Micro-climate is the local atmospheric or weather conditions that exist in and around a particular block of vines or other geographic area. Micro-climates can vary even within a few tens of meters. In a vineyard, conditions in the middle of even a single vineyard block depend on different vegetation bordering the block, water drainage conditions […]
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It may just be me but it seems that the Bordeaux wine media has been remarkably quiet on the prospective Bordeaux Vintage 2016 vintage. Maybe this is just a calmer reaction following a generally successful and much publicised 2015 vintage, which followed several less good overall vintages. Or perhaps after such a good hot summer, a […]
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Chardonnay is one the world’s most widely planted and best known white wine grape varietals, used to produce both still and sparkling white wines. Originating from the Burgundy region of France, where it even has a village of the same name, Chardonnay has spread across the world and is grown in all wine-making regions […]
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“The defining moment in the history of Paradise Rescued was about to arrive. I guess everybody’s life has one of these moments. A critical decision point arrives and we either take it in a way that leads to something significant or we discard it and never even notice that that was just a fork in […]
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[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] Until now, we hadn’t really produced sufficient vintages to justify carrying out a proper “vertical” tasting of our Bordeaux wines – that is a tasting from one year to another of […]
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There are a number of flaws or faults that can make a wine unpleasant to drink. A “corked” wine is a fault that we hear talked about a lot but one which is experienced less and less frequently with the greater use of capsule closures and significantly improved cork closure technology. What do we mean […]
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We are very close now to publishing my first book: Paradise Rescued – From Cabbage Patch to Cabernet Franc. So we thought that we would share a picture of the front cover together with the contents of the back cover:- “In 1992 when English born and educated David Stannard purchased a small holiday villa in […]
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Noble rot (Botyritis cinerea as it is known technically) or ‘Pourriture Noble’ (in French) is a special set of fungal conditions experienced by white wine grapes when they become infected by grey rot fungus as the grapes approach their maturity. When picked, pressed and the juice fermented, the resultant so-called “botyrised” wines have a distinctive […]
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From what I can see and hear, there are some pretty big smiles around the Bordeaux vineyards at present as winemakers and wineries start to appreciate their successes from the 2015 season. For many Bordeaux wine businesses, this has been their first big success since 2010, with each intervening season having presented its own series […]
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Yeast is the reason why sugars in grape juice ferment to produce alcohol and wine. Although unexplained until studied by French scientist Louis Pasteur in the mid 19th century, its existence and worth has been around since man started the process of civilisation. In the wine making process, we can use either naturally occurring […]
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