Month: April, 2021

Bordeaux 2020 En Primeur: tasting the vintage

This year, we’re tasting 2020 En Primeur in Basingstoke rather than Bordeaux. With the samples freshly arrived from the châteaux, discover how the team approached the vintage and hear Bordeaux Buyer Max Lalondrelle’s first impressions. Fresh from the tasting: Bordeaux 2020 En Primeur The build-up to tasting Bordeaux En Primeur is always exciting. Usually, the […]

Julieann Fernandez on Tobermory 23

Julieann Fernandez is Master Distiller at Tobermory and the mastermind behind Tobermory 23. We speak to her about Tobermory’s creative spirit and breaking down barriers in the whisky industry.  Can you tell us the background story of Tobermory?   Tobermory’s history dates back to 1798. It’s the only distillery on the Isle of Mull, as well as one of the oldest commercial whisky […]

Domaine de l’A: an “estate without limits”

When he’s not advising Bordeaux’s biggest names, winemaking consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt can be found tending Domaine de l’A, his 12-hectare home estate in Castillon.    In 1999, Stéphane Derenoncourt was on the hunt for a vineyard of his own. “My dream was to buy a first growth in St Emilion,” he recalls. “But the bankers […]

France and the frosts

With temperatures plummeting across France, the vignerons have been fighting back against the frost. While it’s too early to tell how the vintage will be impacted, Barbara Drew MW talks us through this seasonal peril. No doubt you have seen some of the evocative images coming out of France in the past week; dark vineyards […]