The Week in Wine

The Week in Wine Episode 47

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2504841/fan_mail/new] Don moves from a delightful Cuba Libre to a pensive sipping Rum, while Olly is sent a 6-bottle case of wines to review from Central Otago. The top story of the last 7 days is that which covers the "Napa needs to bulldoze vineyards" while Olly's very recent Sunday news roundup (covering falling Bordeaux vineyard land prices) is in second. Winemaker Chase Renton's piece about Pinot Noir, mental health and his battles with cancer also caught our readers' attention, as did a surprising top 10 of best-value Burgundies which spanned Chablis, the Maconnais, the Cote de Beaune and even some sparkling Cremants. We also looked at the recent passing of actor and winery owner Sam Neill; the sale of Breaky Bottom; and a recent piece on Clos de Tart has Olly wondering whether wine writers are having a bit of a cop-out when they talk of estates having a 'return to form' if they haven't catalogued a descent in form prior to the takeover? The wine news roundup covers: drastic falls in vineyard land values in Bordeaux (and an aside about the growth of Cognac's vineyard area); the potentially seismic effects of Cognac's overproduction (of wine) being unleashed on the European bulk wine market; Texas vines in the International Space Station; hail slamming Alsace, Beaujolais, Vouvray, the Ardeche as well as parts of Pfalz and northern central Italy; a sneaky wine fraud in Spain; a fire at a cooperage in Navarra; and Ribera del Guadiana drops its 15% upper alcohol limits for wines, citing climate change. ABOUT THE WEEK IN WINE The Week in Wine goes out every Monday morning so that you can turn up to work with great talking points from the latest news across the world of wine. Hosted by wine-searcher editor Don Kavanagh with wine writer Olly Styles – who also produces the podcast – nearly all of the stories we discuss can be found on https://www.wine-searcher.com/magazine [https://www.wine-searcher.com/magazine] You can get in touch with us at editor@wine-searcher.com [editor@wine-searcher.com]

The Week in Wine Episode 46

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2504841/fan_mail/new] Don has a delicious Douro red from Niepoort to discuss before we talk about the top story this week: an impressive selection of best value California wines that cover a range of regions, varieties, styles and labels. We also discuss stories on Brittany's nascent wine industry, how weight-loss drugs (Ozempic, Wegovy, etc.) are affecting wine consumption, appreciation and sales, the South African wine scene and a great couple of podcast interviews with grape DNA guru José Vouillamoz. Olly talks about the recent controversy surrounding the Michelin ratings in Burgundy, with (as Jamie Goode recently pointed out) Arnaud-Lachaux asking to be removed from the ratings after only getting one "grape". Sour grapes? There's also a quick look at the fires in Burgundy (including a Mercedes garage that caught fire over the road from vines in Nuits-Saint-Georges). Heatwaves could mean the Bordeaux harvest is even smaller than last year; a Champagne enologist finds spoilage yeast Brettanomyces in 75% of base wines; Argentina's exports are on the up but Uco Valley winegrowers are struggling to make any money from their endeavors. There's also a deep-dive on a neighborly dispute involving one of the world's greatest private collectors of wine – himself a controversial figure. Michel-Jack Chasseuil has a huge collection worth $50 million of top-end wine (think, DRC, Petrus, Screaming Eagle, Penfolds' Grange, Harlan, etc.) housed in his four cellars in rural France, but he keeps getting in arguments over boundaries and access roads which see the local police regularly called to the tiny, 7-house hamlet of Fonfolet to diffuse the situation. Chasseuil is also controversial in that he refuses to drink his collection, which also includes wine from Hitler's cellar and a bottle taken from the wreck of the Titanic. Finally, there's a story about a home-build company in New Zealand that has named its prospective house designs after local wineries and wine brands. ABOUT THE WEEK IN WINE The Week in Wine goes out every Monday morning so that you can turn up to work with great talking points from the latest news across the world of wine. Hosted by wine-searcher editor Don Kavanagh with wine writer Olly Styles – who also produces the podcast – nearly all of the stories we discuss can be found on https://www.wine-searcher.com/magazine [https://www.wine-searcher.com/magazine] You can get in touch with us at editor@wine-searcher.com [editor@wine-searcher.com]

The Week in Wine Episode 45

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2504841/fan_mail/new] Pinot Blanc seems to be increasing its profile of late, with Don tasting a nice example from Alsace this weekend and Olly getting asked about the grape on the fencing piste! Olly enjoyed a Hawke's Bay Albariño over the weekend. This week, the recent 250th Champagne Roederer birthday bash gets the most eyeballs, while both the best-value Chardonnay and best-value Irish whiskey stories whet the appetites. As does, it must be said, a couple of stories on Italian white varieties. All of which surprisingly outperformed our story on Neymar Jr's foray into the world of wine. We also look at the latest Succession-esque developments in the ongoing Castel drama; there's more wild weather in France (not only heatwaves but hail and wildfires); a Rioja bankruptcy that's "meticulously planned" and a nuns' appeal for a new tractor to tend their vines makes it into the headlines and hearts of the French public. ABOUT THE WEEK IN WINE The Week in Wine goes out every Monday morning so that you can turn up to work with great talking points from the latest news across the world of wine. Hosted by wine-searcher editor Don Kavanagh with wine writer Olly Styles – who also produces the podcast – nearly all of the stories we discuss can be found on https://www.wine-searcher.com/magazine [https://www.wine-searcher.com/magazine] You can get in touch with us at editor@wine-searcher.com [editor@wine-searcher.com]

The Week in Wine Episode 44

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2504841/fan_mail/new] Don drinks an Alsace blend from New Zealand producer Yealands while our end-of-month roundup is dominated by spirits headlines, with value Tequila and high-end Bourbon grabbing much of the attention in June. Bordeaux prices, the news that the worst is still to come for the French wine industry and a surprise show from Chile also add to the month's big stories. There's speculation that the wine world might be getting tired of tariff talk and a brief look at a story on the evolution of style and soil in Sancerre in the light of climate change. We also touch in the ongoing crisis in Cognac and a tidbit from the tiny Pécharmant appellation of South West France which has landed itself in hot water after choosing an events company tied to Christian nationalists and with reports of far-right slogans and outright racism at previous iterations. This week's stories are dominated by news that Brazilian soccer star Neymar Jr. is launching a range of wines in his home country; a couple in a €7 million scam in northern Loire; proposed changes to the Crémant de Loire production parameters; massive Spanish producer Felix Solis posts a bumper year in 2025 and a bottle commemorating Diego Maradona's 'Goal of the Century' is re-released. ABOUT THE WEEK IN WINE The Week in Wine goes out every Monday morning so that you can turn up to work with great talking points from the latest news across the world of wine. Hosted by wine-searcher editor Don Kavanagh with wine writer Olly Styles – who also produces the podcast – nearly all of the stories we discuss can be found on https://www.wine-searcher.com/magazine [https://www.wine-searcher.com/magazine] You can get in touch with us at editor@wine-searcher.com [editor@wine-searcher.com]

The Week in Wine Episode 43

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2504841/fan_mail/new] Don has a Guinness with the rugby and Olly has a light red wine blend from a small producer in New Zealand (Halite). Don asks if winemaking nations correlate to soccer success and we look at some of the great, best-value Tequilas on the market at the moment. The news this week revolves around more trade tariffs although some of our stories span: investment interest in Napa; why UK wines never really seem to take off; and a fascinating look at the "Bermuda Triangle of wine" in southeastern Europe. Other news includes Languedoc winemaker Gérard Bertrand's it-will-only-get-worse outlook for the French wine industry (although there are positives); the first sparkling wine release for Marques de Riscal; climate change threats to viticulture in Chile; Miguel Torres releases his memoirs; and more on what is clearly going to be an early harvest for French winemakers. ABOUT THE WEEK IN WINE The Week in Wine goes out every Monday morning so that you can turn up to work with great talking points from the latest news across the world of wine. Hosted by wine-searcher editor Don Kavanagh with wine writer Olly Styles – who also produces the podcast – nearly all of the stories we discuss can be found on https://www.wine-searcher.com/magazine [https://www.wine-searcher.com/magazine] You can get in touch with us at editor@wine-searcher.com [editor@wine-searcher.com]