California wines make more sense once you stop treating sunshine as the entire explanation. A warm inland site can ripen Cabernet Sauvignon genero
Continue ReadingPortuguese Wines Explained: Vinho Verde, Douro, Dão, Alentejo, and Other Regions
Portuguese wines reward a little attention to geography before the grape names arrive. Cross the mountains inland from the damp Atlantic north-wes
Continue ReadingSpanish Wine Regions Explained: Priorat, Rueda, Jumilla, and Beyond
Spanish wine regions become easier to remember when you give each one a job. Priorat shows how steep, dry terrain can shape a concentrated red and
Continue ReadingNorthern Spanish Wines Explained: Rioja, Ribera del Duero, and Rías Baixas
Northern Spanish wines offer a rather effective geography lesson in three glasses. Rioja can combine ripe red fruit with the savoury complexity of
Continue ReadingCentral and Southern Italian Wines Explained: Campania, Sicily, Puglia, and More
Central and southern Italian wines are a good place to abandon the idea that travelling south simply makes wine heavier. Yes, there are generous r
Continue ReadingTuscan Wines Explained: Chianti, Brunello, Bolgheri, and Sangiovese
Tuscan wines have a very recognisable leading character in Sangiovese, but the cast is bigger than one grape. A bright, cherry-scented Chianti, a
Continue ReadingPiedmont Wines Explained: Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera, and Gavi
Piedmont wines make a useful corrective to the idea that a darker red must be a more powerful red. Nebbiolo can look surprisingly pale while deliv
Continue ReadingNorthern Italian Wines Explained: Alto Adige, Friuli, Veneto, and Their Grapes
Northern Italy can turn Pinot Grigio into a fresh, straightforward white or a richer, more textured wine. Around Verona, a family of red grapes ca
Continue ReadingGreek Wines Explained: Santorini, Naoussa, Nemea, and Indigenous Grapes
Three Greek wines can challenge three familiar shortcuts. A white from a hot island can have startling acidity. A relatively pale red can contain
Continue ReadingHungarian Wines Explained: Tokaj, Furmint, and Noble Rot
Tokaj offers a useful lesson in why “sweet” isn't a complete wine description. A late-harvest white, an Aszú and a tiny serving of Eszencia m
Continue Reading
