Contemplating the future of wine writing from the Gourmand Awards in Umeå

Keith Grainger heads to Sweden to receive a prestigious Gourmand Award, a couple of awards in fact, and shares his thoughts on the future of wine writing.  The 2022 Gourmand Awards Ceremony took place from June 1st to 5th in Umeå, together with the International Food Symposium. I was delighted to receive an award, and also make two presentations at the symposium.  Umeå is in the north of Sweden a...
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Hashing out Neszmély

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Congratulations to Amanda Barnes and Jasper Morris MW on winning the André Simon Awards 2021

Keith Grainger shares news of two Circle members taking home the prestigious wine book awards in André Simon Awards earlier this month.  Let’s give hearty congratulations to Circle members Jasper Morris MW, and Amanda Barnes for their success in the 2021 André Simon Awards.  The results of this prestigious competition were announced at virtual ‘Zoom’ Ceremony, which was held on 8th March 2022.  T...
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Compact, classy and complex Collio

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Bordeaux’s accessible classification  

Richard Lane laps up wines from two contrasting vintages of Les crus Bourgeois – the hot, volumptuous 2018 and the cooler, tauter 2019. One thing that always ties me up in knots is Bordeaux’s various classification systems. Don’t get me started on the Saint-Emilion classification, and I cannot honestly say I have had the opportunity to taste many of the class growths of the 1855 classification; b...
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Historic tradition and future aspirations

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What can we do better? 

In a very personal piece, drawing on her experiences in France, Wink Lorch considers our role in the mental health of wine producers. I know that we’re supposed to begin the year in an upbeat mood, but for many this is difficult when reflecting on the last 12 months, although what follows has little to do with the pandemic. Before I start, I’m going to be very English and apologise: I’m sorry if ...
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The lowdown on Lassègue

Château Lassègue
Keith Grainger engages in deep conversation on a range of vinous subjects with winemaker Nicolas Seillan, and finds a reborn Saint-Émilion estate that has come of age. How we define and identify quality in wines is a topic that I have written about extensively. Quality may be assessed using many criteria and, to me, one of the most important of these is that a wine should exude ‘a sense of place’...
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