Coteaux du Lyonnais: an extension of Beaujolais or something different?

I suppose that most of you are fully aware that the Beaujolais region lies just north of Lyon, and that the northern Rhône appellations such as Côte Rôtie, Condrieu and the others begin just south of the same city. But how many of you know that there is also a wine appellation which connects the …

Back to Gascony 2: red wines

Last week I wrote about the main type of wine produced in this part of South-West France, namely dry whites. But my tasting of some 90 plus wines also included some reds and a few sweet whites. This week I will talk about the reds in more detail. Vineyard in the Gers at this time …

Back to Gascony (Part 1) : dry whites

It has been two years since I tasted a comprehensive range of wines from the widespread Côtes de Gascogne designation. This IGP (they don't want to become an AOP and I think they are quite right) covers much of the Gers département in South-West France, as well as small bits of two neighbours, Landes and …

Sketches of Spain 2/2: and big can also be beautiful

Last week I wrote about a fine, young and very small vineyard and producer in Spanish Catalonia, Sota els Angels. Now for a total contrast with what must be Spain's biggest wine producer, Torres. Torres is also Catalonian but has additional vineyards in other parts of Spain, as well as in California and Chili. The …

Sketches of Spain (1/2): where small is also beautiful

https://youtu.be/1MmIOOPjtQU Just in case you would like to hear a track from the Miles Davis album (one of the first jazz albums that I ever bought) that inspired my title, here is Solea.... View from a small pass in the Pyrenees. The Tour de France came over here the following day. The week before last …

Blancs du sud, 4 cuvées portugaises

Les blancs du sud, hier encore décriés pour leurs oxydatives dérives, aujourd’hui redécouverts pour leur caractère bien affirmé, nous comblent autant par leur fraîcheur que par leur originalité. Certes, entretemps, les techniques ont bien évolué, les frigories ne se comptent plus, les raisins mûrs expriment de plus en plus leur identité territoriale. Le Portugal n’a …

Fitou and Picpoul: a red and white couple from the Languedoc

On the evening before the recent international (well, slightly international as most of the producers there were French) wine fair held in Paris and called Wine Paris, of which this was the inaugural edition, I went to a tasting organised by two Languedoc appellations, one devoted to red wines, and the other to white wines. …