Few pleasures truly qualify for the coveted label of ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ but tickets for this European Solaire Journey, thanks to an exciting collaboration between Veuve Clicquot and Belmond trains, may just qualify. From the moment guests join this incredible two-night rail journey from Vienna to Reims on board the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, they will be immersed in a world of vintage charm and Veuve Clicquot luxury perfect for any champagne connoisseur.

Celebrating Veuve in style

When designing this magical journey, every element of the guest’s experience has been carefully considered. Bespoke menus have been designed by world-renowned chefs, personalised gifts add that extra little touch of luxury and the scenery en route to the home of Veuve Clicquot in France’s Champagne region is naturally breathtaking.

But what makes this journey truly unique and special is that each lucky traveller will have the chance to discover a selection of Veuve Clicquot’s rarest cuvées. In small group tastings, led by a member of the Veuve Clicquot winemaking team, precious rare vintages will be shared from Veuve Clicquot’s own Cave Privée or private cellar. For lovers of the fine champagnes, what could be better than learning directly from the winemaker, whilst enjoying the best Veuve Clicquot has to offer in such an enchanting setting?

A distinguished welcome

Beginning their journey in Vienna in royal fashion, guests will receive an exclusive invitation to enjoy a private evening in the seldom-seen splendour of the Palais Liechtenstein, which has been in the Royal Family of Liechtenstein’s possession for three centuries. Next up is a dinner at Vienna’s most extravagant pop-up restaurant.

To be prepared by multi–award winning Austrian chef Andreas Döllerer, the sumptuous dinner menu will be paired with an unforgettable lineup of rare Veuve Clicquot vintages served in magnum: 2012, 2008 and 2002. After toasting joie de vivre under a starry sky, guests will retire to the five-star luxury of the Imperial Hotel.

Michelin-starred celebrity chef Jean Imbert prepares the epicurean extravaganza onboard Veuve Clicquot’s Solaire Journey.

All aboard

In the morning, the journey to Vienna’s central train station via horse-drawn carriage will allow guests to take in the city’s sights one last time before boarding the opulence of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. And thus begins the gastronomic and champagne-filled adventure to Veuve Clicquot in Reims.

The epicurean extravaganza onboard this Belmond train will be curated by Michelin-starred celebrity chef Jean Imbert, who will bring his immense talent and creative flair to the Solaire Journey. Morning, noon and night, his kitchen will create the finest culinary delights to be paired with Veuve Clicquot’s finest champagnes.

Guests will enjoy an array of Cave Privée vintages at chef Jean Imbert’s gala dinner onboard on Veuve Clicquot’s Solaire Journey.

An unforgettable evening

As the sun sets, guests will attend chef Jean Imbert’s gala dinner where they will be treated to Cave Privée 1998, Cave Privée Rosé 1998, Cave Privée 1985, and Cave Privée Rosé 1985 – all served from magnums for the fullest expression of each champagne. To call this selection exclusive is an understatement. Each bottle was chosen and set aside decades ago, and has been preciously guarded in the House’s ancient crayères or chalk cellars, awaiting the perfect occasion to be enjoyed. This will be a night to be savoured.

A pairing like no other

Arriving in Reims the next day, guests will alight for a unique dining experience in the famous Veuve Clicquot crayères. Here, two brilliant Michelin-starred chefs, Mory Sacko and Jean Imbert will share a kitchen and treat guests to a virtuoso four-handed performance.

Mirroring the same menu, each chef will serve his own interpretation of the same dish, allowing diners to experience two exceptional entrées, two mains and two desserts. Each dish will be paired with a rare cuvée of La Grande Dame, named in honour of Madame Clicquot, the pioneering entrepreneur who inherited her husband’s business in 1805, aged just 27.

This final gastronomic encounter will be punctuated by La Grande Dame 2015 and La Grande Dame 2015 Rosé (in bottle); La Grande Dame 2012 and La Grande Dame 2012 Rosé (in magnum); La Grande Dame 2015 (in bottle); and La Grande Dame 2008 Rosé (magnum and jeroboam). The entire wonderful trip will be an experience hard to ever match.

Bookings for this iconic Belmond train journey are open now.

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Not many ultra-premium brands make a giant splash in Napa Valley almost immediately upon release – but Fairest Creature has done just that. In fact, at the Premiere Napa Valley Wine Auction in February 2024, a five-case lot became the top-selling lot, selling for $70,000. The project is the brainchild of Jayson Hu, a former Silicon Valley IC design engineer who fell in love with the wines of Napa Valley and the icons of Burgundy and the Rhône Valley.

Jayson Hu zeroed in on three Napa-based winemakers to craft wines that would spotlight each winemaker’s individual style, rather than evoke a sense of place or terroir.

A unique winemaking philosophy

‘My aim with Fairest Creature is simple,’ says Hu, ‘I want to feature each winemaker’s vision of [Napa] Cabernet Sauvignon and highlight their unique, personal style’. No stranger to the opulent, powerful style of Napa Valley Cabernet, Hu began importing fine wine from California to China 15 years ago. Beginning in 2012, he zeroed in on three Napa-based winemakers after recognising the ‘consistency of their skill’ in crafting Cabernet Sauvignons that he judged faultless.

These three winemakers – Benoit Toquette, Thomas Rivers Brown and Philippe Melka – are among California’s most sought-after consultants. Hu’s vision was to hire each of them to craft a wine that would spotlight each winemaker’s individual style, rather than evoke a sense of place or terroir, and highlighting blending as the most important element of a great Cabernet Sauvignon.

Jayson Hu and Benoit Touquette walking in one of Fairest Creature Napa Valley vineyards.

Wines that mirror their makers’ personalities

Hu’s pitch to the winemakers was to allow them to focus on blending Cabernet from premium Napa vineyards. This plan resonated; winemakers in Napa are rarely presented with such an opportunity. It could be likened to buying grapes from La Tâche and blending them with grapes from La Romanée. As Melka puts it, ‘The direction has been: use your creativity at the highest level.’

‘We had a very inspiring first meeting,’ recalls Brown, ‘and one of the unique ideas he first presented was shying away from single-vineyard designates or appellation-focused bottlings, but instead trying to create an uber-cuvée from sites scattered throughout Napa Valley.’ For Fairest Creature’s flagship wine, Hu approached master blender Michel Rolland. ‘Michel was averse at first’, recalls Hu. However, the exceptional quality of the grape contracts, the exciting scope of the project, and the outstanding calibre of the winemakers involved captured Rolland’s attention.

Today, Fairest Creature sources its fruit from nine iconic, premium Napa Valley vineyards in Oakville, Pritchard Hill, Howell Mountain and St. Helena; the four renowned winemakers thus craft wines from the same vineyard sources, but through their individual winemaking choices produce blends with compellingly different personalities.

With over 40 years of winemaking expertise, Michel Rolland takes on an exciting new journey: blending wines from renowned winemakers into one extraordinary masterpiece.

The art of the blend

The elegant Polyspline, made by Philippe Melka, sees Cabernet Sauvignon balanced by barrel-fermented Petit Verdot. Its name evokes the purity, precision and elegance of Melka’s linear and focused style. On the label is a nine-tailed fox, an auspicious creature from Chinese folklore, a glimpse of which is rare and precious – just like this wine.

Brown’s Cabernet Sauvignon is called Perihelios, in reference to the point in a planet’s orbit at which it is closest to the sun, reflecting Brown’s signature emphasis on sunshine and ripeness, which he channels to fashion a lusher, more powerful style of wine.

Toquette makes the seductive, opulent Sine Fine, Latin for endless. Its label depicts two inseparable birds with one set of wings, an ancient Chinese symbol of love, perfectly encapsulating his passionate and heartfelt style of winemaking.

Finally, Rolland selects the very finest lots of these three wines to create Triniceros, the flagship wine of Fairest Creature. Its name (‘three-horned’) refers to a mythical beast in Chinese culture, while also evoking the three masterpieces from which it is blended. This beguiling and supremely complex wine is truly exclusive and bottled only in magnums.

The 2022 vintage Fairest Creature auction lot, tasted as a barrel sample at Premiere Napa Valley, won rave reviews; according to Jonathan Cristaldi, it is ‘super rich and shows the vintage’s inky black and ripe fruit, offering plenty of body and mouthfeel with a remarkable layer of saline minerals. There isn’t one missing element here – from powerful, expressive, ripe and generous dark-toned fruits to super-fine tannins, well integrated through its fresh and mineral-laced finish.’

Boasting consistently high scores across its range of wines, ultra-premium Napa icon Fairest Creature is definitely one to watch.

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Richi Arambarri and Raúl Acha are the dynamic young duo behind Vintae, the forward-thinking Spanish winemaking company behind such ground-breaking projects as Hacienda López de Haro in Rioja Alta, Matsu in Toro and the multi-region Proyecto Garnachas. Viñedos El Pacto, Vintae’s most ambitious project to date, sees Richi and Raúl take inspiration from their ancestral roots in Rioja and return to the villages, vineyards and styles of viticulture that made Rioja what it is today.

This project is a world away from the Rioja of the Industrial Revolution, with its large warehouses in Haro that stored wine purchased from growers like Richi and Raúl’s families. Embracing small-scale farming, natural viticulture and connection to the land that has otherwise been lost in the region, Viñedos El Pacto is their pact: a pledge to fight against the disappearance of genuine village wines of Rioja.

Raúl Acha, technical director and winemaker (left) and Richi Arambarri, CEO (right), owners of Viñedos El Pacto in Rioja.

The traditional rural areas of old Rioja

The first El Pacto wine, Sonsierra, was released in 2009, and represents the cornerstone of a project that is now reaching maturity with the release of a collection of wines emotionally rooted in the vineyards of Sonsierra and Alto Najerilla. With its old-vine vineyards, bathed in daylight sunshine and sheltered from rain by the Sierra de Cantabria mountains, Sonsierra is an ideal place to cultivate wine grapes.

The villages of Baños de Ebro, San Vicente de la Sonsierra and Navaridas are home to naturally low-yielding vineyards that can produce uniquely expressive wines, with the singular Atlantic freshness that is part of Sonsierra’s DNA.

Also increasingly recognised for the freshness of its wines, the relatively cool, humid Alto Najerilla Valley at the foothills of the Sierra de la Demanda boasts an abundance of old-vine, massal-selection vineyards. Planted at elevations of over 600m above sea level on soils of stony ferrous clay, these vineyards produce Rioja wines with a pronounced mineral quality.

The Alto Najerilla Valley in the foothills of the Sierra de la Demanda is gaining increasing recognition for the freshness of its wines.

The many expressions of the El Pacto project

The project boasts an impressive and ever-growing portfolio of wines, from viñedo singular expressions to celebrations of key varieties including Mazuelo, Viura and Garnacha.

El Pacto

El Pacto de la Sonsierra is a red wine produced from grapes sourced from 27 different plots, all of them organic. Tempranillo is the main variety here, although Graciano, Mazuelo and white grapes are also present. Fermented in 20,000kg tanks with ambient yeasts, this wine is aged for 14 months in 40% new 225-litre oak barrels.

El Pacto del Alto Najerilla Blanco is a Viura-led white (with small additions of Malvasía, Garnacha Blanca and Jaina) from vineyards in the villages of Cárdenas and Nájera. All of the vines are over 40 years old, although some plots were planted as early as the beginning of the 20th century.

El Pacto de Cárdenas Ojo Gallo (meaning rooster’s eye) is a clarete-style wine that was once renowned in the area. Ojo Gallo usually has an intense colour, but the Cárdenas style has always been very pale in colour. This fresh, energetic red expresses the primary aroma characteristics of Garnacha, but also balsamic and floral notes.

The Viñedos El Pacto project boasts an impressive and ever-growing portfolio of wines, from viñedo singular expressions to celebrations of key varieties.

El Pacto de Cárdenas Ojo Gallo is perhaps most symbolic of Richi and Raúl’s heartfelt desire to revive the ancestral traditions of the Alto Najerilla. Saved from virtual extinction, this historically popular wine from the region is now produced from four old-vine plots in the heart of Cárdenas, mainly planted to Garnacha Tinta and Viura, with small amounts of Tempranillo, Malvasía, Graciano, Mazuelo and a few other unknown varieties. In all four of the plots, white and red varieties coexist, with reds making up the majority of the vines.

In the cellar, red and white varieties are co-fermented together with a short maceration. The wine is aged for 12 months, half in a 5,000-litre oak vat and half in a concrete tank.

The old-vine vineyards in Navaridas, Sonsierra, that produce Viñedos El Pacto’s Riojanda Viñedo Singular are bathed in sunshine and sheltered from rain by the Sierra del Toloño mountains.

Viñedo Singular

Viñedos El Pacto’s array of wines doesn’t end there; two viñedo singular wines are produced from two very special estates: Valdechuecas Viñedo Singular (Cárdenas, Alto Najerilla), and Riojanda Viñedo Singular (Navaridas, Sonsierra).

Spring 2024 will see another single-vineyard wine join the portfolio: Malacara. This is a red wine produced from 100% Mazuelo planted in the 1940s, with grapes sourced from the Malacara vineyard  in Cárdenas.

The white Jesús Acha Blanco, meanwhile, is produced from a 0.47ha plot located in Cárdenas. This Viura-led expression is winemaker Raúl’s tribute to his father, who also dedicated his life to viticulture.

The Viñedos El Pacto project is a world away from the Rioja of the Industrial Revolution, embracing small-scale farming, natural viticulture and a connection to the land that has otherwise been lost in the region.

Safeguarding Rioja’s heritage

Each El Pacto wine is born of a firm commitment to organic viticulture and to the sort of intuitive farming that cares for the environment with minimal interference, allowing nature to follow its vital course. That commitment comes out of a deep respect not only for the region’s potential but also for its history.

Ultimately, El Pacto pays homage to the winegrowers who breathed life into rural areas of Rioja, a pact born of gratitude that brings together past and present to safeguard the future of Rioja’s rich winegrowing heritage.

Viñedos El Pacto wines are available to buy in the UK through The Wine Society.

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It’s an important moment for Bodegas Balbás, one of Spain’s oldest wineries, situated in La Horra or the ‘Golden Diamond’, in Spain’s prestigious Ribera del Duero region. Now sisters Patricia and María Balbás are taking over the reins from their parents, Juan José Balbás and Clara de la Fuente, becoming the seventh generation of their family to run the historic winery.

Continuity between successive generations is key to the winery’s approach, dating as far back as 1777, when Juan José’s great-great-grandfather, Abundio Balbás, first began producing wine from his own vineyards.

Juan José Balbás and Clara de la Fuente are handing over control of the winery to their daughters Patricia and María Balbás, who are becoming the seventh generation of their family to run the historic winery.

A story of many generations

Patricia and María have big shoes to fill – their father was one of the founders of Ribera del Duero’s Designation of Origin back in 1982. There’s also pressure to embrace the winemaking possibilities that the region offers – the highly regarded ‘Golden Diamond’ within the DO has been recognised as a key area for viticultural potential in Spain.

One thing that won’t change though is the family’s focus on using only its own grapes. Bodegas Balbás owns all its vineyards, which allows the winery to maintain complete control over the entire production process and to produce expressive wines that speak of terroir. The bodega owns 140 hectares of vineyards and many of the vines are up to 100 years old. Bodegas Balbás has also been a pioneer in planting vineyards at altitude, with vines situated at close to 1,000 metres above sea level, a reflection of the winery’s constant commitment to innovation.

A focus on quality

A focus on quality is demonstrated across the Bodegas Balbás portfolio, represented in two different ranges. The classic Balbás range is a faithful reflection of Ribera del Duero wines – from Crianza to Reserva and Gran Reserva. The wines are made under the expert guidance of winemaker Pedro de la Fuente and Fernando Izquierdo, director of viticulture, both of whom boast more than 25 years of experience working at Bodegas Balbás.

The Grandes Pagos range, meanwhile, celebrates specific plots, including La Retama – a modern white made from Albillo Mayor – and Alitus, a blend of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from the bodega’s oldest vines grown on its El Portillo estate. With an unremitting focus on quality and terroir expression, the latest generational handover marks an exciting new chapter for Bodegas Balbás.

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‘Trains are wonderful… To travel by train is to see nature and human beings, towns and churches and rivers, in fact, to see life,’ wrote Agatha Christie in her autobiography. The iconic British author certainly understood the allure of an enthralling railway adventure – an experience that will be enjoyed by guests on Veuve Clicquot’s Solaire Journeys this year.

The Solaire Journeys embrace the pioneering spirit of Madame Clicquot who, as a young widow, found herself at the helm of her late husband’s business in 1805. Inspired by the brand’s distinctive ‘sunshine’ yellow, Veuve Clicquot invites its guests to ‘follow the sun’ on three immersive, unforgettable train journeys across Asia, Europe and South America.

Guests can expect the royal treatment on the their Solaire Journey, aboard the luxurious Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, a Belmond Train.

Taking place from 4-6 July, the European trip begins in Vienna, where guests will be welcomed to the historic Palais Liechtenstein for a lavish gala dinner prepared by top Austrian chef Andreas Döllerer, famed for his ‘Alpine cuisine’. Veuve Clicquot Champagnes have been served in the Austrian capital since 1777, when the first order was received from the Imperial court, earning the house a prestigious ‘K und K’ appointment, as a ‘Kaiserlich und Königlich’ (imperial and royal) supplier.

Guests can expect more royal treatment on the second day of their Solaire Journey, as they are welcomed aboard the luxurious Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, a Belmond Train. This icon of railway travel has been transporting travellers through the landscapes and historic cities of Europe for over four decades. After a morning exploring the glories of Vienna, guests can settle into their stylish Art Deco cabins and relax as the Austrian countryside glides past their window.

Guests can relax in their stylish Art Deco cabins as the Austrian countryside glides past their window.

At apéritif hour, elegantly attired in black-tie, guests will gather in Bar Car 3674, ahead of a special dinner curated by Jean Imbert, head chef at the Michelin-starred Plaza Athénée – and Veuve Clicquot ambassador. Dishes will be paired with a selection of exceptional vintages of Veuve Clicquot, including Cave Privée 1985 and Cave Privée 1998 Brut and Rosé.

The third day of this magical trip begins with guests watching the sunrise, as they are served breakfast and bubbles in their cabins, while the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express passes through the Alps en route to Reims – home to Veuve Clicquot since 1772. Leaving their train behind, guests will join a Veuve Clicquot winemaker to explore the historic vineyards of Verzy on the Montagne de Reims and taste the house’s still wines.

There will also be a chance to visit Veuve Clicquot’s bucolic kitchen gardens before heading to the famous UNESCO World Heritage-listed Crayères. These Gallo-Roman chalk quarries lying deep below ground provide the setting for the final meal of the trip. Imbert will be joined in the kitchen by fellow Michelin-starred chef Mory Sacko, to create a unique immersive gastronomic experience, highlighted by a vertical tasting of Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame cuvées 2008, 2012 and 2015 Brut and Rosé.

This unforgettable Veuve Clicquot Solaire Journey from Vienna to Reims promises to be an ultimate celebration of the Champagne house’s art de vivre. Agatha Christie would undoubtedly approve.

Prices from £6,900 per passenger, based on two guests sharing a Historic Twin Cabin.

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Between Florence and Siena, the Chianti Classico vineyard area’s idyllic landscape of cypresses and olive trees, historic villages and hillside vineyards never fails to take visitors’ breath away. But though this may look like a timeless, unchanging scene, at its heart lies one of Italian wine’s greatest innovators.

The name of San Felice has been synonymous with a pioneering spirit – and a desire to push boundaries – since the mid-20th century. While its neighbours were producing Chianti Classico wines containing at least 10% white grapes – as required by the DOC regulations at the time – San Felice decided to pursue a different path. Recognising the quality and potential of the variety, San Felice chose to produce a varietal Sangiovese in 1968, unhindered by the DOC rules.

This game-changing wine was called Vigorello: a new, premium-quality Vino da Tavola that would celebrate the unique synergy between grape, soil and climate. Its release represented a change in attitude – and in philosophy – that would alter the face of Tuscan wine forever.

Rediscovering lost treasures

The success of Vigorello underlined the importance of protecting Tuscany’s viticultural heritage and forgotten indigenous varieties – Abrusco, Ciliegiolo, Mazzese and, above all, Pugnitello – before it was too late. In collaboration with the University of Florence, in 1987 San Felice created a 2.5ha experimental vineyard called the Vitiarium, dedicated entirely to traditional local varieties at risk of extinction: a place of experimentation, research and viticultural renewal.

Ancient varieties that might otherwise have been lost have been preserved in the Vitarium.

In the Vitiarium, analysis of more than 250 different grapes immediately revealed one with exceptional potential: Pugnitello, so called because of its fist-shaped bunches. Produced from vines planted in 1992, the Pugnitello Toscano IGT was restyled as the first wine in San Felice’s new Vitiarium line, and has since become one of the estate’s iconic labels. A velvety, rich red wine with blackcurrant and mulberry character and well-structured tannins, the Pugnitello Toscano IGT serves as a reminder of the foresight that rescued this ancient variety from extinction, and is a testament to the depth of San Felice’s research.

This has now been joined in the Vitiarium line by a second flagship wine, which honours the estate’s viticultural heritage by returning the rediscovered Pugnitello to arguably its rightful place: alongside Sangiovese in San Felice’s unique Chianti Classico DOCG Borgo. A fragrant, well balanced red, structured by elegant tannins and beautiful fresh acidity – an authentic expression of the high-density vineyards from which it is made.

In addition to Pugnitello and Borgo, the Vitiarium line boasts two further wines: Gran Selezione Chianti Classico La Pieve DOCG and In Avane. La Pieve showcases the aromatic complexity of Sangiovese (blended with a selection of native grape varieties) from the best soils of the San Felice Estate. In Avane, meanwhile, is San Felice’s best expression of Chardonnay, offering up a bouquet of citrus and white floral notes.

San Felice’s Vitiarium line of wines, including the flagship Chianti Classico DOCG Borgo and Pugnitello Toscano IGT.

Together, these four wines represent the beating heart of the San Felice portfolio. Authentic expressions of their terroir, the Vitiarium wines also showcase the estate’s commitment to sustainability and biodiversity.

The Modello San Felice

But as important as the wines themselves are the principles behind them. Ever since the 1960s, the estate has been guided by an approach it calls the ‘Modello San Felice.’ This philosophy values above all the synergy between rigorous scientific research, intimate knowledge of the land and understanding the wines’ final consumers. Even today, the Modello San Felice drives the estate to continue its work toward an ever deeper understanding of its ancient grape varieties and unique terroir.

An all-embracing understanding of sustainability

With this restless drive to improve guiding everything the estate does, it’s no surprise that San Felice is also leading the way in its focus on sustainability – in all senses of the word. For the last 15 years, San Felice has been self-sufficient in energy, using solar panels on its estate, and has reduced the weight of its bottles to minimise the carbon emissions generated from transportation. As well as implementing regenerative viticulture practices, it is currently in the second year of conversion to organic viticulture, and is already certified by Equalitas – the estate feels that adhering to both ensures a more well-rounded sustainable approach.

Already certified by Equalitas, San Felice is currently in the process of converting its vineyards to organic viticulture.

But San Felice sees sustainability in far broader terms, and stresses the importance of its social aspects. Through its L’Orto Felice and L’Aia Felice social inclusion projects, in collaboration with social responsibility initiative Fondazione Allianz Umana Mente, it works with people with disabilities and special needs as part of a cooperative, and retired employees return to the estate to pass on their skills to the next generation.

The estate shares its knowledge widely, admitting 25 students at a time to the San Felice ‘school’ in partnership with viticultural training company Simonit&Sirch. The school teaches key vineyard skills to all kinds of growers, from the local pharmacist with half a hectare to larger operations. In this way San Felice continues to strengthen its ties with its local community and preserve the knowledge and traditions of the profession.

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Situated just outside of Bordeaux city, amidst the picturesque splendour of the Pessac-Léognan appellation, lies a hidden gem awaiting discovery: Château La Garde. Since its acquisition by Maison Dourthe in June 1990, the estate has been dedicated to harnessing the exceptional quality of their terroir, nurturing a natural harmony between vine and environment.

A commitment to quality

Over the years, the estate has shown unwavering commitment to the quality of its wines, and has made significant investments akin to that of the esteemed classified growths of the region, culminating in a new state-of-the-art winery and visitor centre which opened in 2021.

Spanning 54 hectares in a single block, the vineyard is a testament to geological diversity, with a rich and unique mosaic of 27 different soil types, all farmed with a commitment to sustainable viticulture. From Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon thriving on deep gravel and gravel on clay, to Merlot flourishing on limestone and deep clay-limestone substrates, every vine is meticulously tended to, ensuring optimal ripeness and expression.

Precision and distinction

The new winery takes the estate to a whole new level of precision and distinction, with innovative technology enabling parcel-by-parcel vinification and gravity-fed processing. Red wines are crafted with the utmost care and precision, fermented in stainless steel tanks and matured in French oak barrels. The estate’s white wines meanwhile, are pressed under inert gas and aged in oak vats and barriques.

‘Our ambition is to enable the wines of Château La Garde to compete with the greatest wines in the world,’ says Valentin Jestin, global brand director, ‘and we give ourselves the means to do so. Our ambition is rooted in a deep conviction that, in La Garde, we have a unique terroir of very high quality.’

For chief winemaker, Frédéric Bonnaffous, La Garde is a wine with a true sense of place. ‘What we create at Château La Garde is precise, subtle and velvety,’ he explains, ‘it is made up of the best that the Bordeaux terroirs can offer.’

Château La Garde’s global brand director, Valentin Jestin and chief winemaker, Frédéric Bonnaffous.

Château La Garde wines to try…

Château La Garde, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France 2016

An inviting nose of berry fruit, floral fragrance and soft cedar tones. Crushed velvet textured tannins support a wide mouthfeel full of fresh and juicy red and black cherries, bright acidity with a salty, mineral undertone and soft liquorice and tobacco spices around the edges. Full, round, layered and satisfying.
Drink 2023-2035  |  94 points

Château La Garde, Blanc, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, 2022

Lively and bright, such intensity of sharp lemon and lime at the beginning, straight but forward and so expressive. Crunchy and crisp, charming and enjoyable with lift and length and the most lovely saline, mineral aspects towards the finish giving different nuance and complexity. Feels really well made, focused and pure – if only they made more of this!
Drink 2023-203o |  95 points

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In June 2023, Félix Martínez Roda invited journalists, experts and friends for a very special tasting at Vera de Estenas: a vertical of Casa Don Ángel, going back to 2018, the very first vintage of the winery’s flagship DO Utiel-Requena wine. It was a celebration not only of the wine’s character, longevity and identity but also of an ongoing commitment to the appellation and to Bobal.

Proof of concept

When it was first released, Casa Don Ángel marked an inflection point in the history of Vera de Estenas, the project founded by Félix’s father in the 1980s. It materialised the family’s pioneering belief in the potential of Bobal – Utiel-Requena’s flagship and often underestimated grape variety – to produce wines of great finesse and staying power, while also confirming the unique character of the terroir of Vera de Estenas. The latter would be further corroborated by the attainment, in 2013, of Pago status, becoming one of only 24 estates in Spain to hold its own designation of origin.

In tandem, these achievements paved the way for other producers in Utiel-Requena to believe in the future of the appellation and its indigenous varieties as sources of balanced, characterful and age-worthy wines. If, today, the ‘Bobal de Alta Expresión’ stamps exists to highlight the best wines produced, across Utiel-Requena, from the local star variety, this would not have been possible without the effort and belief of Félix Martínez Roda and his father, Francisco Martínez Bermell, before him.

The vertical tasting of Casa Don Ángel, held at Vera de Estenas in June 2023

Casa Don Ángel, hailing from some of Vera de Estenas’ prized plots of old vines, was the first Bobal to be aged in barriques and envisioned as a ‘vino de guarda’ (a wine with significant cellaring potential). The vertical tasting, a quarter of a century on, confirmed the success of the experiment, revealing wines that remain fresh, poised and layered after years in bottle. This validates the efforts of all growers preserving Utiel-Requena’s incredible stock of old vines, as well as the singularity of the appellation’s viticultural landscape. This catalysed a reevaluation of renewed appreciation for the region’s terroirs and grape varieties, among which Bobal stands out. Others, such as Tardana – also championed by the Vera de Estenas’ team – will no doubt follow.

Art, wine and community

Vera de Estenas has also been active in promoting the cultural and social cohesion of Utiel-Requena, underscoring the role that wine has in the local economy and identity. In 2022, the winery opened the doors of its beautiful late-modernist building to inaugurate a permanent exhibition of magnum bottles featuring the work of artists from multiple disciplines. The ArteMagnum project was first presented at Valencia’s iconic Mercado de Colón in 2007, raising important awareness to Utiel-Requena, its producers and the many connections between wine, culture and history. This message is now forever reiterated at Vera de Estenas, at an exhibition that forms part of a wider display of historical artefacts and documents at the winery.

May this continue to inspire the people of Utiel-Requena, reaffirming that unlocking the region’s future requires the preservation of its outstanding past.

The ArteMagnum project presented against the backdrop of Casa Don Ángel

Two wines that capture the sustainability approach of Vera de Estenas

El Rosado de Estenas
100% Bobal
In perfect counterpoint to Casa Don Ángel, El Rosado de Estenas shows Bobal’s youthful freshness and drinkability. Fermented in concrete and aged in clay amphorae, its crunchy red fruit is underpinned by lively acidity and soft minerality. Top floral notes add elegance and nuance. Altogether enjoyable but with enough structure to accompany food.

Casa Don Ángel
100% Bobal
An icon in its own right: the first Bobal aged in wood and produced with age-ability in mind. A core of fleshy blue fruit is lined with a layer of Mediterranean herbs and mountain flowers. Both alcohol and wood are superbly integrated, allowing the Bobal variety and the terroir of Vera de Estenas to shine. Mineral tannins create the framework for a poised and elegant wine that benefits from many years in bottle.

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Wines from the heart of Europe and onwards towards its eastern edge are barely known in the UK but there’s so much to discover for the adventurous wine drinker. Wine here is built on a on deep authentic roots, certainly going back to Thracian, Illyrian and Celtic tribes nearly 3,000 years ago and possibly much longer, as there’s evidence of grape growing from Neolithic times. Indeed, the world’s oldest winery (around 6,000 years old) lies on the eastern edge of the region – the eerie and fascinating Areni-1 cave in Armenia’s highlands close to its top wine region of Vayots Dzor.

Indigenous Žilavka grapes grow in vineyards of stony limestone karst in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In today’s search for authenticity in what we eat and drink, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and its neighbours have so much to offer and of course what really matters is how the wines taste today. Three decades of independence have seen the development of a private, smaller scale but better wine industry which has undergone a complete revolution in quality. And the best wines today are simply world class (demonstrated by two recent best-in-show winners from the region at Decanter World Wine Awards: St Andrea’s superb Nagy-Eged Bikavér 2017 from Hungary in 2021 and the amazing Vinčić Grašac from Serbia in 2023. And there’s an honourable roster of numerous gold and silver medal wines too.

Local grapes such as Furmint (pictured left) and red Vranac (pictured right) are now proving themselves capable of great wines.

Indigenous heroes

It’s particularly exciting to see local grapes that had become volume workhorses in the past being rediscovered and transformed from ugly ducklings to graceful swans. Grapes like Furmint, Graševina/Grašac, Prokupac, Teran, Babić, Kadarka, Kékfrankos, Rara Neagra, Vranec/Vranac and many more, are now proving themselves capable of great wines – in the right hands, the right places and with attention to detail. And what these grapes can bring is close connection to the landscapes where they grow – and the culture of the people that shaped them – whether this is the stony limestone karst of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian coast or the extinct volcanoes of Hungary and Armenia.

The forthcoming first edition of The Ultimate Central and Eastern European wine fair in London will bring together 14 of these CEE countries and an incredible diversity of unknown grapes. Wineries have been handpicked by the organisers to showcase this incredible wine revolution and the wine discoveries that can be made in the heart of Europe and its close neighbours. Trade and press only.

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Ken and Akiko Freeman are the husband and wife behind the family-owned estate on the dynamic West Sonoma Coast. As the winemaker, Akiko’s role is to translate the climatic extremes of their dynamic coastal terroir into nuance and subtlety in their Pinot Noir.

Founded in 2001, Freeman’s winemaking has always aimed to produce elegant wines, eschewing ripeness for grace and sophistication. Akiko worked alongside consulting winemaker Ed Kurtzman before taking on the winemaking herself  with the 2009 vintage. Akiko now works alongside Eiji Daniel Akaboshi, her associate winemaker, making for an all-Japanese winemaking team at Freeman. The two share a culture and approach to winemaking, and Brazilian-born Akaboshi has deep family roots in the Sonoma region. He is an ancestor of one of the region’s founding winemakers, Kanaye Nagasawa, who made wine in the area over 120 years ago.

Ken and Akiko Freeman, the husband and wife behind the family-owned estate on the dynamic West Sonoma Coast.

Pursuit of elegance

Having grown up in Tokyo, Akiko’s upbringing has influenced her pursuit of elegance in the wines she has made since the beginning. When the winery launched in 2001, it immediately leaned into a more refined style. While Sonoma County Pinot Noir and Chardonnay styles have since evolved towards finer, more delicate wines, that was not the predominant trend in California in the early 2000s.

‘When we first started,’ says Ken Freeman, ‘the style, particularly of Chardonnay, was about opulence and oak. The bigger the wine, the bigger the scores. Our early wines were more restrained and with less oak from the beginning.’ The initial markets for the Freeman wines were in fine dining, working to help chefs and sommeliers see the similarities between their cool Sonoma Coast wines and those of Burgundy.

‘Many wineries will use the term “neutral oak”, but we’re using six, seven, and eight-year-old barrels,’ Akiko says. The winery’s aim is to highlight the vineyard site and purity of fruit, often with minimal intervention winemaking, to allow for the truest expression of the different grape varieties.

Winemaker Akiko Freeman says the winery’s aim is to highlight the vineyard site and purity of fruit, often with minimal intervention winemaking.

Commitment to a sense of place

The Freeman Pinot Noirs come from two separate estate sites. The Gloria Estate Vineyard is where the family home and winery are located, whilst the Yu-Ki Vineyard is further out on the rugged Sonoma Coast. State regulations and land preservation laws prevent timberlands from being cleared, so any new vineyard site must be planted on former farmland: Yu-Ki was a one-time sheep farm and Gloria a fruit orchard.

While both vineyards produce wonderful Pinot Noir today, the Gloria site has been an exercise in reclamation and recovery. Purchased in 2005, the 8-acre (3.5ha) site had seen substantial chemical usage during its time as an apple orchard. As a result, before planting could commence, the Freemans had to work on rebuilding soil health, a process that continues to this day.

‘We started with cover crops like clover and sweet peas to get nitrogen back into the soils’, says Akiko. The initial approach was to use tilling to tackle soil compaction and to help introduce more oxygen into the soil. However, upon understanding the impact this was having on microorganism habitats, the Freemans put an end to tilling in favour of planting daikon radishes. The roots of the radish help to break up compact layers of soil, without releasing carbon and destroying soil surface structure. ‘We planted about a million daikon in our vineyard,’ Akiko says.

The Freemans are farming both of their estate vineyards organically and are in the process of gaining certification. They use regenerative no-till practices, with plenty of cover crops, raptors for pest control, and minimising spraying unless absolutely necessary.

The Gloria Estate Vineyard in California’s Sonoma is where the Freeman’s family home and winery are located.

Pinot Noir as an expression of terroir

The Gloria Estate Vineyard is planted with six different clones of Pinot Noir in as many blocks. The clones include Swan, Pommard, 115  and two blocks of Calera clone Pinot Noir. Akiko uses only a small percentage of whole cluster (5-8%) in her winemaking and only after pressing. She uses a maximum of 30% new oak in a given vintage.

Whilst the winery produces Chardonnay wines from fruit purchased from non-estate vineyards, the Freeman Pinot Noirs communicate a special sense of place that is reflective of their vineyards and winemaking philosophy. ‘Pinot Noir is a wine of great transparency, and it tells the story of the spirit of these sites and our Sonoma Coast terroir,’ says Akiko. ‘I just try to let it be itself.’

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From Chopin and Schubert to Vaughan Williams and Elgar, the greatest composers have given the world ‘variations’, musical compositions that explore the evolution of a theme. Now, Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste – a fifth-growth estate in Pauillac on Bordeaux’s Left Bank – is doing the same with wine.

Starting with the 2020 vintage – and only available to purchase En Primeur – the family-run estate has offered its Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste and Lacoste Borie wines in ‘Variation Cases’, which present the wines’ evolution in a variety of bottle sizes. Rather than 12 standard-sized bottles, these special presentation cases bring together a double-magnum, two magnums and four bottles, giving wine lovers an insight into how their favourites develop over time. In the same way that a musical variation charts the modification of a theme – through its harmony or melody or rhythm – so too does the Variation Case, following the changes in aroma and flavour and structure.

Since the 2020 vintage, the Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste has offered its Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste and Lacoste Borie wines in ‘Variation Cases’.

New notes join the chorus

In a magnum, a smaller proportion of the liquid comes into contact with the tiny amount of air in the bottle that allows the wine to evolve. In effect, wine in magnums develops at a slower tempo than that inside standard bottles. The same is true with the double-magnum, slowing down the beat of development even further, giving the audience a rare insight into the evolution of this classic expression of Pauillac. Connoisseurs can follow how acidity and tannins continue to become even more integrated over time, while primary fresh fruit aromas and flavours are joined by the richer notes that only come with age.

Lacoste Borie wines special presentation cases bring together a double-magnum, two magnums and four bottles.

Bringing celebrations to crescendo

The result is that fans can pick the perfect ‘variation’ for different moments – a bottle for an intimate dinner, a magnum to share with friends, a side- by-side comparison for a special birthday treat. Only the highest-quality wines are worthy of such attention over such periods of time.

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste’s quality is built on consistency: overlooking Pauillac from its namesake hill, the estate still grows its grapes on the same parcel of land registered during the 1855 classification. Owner François-Xavier Borie’s family have cared for those vines since 1978, ensuring the estate continues to compose beautiful wines and make them available to the widest possible audience. Cases are only available En Primeur and the 2023 vintage is now available to purchase from stockists.

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Surrounded by three mountain ranges in a natural amphitheatre opening to the Mediterranean Sea, Roussillon is a hidden gem of quality wines in the south of France.

In the first ever Roussillon ‘Coup de Coeur’ blind tasting event, held on 27 March 2024 in London, a team of UK wine writers selected what they deem to be the 12 finest examples of Roussillon wines available in the UK market. With the aim of shedding light on this often-overlooked region, the experts tasted approximately 100 wines across a range of styles and selected the 12 top bottles that showcased the best that Roussillon has to offer.

Experts assessed approximately 100 wines across a range of styles and selected the 12 top bottles that showcased the best that Roussillon has to offer.

A region rich in history and geographic wonders

Once belonging to the kingdom of northern Spain, Roussillon boasts a Catalan influence interwoven with its southern French style. Like much of the surrounding regions, Roussillon benefits from a near-perfect Mediterranean climate, influenced by the sea of the same name which borders the eastern part of the region, as well as three mountain ranges: the northern Corbières, the western Pyrenees and the southern Albères.

In addition, there are eight types of wind that blow across the 14 AOPs and two IGP certifications. Variety is key in Roussillon, where there are many micro-terroirs across various soil types, as well as 24 grape varieties regularly grown in styles as diverse as still dry white, rosé and red wines and the fortified sweet Vins Doux Naturels.

A leader in France for organic and biodynamic viticulture, 35% of the region’s vineyard is certified organic. While today’s winemakers undoubtedly honour a history and methodology passed down by winemakers over generations, Roussillon is also one of France’s most innovative wine regions today, experimenting with modern techniques alongside historical know-how.

Surrounded by three mountain ranges and close to the Mediterranean Sea, Roussillon is a hidden gem of quality wines in the south of France.

Exciting wines to discover

As the 12 top bottles from this first edition of Coup de Coeur show, there’s never been a better time to discover the breadth and quality of wines from Roussillon in the UK.

Roussillon ‘Coup de Coeur’ 2024

Whites

Domaine des Soulanes, Vieilles Vignes Blanc, IGP Côtes Catalanes, Roussillon, France 2021
50% Grenache Gris, 50% Carignan Gris
Theatre of Wine RRP £27

Le Soula, Le Soula Blanc, IGP Côtes Catalanes, Roussillon, France 2018
54% Vermentino, 22% Sauvignon Blanc, 14% Grenache Blanc, 6% Marsanne & Roussanne, 4% Maccabeu
Christopher Keiller Fine Wine Services RRP £32

Domaine Gardiés, Clos des Vignes Blanc, AOP Côtes du Roussillon, Roussillon, France 2022
60% Grenache Blanc, 35% Grenache Gris, 3% Maccabeu, 2% Roussanne
Strictly Wine RRP £33.99

Domaine Madeloc, Tremadoc Blanc, AOP Collioure, Roussillon, France 2022
60% Grenache Gris, 30% Vermentino, 10% Roussanne
Strictly Wine RRP £23.99

Reds

Le Soula, Le Soula Rouge, IGP Côtes Catalanes, Roussillon, France 2015
53% Carignan Noir, 37% Syrah, 10% Grenache Noir
Tanners Wines RRP £35

Domaine Treloar, Motus, AOP Côtes du Roussillon, Roussillon, France 2019
70% Mourvèdre, 30% Syrah
Leon Stolarski Wines RRP £19.99

Domaine Madeloc, Serral Rouge, AOP Collioure, Roussillon, France 2020
60% Grenache Noir, 30% Mourvèdre, 10% Syrah
Strictly Wine RRP £23.99

Terres Fidèles, Côtes du Roussillon Villages Organic, AOP Côtes du Roussillon Villages, Roussillon, France 2021
30% Grenache Noir, 30% Syrah, 40% Carignan Noir
Cheers Wine Merchants RRP £16.99

Jonquères d’Oriola Vignobles, Château de Corneilla, Cavalcade, AOP Côtes du Roussillon Villages les Aspres, Roussillon, France 2020
50% Syrah, 25% Grenache Noir, 25% Mourvèdre
The Wine Society RRP £13.50

Vins Doux Naturels

Sélection Parcé Frères, 20 ans (NV), AOP Rivesaltes Ambré (Amber), Roussillon, France
70% Grenache Gris, 15% Grenache Blanc, 15% Maccabeu
The Wine Society RRP £25

Sélection Parcé Frères, Rivesaltes 1982, AOP Rivesaltes Tuilé (Tawny), Roussillon, France 1982
100% Grenache Noir
The Wine Society RRP £45

Mas Amiel, 20 Years Old, AOP Maury Doux Tuilé (Tawny), Roussillon, France
90% Grenache Noir, 5% Carignan Noir, 5% Maccabeu
Georges Barbier Wines RRP £42

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In 1966, at the tender age of 32, Juan Mari Arzak won Spain’s National Gastronomy Prize and attained the first Michelin star for his eponymous restaurant in San Sebastián. The accolades recognised the chef’s talent and pioneering spirit as one of the leading figures – alongside, among others, Pedro Subijana – of the ‘new basque cuisine movement’, whose international impact can still be felt today. The second Michelin star followed in 1977, with the top, three-star honour bestowed upon the venue in 1989. Since then, the restaurant has never left the three-starred pantheon.

For many, filling Juan Mari’s shoes would be too daunting a challenge. For Elena Arzak, Juan Mari’s daughter, it’s been a joyful privilege and a quest she embarked on while making her own indelible mark in the history of Spanish gastronomy – namely as a trailblazer for female chefs in a male-dominated industry.

Before joining her father in the kitchen at Arzak, Elena completed her hospitality studies in Switzerland and honed her craft at some of the world’s most renowned culinary venues, including Pierre Gagagnaire (Paris), Louis XV (Montecarlo), Le Gavroche (London), Antica Ostería del Ponte (Milan) and El Bulli (Roses, Catalonia).

Juan Mari and Elena Arzak © Arzak

Her commitment and creativity have been recognised internationally over the years. In 2001 Elena was the recipient of the Chef de l’Avenir (chef of the future) award given by the International Academy of Gastronomy and, in 2010, of the Spanish National Gastronomy Award – the top accolade from the country’s Academy of Gastronomy.  The World’s 50 Best Restaurants then awarded her the Veuve Clicquot World’s Best Female Chef title in 2012.

Elena is eager to highlight that the success and longevity of the Arzak project is an ongoing, collaborative team effort, with different professionals contributing with complementary knowledge and different perspectives. Elena, as her father before her, has surrounded herself with a team of talented individuals, who share the same working ethos and attention to detail.

Not least head sommelier Mariano Rodríguez, who has been at Arzak for 45 years, helping to build the restaurant’s comprehensive and ever-evolving programme (with 4,900 references currently on the list).

‘The wine world evolves very rapidly, which is why – with great respect for his knowledge and expertise – I’ve fully delegated the responsibility to Mariano,’ says Elena. ‘We need to retain the [wine] classics while also being constantly up to date. This is essential, especially when it comes to finding the perfect pairings for our food,’ she concludes. The wine list therefore echoes her ongoing research in Arzak’s kitchen and laboratory, searching for new flavours while never losing sight of her Basque origins.

Elena Arzak and Mariano Rodríguez in Arzak’s cellar © Arzak

Both Elena and Mariano say that ‘the wines of Remírez de Ganuza have always been there’, when looking back at their respective professional trajectories. ‘Remírez de Ganuza is one of the key references on our wine list – and has been for the past 40 years,’ explains Mariano. ‘The wines have always stood out. Even the classics of Remírez de Ganuza are not like other classics.’

Today, Arzak has all of the wines produced by Remírez de Ganuza on its extensive selection, including multiple vintages of the same label. ‘These are wines with incredible cellaring potential. We have quite a few verticals, especially for the Gran Reservas [Blanco and Tinto],’ he explains.

‘What I value the most,’ adds Elena, ‘is the human aspect of the project. There’s a very strong team spirit and relentless passion for their craft – in this sense Remírez de Ganuza is very similar to Arzak. There’s always been a strong affinity between the two teams because we share this love for perfection.’

Pichón con delicias de naranja
A personal take on a classical canard à l’orange, a dish that played a central role in Elena’s family and early professional life. Duck from the Landes department, a mere 30km away across the border with France, is roasted and served with dried orange, cocoa powder and carob & orange lokum. Elena’s creation plays on the finesse of seemingly very intense flavours, in a perfect balance of sweetness and savouriness, earthiness and fruitiness.

Remírez de Ganuza Reserva 2015
88% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 2% skin of white grapes (Viura and Malvasía); 15% abv
The fruit hails from selected parcels with an average age of 60 years; all hand-harvested and carefully selected. Alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel and concrete tanks followed by malolactic fermentation and 27 months ageing in barriques (74% French and 26% American oak, 60% of which new).
The wine’s silky tannins, velvety texture and evolving tertiary notes – tobacco box, leather – made the perfect match, according to Elena and Mariano, for the delicate combination of strong ingredients in the dish. It underscores its citric and subtly sweet notes while also bringing the earthiness of the cocoa and carob to the forefront.

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Back in 1998, when Viña Leyda started to plant its first vineyards, few in the world of wine suspected that the Leyda Valley had the potential to produce high-end cool climate wines. Yet this burgeoning area in Chile’s Valparaiso Region was on the verge of making a name for itself on the global stage. Today, a quarter of a century later, the Leyda Valley is renowned for its cold climate wines. Pioneering winery Viña Leyda, meanwhile, has established a reputation as one of the top producers of Pinot Noir in Chile.

The Leyda Valley is located to the west of the Cordillera de la Costa mountain range, 250m above sea level and just 12km from the Pacific Ocean

The Leyda Valley

With 1,800 hectares under vine, the Leyda Valley is a unique terroir where the climate, geography and soils combine to produce some of the most distinguished wines in coastal Chile. Located to the west of the Cordillera de la Costa mountain range, 250m above sea level and just 12km from the Pacific Ocean, sea breezes carry cold air into the valley. This results in a cool climate with minimal variations in temperature between day and night. These distinctive conditions ensure that grapes ripen slowly and result in intense, aromatic wines with high acidity.

Another distinguishing factor in this region is the landscape. Gentle hills with granitic soils rich in calcium carbonate and clay helps to lend structure and concentration to the fruit. At 120 million years old, the ancient granitic soils of the Cordillera de la Costa are thought to play a crucial role in bringing a notable mineral quality to the wines.

Viña Leyda’s El Maitén vineyards are nestled in viticultural paradise in the Leyda Valley.

Experts in Pinot Noir

In this viticultural paradise, Viña Leyda has developed two renowned vineyards – El Granito and El Maitén. The winery produces three ranges: Reserva, Coastal Vineyards and Lot. Key varieties include Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Syrah, however Pinot Noir is the winery’s shining star.

‘Pinot Noir is one of the region’s treasures as it develops a remarkable character and sense of place based on the authenticity of the terroir,’ shares Vivana Navarrete, head of winemaking since 2007. ‘These are cool climate mineral wines in which the proximity of the sea is genuinely tangible.’

‘For years we’ve been doing exhaustive work in the vineyard classifying plots according to the great diversity of soils we have found in the valley, ranging from pure granite to coastal terraces with high calcium carbonate content for our range of Pinot Noirs,’ adds Tomás Rivera, viticulturist at Viña Leyda since 2012. ‘The result is several quite different but exquisite Pinot Noir wines.’

Viña Leyda has built a reputation as one of the top producers of Pinot Noir in Chile.

Key wines in the portfolio

The first wine to highlight is Viña Leyda Reserva Pinot Noir, a young wine with blueberry and raspberry notes. This is an aromatic, herbaceous Pinot, with a fresh and juicy mouthfeel. Next there’s Coastal Vineyards Las Brisas Pinot Noir. Fermented in stainless steel and aged in French oak, concrete tank and foudre, the wine offers up aromatic intensity, with floral, sour red fruit and spiced character. Deep and vibrant on the palate, this Pinot is a wonderful expression of its granitic soils.

The jewel in the Viña Leyda’s crown, however, is Viña Leyda Lot 21 Pinot Noir. The wine is a blend of wines that have been vinified separately (53% foudre, 15% concrete egg, 32% used barrel), then matured in concrete eggs for 6 months prior to bottling. Ruby red in the glass, it offers aromas of cherry, blackcurrant and raspberry, with gently spiced, earthy character and a floral flourish. Firm on the palate, accompanied by a vibrant acidity that underscores its texture and tension, speaking of calcium carbonate and granite-led soils.

As Navarrete summarises, ‘Our passion for expressing the best of every variety gave rise to our Lot Wines. They are unique with a wonderful sense of identity, elegance and complexity. Harvested from polygons – small subdivisions within a single parcel – they are produced in limited editions of 5,000 bottles per vintage. They represent the very best expression of Pinot Noir in the unique terroir of Leyda.’

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Founded in 1965, Grupo Coviñas brought together ten cooperatives from what is now DO Utiel-Requena under the umbrella of a single entity. Having started as a response to the need for shared resources and infrastructures, the project soon evolved to become one of Spain’s – and Europe’s – most respected cooperative wineries.

A pioneering, encompassing approach

This respect and recognition have been driven by the quality of the wines produced but also by the pioneering operational approach Coviñas has championed since its founding. Sustainability has been at the core of the cooperative’s ethos from the very beginning, even when the concept had not yet become one of the wine sector’s catchphrases. While bringing together 3,000 families – farming a total of 10,000ha of vines – and validating their efforts to preserve an invaluable viticultural heritage, Coviñas pioneered a holistic understanding of sustainability in which environmental, social and economic criteria are considered in tandem.

Almost six decades on, against the backdrop of climate change, socio-economic turmoil and geopolitical volatility, this approach is ever more relevant and inspiring. With the wine industry, and small growers especially, under enormous pressure, the mobilisation of collective resources to support individuals, sustain local economies and value natural resources – such as Coviñas has done in Utiel-Requena – is a blueprint for sustainable development.

The cooperative’s 3,000 members remain Coviñas’ motor and raison d’être. They are, in turn, the custodians of a significant part of DO Utiel-Requena’s vines (producing 38% of the appellation’s wines in 2023/24) and landscape. The cooperative’s farming standards – whose goal is to convert all 10,000ha managed by its members to organic in coming years – and commitment to the preservation of old vines and indigenous varieties thus have a far-reaching impact on the preservation of the region’s natural assets and viticultural heritage.

Innovation and collaboration

While implementing comprehensive innovation, commercial and strategic plans, Coviñas is effectively ensuring the livelihood of all its members and making the local economy more resilient and competitive. At the same time, it future-proofs the cooperative itself, which stands out for the quality consistency of its portfolio and the strict production and sustainability standards it has established, from grape to glass. These include, but are not limited to, the use of renewable energy in the winery, the selection of lightweight bottles and the implementation of recycling schemes.

Many of the cooperative’s sustainability initiatives are part of wider innovation efforts that have seen the adoption of state-of-the-art production and logistics technologies as well as collaboration with other stakeholders. Innovation has been catalysed and validated in partnerships with winemakers and companies from elsewhere in Spain and abroad. These projects have allowed a vibrant exchange of knowledge and increased the commercial and reputational relevance of Coviñas as an international stakeholder – recognised as a leading, quality-led cooperative winery by its peers. Perhaps more importantly, these ongoing collaborations recognise the importance of the work of every single member of Coviñas, giving meaning (both symbolic and financial) to their effort and philosophy. They place the work of Utiel-Requena’s wine growers on the international stage, supporting the success not only of the local economy but also of the local identity.

Two wines that capture the sustainability approach of Grupo Coviñas

Auténtico Bobal-Tempranillo
80% Bobal, 20% Tempranillo
The Auténtico range consists of a series of organic-certified wines, and stands for the full certification goal Coviñas has established for its total vineyard area. This red is a Bobal-led blend from selected organic-certified parcels, with 20% of Tempranillo. It shows the purity and freshness of Utiel-Requena’s reds, vinified in a traditional way, with moderate intervention and a focus on drinkability. Quintessentially Mediterranean, it has a lively core of red fruit lined with dried mountain herbs and a balsamic touch.

Aula Crianza
Bobal, Tempranillo
Aula is a collection of wines that pays tribute to the elders of Utiel-Requena, whose knowledge of the vines and land remains as the key reference point for all those making wines in the DO, today and in the future. It highlights their passion, effort and wisdom by using wines from selected old plots, carefully vinified to bring out their full character and complexity.  The collection’s red Crianza blends 80% of the local grape Bobal with 20% Tempranillo. The varieties are vinified separately and, following assemblage, aged for 9 to 12 months in American oak barriques. The result is an elegant wine that highlights the savoury core of Bobal with added layers of red and blue fruit and sweet spice.

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Perched between Bolgheri and Castagneto Carducci, just before Tuscany spills into the sea, are the mineral-rich hillsides of Campo alla Sughera – a world-class producer of Bolgheri DOC wines.

Though these are storied winemaking lands, with viticulture dating back to the Etruscans – today, winemakers continue to find exciting expressions. Founded in 1998 by the Knauf family, Campo alla Sughera has dedicated itself to producing characterful wines that reflect the terroir of this coastal pocket of Tuscany – with its variegated soil and microclimates that change across a matter of a hundred metres.

Campo alla Sughera produces characterful wines that reflect the terroir of this coastal pocket of Tuscany

Of sea breeze and Super Tuscans

Campo alla Sughera, a blend of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc is emblematic of the winery’s regionally expressive wines – borne from a deep understanding of the site and considered planting of international grape varieties. The winemakers have paid particular attention to the impact that a more temperate and protected climate can have on the Petit Verdot grape, which year on year has revealed its role in creating a veritable Super Tuscan, rich with maturity and tannic finesse.

‘Creating perfect wines is an unattainable feat, it’s simply impossible,’ says winery director Tommaso Alessandri. ‘However, aspiring for perfection is a different story – it’s the path to excellence, and that’s precisely what we strive for every day: to keep pushing the boundaries and elevating the quality of our wine.’

Picking grapes at Campo alla Sughera winery in Bolgheri DOC

A ‘jigsaw puzzle’ of natural elements

The winemakers at Campo alla Sughera liken the biodiversity of their sites to a ‘jigsaw puzzle of natural elements’. Working attentively with the land, the estate has been divided into 40 vineyard parcels based on the composition of the soil and the microclimate. These ‘microterroirs’ each express particular nuances, evident throughout the Campo alla Sughera range. Beyond understanding the land, Campo alla Sughera approaches viticulture with respect and reverence for the natural ecosystem. With protective practices such as cover crop rotation, the winery works to maintain the biodiversity of the soil.

‘Aspiring for perfection is a different story – it’s the path to excellence, and that’s precisely what we strive for every day: to keep pushing the boundaries and elevating the quality of our wine,’ says winery director Tommaso Alessandri.

Building a future with character

Campo alla Sughera is committed to expanding the potential of Bolgheri DOC. The recent acquisition of a 3.3 hectare parcel along Via Bolgherese promises to boost not only the quality of the wines but, off the back of year-on-year growth, the winery’s overall production.

Franceso Gagliardi, who oversees winemaking at Campo alla Sughera, is enthusiastic about the makeup of the site. ‘Its close proximity to the hills overlooking the Via Bolgherese means the soil is rich in alluvial deposits, with plenty of pebbles and fine sands’, he says. ‘In the hectare where Merlot is already planted, we also find good percentages of clay, along with pebbles and gravel. Over the next few months, we’ll be preparing, fertilising, and levelling the uncultivated part of the land, ready for planting next year.’

With this new chapter, Campo alla Sughera will continue its commitment to creating genuine expressions of the Bolgheri terroir, borne from a deep appreciation of the ancient lands on which the vines are planted.

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The phrase ‘authentic tourism’, that overused term beloved of marketeers nonetheless perfectly encapsulates what awaits you at Castiglion del Bosco winery in southern Tuscany. Delivering relaxed Tuscan luxury, the winery offers two perfectly situated restaurants, an exceptional five star luxury hotel managed by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, nearby truffle forests, and a team of passionate wine experts. You’ll experience world-class service, food, amenities, and of course, views to die for.

Managed by oenologist Cecilia Leoneschi, Castiglion del Bosco in Montalcino and its sister winery Tenuta Prima Pietra, located in Riparbella on the Tuscan Coast intend to remain true to that philosophy of authenticity. Their teams also believe that wine – that most complex and invigorating of beverages – needs to be shared and celebrated.

Castiglion del Bosco winery in Montalcino, Italy

Tailored to your needs

There is so much more on offer at Castiglion del Bosco than your run-of-the-mill tourism: you’ll gain real insights into the soils, the climate and the winemaking culture of Montalcino and Riparbella. Granted, there is plenty of gloss involved in any trip to these spectacular estates. Campo del Drago, the Michelin-starred restaurant at Castiglion del Bosco is one of Tuscany’s finest, while the slick tasting rooms at Castiglion del Bosco and Prima Pietra offer incredible views of the gorgeous countryside – and the Tyrrhenian Sea in the case of the latter. But this is also an opportunity to explore the nuance and complexities of winemaking – demystification without the dumbing down.

Indeed, the teams at both properties will deliver a bespoke experience that is precisely tailored to your needs. Thus, you can enjoy a winery tour and cheese/charcuterie tasting in a relaxed manner, or you can dive into the deep end by experiencing the harvest first-hand at Castiglion del Bosco.

Wine tasting on the sea facing terrace at Tenuta Prima Pietra in Riparbella

Learning about the relationship between grape varieties, terroir and vintage is a rewarding experience, particularly when you can taste the results afterwards. Meanwhile, if you get a spot on one of the winery’s popular bespoke cookery classes and sunset tours, you can sip a glass of Super-Tuscan on Prima Pietra’s sea-facing terrace. You can even gaze at the vineyards from 10,000 feet, flying in a state-of-the-art helicopter before you return to Castiglion del Bosco for a tutored tasting.

The ornate Palazzo Capponi Vettori, one of the most beautiful and historic buildings of old Florence, houses a private tasting room for discerning oenophiles

Renaissance experience

If however, you’d rather not leave the urban splendour of Florence, you don’t have to miss out. At the ornate Palazzo Capponi Vettori, one of the most beautiful and historic buildings of old Florence, the winery has opened a private tasting room for discerning oenophiles.

In the company of exquisite Renaissance art, you can sample a range of vintages from both wineries; you’re also invited to experience a vertical tasting of either Castiglion del Bosco or Tenuta Prima Pietra, comparing the warmth and intensity of 2018 to the relative coolness of 2014. Best of all, hire the services of chef Claudio Mennonite, who will prepare a concise tasting menu of contemporary Tuscan specialities at lunch and dinner.

Castiglion del Bosco’s private tasting room at the ornate Palazzo Capponi in Florence

What unites this diverse, and seemingly disparate collection of experiences is the emphasis on learning by doing – not remotely didactic but utterly immersive. In the heart-stoppingly beautiful Tuscan landscape, filled with cypress and olive trees, and of course hillside vineyards, the cerebral and the hedonistic come alive.

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Avennia was founded in 2010 by Marty Taucher and Chris Peterson, who had met at the acclaimed DeLille Cellars, where Peterson was production winemaker and Taucher a harvest intern. Their new winery’s reputation rose quickly on the strength of Peterson’s winemaking philosophy, crafting wines of nuance and complexity with an elegance that can be hard to achieve in the heat of Washington state.

The notion of vin de terroir is as old as wine itself; stylistically, however, it can still remain elusive, particularly in younger wine regions like Washington. The wines of Avennia have managed from the outset to distinguish themselves, emphasising terroir and refinement over fruit-forward expressions.

Avennia founders, Chris Peterson (left) and Marty Taucher (right) Credit: Hayley Young

The privilege of historic vineyards

Wines of subtlety, with a focus on minerality and savoury character – the winery’s vision – can never be created through the talents of winemakers alone, so Avennia’s focus has always been on finding Washington vineyards that lend themselves to a refined, balanced style. Peterson’s reputation for coaxing nuance from wines grown in the warm climes of eastern Washington allowed Avennia to quickly form relationships with the state’s most esteemed wine growers.

‘Due to our philosophical resolve and a couple of strokes of good fortune,’ Peterson explains, ‘we started, in our first year, sourcing from some of the historically iconic vineyards in Washington – particularly the older blocks from these vineyards.’ This meant Avennia was using some of the state’s oldest vines for the first wines they produced: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from 1985 plantings in Red Willow; Bacchus Vineyard’s famed Block 10 Cabernet, planted in 1972; and fruit from the Dionysus Vineyard, planted in 1973.

Credit: Kim Fetrow Photography

Legendary grower

Dick Boushey was also keen to work with the new winery, supplying fruit from his first Syrah plantings, which date from the mid-1990s: ‘when Chris asked me to sell fruit to Avennia I didn’t hesitate for a second… his wines speak for themselves.’

Peterson’s winemaking is inspired by an emphasis on nuance, striving for a balance of non-fruit elements, minerality and savoury character – without sacrificing any of the ripe, concentrated, generous New World fruit that Washington is known for. ‘The choice of older vines and sites that were not the state’s warmest,’ he explains, ‘was aimed at the idea of freshness, elegance and balance.’

Freedom to experiment

Liminal, a single-vineyard project within the Avennia portfolio, uses only fruit from the WeatherEye estate, at the top of Red Mountain, and has quickly become known for wines of finesse and sophistication, harnessing the power of Washington’s warm growing conditions with distinctive finesse.

The acquisition of one particular vineyard seemed an unlikely choice for Taucher and Peterson’s partnership: the former Tapteil vineyard, now the Avennia Estate Vineyard, in Red Mountain AVA. With its reputation for powerful, ripe wines, the brawn of Red Mountain may seem to run counter to Avennia’s winemaking philosophy – but there is space for nuance here as well. ‘Another advantage of older vines,’ Peterson reminds us, ‘is that they tend to ripen a little slower, even in warmer sites. So when the Tapteil vineyard became available, it was a great opportunity to express Avennia’s philosophy in a new area.’

Avennia is well aware of their precious inheritance from the vineyard’s original founders, part of ‘the vanguard of the second wave on Red Mountain,’ and the history of the site. ‘We also have the oldest Cabernet Franc vines in the appellation,’ Peterson notes, which ‘show those non-fruit, ripe, savoury herb characters that set them apart.’

Avennia’s tasting room at Woodinville, Washington state. Credit: Travis Gillet

Allowing terroir to shine

Avennia’s Peterson, named as part of America’s New Vanguard of winemakers in Decanter’s May 2024 issue, has produced singularly elegant wines from across the state of Washington. What’s more, the Avennia and Liminal labels represent some of the best value in America’s luxury wine market – offering intensity and depth combined with finesse, and a sense of place that expresses the essence of Washington terroir.

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Driving west along the motorway from Venice toward Milan, travellers’ eyes are drawn a few kilometres before Verona to two sights that appear in the distance: the tall, thin church spire of Monteforte d’Alpone and the imposing, medieval fortress overlooking the town of Soave.

For anyone arriving from the plain of the Veneto, these historic landmarks form the gateway to the vineyards of the region’s most famous still white wine.

Imposing medieval fortress overlooking the town of Soave in Veneto, Italy

A landscape to treasure

The visual impact of the landscape is unforgettable. With valleys and hills reaching over 500 metres above sea level, this is an area of great biodiversity. The terraced vineyards are buttressed by dry stone walls, hand built by the farmers who have been the custodians of this unique agricultural ecosystem for countless generations.

In recognition of its traditional system’s integrated social, economic and ecological sustainability, the Soave viticultural area has been designated by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System, the only one of its kind in Italy.

Climate change has spurred a revival of the centuries-old pergola Veronese training system in the Soave region

Growing appreciation of specific soils and sites

Yet Soave does not stand still. Garganega accounts for the majority of its 6,500ha under vine, but producers are also rediscovering the potential of Trebbiano di Soave as a complementary variety. Dramatic climate change, meanwhile, has spurred a revival of the centuries-old pergola Veronese training system, which provides ripening grapes with protection from the extremes of summer heat.

Soave is widely associated with the tangy intensity that derives from its volcanic soils, but its terroirs are diverse, and studies conducted by the producers’ Consorzio have linked specific flavours with its different soils. Notes of citrus and almonds are typical of wines from the volcanic hills, while those from calcareous areas offer more florality and tropical fruit.

Many of the most famed plots sit within the Classico area, the traditional heart of the denomination, but the introduction in 2019, after 15 years of research, of the ‘Unità Geografica Aggiunta’ (UGA) system, which gives producers the opportunity to indicate specific vineyard sites on their labels, now shines a spotlight on other distinctive terroirs.

A multitude of styles

Soave, famously, is a wine for every occasion. Soave DOC offers fresh, crisp drinking from the spring onwards, but also has the ability to develop intriguing complexity with bottle age. Soave Superiore DOCG – sometimes aged in oak – has the extra structure that calls for haute cuisine food pairing, and the ancient practice of drying grapes for sweet wines is kept alive in the exquisite Recioto di Soave.

All three styles continue the excellence of a winemaking tradition with records dating from the 6th century AD and the authenticity of a viticultural area tended by communities that, in the words of the UN’s FAO, ‘live in an intricate relationship with their territory.’

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Founded by husband and wife Julián López and María José Peidro and having celebrated its 20th harvest in 2023, Chozas Carrascal has become one of Utiel-Requena’s most proactive and renowned producers. Recognising the intrinsic value of the estate’s terroir – a gently rolling slope, at an altitude between 750 and 840 metres, in one of the appellation’s coolest areas – and of the existing plots of old, bush-trained vines, the couple embarked on a path of renovation and expansion that has made Chozas Carrascal what it is today.

The founders’ children have since taken over the helm of the family’s estate: María José López-Peidro is responsible for operations, commercials, marketing and hospitality, while her brother Julián is the head of viticulture and winemaking. The generational change itself reflects strategic awareness and willingness to keep developing the estate in light of current and future challenges. It consolidates the family’s belief in the uniqueness of their corner of Utiel-Requena and of its potential to produce wines with incredible character while contributing to the broader ecosystemic balance. Today, as 20 years ago, Chozas Carrascal aims to produce ‘Mediterranean, altitude wines’, with character and sense of place.

Mindful expansion

María José and Julián have led the estate’s expansion from 26 to 80 hectares of vines (alongside 20ha of olive trees) while establishing a solid environmental programme that has seen its full conversion to organic farming. Rather than reflecting a dramatic change in approach, the certification simply reflected the consolidation of an ongoing focus on biodiversity and the respect for traditional Mediterranean agriculture, with polyculture and the integration of the local flora and fauna at its core.

The new generation places innovation and technical expertise at the service of tradition and heritage, striving to enhance terroir expression and preserve the quality of the fruit yielded by Chozas Carrascal’s prized vineyards. The existing 19th century house and cellar now stand next to a state-of-the-art winery, built with operational and energy efficiency in mind – yet another reflection of the family’s commitment to sustainable development.

Sense of place

The López-Peidros, however, do not approach sustainability merely from an efficiency and environmental point of view; it is also applied through the preservation of history, both in the vineyard and the cellar. Further to nurturing their valued stock of old vines and the quality of the wines they produce, the family has also invested in the knowledge and recognition of their land.

Julián has re-introduced traditional winemaking techniques and styles that shed new light on the identity of Utiel-Requena as well as on the potential of its different grape varieties, while also fine-tuning the more classical wines in the range to better express terroir and vintage.

These efforts culminated in the attainment of Pago status in 2012, and Chozas Carrascal remains one of only 24 estates across Spain to hold the individual DO stamp – a testament to the singularity of the estate’s terroir and to the quality potential of its vineyards. This in turn highlights, more broadly, the potential and character of the region of Utiel-Requena, making Chozas-Carrascal an example for other quality-minded producers.

Two wines that capture the sustainability approach of Chozas Carrascal

Anma Blanco
Macabeu, Garnacha Blanca
A wine that showcases the potential of Chozas Carrascal’s location and terroir to produce white wines with complexity, texture and depth balanced by freshness. The varieties are macerated, separately, for up to 24 hours before alcoholic fermentation for further textural expressiveness and aromatic layering. Aged on the lees, in stainless steel, for three months, and six months in oak foudres. Organic certified.

Materia
100% Bobal
A single-vineyard Bobal, from one of the estates’ older and more expressive plots. Cold maceration and alcoholic fermentation happen in troncoconic concrete vats, to retain the varieties trademark freshness and florality. Malolactic fermentation then happens in french oak barriques where the wine stays for up to 18 months. The result is a layeredyet fresh expression of Bobal, with depth, nuance and filigreed tannic structure. Organic certified.

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