To access this post, you must purchase Premium Friend of the Circle (inc one-off joining fee) or 2026 Premium Friend of the Circle (current Friends renewal only/April), or log in.
Read More
Meet the Member: Colin Hampden-White
Meet the Friend: Magdalena Kaiser, Wine Country Ontario
Magdalena Kaiser is Director of Public Relations for Wine Country Ontario, and a longstanding Friend of the Circle. In this interview, Amanda Barnes learns about her wine story from siphoning wine at a young age with her father to managing cool climate conferences and being part of the growing, dynamic wine scene in Ontario.
What was your earliest memory in wine?
I suppose you coul...
Read More
Champagne vs. ‘Champagne’
Markus Hungerbühler reports from Switzerland on the Swiss Federal Supreme Court’s rejection of the Protected Designation of Origin ‘AOC Commune de Champagne’.
In March 2022, another case concerning the use of the designation ‘Champagne’ for wine from the municipality of Champagne in the Canton Vaud in Switzerland ended. The Federal Supreme Court, the highest court of the country, terminated the d...
Read More
Discovering gold in a silver mine
Keith Grainger gets in some great Gewürztraminer, which is grown up high in the extreme north of Italy’s Alto Adige region, and aged within a mountain. He is joined by four other Circle members as part as a wider press trip.
In the very north of Italy’s Alto Adige region (also known as Südtirol), an old silver mine can be found. No mining has taken place here for 50 years, but today deep undergro...
Read More
A tribute: Clive Coates MW
Clive Coates MW was an award-winning wine writer and long-standing member of the Circle. Author of several books on the wines of France, he also published The Vine from 1984 until 2005. Before his wine writing career, Clive worked for 20 years as a professional wine merchant in the UK. When he retired, he moved to southern Burgundy. He passed away on 26th July in Lyon.
.
‘Cleeve Co-atts’ wa...
Read More
Meet the Friend: Selim Bocti, VintageCellar
To access this post, you must purchase Premium Friend of the Circle (inc one-off joining fee) or 2026 Premium Friend of the Circle (current Friends renewal only/April), or log in.
Read More
Recognising the human factor in Sherry and Montilla
To access this post, you must purchase Premium Friend of the Circle (inc one-off joining fee) or 2026 Premium Friend of the Circle (current Friends renewal only/April), or log in.
Read More
CWW President Rosemary George has been made a Chevalier of the Ordre du Mérite
Sue Eames shares the news of Rosemary George MW being made a Chevalier of the Ordre du Mérite.
We are very proud to share the news that the CWW President, Rosemary George MW, has been made a Chevalier of the Ordre du Mérite for her services to agriculture by the French Government. As Rosemary herself says, this is thanks to her writing about French wine for 40 years. The award will be formally pr...
Read More
Virtually sipping Spain
Amanda Barnes embraces the opportunity to electronically engage with exciting wines from España at the annual Wines of Spain tasting.
I know some people are over the virtual tastings, and others are not getting back into in-person tastings yet. I’m personally keen on both, and — most of all — keen to visit the vineyards while I can. But while I’m in the UK, chained to my desk prepping for MW exam...
Read More
Meet the Member: Jasper Morris MW
One of the world’s most sought-after experts on Burgundy and author of Inside Burgundy, Jasper Morris MW has experience across the industry as a buyer, critic and writer. In this interview from Jasper’s home in Beaune, Amanda Barnes asks him about how he sees key changes in Burgundy playing out and what other wine regions make him tick.
How did you first get into wine?
It came about thro...
Read More