Bérénice Lurton inherited Ch. Climens, a Sauternes powerhouse, from her father in 1992. We speak to her about her dry white Bordeaux, Asphodèle.   The fields of Homer’s underworld are strewn with asphodels, whose delicate white petals have long been associated with death.   Unlikely associations, then, for Ch. Climens’ latest wine, a dry white Bordeaux with only two vintages behind it. Asphodèle is born of Bérénice Lurton’s collaboration with Sancerre winemaker Pascal Jolivet. Its association with death, she explains, is no accident.   […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]