You will find plenty of stories and legends surrounding wine, but almost none about grapes.  This is hardly surprising. A potent, aromatic liquid is mysterious, and therefore romantic. A piece of fruit has no mystery and is essentially dull, except perhaps as the subject of a still life.

One of the few exceptions is the Syrah grape. For centuries men have been telling colourful tales about its origins. In one version, the grape originates from Syracuse in Sicily.  Supposedly it was discovered there in the third century A.D. by the armies of the Roman Emperor Probus, then exported to a grateful world, eventually finding its true home in the Rhône valley in France. Read the rest of this entry »

Here is an idea for a parlour game. Each player must try to name the United States’ most unpleasant export. Chewing gum? Political correctness?  Agent Orange?  Nuclear bombs? With so many delights to choose from, hours of fun are guaranteed.

My own nominee would be the Phylloxera aphid. This vicious little American pest feeds on the roots of vines and quickly destroys them.  During the 1860s and 70s it ravaged Europe’s vineyards and almost wiped out the entire continent’s production.  The only vines that could resist its attentions were those native to North America.  But American grapes produced an inferior, nasty-smelling drink of no imaginable interest to wine lovers.  What was to be done? Read the rest of this entry »

The Chilean house of Cousiño-Macul has been going since the mid 1850s. It is still run by its founding family, using vines imported from Bordeaux at the time the house began. Thanks its to location and climate, Chile is immune to the Phylloxera aphid which destroyed most of Europe’s vines later in the nineteenth century. So the wines of Cousiño-Macul offer a direct link to a much earlier age of winemaking.

The connection used to be very apparent in the house’s flagship wine, Antiguas Reservas. This was an old-fashioned, idiosyncratic red that aged very well and was frequently compared to good Graves. That it cost only a fraction of the price of Graves made it especially appealing. Read the rest of this entry »

The best South American wines are still from Chile, whatever claims people make for Argentina. Of course there are some very good Argentine wines, and their numbers are growing. But a few excitable commentators are telling us that the Argentine industry will soon equal Chile’s and may even surpass it. Well, perhaps. I will take the claims seriously as soon as I taste an Argentine red on a par with Chile’s Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon. I am not expecting this to happen soon. Read the rest of this entry »