Château de Ruth: embracing the past and future of Sainte Cécile

Chateau du Ruth
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.
Read More

The fatal spring 2021 frost in France

From Burgundy to Southern France, vine growers are grappling with the catastrophe of precocious budding cut short by sub-zero temperatures from April 5-8, reports L.M. Archer. “C’est reparti (Here we go again),” posted Véronique Drouhin-Boss on Instagram April 5 Her image, of a hazy night sky punctuated by hundreds of smudge pots flickering amidst frozen vineyards, foretold the unfolding guerre d...
Read More

Occitanie Wine School launches series of educational videos

During these quiet months, Bureau de la Région Occitanie UK has been busy on its new initiative to support wine trade professionals who haven’t had the usual essential tastings, training and travel to enjoy. A new series of Occitanie Wine School videos has been swiftly filmed, to let them watch and learn anytime, anywhere in just five to ten minutes. Each video is a compact, fast facts guide on a...
Read More

Promise amongst the peaks and the pumice

Old vines sur échalas in Boudes ©WL
Continuing on from her introductory article in August’s Circular on the Côtes d’Auvergne region in the Puy de Dôme department, within the volcanic part of France’s Massif Central, Wink Lorch visits producers big and small, and finds plenty of potential in the region that has altitude and ash to its advantage. With only about 400 hectares (ha), Côtes d’Auvergne inspired me to think once again abou...
Read More

An eruption of Gamay in Côtes d’Auvergne

In the first of two articles, Wink Lorch leaves the French Alps and veers into volcanic mountain territory to explore the Côtes d’Auvergne, a wine region that has risen from the ashes, and is joined by fellow CWW member and Loire expert Jim Budd. The second instalment is due to appear in September’s edition of The Circular. Having been lucky enough to spend lockdown high up in my French Alpine ho...
Read More

Living it up at Livres en vignes

Jon Wyand shows what to expect on bringing out a wine book with a French publisher as he goes under a hedonistic house arrest at Château du Clos de Vougeot. One benefit of struggling through the production of a wine book with a French publisher is that you’ll probably be invited to Livres en Vignes, when it has been published. It’s a kind of house arrest at Château du Clos de Vougeot, where you s...
Read More

Book review: Wines of the French Alps, by Wink Lorch

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.
Read More

Wink Lorch releases Wines of the French Alps book

Wink Lorch has released her second book, Wines of the French Alps: Savoie, Bugey and beyond, which she self-published at the end of July under the imprint Wine Travel Media. Wink had advance funding from 450 backers of the Kickstarter campaign she ran in 2017. She notes that backers were extremely supportive when she had to put back publication several times due to the illness and subsequent de...
Read More