Opinion Archives - Circle of Wine Writers

Chinese wine condensed

Posted on October 31, 2025 by Janet Wang

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How Satake shaped sake

Posted on October 31, 2025 by William F. O’Connor

William F. O’Connor polishes up our knowledge on the company that made wine-like sake possible. What is the original alcoholic beverage of Japan? Is this a simple question that the vast majority of people are likely to answer correctly? Well, suspicious readers will have accurately guessed that the rhetorical question posed above suggests that the answer is not sake, or nihon-shu. It just has to...

“Wine lit something up inside of me that I have never been able to turn off.”

Posted on October 31, 2025 by Tony Harries

Unapologetically British

Posted on October 31, 2025 by Robin Goldsmith

Robin Goldsmith heads on down to Hattingley Valley, where he digs deep to uncover the past, present and future of this Hampshire diamond. Peter Ustinov once famously described English wine as his "idea of hell". Yet, this once laughed-at industry is now the UK's fastest growing agricultural sector and wine tourism is gathering speed, too. Latest figures show that there are 1,104 vineyards in the ...

From the Chair: Curiosity is the Writer’s Currency

Posted on October 31, 2025 by Meg Maker

Circle Chair Meg Maker reflects on how humility and curiosity — not expertise alone — make the finest wine writers. There’s a nonprofit in my town (Lyme, New Hampshire; population 1,730) dedicated to education about the forests of northeastern America. They create materials about forest ecology, conservation, and stewardship, publishing a print quarterly called Northern Woodlands along with a blo...

Sicily: Beyond the Volcano

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Robin Goldsmith

Robin Goldsmith explores the Grillo and Nero d'Avola wines of Sicily, beyond the famed volanic region of Etna, while visiting Sicilia En Primeur. A shorter version of this article was originally published by Académie du Vin and the full version is available on The Write Taste. Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean, covering over 25,000km2. Most of the island is hilly or mount...

From the Chair: “Where should I start?”

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Meg Maker

Circle Chair Meg Maker asks perhaps the most important questions that we all face as a wine writer... Where should I start? I ended my last column with advice to budding wine writers. I said, in essence, that it’s fine but not essential to earn formal wine credentials, because if your primary motive is to share your insights with others, the most important thing is to learn to write, and to pract...

Beaucastel reimagined

Posted on August 31, 2025 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...

Location, location, location

Posted on August 29, 2025August 29, 2025 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...

From the Chair: Credentials optional

Posted on August 29, 2025 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...