Category: News

Bernard magrez, one of the most active names in Bordeaux, continues buying wine chateaux. He has just acquired Chateau Latrezotte in Barsac (Sauternes) with an 8 hectare vineyard primarily planted with semillon.

One more new English drinks magazine has just been borne. It’s about wine but also about spirits and fine beers, with a distinct “lifestyle” flavour, judging from the first issue. More info here: www.fineexpressions.co.uk

We’ve found one more place to store your wines in Paris, in case you do not have wine cellar space of your own: Cave Lovin’ on 40, rue Saint Honoré. There’s just one catch: you

Mouton-Rothschild, Margaux and Haut-Brion have announced the prices for the 2004 primeurs. The price (the same for all three) is 80 euro, down 33% from last year but still substantially higher than the 60 euro

No big changes, but the decision by the INAO on May 28 means that the following AOC are defined “Armagnac”, “Bas Armagnac”, “Armagnac-Ténarèze”, “Haut Armagnac” and now also ”Blanche Armagnac”. Permitted grape varieties for Armagnac

Contrary to the rest of France, Alsace wines are generally sold with the grape variety indicated on the label, and on Grand Cru wines it is even compulsory. INAO has now decided that it will

As we have mentioned previously, the process has been started to revise the classification in Graves. We recently had the occasion to talk to the presidents of the “syndicates” (growers’ associations) of Graves and of

Graves, just south of the city of Bordeaux, has three appellations: AC Graves, AC Graves Supérieures and AC Pessac-Léognan. Pessac-Léognan was part of AC Graves until 1987 when it became a separate AC. The surface

Just off Place Carnot this small restaurant hides in a passage way. Very cosy and unpretentious, the food is not complicated but very well done (and easy on your budget). It is quite popular so

Just a stone’s throw from Beaune’s biggest tourist site, the magnificent Hotel Dieu, you find Le Gourmandin on the main square, Place Carnot. Classic French food with regional specialities. Quite elegant and ambitious, without being

After the renovation the Place du Marché Saint Honoré has become full of restaurants. At this one, as you can guess, they use tomatoes in virtually everything, and they do it very well. Excellent cooking

Fabien Coche has in total 10 hectares that includes patches in several appellations, e.g. Meursault and Pommard. He started working with his father in 1991 and makes the wine himself since 1998. Wonderful, smooth, full-bodied

Robert Parker, the world’s biggest wine guru, is the subject of a new unauthorised biography. The book is called “The Emperor of Wine: The Rise of Robert M Parker Jr and the Reign of American

The EU farm commissioner, the Dane Mariann Fischer Boel, has said in an interview in the Financial times that she wants to cut the subsidies for production of cheap wine that finds no buyers. The

On May 13 in the after-noon hail descended on Bergerac. hail can be devastating, destroying leaves, buds, and branches. It is estimated that up to 400 hectares were hit by the hail. In many places

Amazon.com has started a co-operation with Wine.com to sell wine. They hope to get more momentum in wine sales over the internet than anyone has succeeded in before. Wine has been much more difficult to

The Italian umbrella organisation ICE has decided to cancel its participation in Vinexpo at the last minute. The cancellation is du to a conflict with the organisers of Vinexpo regarding space allocations. This leaves many

Nice wine bar and restaurant in the main town in Burgundy with a very ambitious chef (even sometimes a bit over ambitious…). On Saturdays they sometimes have jazz concerts. Le Bistro Bourguignon 8, rue Monge

Facing the old church Saint Pierre in the Old Town in Bordeaux you can find this very good value-for-money restaurant (and many others on the neighbouring streets). You can e.g. get a very nice foie

A new wine restaurant with a good wine list with a certain emphasis on organic wines. You can for example find the full selection of wines from Julien and Claude Courtois, father-and-son winemakers on the

Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve were two of the leading names at La Revue des Vins de France (France’s leading wine magazine). They left the magazine when it was acquired by the Marie Claire Group.

Alain Voge is one of the very best producers in Cornas, just south of Hermitage. He is one of the persons that have led the renaissance of the Cornas appellation bringing it from quasi-obscurity 20