The wines of Cyprus: Circle of Wine Writers trip report 2024

This month our edition is dedicated to the Circle’s trip to Cyprus and we hand over to members to report on their highlights while exploring this Mediterranean wine island in February 2024. Christine Austin sets the scene with the first visit of the trip, sharing intriguing nuggets of information on the Cyprus wine culture and history (did you know phylloxera never arrived to the island? You will...
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Meet the Member: Paula Redes Sidore

Paula Redes Sidore is best known for her work communicating the wines of Germany although, as Amanda Barnes discovers in this interview, her journey in wine started with a few inconspicuous drops of White Zin. Paula also shares what wines and styles are enticing her at the moment, and why she decided to launch TRINK —the world's first English-language magazine focused on the ‘German-speaking wines...
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Spectacular Temecula can do good wine too

Next time you’ve got an extra couple of days in Los Angeles or San Diego, Becky Sue Epstein recommends a visit to the Southern California wine region, which she recently visited after a long absence and found the wines are a changing for the good.  If wine grapes have been grown in California’s Temecula Valley since the 1820s, why are we only hearing about it now? And what are the wines like? Tha...
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Mountain magician

Kathleen Burk meets and eats extremely well with Chris Carpenter, who crafts finely chiselled Chardonnays and reds from above the fog line in Napa, and much more, also for Jackson Family Wines, such as making wine in Walla Walla Valley and McLaren Vale.  The quality of the lunch at Kerridge’s Bar and Grill in London was a delicious bonus when I accepted an invitation to attend a lunchtime tasting...
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A green bottle start to the Let’s talk about… year

Liz Sagues shares details on what members can look forward to in the first Let's talk about... sessions for this calendar year. She also looks back at Jancis Robinson MW's hotly-attended session on the importance of bottle weights, which kicked off the year's talks in early January, as well as Randy Caparoso's recent session on the old vines of Lodi. Such is Jancis Robinson's determination to pro...
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A rebel among the hills

Caroline Gilby MW revels in Rebula, the golden grape that encapsulates the terroir of Brda/Collio and appears to be coping well with challenges of climate change. Somehow, I seem to have become a bit of an evangelist for obscure grapes from Central and Eastern Europe, and one of my favourites is the golden grape called Rebula in Slovenia and Ribolla Gialla in Italy. A recent trip to the Brda Home...
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Advances in Armenian fizz well worth the wait

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Awe-inspiring Alto Adige

Filippo Magnani revels in the region that’s an Alpine paradise for wine lovers and outdoor enthusiasts alike. This September, I participated in the fourth edition of the Alto Adige Wine Summit. This rather new event is the largest of its kind that focuses on Alto Adige wines and has already drawn significant international attention. Organized by the Alto Adige Wine Consortium, the event hosted 97...
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From Bordeaux to Beijing, witnessing bombing raids on Pauillac to involvement in early informatique – the story of a life well lived

Jane Anson marvels at the memoir of Bordeaux legend Jean-Michel Cazes, From Bordeaux to the Stars: The Reawakening of a Wine Legend, which she translated into English, with this piece written before his passing in June. One of the most dog-eared books on my shelves is a two-volume, closely typed history of the Médoc vineyards from the Middle Ages to the mid-20th century. Written by French geograp...
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