Decanter July 2022

SUSY ATKINS is a widely published and awarded wine writer and presenter, wine editor of Delicious magazine and weekly drinks columnist for The Telegraph online, as well as author of 11 books on wine and drinks. susyatkins.co.uk JONATHAN CRISTALDI is a California-based writer on wine, spirits and beer. He is editor-atlarge for both The Somm Journal and The Tasting Panel magazine, also contributing to various other titles including Food & Wine ALDO FIORDELLI is a widely published journalist, wine writer and author, and a DWWA judge. He qualified as a sommelier in 2003, and in March 2022 received a special award from Tuscany’s Consorzio Cortona Vini ELIZABETH GABAY MW is a specialist in rosé and the wines of southern France. Author of Rosé, Understanding the Pink Wine Revolution (Infinite Ideas,…

Bordeaux 2021: early release prices well received Merchantshave been expecting a smaller Bordeaux en primeur campaign this year, following a challenging 2021 vintage, but a lot may depend on release prices. More than 71% of international merchants surveyed by Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, anticipated lower demand for 2021 en primeur wines versus the 2020 vintage, released last year. Yet barrel sample tastings in April showed several châteaux have still made very good wines, despite myriad weatherrelated issues during the growing season. (Read our coverage of the tastings on decanter.com/premium and in the next issue.) Alongside scores and tasting notes, all eyes will be on release prices in a campaign that, at the time of writing, was expected to begin in earnest in the second half of…

World consumption of wine crept up by 0.7% last year to 236 million hectolitres (23.6bn litres), the first rise in four years, showed estimates from the OIV (International Organisation of Vine & Wine). The US drinks the most wine overall, while Portugal tops the list on a litres per person basis. Yet OIV director general Pau Roca warned that inflation and supply chain bottlenecks were increasing the wine trade’s costs. ‘The price of containers has multiplied by a factor of 20,’ he said. Charles Heidsieck has said it is sending some of its Champagnes to the US by sailing boat to mark 200 years since the birth of its namesake founder on 17 June. Charles-Camille Heidsieck sailed across the Atlantic in 1852 to help convert Americans to Champagne, earning the…

LETTER OF THE MONTH Note perfect Chris Losh’s recent article on crafting the perfect tasting note (June 2022 issue) got me thinking about my first ever lesson in wine, where I was told: ‘Wine is subjective, like music or art. I can’t tell you what you like, you can’t tell me what I like, but a structure can help us to recognise common faults.’ Tasting notes in my opinion have to wear a number of hats, be factual, enthusiastic, inviting, educational and, most importantly for me, not pretentious – especially as we look to invite the next generation of wine drinkers to the party. With that in mind I think there is room for both a structured approach and subjectivity, and they can be great bedfellows in creating the perfect…

L astmonth in this column, I celebrated the pleasures of Pinot. As I write this, it’s hard to celebrate anything. The dark days began when I learned from a visiting Canadian friend about the death of one of the kindest, most gentle and most skilful Pinot winemakers I’ve known, Paul Pender of Tawse Winery. He died in a senseless and tragic act of violence on the evening of 3 February, outside his Lake Erie cottage. A stranger, subsequently charged with his murder, had (it seems) knocked on his door, asking for help. Paul’s sudden, untimely loss has left his family, and the broader Canadian wine community, distraught. Just under three weeks later, Russia invaded Ukraine. By early March, Chernobyl was under attack, the agony of Mariupol in the south had…

Palepink Provence rosés seem to be everywhere, but 20 years ago the majority of rosés on sale were relatively dark and full-bodied, and many of them lacked freshness and finesse. The evolution of rosé led to the rise of lighter, more elegant wines, along with the idea that the paler the rosé, the better the wine. True or not, this has had the effect of reducing the popularity of darker rosés. Producers of these styles often have a long history of fuller-bodied rosés, and are today often fighting against the tide of international trends. The fightback has resulted in renewed pride in these historic styles and brought fresher, more modern interpretations of these wines, which are worth looking out for, despite the pressure for ‘paler is better’. Most darker rosés…