France’s wine appellations: Then and now Appellations celebrate their 90th birthday next month. The first six of what (using EU nomenclature) we now refer to as appellations d’origine protegée or APs came into being on 15 May 1936. A torrent followed by 1938, including most Bordeaux and Burgundy appellations. This was a decade of soggy […]
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Last week, at Acker’s annual La Paulée Auction, a world record was smashed. A single 750mL bottle of 1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti sold for $812,500—nearly doubling the previous record. Across the auction, over $25 million in wine was sold that day. To the vast majority of wine drinkers, that number is shocking. Who would—or […]
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Celebrities and wine: Take our quiz below Many of us dream of owning a vineyard, or pouring from a bottle with our own name on the label! So it’s little surprise that the rich and famous are drawn to winemaking. From Hollywood A-listers buying up Napa estates to pop stars launching supermarket bestsellers, the world […]
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It starts innocently enough. A few bottles from a winery visit, a case order on clearance, maybe a small wine fridge to accommodate your burgeoning wine hobby. But then, like rabbits in the night, things start to get out of hand. You start stashing nice bottles for hypothetical future milestones. You discover that Champagne bottles […]
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Like most writers I am a bit obsessive. We all pick our particular poisons, but in order to write persuasively one must be willing and able to do some deep dives. Writing on wine for Substack has become obsessive for me (and I suspect for other Substack writers) for several reasons. One reason is the […]
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Interview with Daniel Boulud What’s on your wine rack at the moment? Château Biac – I love their wine. My restaurants have a tendency to be French-focused, so I’m white Burgundy, red Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhône. I’m a boring guy! But then I love Mâconnais and I love Beaujolais because I’m from Lyon. Fleurie, Chiroubles, Saint-Amour, […]
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Deborah Parker Wong, MSc, DipWSET, journalist, educator, researcher, Global Wine Editor for SOMM Journal and contributor to The Tasting Panel. Roby Behrens, Lucid Sound and Pictures The wine business has spent the last few years wondering aloud about Gen Z, often in anxious terms. Younger adults are drinking differently, drinking less often or approaching alcohol […]
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Jopus Grevelink recalls a guest timidly asking if he’d still pour her a glass of Sancerre if she asked for it over ice. “I told her that’s exactly how my mom drinks her Sancerre, and that I love my mom,” says the senior beverage manager for José Andrés Group at The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad. […]
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Bernardus was a big winner at the annual Monterey Wine Competition. (Photo: Laura Ness) March 24, 2026 – Now in its 33rd year, the Monterey Wine Competition carries on, increasingly supported by entries from Paso Robles, as that region grows. But, every year, it draws entries from Oregon, the Central Valley, Napa and elsewhere in […]
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What’s the relationship between vineyard and forest? Does one need the other? I’m not thinking of plant communities and root-system interactions – but chainsaws biting 100-year-old trunks to create tuns, barriques, staves and chips. Where are we with wine and oak? Raw new wine can be exciting (hence the heurige or ‘this year’ traditions of […]
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