Black Chalk Wines


Published on January 2nd, 2020
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Black Chalk is a new kid on the Hampshire block. And 2020 will see the label becoming an estate-grown producer, in a shiny new winery to boot. In the short five years since the launch vintage of 2015, things are and will be evolving apace for winemaker and joint owner Jacob Leadley.

Taille Chablis


Published on October 29th, 2019
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This is the traditional pruning system for Chardonnay in Champagne.

Vines & Vinification wins OIV book award 2018


Published on July 10th, 2018
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Vines and Vinification was originally conceived of as the study guide for the ‘Production of wine’ unit of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust’s (WSET) Level 4 Diploma in Wines and Spirits. It is now published as an accompaniment to unit 2, ahead of new diploma study materials that are being developed.

Global closures market


Published on August 15th, 2017
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Keeping tabs on trends in the global closures market is tricky business. The OIV estimated global production in 2015 at 275 mhl. That’s more than 36 billion bottle-equivalents, but that top line number includes all formats – bag-in-box, tetrapak, pouches etc. Closure estimates are somewhere around the 20 billion mark.

Crus Bourgeois moves from an annual to a five-year model


Published on September 28th, 2016
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In the year 2020, the Crus Bourgeois list of wine will move to a classification in three ranks.

Winery waste to winery profit


Published on September 19th, 2016
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As part of the sustainability drive, winery waste is increasingly under the microscope. It may traditionally have gone to quite a substantial landfill, but the stuff is chock-full of useful, and profitable, bits and pieces. To the extent that the terminology has been changing to speak of winery by-products, not waste.

High altitude viticulture


Published on July 5th, 2016
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Whilst certain climatic parameters are known to vary with increasing altitude above sea level (asl), it appears that high altitude viticulture is nothing without its anagram, latitude.

Highest altitude vineyards?


Published on July 5th, 2016
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Are these the highest altitude vineyards?

Accentuated cut edges (ACE) maceration on pinot noir


Published on June 29th, 2016
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Dr. Angela Sparrow at the University of Tasmania, Australia has devised what is known as the ACE (accentuated cut edges) technique of pinot noir maceration.

A minor musing on ‘natural’ – via Raventos i Blanc xarel-lo


Published on June 24th, 2016
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A minor musing on ‘natural’ – I’m reminded of certified organic wines in the early days, so 20 years ago and more

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