This was a chance to taste some interesting examples of Bonarda and Cabernet Franc from Argentina, with winemakers Sebastian Zuccardi, Matias Riccitelli and Edgardo de Popolo. Most Bonarda comes from…
The ill-health of wine writing
It’s not been a great year for wine writing. Several fellow writers have lost their newspaper columns and regular gigs. It has been particularly tough for those who rely solely…
Pedogenic lime in arid vineyard soils – how does it affect the flavour of wine?
When it comes to vineyard soils, limestone is all the rage. But there’s one source of limestone in vineyard soils that isn’t much talked about. It’s the slow formation of…
A quick trip to Argentina, with Doña Paula
So we flew. From Santiago, over the Andes, to Mendoza. The two cities are quite close geographically, but very different. Mendoza, in the far east of Argentina, is mostly desert….
Tasting some interesting white wines from Argentina
This was a great chance to taste some diverse white wines from Argentina with three interesting Argentine wine people. There’s Edgardo del Popolo, who works for Susana Balbo and his…
Chile, day 3, Viña Errázuriz’s Panquehue winery with Francisco Baettig
The final visit of the first leg of this trip was at Viña Errázuriz’s home base, the winery in Panquehue, Aconcagua Valley, where their Max I vineyard is located. This…
Chile day 3, Viñedo Chadwick
Viñedo Chadwick is in the Alto Maipo region of Chile, near Santiago. I visited back in 2008, and there’s an extensive report here. It was originally a family home. ‘It…
Chile, day 2 (continued): Seña
Seña was conceived as a joint venture between Robert Mondavi and Eduardo Chadwick back in 1995. At the time it had no home, but instead was a barrel selection from…
Chile day 2, Errazuriz’s Aconcagua Costa property
Day two of the Chile trip was spent in the Aconcagua, with Errazuriz. We began at the relatively new 230 hectare (of planted vines) Aconcagua Costa property, just 12 km…