Opinion Archives - Circle of Wine Writers

Beaucastel reimagined

Posted on August 31, 2025 by Ruma Singh

Ruma Singh reports on the renewal of the Perrin family’s prized possession, which has literally been created from the terroir of the Rhône, with 90% of the materials coming from on-site and the mighty Mistral wind being channeled to cool the cellar. “The future of Château de Beaucastel is inscribed in its past,” said Charles Perrin at the May 2025 inauguration of the most ambitious winery projec...

Location, location, location

Posted on August 29, 2025August 29, 2025 by Caroline Gilby MW

Caroline Gilby MW visits five fine Slovenian producers, who are members of the Slovenska Velika Lega organisation, which seeks to convey the story of Slovenia’s most special vineyard wines via plant, place and people. Velika Lega translates as ‘great location’ if you pop it into a translation app. It forms the name of a relatively new organisation, Slovenska Velika Lega (SVL) – a group of wine p...

From the Chair: Credentials optional

Posted on August 29, 2025 by Meg Maker

Meg Maker explores the differences between educating yourself in wine, and training yourself as a writer. I've been rummaging through older wine writing, material from 50 or 60 years ago, trying make sense of our craft’s recent history. It’s been fun. I’ve stumbled onto tasting notes from the year I was born. I’ve been reminded of great personalities, like Lalou Bize-Leroy, Becky Wasserman, and A...

The vinous Velvet Revolution

Posted on July 27, 2025 by Jochen Erler

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A bodega to remember

Posted on July 27, 2025 by Colin Harkness

Colin Harkness encounters classy, memorable kosher wines from the mountains of DO Utiel-Requena. I expect it’s largely the same with most ‘Old World’ wines, but when it comes to Spain, there’s almost always a story behind each wine and every producer. Like some grape varieties, sadly, several of these tales might have been lost in the mists of time, but some, against all odds, are enduring. And t...

From the land to the label

Posted on June 22, 2025 by Wendy Narby

The rising white wine wave of the southern Rhône

Posted on June 22, 2025 by Heather Dougherty

From the Chair: Considering criticism

Posted on June 22, 2025June 24, 2025 by Meg Maker

This month Meg Maker examines whether a wine communicator can ever really be objectively critical. I enjoy reading criticism of books, art, cinema, and architecture. As a writer who does some wine criticism, I find it instructive to see how critics from other domains approach the exercise. I was particularly struck by a recent New Yorker piece, an essay by Julian Lucas reflecting on the critic ...

Let’s talk pink and qvevri!

Posted on May 22, 2025May 22, 2025 by Liz Sagues

Liz Sagues reflects on May’s two Let’s Talk About... sessions which explored the ancient and the modern. On 6th May, CWW member and Georgia expert Carla Capalbo explained the 3,000-year-old tradition of Georgian qvevri wines. A fortnight later, another member, Liz Gabay MW, joined by her son Ben Bernheim and producers from Austria, Greece, and Italy, led a lively discussion on all things rosé —...

From the Chair: Are we trying too hard to explain wine?

Posted on May 15, 2025May 15, 2025 by Meg Maker

Circle Chair Meg Maker questions the role of the reader in wine writing, and in doing so, reflects on the purpose of the writing itself. I recently published a long memoiristic essay about a press trip I’d taken in Northern Italy. A fellow wine journalist posted a comment asking, “Who’s the reader?” It’s a valid question. Whenever we sit down to write an article, we should consider our reader, a...