The auction will include the 1969 vintage of Dom Pérignon Rosé. Christie’s said the auction on 6 and 7 June will feature some of the greatest and rarest bottles ever produced, and has named the sale, ‘A Legacy Preserved: The Last Treasures from The Avery Wine Collection’. Bottles in the collection were acquired by different generations of the Avery family that is behind historic Bristol-based wine merchant Averys, founded in 1793. Rare wines in the upcoming sale are set to include a single bottle of Château d’Yquem 1921 (estimate: £2,000 – £4,000).  Yquem 1921 is a Decanter Wine Legend an ..read more

Mark Driver, co-founder of Rathfinny, has been campaigning for the format to be allowed in UK law for the past decade, after coming up with the concept in 2014. ‘A half-bottle of sparkling wine, 37.5cl, just feels wrong,’ he said. ‘50cl is the perfect size for two to share, with a pour of four glasses. It also appeals in the current consumer climate, with many looking to drink slightly less but better-quality wine.’ Driver pointed out that 37.5cl bottles are generally filled by the transfer method from a larger bottle, whereas the Rathfinny 50cl is bottle-aged and fermented, so there is a qua ..read more

In 2022, the French conglomerate became the majority shareholder in Côtes-de-Provence producer Château Sainte Marguerite. The Fayard family, which had owned the estate since 1977, maintained a minority stake in the company following the sale. Château Sainte Marguerite has more than 200ha under vine, and it produces popular wines such as Symphonie, Fantastique and Marguerite en Provence. The company has now announced plans to snap up Aux Terres de Ravel, which is located approximately 15km north of Château Sainte Marguerite. The deal is expected to be completed this summer. At that point, Chât ..read more

An awful lot of wine is made under the generic Côtes du Rhône appellation. Around 167 million bottles in 2022, to be precise. And while much of this is pretty average, a small proportion transcends the appellation. The greatest of all is Château de Fonsalette. It’s one of the three estates owned by Emmanuel Reynaud. The most famous of the three is Château Rayas in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. And although Fonsalette is not as well known, the wines are still extremely desirable. Hedonism Wines in London currently sells the 2009 at £580 per bottle. Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 22 Mas ..read more

Sorì Tildìn in Barbaresco Lydia is a reliable source and an authoritative and respected figure worldwide, who has been a consultant for Zanella for 10 years. Her statement, perhaps taken for granted by some experts, struck me and resounded in my ears for days, prompting me to delve deeper. There are no doubts about the truth of the first part of what she said: the best Italian agronomists agree with the highly regarded French consultant. ‘The abundance of magnesium is a consequence of young soils in Italy,’ said Maurizio Castelli, among the most esteemed winemakers of great Italian Sangioves ..read more

A foggy morning at Littorai.  ‘The 2021 vintage was a beauty for the Sonoma Coast winegrowers. These are wines with great freshness and intensity.  The benchmark producers, who are making some of the best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the world have found briliant conditions and are crafting collectible bottles from 2021. ’ The 2021 vintage is one filled with gratitude for winemakers on the ‘true’ Sonoma Coast. An incredible rebound from the disastrous and deadly 2020 marked by wildfires and a global pandemic. Wonderful concentration, healthy yields and nearly perfect clusters were al ..read more

Despite significant challenges on many fronts, the UK is still one of the largest wine-consuming nations. Total market value was estimated at £14.5bn in 2023, according to research group Mintel. A wide diversity of styles contribute to this, from orange wines to homegrown cuvées and mature claret. Reports of declining total volume sales, however, only further emphasise the importance of producers choosing the right path for them. This year, a new initiative from Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) seeks to help producers maximise their chances of success. The DWWA Market Guide, exclusively open ..read more

The electronic tongue or "e-tongue" housed at the Washington State University Sensory Science Center. An ‘electronic tongue’ has outperformed human senses in a test on how soon signs of faults or spoilage can be detected in white wine, said researchers in a new study.  An experiment at Washington State University (WSU) found the e-tongue picked up signs of certain microorganisms within a week of contamination – four weeks before a human sensory panel reported changes to some wines’ aromas.  The findings, published in the Journal of Food Science, are part of ongoing research and add t ..read more

‘I worry about the younger generation,’ Gallica owner and winemaker Rosemary Cakebread said to me a few hours later. ‘It’s difficult for young people here in Napa even to buy a home, let alone a vineyard. ‘If you have any instinct to be a solo proprietor, you’ll need family money or people who believe in you. But without the younger generation we’ll lose farming as it exists here.’ She’s right. When the hedge-fund and tech billionaires buy up the last vineyard, Napa becomes a luxury-goods factory. That’s why those baby vines planted at the end of the ridge matter. Napa reds are disarmingly be ..read more

Diners can choose to have their phones locked in a box during their meal. Recently opened Al Condominio restaurant in northern Italian city Verona said it was offering ‘a bottle of good wine’ to diners who temporarily part with their mobile phones in order to ‘dedicate themselves to the pleasure of the table and company’.  A ‘digital detox’ special offer promises a free bottle of wine in return for allowing staff at the Verona restaurant to lock phones in a drawer. One bottle will be given to each couple taking part, although the offer changes to one bottle per four people in the case of ..read more