Eric Texier is a leading light in the Northern Rhône, with his traditional (whisper it: natural) winemaking techniques delivering wines which, he believes, are the equal of anything Burgundy’s Grands Crus can offer. One might think that nuclear physics to natural winemaking isn’t a likely career path, but that is exactly the route that Eric […]

In the midst of RAW – the natural wine fair – Sophie Thorpe caught up with Wendy Paillé, Le Soula’s new winemaker, talking about what it means to be “natural” and what’s next on the property’s agenda. “You can’t make wine naturally,” Wendy Paillé says frankly. A controversial statement, some might say, when you’re exhibiting […]

After three days, countless seminars and much wine tasting, Sophie Thorpe is back in the office and recovering from the whirlwind of Olympia. Here she ponders a handful of the ideas in discussion at the London Wine Fair 2016. Are the Old and New Worlds over? Caroline Gilbey MW suggested in her Romanian masterclass that […]

Playing devil’s advocate, Chris Lamb responds to yesterday’s article, arguing that the use of sulphur is not only dangerous, but that it conceals a wine’s true identity. Sulphur dioxide: a toxic colourless gas, pungent, corrosive, allergen, irritating, suffocating, leads to acid rain, and was allegedly used by Napoleon’s forces for gas chambers in 19th century […]