Building relationships in Burgundy takes time - about that there is little doubt. Winning an allocation from a grower with a strong reputation and a regular clientele is nigh on impossible; it happens occasionally but it takes plenty of hard work and, frankly, you are waiting for an existing relationship to turn sour to get your chance. However,...
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In any wine region, styles shift and new interpretations are formed, but often there is one critical reference point for all that is great about the traditional style upon which a region initially founded its reputation. For piemonte and, more accurately, for Barolo, it is the estate of Giacomo Conterno which, despite the passage of time, ...
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Spain has always puzzled and intrigued me. Such a vast wine-producing country and yet most people’s view of the Spanish wine is limited to Rioja, perhaps the Ribera del Duero and maybe Priorat. Just three headlining regions seem to shape the impression from a pack of just around 100 distinct and restricted sub-regions (known as &lsqu...
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I have been linked to TerraVin for a good many years, as I visited just as one of the vineyards was being planted in 2000. My former employer toyed with the estate in the early days too, without really moving forward. When I started Atlas back in the autumn of 2010, the TerraVin wines were among the first that we purchased. We were particularly ...
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Modern Chablis captures a whole host of different styles today but time and again, we return to the most classical interpretation of these wines, preferring the clean-cut raciness of the wines. Over the past forty years, Domaine Louis Michel have carved out an enviable reputation for quality by producing very fine, age-worthy Chablis with no imp...
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I have had the opportunity to taste two markedly different rosé Champagnes this week, one at work, one at home. The first was a sample of 2006 Pol Roger Rosé, the most recent release from this illustrious house. The second was a non-vintage rosé from a grower called de Sousa with whom we have worked for many years.
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