New Cru: the cream of the Languedoc

Powerful words, ‘Grand Cru’. Referring to a wine or a vineyard of the highest quality, this tiny phrase bestows the stamp of greatness. In all the vineyards of Burgundy, one of the most outstanding wine regions of all, there are only 34 individual sites that have been officially certified Grand Cru. It is the individual plot, the terroir, that is given this distinction; over the years it has…

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Carignan the Barbarian

The Trailer (1982) For centuries, the gentle giant wandered carefree amongst the foothills and the mountains of Southern France. But, not so long ago, his strong character became too much for some to bear, and he found himself out of favour with the locals. Unloved and unwanted, he had to hide himself amongst his more charismatic neighbours. But Carignan didn’t care. He believed that, once he was…

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Yes, THAT Lebanon

Some countries are on the fringes of wine production, and Lebanon is certainly one of them. Most wine drinkers I speak to aren’t aware this country even makes wine, but they’ve been doing it for 9000 years. Solidly in the ‘Old World’ camp, then; but many of the wines are defiantly modern in style. Lebanon is a small country (200 miles long and 50 miles across) situated at the eastern edge of the…

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Why there has never been a better time to get into wine – or Does Decanter magazine make you blush?

There was one magazine above all that I found embarrassing to buy as a student. I used to surreptitiously snatch it from the newsstand and guiltily stuff it into a brown paper bag at the till, in the hope that no-one would see. No, not Playboy; it was Decanter. Now I casually read wine magazines on the tube at rush hour. How times have changed. That the UK is not historically a wine-producing…

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