Highlights

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Posted on by Ruma Singh

Beaucastel reimagined

Posted on 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...
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Location, location, location

Posted on 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...
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From the Chair: Credentials optional

Posted on 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...
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From the Chair: The trap of linguistic tropes

Posted on by Meg Maker
While attending a new Pinot Noir symposium in Oxford, Meg Maker considers the trap of repeating cliches.  I’ve just returned from Oxford University, where I participated in the inaugural Pinot Noir and Identity Symposium. The event, a culmination of four years’ work by the organising committee, convened academics, independent researchers, and passionate wine advocates for three days of discussion...
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A bodega to remember

Posted on 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...
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Identity theft and loss in the Spanish wine world

Posted on by Colin Harkness
To access this post, you must purchase Friend of the Circle (inc one-off joining fee), Corporate Friend of the Circle (inc one-off joining fee), Friend of the Circle (renewals) or Corporate Friend of the Circle (renewals), or log in.
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The rising white wine wave of the southern Rhône

Posted on by Heather Dougherty
To access this post, you must purchase Friend of the Circle (inc one-off joining fee), Corporate Friend of the Circle (inc one-off joining fee), Friend of the Circle (renewals) or Corporate Friend of the Circle (renewals), or log in.
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The long and winding wine road: Wines of the Loire Valley by Beverley Blanning MW

Posted on by Robert Smyth
Robert Smyth reviews the new tome on the wines of the Loire, written by Beverley Blanning MW. The time feels right for a book on the plethora of wines that are made alongside and in the vicinity of the courses of France’s longest river. Indeed, The Wines of the Loire Valley by Beverly Blanning MW arrives at a time when this once unfashionable backwater of the wine world has once again become firm...
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The Circle in Cyprus 2.0

Posted on by Amanda Barnes
This month our edition is dedicated to the Circle’s trip to Cyprus, which took place in late April 2025, following fairly hot on the heels from last year’s February visit to this exciting Mediterranean wine island. We hand over to members to report on their highlights of the trip, which took in an entirely different set of wineries to the 2024 tour. ... After describing the delightfully dramatic...
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From the Chair: Are we trying too hard to explain wine?

Posted on 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...
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