really have a chance to penetrate the market. The more we talk about it in the same context as Champagne, the more we’ll put English sparkling wine on the map.

Fred Sirieix is author of Wine Uncorked: My Guide to the World of Wine – available through Amazon UK

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I’m busy, lazy or just tired… it’s half past twelve. I open the fridge and the same familiar labels smile up at me. The same with the repurposed coal hole under the front steps where the red wines live. I won’t tell you exactly what they are – although regular readers can have a pretty good guess.

The ones that get mentioned least frequently are the ones that make an appearance on every routine day. When the soup (winter) or the salad (summer) comes out for a ‘working’ lunch, the bottle beside my little copita (Aha! A hint!) is some variety of Sherry. There! The very word has put you off – and quite right, too. It is a dismal way of referring to some of the most characterful and versatile wines in the world. And, I must add, the most affordable and best value.

Today (grey sky, chilly wind; a soup day) it’s a palo cortado, a relatively elusive midfield player, neither a bracing dry fino nor an oloroso full of fruit-saturated oak, nor even a nutty amontillado (all Sherries, but no more alike than a Morey, a Margaux and a Monbazillac). I can’t think of any drink more comforting, consoling and downright delicious with my bowl of chicken soup and cold ham to follow. If I were finishing up last night’s cottage pie it would fit the slot with the same aplomb.

Sherry’s misfortune is to have been bracketed with Port in the fortified class. Good Sherry doesn’t need fortifying in the way Port does. Our forebears, in their cold houses, just wanted wine with a kick, added alcohol and made their Sherry unnaturally boozy.

The proper precise terms for Sherry are fino (with its important sub-section, manzanilla), oloroso and amontillado (which is effectively a matured fino that didn’t quite make the cut to be bottled in its racy freshness).

In the bodega the cellarmaster (capataz) tastes intently; every butt, every few days. He describes what he finds in a chalk mark on the barrel head. ‘Palo’ is one pretty broad category. He tastes a palo many times before he marks a ‘cut’, a cortado, through its P. That chalk mark is serious promotion; age will give it unique roundness. No sweetness; just length and depth.

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Warhol. Turner. Dali. If I showed you some of their most famous works, could you identify the artist? Even for those who rarely visit art galleries, I suspect the answer would be yes.

Wine, however, is different. Could you reliably name great winemakers just by tasting their wines? Not impossible; but even for the most dedicated wine lover, not always easy.

Sure, there are some winemakers with a style that’s so distinctive that their wines are unmistakable. In this group, I’d include the wines of Emmanuel Reynaud of Château Rayas, Chateau Musar or Jacques Selosse.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 10 Domaine Garon wines

10 top picks from Domaine Garon:

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I was with some wine students in Chablis, visiting the affable Guillaume Michel of Domaine Louis Michel. The 2018 vintage in Chablis was prolific, though Guillaume’s team pruned the vines as hard as normal.

Guillaume has a little more than a half-hectare of the smallest of the grands crus, Grenouilles (8.74ha in production in 2018, most of which is controlled by the cooperative La Chablisienne): delicious in 2018. And, after a year’s pruning and vine-tending, after hand-harvesting and scrupulous fermentation, 2,000 litres of it were trucked off… to be turned into industrial alcohol.

Yes: 2,666 bottles of one of the best grower- produced versions of Chablis Grand Cru Grenouilles 2018 probably ended up as anti-Covid hand gel. Why? The yields were too high. Guillaume usually only gets about 3,000 bottles of Grenouilles in total, which is well below the maximum yield of 54hl/ha; however nature insisted on producing 80hl/ha in 2018. There is an allowable derogation in the Chablis appellation (called the VCI or Volume Complémentaire Individuel) which can be used in generous years to remedy the deficiencies of meagre ones, but it’s not available for grand cru wines.

There is, in fact, no wine topic about which it is more difficult to pronounce with certainty than yields. Should it therefore remain a matter of legal sanction? Maybe not. Here’s why I tend to disregard yield information. Trust what you taste instead.

• There is no universally agreed system for describing yields. Hectolitres per hectare (hl/ha) is a liquid measurement, but yields are often expressed as weight of grapes per hectare (tons per acre or quintals per ha in Italy, for example). To compare the two, you need to know how much liquid is pressed from the grapes (about 130kg of red grapes are normally needed for 100 litres of wine, but about 160kg of white grapes). A ‘ton’ in the US (2,000 pounds) is only 907kg, remember, whereas in Australia it could be equivalent to 1,016kg (2,240 pounds, if thinking in the old imperial system). Only a metric ton (best spelled, for clarity, as ‘tonne’) is 1,000kg.
• Yields make no sense without calibration against planting densities – since it is the yield per vine which counts. You might admire a small St-Emilion producer for her modest 35hl/ha and frown, by comparison, at a lavishly landed Médoc producer’s 45hl/ha. But if the St-Emilion producer has 6,000 vines per ha and the Médoc proprietor 10,000 vines per ha, the latter’s yield per vine is lower (0.45L/vine compared to 0.58L/vine).
• Concentration – the natural effect of lowering yields – isn’t always desirable, since too much concentration can negatively impact drinkability. Great wines must be drinkable. There is, in other words, a ‘natural optimum yield’ for every vineyard and every variety in every vintage beneath which it is pointless or destructive to descend. And guess what? The whole show’s unfair. Serious yet drinkable red wine in the Languedoc or southern Rhône must always be made from lower yields (30hl/ha or less) than serious yet drinkable Bordeaux first growth or Chablis Grand Cru (40-50hl/ha) or Champagne (very variable, but up to 70-80hl/ha). Long-suffering Sauternes producers must halve the Languedoc yield again. Then recall the differing prices per bottle of those wines. And weep.
• Great vintages tend to be generous. Bordeaux and Champagne in 1982, 1990 and 2018 were examples of this. Would you prefer the tiny-yielding Bordeaux 1984s, 1991s or 2013s, or Champagne 2017s? I don’t think so.

In wine generally, it’s true that wines produced with colossal yields in unexciting vineyards will taste dilute – but no one will be calling the existing Louis Michel Grenouilles 2018 dilute. That bottled wine, though, is exactly the same as the 2,000 litres which probably ended up as hand gel. It was, alas, a tragic waste: felled by well-intended regulation.

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Which offers more pleasure: a wine from a great vintage, but too young, inexpressive and closed? Or a wine from a modest vintage that’s mature, aromatically open and ready to drink? Surely there’s no contest.

When it comes to enjoying the greatest Rhône wines, identifying the best vintages is the easy part. Knowing when best to open them is more difficult – but arguably more important.

Here are four vintages that will benefit from further ageing, and four that you should consider drinking up.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for four Rhône wines to lay down and four to drink now

To lay down or drink up?

The wines below are listed by their vintage, in the same order as above.

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Finally, after decades of trying, the world has, officially, gone mad. Which makes it incredibly easy to predict what’s going to happen in 2023. Keep track of the following, and see how many come true over the next 12 months. We can guarantee it will be at least six*.

*Guarantees may not be accurate and are not to be taken as fact. All bets made as a result of this article are at the reader’s own risk. Inaccurate or offensive predictions were probably made by somebody else.

January

Decanter readers are criticised by the government for ‘wilfully misunderstanding health messaging’. ‘They know perfectly well that when we encourage the population to take part in ‘Dry January’ we mean they should give up alcohol,’ said a spokesman. ‘Simply renouncing sweet wines for a month really isn’t good enough.’

February

An Italian winery is reprimanded for producing a back label that is ‘completely unrepresentative’ of the country’s wines. ‘It provided a useful tasting note, an engaging story about the estate, and told people exactly what to drink it with,’ said an industry representative. ‘It was completely out of order.’ Azienda Ottimistica has apologised and said it will get back to using the same unhelpful 12-word tasting notes as everyone else in future, or, better still, remove the back label altogether.

March

Growers in the Loire come into conflict with environmental groups over their plans to install ‘under vine heating’. ‘I don’t care if they’ve lost half their crop to frost over the past 10 years,’ said one environmentalist, ‘You can’t justify this just to grow grapes. Particularly not to make Muscadet.’

April

Château owners in Bordeaux are delighted to find #bordeaux trending on social media and the region becoming the most-searched term on Google. Closer inspection, however, reveals the spike in interest is not driven by the 2023 en primeur campaign but by news that the Kardashians are thinking of buying an estate. Popular suggested searches are ‘Is Bordeaux wine?’, ‘Does Bordeaux make you fat?’ and ‘Is Bordeaux Burgundy?’

May

Following the World Cup in Qatar, all of the world’s drinks competitions controversially announce that, as of 2024, they will all be held in Saudi Arabia. In a joint statement they praise the country’s ‘long history of wine appreciation’ and ‘proven love of alcohol’. None of the organisers are available for comment because they have ‘all retired to the Caribbean’.

June

Following a study revealing that 80% of the wine consumed in the UK is Sauvignon Blanc and Prosecco, the country is officially declared the Sick Man of Europe.

July

Plans for a French wine version of Monopoly are scrapped after furious rows about the positioning of estates on the board. ‘It was totally unworkable,’ said one château owner. ‘We ended up with five dark blue (££££) wineries, six dark green (£££) and the rest of the board was blank. In fact, the only points everyone could agree on were that the utility squares were too expensive and nobody should go to gaol, no matter what they’d done.’

August

Southern European winemakers are in despair as another exceptionally warm year sees a record 90% of the continent’s grapes harvested in July and August for the first time ever. ‘This is an absolute disaster,’ said one grower in the Rhône. ‘Partly because it proves that our planet is becoming a smouldering, sun-blackened husk, but mainly because it’s playing havoc with my summer holidays.’

September

Makers of the film Bob!, celebrating ‘the life and legacy of wine writer Robert Parker’ are furious when critics give it a lukewarm reception. ‘These guys have never made a film in their life!’ fumed director Lenz Kapp. ‘So why should we care what they think of it? All critics are a disgrace and we should ignore them completely. Oh…’

October

A stunt to highlight the lack of longevity of low-intervention wines ends inconclusively. Sommelier Pierre Tire-Bouchon spends a week observing a bottle of natural wine and a lettuce on his dining table, before tasting them to see which has aged better. ‘Both were fetid, vegetal and fairly unpleasant,’ he told Decanter. ‘So if anything the wine had got slightly better.’

November

The autobiography of a European winemaker, about his time working in Germany, Spain and southern France surprises everyone by climbing to the top of the booksellers charts. The publishers admit that the title – Sekt and dregs and Riojan Rolle – may ‘make his life sound more exciting than it actually is’.

December

A drinks writer is barred from the profession after failing to recommend Pinot Noir with the Christmas dinner.

What I’ll be drinking†

To prove that this column is entirely tongue in cheek – and to stop readers writing in to complain about gratuitous irony – please rest assured that I will, this year, be making an effort to confront my prejudices by drinking more Muscadet, Sauvignon Blanc and natural wines in 2023. I might even have Pinot Noir on Christmas Day.
†honest

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I haplessly strayed into this controversial territory last summer during a debate at the Paulée d’Anjou event, having noted a significant minority of VSIG producers (Vin Sans Indication Géographique, the customary French abbreviation for this category) in the Loire. It seemed a shame, I burbled innocently, not to make use of local appellations to build understanding of their unique character, as well as show solidarity with fellow growers.

The room quietened a little; glances were exchanged. Charlotte Carsin of Terre de l’Elu – the former president of the Paulée d’Anjou – took me firmly by the elbow afterwards. ‘Monsieur Jefford,’ she began, with a bright and meaningful smile; ‘it’s not quite that simple.’

Indeed not. She and her husband Thomas began their work as wine-growers in 2008. Thomas had formerly worked as a consultant oenologist and Charlotte in communications. They then set about becoming, as Thomas puts it, ‘real Angevin wine-growers’, dedicated to producing wines which reflected their terroir: schist-soiled Anjou Noir. They felt this was only possible ‘when a wine expresses physiological maturity without having been dragged there using forceps – yields of 25-30hl/ha, all the ancestral techniques designed to stop a harvest degrading and acquiring botrytis too quickly, patience in waiting for that maturity, unhurried vinifications with minimum intervention, enough ageing time’. They discovered that the appellation rules, though, ‘were light-years away from our practices’.

Worse, though, were the dégustations d’agrément: the obligatory tasting the wines had to go through to be allowed to use the appellation. Those with enough free time to serve on the weekday tasting committee, Thomas claims, were chiefly students and retirees. After half a day’s training on wine faults, they were then let loose on wines which represented two years of work for the growers submitting them.

The Clos de l’Elu wines – as they were called then – began to fall foul of what they felt were arbitrary and peremptory judgements. One wine (Roc’h Avel 2017) was refused once for acescence (too much acetic acid) and then after a second submission for a very different fault, oxidation. A third appeal would have required the authorities to come and seal up the entire cellar while an investigation was made. ‘Yet we had already sold half that wine to merchants, professionals, who knew exactly what they were tasting. We just felt we couldn’t go on inside the appellation. We aren’t rebels or dissidents. We just care about the truth and we didn’t recognise truth in the way the appellation was being run.’

Thomas had a meeting with those directing the appellation and said he was disappointed not to have been respected as much as he’d respected those making Anjou wines on an industrial basis. They accused him, he says, of cowardice.

There are drawbacks to their decision, both admit; they had to drop ‘Clos’ in the name, and hate not being able to say exactly where the wine comes from on labels. Instead, they try to establish the Terre de l’Elu name among other artisan wines, ‘sincerely and humbly’.

‘The problem is that administrative culture is stupid and nasty. For all that, we’re open to the idea that there might be a revolution in the way appellations are administered, but it would have to start by getting rid of the dégustations d’agrément. They don’t make sense and they leave appellations more fragile, not stronger.’

A similar debate, I remembered, was also raging when I lived in Australia 13 years ago (though the obligatory tasting then was for an export permit). The Australians eventually ditched the tasting requirement – and now enjoy a reputation of greater aesthetic width on world markets than they formerly did. Next time I’ll think twice before I burble.

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‘Faced with extreme, repeated and cumulative climatic hazards, how can we best support and adapt our vineyard? Considering these changes, how can the balance of wines be preserved?’ Like many winemakers, Ambre Delorme of Domaine de la Mordorée is embracing 2023 with hope, but also a degree of trepidation.

With a chaotic climate and capricious consumers to contend with, Rhône winemakers are weighing up the best ways to move forward.

Here are three trends to look out for in 2023.

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Tina Gellie, Content Manager and Regional Editor (Australia, South Africa, New Zealand & Canada)

It was a big year of Decanter travel for me, heading to Napa and New York in June, South Africa in October and most recently a week each in Margaret River and South Australia. These trips have formed the basis of my festive selections.

Christmas lunch on North Stradbroke Island (reunited with my family after four years, no thanks to Covid) always starts with oysters, followed by a bucket of prawns. Cue elbowing away a dozen others to peel and eat the biggest ones as fast as possible before diving in for more.

Only a fool would pause to take a sip of wine during this melee, but after the shells have been cleared, it’s time to savour a glass or two. I’m thinking of a blanc de blancs sparkling from DAOSA in the Adelaide Hills, a Polish Hill Riesling from Jeffrey Grosset in the Clare Valley or one of the outstanding single-site Chenin Blancs from David & Nadia Sadie or Alheit Vineyards in South Africa’s Swartland.

Classy Chardonnay always works a treat with my sister’s gravadlax. Maybe a Margaret River option like Cullen’s Kevin John or McHenry Hohnen’s Calgardup Brook? Or something from Ataraxia or Creation in Hemel-en-Aarde?

Temperatures are unusually moderate in Queensland this December, so perfect to enjoy a big red with the barbecued joint of meat. Too many choices here. Will it be a Napa Cabernet from Corison, Favia or Gallica? A Barossa Shiraz from Yalumba, Henschke or Rockford, or even Donovan Rall’s super Ava Syrah from Swartland? Then again, who can go past a McLaren Vale Grenache – particularly in tribute to the late D’Arry Osborn of D’Arenberg.

Whatever the eventual bottles, toasts will be made in thanks to so many wonderful producers around the world whose wines have seen us through yet another eventful year. Here’s to 2023!

Amy Wislocki, Magazine Editor

This is the first Christmas since my beloved mother died in February, and so will be a low-key affair for my family. Usually we spend the holiday on the north Devon coast, but we all wanted a change in routine this year so will be staying local. One advantage of that is not having to transport all the wines for the holidays down to Devon – that’s a lot of planning and a lot of wine when it comes to my family.

On Christmas Day this year we’ll be raising a glass in my mother’s memory, with the wines that she loved the most, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (Elephant Hill in Hawkes Bay is a favourite) and blanc de blanc Champagne – as it’s Christmas, we might push the boat out with the recently launched Taittinger Comte de Champagne 2012. She loved Champagne so much that she even accompanied me to record a guest slot for BBC Radio 2 – it was me, fellow wine expert Susy Atkins, and my mother, as the interested consumer. Just one of many special memories.

Clive Pursehouse, US Editor

Finally, after two years of difficulty, Christmas and New Year’s seem to be returning to a sense of normalcy. I am flying my mother across the country to see her granddaughter, realising that since she was born, I’ve been a distant second fiddle.

I like to think of this stretch of time visiting with friends and family as a key opportunity to open those wines I’ve been holding onto or new discoveries I really want my wine-curious friends and family members to try.

When it comes to new wine discoveries, I’ve got two Oregon producers in mind that will allow me to show my friends and family new wines and unknown names.

For bubbles, I’ll be popping a cork from a little-known producer of Oregon sparkling wines, Kramer Vineyards. Kim Kramer may just be one of the most underrated winemakers in Oregon and is particularly deft with bubbles. Her Kramer Vineyards 2017 Brut Blanc de Blancs with 47 months of tirage is wildly delicious, both fresh and opulent. Were it from France; it would cost two to three times its price.

A Syrah, typically from Washington State, is a go-to at my household any time we’re preparing a serious meal. This Christmas, though, I’ll be surprising folks with a Syrah from the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge, a region that includes sites from both states. The Hundred Suns 2019 Columbia Gorge Syrah was a highlight when I tasted it with Charles Curtis MW at the winery in September. It’s loaded with a savoury and mineral character and tons of fresh fruit, and it will make for a perfect pairing with any heavy holiday cuisine.

The main course this year for Christmas dinner will be a prime rib roast, and I have the proper wine for it, one I’ve been cellaring for a few years. I plan on popping a 2013 Beaulieu Vineyards Georges de Latour. An iconic wine from one of America’s wine icons. It’s prime rib; no reason to mess around.

To end the evening, I’m opening a Ramos Pinto Quinta de Bom Retiro 20-Year-Old Tawny Port. Yes, I do, in fact, recognise that it’s not from the United States. I may be the US Editor, but I do love Port. It pairs well with cheese, sweets or even just contemplation of life’s larger questions: What is the meaning of life? How is Santa Claus able to be at all those malls at once, and did I really need a second helping of everything?

Merry Christmas, everyone.

James Button, Regional Editor (Italy)

The centrepiece for the day’s activities this year will focus around a twin South African attack in magnum format: Blank Bottle’s Little William Syrah and David & Nadia’s Chenin Blanc. I’m not too hung up on food and wine matching so the idea is that everybody can dip in and out as they choose.

I have had a case of Vilmart’s Grand Cellier NV Champagne in storage for the last few years, so a bottle this Christmas Day will be a good excuse to enjoy this doughy, lemony treat. Likewise, it’s about time to pull out another bottle of Vega Sicilia’s Valbuena 5 2008; last time I tried it a few years ago it was still tight and unyielding – here’s hoping it has finally begun to relax, just as I intend to do!

My first visit to Piedmont involved a stay at Guido Porro in Serralunga, and drinking a wine from the vineyard our balcony overlooked, in the Lazzarito cru, brings back fond memories, so the estate’s Vigna Santa Caterina 2010 will be a very welcome addition to the table this Christmas. Guido Porro is a winery on the up and I thoroughly recommend its traditionally-styled Nebbiolos. Yum!

Natalie Earl, Regional Editor (France, excluding Bordeaux & Burgundy)

Christmas at the in-laws this year… but thankfully this notion is less terrifying knowing that I’ll have a glass of sweet pink bubbles in my hand on Christmas morning. I tasted Philippe Balivet’s Récolte Cécile Bugey Cerdon 2020 earlier in the year and I knew I’d need to get my hands on a bottle for Christmas aperitifs. Bugey Cerdon is a rosé sparkling wine from France’s eastern border, near Savoie, made from the Gamay and Poulsard varieties in the méthode ancestrale. This results in some residual sweetness and fairly low alcohol, making it the perfect late breakfast tipple: vibrant, grapey and delicious.

I have a 1999 Savennières Roches aux Moines lurking in the cellar that needs drinking now, and to temper the rich characters I’m expecting from that wine I’ll find a fresh South African Chenin to crack open too. On the red front, I’m excited to open the Scar of the Sea Syrah from San Luis Obispo in California, alongside a red Crozes-Hermitage for a compelling comparison. As much as I’d enjoy a liquid lunch, there will of course be the entire works on the food front, with a mix of meat and vegetarian options, and I’m banking on these bottles pairing well enough with most dishes. A recently-gifted bottle of Tokaji, a favourite of the mother-in-law, will almost certainly be polished off with the cheese board, and a snifter of 2004 Michel Huard Calvados paired with mince pies will bring the indulgence to a fine close.

Alex Layton, Head of Marketing

This year will be a mix of the classic and off-the-beaten track, with plenty of inspiration taken from these very pages.

To kickstart proceedings will be the supremely decadent Frerejean Frères, Cuvée des Hussards, Premier Cru, Champagne 2012 – a Platinum medal winner from the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards and a Champagne that has developed further luxurious layers and complexity over the past three years.

The first white of the day will be the sensational Gutter&Stars Bacchus 2021 – skilfully produced by Decanter contributor Chris Wilson in an urban winery located in a Cambridge windmill, no less. This 100% Bacchus has real zing and verve alongside the textured and layered palate. Lip-smackingly delicious and definitely something a bit different alongside smoked salmon or a classic prawn cocktail.

Turkey will be the main centrepiece once again this year, but the vinous partner will be a little different from our usual new world Pinot Noir…

In steps the beautifully light, bright and crunchy Riccitelli, Old Vine Bastardo from Patagonia. It has plenty of pure red cherry fruit flavours, a wonderful purity and vibrancy and silky smooth tannins which should match sensationally.

And something a little stronger for the evening rounds of games and quizzes?

I’ve had a real penchant for North American rye whiskey over the past 12 months – and the Whistlepig 15 Year Old is a truly sublime example – showing hallmark peppery notes over hints of honey-roasted nuts and maple. A very special fireside sipper or luxurious base for a Manhattan.

Julie Sheppard, Regional Editor (Spain, Portugal & South America)

I’ll be hosting the family for Christmas this year and to get celebrations started, I’m planning to open a few bottles of English fizz. Hope & Glory The Blend 2017 is a Chardonnay-Pinot Meunier sparkler made by Hattingley Valley with wine writers Susie Barrie MW and Peter Richards MW. I’ve known these two for years and they’re huge fans of English wines. But this bottle does good as well as tasting good, with profits of sales going to the Marine Conservation Society. Bottles are still available to buy if you feel like raising a glass for a charity…

I’ll have a glass of Hope & Glory in hand while I’m in the kitchen… Despite having a small family, everyone has different tastes, so I’ll be cooking nut roast for the vegetarians, roast turkey for the traditionalists and roast beef for my father-in-law. Thankfully everyone agrees that they love roast potatoes…

This means there will be a few different bottles on the table for food pairing. As Regional Editor for Spain, Portugal and South America, I’ve tasted some great wines from all of those regions this year and have chosen a few food-friendly favourites.

First up, a classic choice: Bodegas Pujanza’s Finca Valdepoleo 2018, an elegant single-vineyard Rioja. Alongside Borja Pérez Viticultor Artifice Tinto 2018, a thrilling volcanic wine from Tenerife made from Listán Negro – one of the stars of our Indigenous Spanish Reds Panel Tasting.

After the main event, I’ll be raiding my Port collection for a few special bottles. I’m a particular fan of tawny Ports, as they work well with both cheeses and desserts – they’re great with Christmas pudding and mince pies. A favourite is Sandeman 20 Year Old Tawny. Perfect to sip on Christmas evening!

Ines Salpico, Special Projects Editor

Christmas is usually a time of joyous excess, a happy excuse to have a fun battle of wine discovery. I’m lucky enough to live with a fellow wine geek and have been raised by another, so each year we plunge into a few days of vinous exploration, celebrating above all, the opportunity of spending time together on the same side of the channel (I was born and raised in Portugal, where my parents live).

Unfortunately, my father is battling cancer and therefore unable to indulge. So this year will be about mindful choices – that one bottle that can justify the reluctant medical dispensation for one cheeky glass. We will go for something unpretentious and elegant, almost certainly from either Filipa Pato & William Wouters or Luis Seabra. It’s an interesting if cruel exercise: when each sip is borrowed from a diagnosis, how to make each sip count?

Back in London, we will throw caution and woes to the wind and hold a post-Christmas do with some of our friends and neighbours. The wine lineup will include some personal favourites currently in our stash. Pietradolce, Arianna Occhipinti, Paul Weltner, Bründlmayer, Dermot Sugrue, Niepoort, Raúl Pérez, Gramona, Thymiopoulos and Denizot will be some of the top names on the wine list.

Here’s to the end of a surreal and tough year and to a fantastic 2023!

Sylvia Wu, Decanter China and Regional Editor (Asia, Northern & Eastern Europe)

As always, I will be hosting our usual end-of-the-year gathering of friends at home. This year, thanks to lifted travel restrictions, I have had more opportunities to explore the fascinating wine scene of my ‘Rest of the World’ regions of responsibility, so the expectations are high for me to show something they’ve never tried before.

I have put aside an English fizz, the Brut Rosé 2018 from Balfour Winery as the welcome apéritif to go with snacks such as rice crackers and roast sunflower seeds. The relatively lower acidity level from a ripe vintage combined with the vibrant red berry notes should impress even those who are less keen on high-acid fizz.

For the BBQ, a single-vineyard dry Furmint, such as Royal Tokaji’s Nyulászó 2018 should do the trick; the acacia honey on the nose is instantly charming, while the alluring, textured palate of yellow fruits and the mineral acidity would pair nicely with almost everything on the grill – from roasted abalone to ox tongue, beef galbi and the soy sauce-based Asian dressing.

With a savoury nose and a smooth, plummy palate, the Saperavi Qvevri 2019 by Koncho & Co is my top candidate for the finely-cut lamb and beef slices – to be cooked with vegetables and mushrooms in the simmering hot pot broth. Here’s also my opportunity to show off a video of myself trying to punch down the grape must into a qvevri, the traditional oval-shaped amphora buried underground, during my visit to the fascinating Kakheti region of Georgia.

Finally, as the temperature drops and my guests are ready to head home, it’s time for an old-school PX Sherry, or indeed a simple glass of mulled wine – nothing exquisite but just what we need to warm up this winter.

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The post What the Decanter team is drinking this Christmas appeared first on Decanter.

I remember watching the London fireworks on television last New Year’s Eve. They were spectacular to watch, but where there would usually be throngs of spectators, the streets remained incongruously empty. Social distancing was still in force. It reminded me of my year’s wine drinking up to that point: some dazzling bottles, but often enjoyed without company – or via a screen.

As 2022 began, the Covid-19 pandemic gradually relaxed its grip and many of us hurried back to everyday life. The usual whirlwind of events and tastings that had stalled two years earlier started up once again. And we were as keen to taste winemakers’ wares as they were to pour them. After two years of limitation and loss, many of us were living for the moment.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for Matt Walls’ top wines of 2022

Matt’s top wines of 2022:

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The post Matt Walls: my top wines of 2022 appeared first on Decanter.