Most of the big political arguments have their counterparts in wine. Take the question of trade. One of the loudest debates of our time is between those who favour governmental control and those who would rather trust market forces. In this argument the world of wine perfectly mirrors the world of politics, with continental Europe obstinately in the first camp, the New World unthinkingly in the second.

Italy, France and Spain require that wines be classified by government-appointed experts, and that each wine label reveal its classification. The consumer must be sure whether he is paying for a vin ordinaire or a grand cru. He must be certain that if a wine comes from a particular location, it will only contain the prescribed amount of a certain grape. Armies of bureaucrats enforce these rules. Anyone who disobeys faces a stiff fine, perhaps even imprisonment. Read the rest of this entry »

It is now around thirty years since the great Tuscan wines were discovered by the rest of the world, and their prices are no longer competitive. Delicious as they are, Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile, and the so-called Supertuscans – Tignanello, Sassicaia and the like – nowadays offer poor value for money.

Part of the blame lies with the Euro, which has been grossly overvalued since its inception. But mostly this is a problem of fashion. Ever since the British and the Americans fell in love with Tuscany, they have all wanted souvenirs of their summer holiday in some picturesque casa colonica. What better memento than a bottle or ten of those smoky reds they drank with their bruschette and T-bone steaks? Up went the price, and the rest of us had to look elsewhere for affordable good-quality vino. Read the rest of this entry »

Though undoubtedly an art, winemaking is not Art with a capital A. It is one of the great crafts, like cabinet-making or ceramics. I know many people dispute this, especially the young, whose duty is to challenge all established categories. Having joined countless undergraduate arguments on this subject, I have no wish to set off another. I simply make the point that if you admit any difference between Art and Craft – and I think you should – then you must accept that winemaking belongs to the latter, not the former.

That said, Art and Craft do share many qualities. One is the ability to shake prejudice. For instance, this week’s wine has shaken my mild but deep-rooted prejudice towards Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian thinker and esotericist. Read the rest of this entry »

The Mourvèdre grape has a bewildering range of aliases. In Spain, from where it is thought to originate, it is known as Monastrell. In Portugal and much of the New World it is called Mataro, after the Spanish town of Mataró. Most of France calls it Mourvèdre, after another Spanish town, Murviedro. But in some parts it goes by the splendid name of Estrangle-Chien: “dog strangler”.

The grape is prone to rot, and so does best where the summers are fierce and there are strong winds to keep it dry. Windswept southern France is ideal: in the Rhône it is blended with Grenache to make wines such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape; in Provence it is the principal grape of Bandol.

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