Latest On The Circular
From the Chair: What’s in a name?
Circle Chair Meg Maker explores the extremely diverse composition of the Circle of Wine Writers' membership base, which has reached far beyond the realms of both wine and writing, as well as geographically, from its initial UK base.
In 1960, journalist, social historian, and wine commentator Cyril Ray convened a handful of British wine writing colleagues to form a new association. At the time, t...
Read More
Meet the Member: Kevin Day
Kevin Day has been blogging about and photographing wine for over decade and has found a niche in writing about the wines of Italy and France via his online magazine, Opening a Bottle. In this interview, Amanda Barnes finds out why Kevin is concerned about the impact of AI on wine writing and learns about some of his favourite vinous gems from Italy, including Schioppettino and the white blend...
Read More
Quality perception concerns from the Cape
Michael Fridjhon ponders the perils of privileging wine rarity, whereby it is often assumed that only small can be beautiful in South Africa. Consequently, wines made from larger producers are too readily dismissed in quality terms, no matter how good they might be. A version of this article was first published at WineMag.co.za
South Africa has a number of very successful producers, and the count...
Read More
Switzerland surprises with staggering assortment of grapes
Sue Eames discovers that the Swiss wine scene isn’t solely about Chasselas, far from it in fact, and is spoilt for choice with a plethora of exciting indigenous varieties, crossings and PIWIs, to choose from.
Judging in any wine region is always a great opportunity to visit local wineries and explore the latest trends, and our trip to Le Mondial du Chasselas in Aigle, Switzerland, in late May was...
Read More
Komarna breaks through
Dijana Grgić reports from the sun- and sea-kissed, rocky region that represents a remarkable coming together of man and machine, and is the only exclusively organic growing area in Croatia.
Komarna is the youngest wine growing area in Croatia, located in an extremely rocky area, with a plethora of sunny days in the year. It was here, in the early 2000s, that machines ground down through the ston...
Read More
Tasting history
Dominic Buckwell raids his own cellar and pours his collection of Château-Grillet wines to a prestigious and appreciative panel, to mark the launch of Liberation Tardive, a new not-for-profit organization that seeks to ensure the market delivers available stocks of older wines.
How does it feel to taste something from history? A tiny appellation in Northern Rhône, with Roman origins acclaimed by ...
Read More
Leonardslee Family Estates launch and Defined Wine tasting
Liz Sagues tells the rags-to-riches tale of Penny Streeter, whose English venture has just released its first wines, and catches up with a contract winemaking company and some of its clients.
The story is a PR dream: rags-to-riches South Africa-based woman entrepreneur buys crumbling English country house with totally neglected Grade I-listed gardens, plus nearby golf course with hotel, spends h...
Read More
Hybrid grapes take Taiwanese wine to the world
While Taiwan’s subtropical climate may be challenging for grape growers, Leona De Pasquale discovers two producers who are using radical methods with local hybrids to show how their wines can shine on the world stage. A version of the article was first published on L’ Academie du Vin Library, in May 2024.
Weightstone Vineyard and Estate and Malikuda are hugely popular in Taiwan, and now they’re m...
Read More
Review of Vienna’s VieVinum 2024
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
From the Chair: Wine writing reimagined
Circle Chair Meg Maker reflects on the changing world of wine writing in her inaugural column for The Circular.
Wine and spirits writers are a creative lot. We’re cultural commentators, observers who tap into the shape-shifting zeitgeist, so we can frame the product in ways that connect. We imagine new words to meet the moment, modifying or inventing language to say what we mean.
All languages...
Read More