The Week in Wine

Send us Fan Mail Don waxes lyrical about the beauties of Chenin Blanc while Olly has a whiskey, distilled in Scotland and aged in Burgundy in Sherry barrels. Despite the 2024 Burgundy harvest report, this is a generally bad news week where we ask if we're maybe halfway there yet? Bad news for California and the US wine trade in particular. People are still asking if wine is for them while a s...

Send us Fan Mail Don drinks an Elijah Craig Rye while Olly celebrates a birthday with grower Champagne. The suicide in Bordeaux and Silicon Valley Bank's bleak prognosis top the most-read wine news stories in what has been a relatively bleak week. Only Oregon Chardonnay looks to buck the trend, while both Don and Olly ask when, if ever, the time will come that Burgundy comparisons are not thr...

Send us Fan Mail To kick off 2026, Don rediscovers his love of Mosel Riesling and Olly loves a California Chardonnay that's not your regular California Chardonnay. Meanwhile, a look over the top stories of the festive season proves that the big-name wines aren't always what people want and that Irish whiskey is getting a lot of attention lately. Other big stories include Napa dropping pr...

Send us Fan Mail Don returns to an old favourite – oaked Chardonnay; the multi-faceted beauty of Albariño; and varietal labeling – are we past that stage yet? This week's big stories spanned an interview with Napa winemaking power couple Philippe and Cherie Melka as well as last week's wine news roundup headed by the news of the so-called "Grand Cru Gang" trial. Don has high ho...

Send us Fan Mail Don drinks Rioja Gran Reserva and gin while Olly enjoys skin-fermented Semillion from Sonoma. We look over a stunning run of vintages in Barolo and talk about wine being aged (and made) in space. Don is slightly unimpressed with the ice and whiskey debate and wonders if writers shouldn't take more of a position on their subjects. We talk about the "Grand Cru Gang" t...

Send us Fan Mail Old (wine) favourites (Australian Shiraz joins California Chardonnay in Don's glass this weekend); why on earth should you/you should drink non-alcoholic beer; chucking it all in to make wine; US spirits hit doldrums overseas (is the current administration to blame?); the best Sauvignon Blancs of 2025 – and the small country with a surprising six entries in the top ten (and n...

Send us Fan Mail Don rediscovers an old friend; unmemorable wines; has wine reached rock-bottom; Elon Musk, trillionaires, and would the wine world be better with a more affluent middle class (is the wine market a reflection of a shrinking middle class?). Are South African wines overlooked? Is the wine industry itself the main consumer of its own news (and not the wine consumer)? Cognac producer b...

Send us Fan Mail Natural wine summed up by Konstantin Baum MW; is Natural Wine now just a facet of wine?; people really love Rum; the beauty of a Dark and Stormy cocktail; the Supreme Court's ongoing look at Trump's wine tariffs; is the concept of Old Vines overrated for the consumer?; what does sustainable mean?; Copper sprays banned in France, the impact on Organic Viticulture in the c...

Send us Fan Mail Spring and frosts in the vineyard; Burgundy's 2025 vintage hints quality without quantity; Is everyone a secret Zinfandel lover?; the wider beauty and appeal of southern Italian red varieties; the utilitarian Sangiovese and whether or not Chianti Riserva stacks up against Chianti Classico; tasting 100 year-old Tuscan wine and vino-pomorphism – how often are wines described as...

Send us Fan Mail Martinborough Pinot Noir; the impact of Australian winemakers on New Zealand wine; Pinot Blanc vs. Pinot Gris; Calmére sale in Napa, Napa vineyard prices and the worrying drop in interest at recent California charity wine auction; Hungary's vineyards under threat from Flavescence Doré and the lack of coverage in wine news; non-alcoholic Sauternes; thieves don't steal win...

Send us Fan Mail Remembering Nicolas Potel and the people behind the wine we drink; the best Bourbons of 2025; the US government shutdown and its effect on wines, wine labels and stopping new wine from hitting the shelves; irate feedback from readers and the issues around publishing reader comments, defamation and libel; cannabis smuggled in barrels discovered in Bordeaux; intern dies at Chapoutie...