Last week I nipped up north to Alsace from Barolo to touch base with domaines Ostertag, Weinbach, Zind-Humbrecht, Josmeyer, Rolly-Gassmann, Mittnacht, Trimbach, Schlumberger, Hugel and Deiss as I prepared the ground for Berrys’ September offer. Two issues: terroir, and in particular ‘Crus’, along with the sometimes sticky point of how to communicate the wine’s style […]

Surprise, surprise it’s not only Bordeaux (Burgundy and Barolo) that have performed in 2009. A 4,000 kilometre tour (‘in macchina’) to 26 producers in three different countries convinced me that there are some real jewels to be snapped up when we offer the (Austrian and German) wines to our customers in August; notably those from Prager, Schloss Gobelsburg, […]

Olivier Humbrecht MW, of Domaine Zind Humbrecht in Alsace, converted to biodynamic farming in 1997 after carrying out experiments with the soils in his vineyard.  In this interview he talks about how his quest for minerality in wine has lead him down the path to biodynamics. Wine Matters: What is minerality in wine? Olivier Humbrecht MW: […]