Decanter April 2020

Vineyards at severe risk, study warns More than half of the world’s vineyards could cease to be viable if the planet warms by 2°C – the upper limit set by the Paris Agreement climate accord – according to a new study. That figure rises to 85% if global warming hits 4°C, said the study, which was published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers used existing data on warming scenarios and vine-growth behaviour to build models exploring how 11 grape varieties would perform in different regions. It is one of the starkest warnings published so far regarding the impact of climate change on vineyards, but its authors said there is still time to adapt. Switching grape varieties could reduce losses by more than half in some areas, they said. However,…

Michelin France 2020 demoted France’s longest-standing three-star restaurant, Auberge du Pont de Collonges near Lyon, to two stars. It had held three stars since 1965 and was run by chef Paul Bocuse until his death in 2018. Inspectors gave a third star to three new contenders, including Kei Kobayashi in Paris, now the first Japanese chef in France with three stars. Provence producer Château Miraval, co-owned by Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Famille Perrin, is set to launch a rosé Champagne in partnership with Pierre Péters Champagne, ‘effectively creating a new Champagne house’, according to winemaker Rodolphe Péters. The project aims to combine Miraval’s expertise of saignée-method rosé winemaking with Pierre Péters’ blending knowledge. Bordeaux cooperage Surtep has launched barrels ‘toasted’ with a patented heating system using jade stones instead…

Looking outwards I loved your ‘Passion for Pinot’ theme (February 2020 issue) as I love to try Pinot Noir wines from around the world, but it is frustrating as so many are not available in Pinot-besotted Oregon. Last year I attended the International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon for the first time in 17 years (because Steven Spurrier was keynote speaker) and especially loved the German Pinot Noirs, and the Côte Chalonnaise wines Steven poured at his seminar, but it is difficult to find these in Oregon. Maybe if they relaxed shipping rules, things would improve, but this seems unlikely. As a retired wine retailer, I know that here it is difficult to sell Pinot Noirs from outside Oregon, other than to well-heeled Burgundy lovers – that may change with the crazy…

Having read Decanter for over 15 years, I finally gave in to my niggling desire to venture into winemaking. Regretfully this is not a story of cashing in stock in a wildly successful tech start-up to buy a vineyard in Napa; rather a more rudimentary Blue Peter version of the above. In earnest though, I managed to buy some imported Montepulciano grapes from Italy. Great pleasure was taken in sourcing a crusher and press and I followed a scientific approach. There was commercial yeast, sulphur and malolactic bacteria, as well as a pH meter. The grapes fermented in a plastic barrel in my sitting room (temperature controlled by the underfloor heating) and my kids punched down the cap several times a day during fermentation. The upshot? The goldfish died from what I can…

The bushfires affecting Australia as I write this column, shortly after the turn of the year, are deeply traumatic: 5.9 million hectares burnt and counting. The vineyard region most grievously affected so far is the one I know – and love – best: the Adelaide Hills. About one third of the 2020 crop has been lost and some 1,100ha burned, including vineyards and wineries I remember well from the 15 months my family and I spent living there between 2009 and 2010: those of Geoff Weaver, James Tilbrook, the Henschke vineyards at Lenswood, Petaluma and Bird in Hand. We register the facts – but can we actually imagine how these losses must feel? Creating a vineyard and a winery business for a small-scale, ex-Oddbins émigré like James Tilbrook is much more…

My favourite beverage is, I think, an important part of contemporary culture, but what does that mean? As the third decade of the 21st century begins, I find myself reflecting upon the cultural values that lurk behind the label, not just the quality of the liquid in my glass. No wine exists in a vacuum. Each one is a microcosm of society: people, communities, agriculture, ideas, politics. Things we take for granted – wine’s future, its connection to a particular place, its diversity, availability and more – seem to be under threat in 2020. If we want wine to survive and make the world a better place, we need to ask hard questions and put our money where our values lie. That concept is central to the recent rise of ethical consumerism.…