The 1990s have been good to the Côte Chalonnaise, with more and more producers going all out to shake off accusations of rusticity. JAMES LAWTHER MW reports on what the increasingly characterful Côte has to offer consumers right now.
No longer the backwater it once was, JAMES LAWTHER MW hopes Margaret River won't lose sight of its quality roots
Right Bank popularity has pushed prices up in neighbouring appellations, so investors have turned their beady eyes to Côtes de Castillon. JAMES LAWTHER MW reports
Experimentation in winemaking is not only commonplace in Bordeaux, it is also increasingly accepted. JAMES LAWTHER MW reports
Without a doubt, the style of wines from Bordeaux is evolving. JAMES LAWTHER MW asks if winemakers are pandering to American tastes
After years of complacency, JAMES LAWTHER finds that an interjection of youth and enthusiasm has given Margaux the shot in the arm it needed.
Pinot Noir may have found a home in Martinborough and South Island, but what about Bordeaux varietals? JAMES LAWTHER MW explains that Hawke's Bay is the next great site for Merlot-based blends, and names those on the premium track.
Cheval Blanc's position as a premier grand cru classé is assured thanks in no small part to Cabernet Franc and unique terroir, finds JAMES LAWTHER MW
Château Montrose is back to its big-boned best. JAMES LAWTHER MW examines the credentials of the famed Saint-Estèphe second growth
The growers of Navarra are moving rapidly into the territory
Traditional, aristocratic, reserved, Château Calon-Ségur long languished in the shadows, but now its fortunes are changing. James Lawther MW examines the upwardly mobile third growth One of the oldest properties in the Médoc and the most northerly of the crus classés, Château Calon-Ségur is anything but a 'fashionable' estate. With its twin-towered aristocratic château, French gardens and conservatively discreet ownership, 'traditional' is more the word that comes to mind. The wines, too, classic, long-lived and displaying all the vagaries of vintage, have generally been dubbed with the same time-honoured epithet. This, though, could all be set to change for, behind the scenes, the wines and the estate are being given the sort of judicious face-lift that will set them up for the modern era.
JAMES LAWTHER MW visits the vineyards of Minervois in France's Deep South.
Or do they? JAMES LAWTHER MW meets the winemakers continuing the Guigal-led revival of Côte-Rôtie and discusses the relative merits of the appellation's various vineyard sites.
The public ignores them, but the wines of Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac are the best value in Bordeaux. Snap them up now, says JAMES LAWTHER MW.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines are renowned for their quality and breadth of styles, but as
In the right hands, Chenin Blanc can be transformed from a basic Loire white into a rich, characterful wine. JAMES LAWTHER MW meets the alchemists of Vouvray and Montlouis.
