Decanter February 2022

We’ve rather immodestly claimed on the cover of this issue that the Wines of the Year is our best tasting ever. But, allowing for a certain amount of brevity in the interest of not boring casual magazine browsers, I very much stand by that statement. While we’ve done many, many great tastings over the years this one was a perfect example of that rare moment when all the stars align and things go pretty damn near perfectly. Our judges were true experts, and their opinions matched to a highly unusual degree for a blind tasting. The suggestions from our panel were wide-ranging and fascinating in both depth and breadth. And the wines were excellent, from established classics proving their pedigree to unusual varieties punching well above their weight. I was…

CHARLES CURTIS MW is a widely published journalist, author and fine-wine advisor based in New York. Formerly head of wine for Christie’s in the US and Asia, he started out as a chef and trained at Le Cordon Bleu Paris ROLFE HANSON is a writer with 30 years’ experience in the wine trade working in various roles across wholesale and retail. He covers overlooked and emerging issues affecting consumers and sellers of wine ANDREW JEFFORD is a contributing editor to Decanter magazine, and a Co-Chair overseeing all judging at the DWWA. His journalism and books have won many awards, and he lives with his family near Montpellier in France MILLIE MILLIKEN is a freelance drinks writer with a particular focus on spirits and the hospitality sector. She was previously deputy editor at UK…

Wine lovers braced for price increases in 2022 There’s been speculation that wine lovers could see prices rise in 2022, due to the higher cost of everything from glass to shipping, and smaller harvests. Winemakers and merchants are no strangers to tight profit margins, but the UK Wine and Spirit Trade Association raised concerns before Christmas that wine prices may rise in 2022 due to higher costs, inflation and supply chain issues. Daniel Lambert, MD of importer Daniel Lambert Wines, said costs were up in several areas, including on glass across Europe and on shipping globally. Smaller 2021 harvests in some major regions could intensify price pressure on certain varietal wines, too. Lambert predicted a ‘global shortage’ of Sauvignon Blanc in 2022, with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay supplies also looking tight. He…

Robert Mondavi Winery has joined the digital trend for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Its new MCMLXVI collection – featuring 1,966 1.5-litre bottles made by French porcelain specialist Bernardaud and containing 2019 vintage, Cabernet Sauvignon-based custom blends from Napa’s To Kalon vineyard – would be sold ‘exclusively through generative art NFTs’, said Mondavi owner Constellation Brands. A criminal trial in Bordeaux related to the theft of about €1m-worth of grand cru wines has led to convictions. The case involved 1,520 bottles of grands crus, including first growths, taken from a merchant’s warehouse in September 2020. Those convicted, pending any appeal, received a range of sentences, including prison, with some or all of the term suspended, according to Sud Ouest newspaper. Police were reported to have recovered some of the wines. Winemakers in…

Wine drinking on a pension As I approach 70 and find that my pension income is under attack from all sides, I cannot justify spending a large amount on a bottle of wine. It’s nice to read about expensive bottles in Decanter, but given that I am now more inclined to search out bottles costing single figures or close, the ‘Weekday wines’ pages are the first I look at every month! Your December issue devoted seven pages to spirits. I’d prefer those to be used to recommend wines within my budget, and I suspect the budget of many others. Otherwise, love reading the mag, even if most of the bottles featured are beyond my means! Derek Reeves FRICS, by email We do give more space to spirits before Christmas, but that issue’s ‘Weekday…

Do growers make wine – or do markets? Growers, of course. Yet markets define the scope of the grower’s creative efforts by what they reward or sanction. When markets are neglectful and unresponsive, there’s little the grower can do but conform. It’s a problem the world over. Here’s an example. The river Moselle/Mosel rises to the wet west of the Vosges mountains, then curves in a long green arc heading north through Epinal, Metz and (along the left bank) Luxembourg’s Grand Duchy, turning east at Wasserbillig into Germany. It’s squeezed between the Eifel and the Hunsrück regions into the Rhine at Koblenz, after a series of extravagant meanders where, as Ausonius wrote 1,650 years ago, ‘The gifts of Bacchus hold our gaze like a procession’ and the slopes ‘Rise tall with…