What is a Cru Classé – a Classed Growth? Why do parts of Bordeaux have a rigid pecking-order, and others not? In an extract from our Wine School’s introductory book Exploring & Tasting Wine, Martin Hudson MW explains. In 1855 the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce drew up a new classification of the red wines of […]

Following on from last month’s piece explaining the Left Bank, here we publish an excerpt from Exploring & Tasting Wine which introduces the Right Bank. The wine-lands on the Right Bank of the broad Gironde estuary look to Libourne rather than Bordeaux as their capital, and have Merlot rather than Cabernet Sauvignon as their chief […]

In an extract from our Wine School’s introductory book, Exploring & Tasting Wine, we explain why Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes on Bordeaux’s Left Bank, producing some of the world’s finest and most long-lived wines. Cabernet Sauvignon rose to international wine stardom thanks to an almost perfect CV. Its referees include the Bordeaux châteaux everyone on the […]

As 25th December approaches, Barbara Drew, a member of our expert Wine School team, offers some wise words on how to keep Christmas chaos at bay – and the wine flowing. The table piled high with a hefty bird, plus trimmings; a constant battle to avoid flaming more than the Christmas pud as paper hats […]