Producer-Profiles
If you are planning a wine tour later on to South Africa, the best way to prepare is to drink South African wines. We have many favourites. Read below about four excellent producers we sometimes (or regularly) visit on our tours to South Africa. Glenwood, Franschhoek Stark-Condé, Stellenbosch Post House, Stellenbosch The Ahrens Family, Paarl […]
“I want to give everything, I only live once and I want to give everything I have,” says Marco Parusso from the eponymous wine estate in Monforte d´Alba in Barolo. You can feel that in the wines. There’s a lot of everything. Fruit. Colour. Tannins. “Tannins are the hallmark of Barolo and they should be […]
Hawke’s Bay in New Zealand was famous for its red wines long before Central Otago. Already in 1851, the country’s oldest still existing winery was founded here, Mission Estate. Another prominent pioneer in Hawke’s Bay, founded in early 1900, is Church Road, now owned by French Pernod Ricard. Having been overrun by Central Otago as […]
“Just don’t make the same wines as your grandfather did, my friends said when I told them I would start making my own wines,” says Luca Baccarelli of the Roccafiore winery in Umbria, laughing. His grandfather’s wines were rustic, blunt and heavy. Just the opposite of what Luca makes today. “In Umbria, we have always […]
After having worked for 16 years in France, winemaker Jenny Dobson returned to New Zealand in 1996. Her home country was at the time slowly changing from being only a country of sheep and rugby to being also a country of wine. The region she chose to settle in was Hawke’s Bay on New Zealand’s […]
Casa Marin is the wine producer who showed the world that you can make quality wines just a few kilometres from the cold Pacific Ocean in Chile. Last year, the Lo Abarca area of the San Antonio Valley even obtained its very own designation of origin. We have visited Casa Marin once a year since […]
“It was the vintage of 1990 that made the world discover Brunello di Montalcino,” says Francesco Marone Cinzano. We meet at the family’s beautiful estate one evening in February. The family has invited a handful of journalists from all over the world to a vertical tasting of Brunello di Montalcino from 2015 back to 1980. […]
Whatever reason you might have to go visit Moldova, you wouldn’t want to miss the cellars of Cricova and Milestii Mici. These cellars, often called caves actually, are amazing places, whole underground cities. They are an attraction in themselves that you don’t have to be a wine lover to appreciate. Cricova and Milestii Mici are […]
“With knowledge and modern technology you can get an elephant to dance ballet”. The evening’s tasting offered a lot of new insights, nuances and wonderful metaphors. Among other things, the link between bananas and wine. A trip from two to 30 hectares over five generations in Monforte d’Alba. The last two generations sat at our […]
One of the largest collections of corkscrews in the world can be found at a must-visit winery in northern Greece. At the Gerovassiliou winery of course! During my journeys of discovering wineries and wines, I was very excited to visit the Gerovassiliou winery. It is very easy to reach via a 20-minute drive from the […]
A vertical tasting from 1998 to 2017 The headline might perhaps raise a few hackles. At the top of the pyramid there is, or at least should be, indisputably the most nuances, opulence and structure, in the most expensive bottle. One can, of course, not entirely deny this although I guess many of us might […]
The historic estate Tasca d ‘Almerita’s new project at Etna, Tenuta Tascante (read it backwards), is a tribute to finesse and elegance. This new project is on the slopes of Etna. Come with us and discover one of Sicily’s most active wine producers and their new project on the Sicilian volcano. “The challenge is to […]
The people’s choice and the rewards for the patient The glasses are close to each other. Not literally in their arrangement on the table, but in style, appearance, viscosity and overall impression. The lowest level is not unexpectedly high, but the fine wines from the slopes north of Chablis have not yet been had the […]
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Moldova gained independence. In 1991 the Republic of Moldova was founded. Since then, many new wineries have emerged. Two of the bigger ones of particular interest are Château Vartely and Asconi. Read all our articles in our series on Moldovan wine here: Moldova, an exciting “new” wine country […]
A vineyard visit in Champagne “Down here in Aube, we used to be called ‘the bad boys of Champagne’” says Bertrand Gautherot, winemaker and owner of Vouette & Sorbée. “But not anymore,” he adds, smiling broadly. Actually, there is no time for either tasting or visits, work in the vineyards must be prioritized, said Bertrand […]
Moldova, the small wine country squeezed in between Romania and Ukraine, are making big efforts to make their wines more well known. Having been hampered in its dealings with the outside world during the Soviet years, it is now making up for lost time. Two of the biggest estates in the country, Purcari and Castel […]
The lord of the chateau who plays music for his wines A chateau in the Jura? Can there really be such a thing in this rural area with down-to-earth growers? Yes, there is at least one that fulfils all the desirable criteria for being called chateau. Dating back to the 16th century, a history of […]
Club Trésor du Champagne is an association of independent growers in Champagne that has gained a reputation for high quality champagne. The Special Club champagnes, made by each member at vintage years and bottled in a specific bottle, are now very sought after by champagne lovers all over the world. If you are curious about […]
When the cork screw slowly works its way down, you probably have quite a good idea of what is in the bottle. Probably one of your favourite wines from a trusted producer, or at times, a recommendation from a wine friend. But how often do you totally leave your comfort zone? Sybille and her husband, […]
Each wine region has its own character. The same thing goes for sparkling wines. Franciacorta is considered by many to be one of the best bubbly wines from Italy. The grape composition in Franciacorta means that it is often compared to champagne, not seldom to Franciacorta’s advantage. One of the many exciting producers there is […]
In recent years, Ruffino has invested heavily in extensive environmental work that includes both the production process and new organically grown vineyards. As part of this, they are now launching a number of organically certified wines. Ruffino Prosecco Treviso and Ruffino Pinot Grigio delle Venezie are currently available on the Swedish market. In mid-June, Ruffino […]
Some grapes are easier to recognize than others. Sauvignon Blanc is easy but not the easiest. That distinction goes to Muscat and Gewürztraminer. But still, in a blind tasting you have a fair chance of identifying the Sauvignon Blanc. However, Sauvignon Blanc, like most other grapes, is influenced by their environment, be it the soil, […]
Seghesio is a wine producer in northern California, in Healdsburg. The vineyard was established in 1895 by Italian immigrants. The first grapes they planted were zinfandel. It is this grape that has become Seghesio’s signature. In the beginning they did not make wine themselves but sold grapes to other winemakers in California. This was changed […]
Monteraponi and Montevertine celebrates with festive elegance Every year, when the two wine estates Montevertine and Monteraponi in Radda in Chianti present their new vintages, it is a celebration. A Sangiovese celebration. For if there’s something they’re good at, Martino Manetti and Michele Braganti with their other halves Liviana Midollini and Alessandra Deiana, it is […]
Very literally so this year, when Anselmo Mendes held a tasting on our much-anticipated spring equinox. Given the feel of Anselmo Mendes’ wines, it was a particularly suitable combination. Fortunately, it was a sunny day but it was a northerly wind that tugged on our coats when we took shelter in Adam & Albin’s Stockholm […]
“The wine world’s outsider, literally” Imagine starting a journey in Jerez down in the sherry triangle and finishing it up among the riesling vineyards in Piesport, Germany. You will then have travelled almost two thousand three hundred kilometres and covered most of Europe’s vineyards. That’s what you might have thought anyway. If you continue the […]
Starting a brand new champagne house is probably not easy. The process to make champagne is very outdrawn, with substantial capital costs, and there’s a fierce competition with high-budget marketing. But the brothers Guillaume, Rodolphe and Richard Frerejean took the challenge. In 2005 they founded the house Champagne Frerejean Frères and they have managed to […]
“Mosel is perfect for riesling, why should I grow something else?” Sybille Kuntz is the latest generation in a long line of wine growers in the Mosel Valley. After taking over her family’s vineyard more than 30 years ago, quality has moved up to a different dimension. Unlike many others in Germany, she makes a […]
Amarone della Valpolicella is the dry version of the sweet Recioto della Valpolicella. Both are made in the Veneto region in north east Italy, not far from the wonderful city of Verona. Grapes for both recioto and amarone are dried after harvest to concentrate aromas and sugar content of the grapes. Despite the fact that […]
Prosecco is producing more and more bottles. This year they will pass 500 million. People can’t seem to get enough. The yields for the simplest Proseccos are sky high, making the resulting wine sometimes a bit thin and tasteless. What can you expect with excessive yields?But there are different proseccos. There are excellent proseccos, if […]
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