Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2025 i Decanter

My father started his own business, a haulage contractor firm, in the year of my birth. I think he hoped, as it grew from a single lorry to a fleet, that one day he would pass it on to one of his three daughters. In the event we all took different paths, and he ended up selling the company. What if the family business had been wine? As a wine lover, I often read with envy about a younger generation taking the reins at a successful estate in a beautiful wine region. What a dream inheritance. Maybe. But even in the most successful transitions, there are bound to be bumps along the way. In this issue, Andrew Jefford introduces 10 compelling stories from family-owned wineries around the world (see ‘The…

Everyone knows her as Bepa, though Josipa Marinov is her name: white hair, scrawny, nimble, energetic. Bent double to prune then, a moment later, straightening and standing upright, her hand shading her eyes from the sun. She called out to us, waving her secateurs. It was a sunny Saturday last June, mid-morning and hot already; she was out trimming the family’s red Babić vines with her sons. In her 80s… but looking and sounding 20 years younger. She’d spotted us coming up the path; I was with Croatia’s leading wine writer Saša Špiranec and Leo Gracin, the professor of oenology at Split University. We’d just visited the fishing village of Primošten, with its waving tamarisk trees and white sand; Leo has his own vinarija cellar door there. Now we’d come…

How would you like to work with your mum and dad? And then take over after they’ve stepped back? Five minutes spent thinking about this prospect will reveal, I suspect, the shock of the challenge. (I loved my mum and dad – but I’d have flunked.) Not many of us, though, are born into small family businesses, where every nuance of our parents’ working lives provides the backdrop to our childhood. Fewer still into farming businesses, rooted in land, place, origin, a local culture, a partnership with the environment. Fewer yet again into a farming business where the primary crop is not only grown but transformed, crafted, aged, packaged and sold, sometimes to a global marketplace. The life of a wine-grower is the life less ordinary. Imagine yourself into that…

Born in 1925, May-Eliane de Lencquesaing grew up in Bordeaux’s Médoc region, daughter of Edouard-François Miailhe and Victoria-Charlotte Desbarats. Her family ties to wine ran deep. Her father and uncle revived her grandfather’s brokerage business after World War I, investing in the region when confidence and sales were low. They bought and ran Bordeaux estates including Château Palmer, Château Ducru-Beaucaillou and Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. ‘I grew up among the vines – I learned by listening to my father and uncle,’ May-Eliane recalls. ‘I have loved everything about grapes and wine since I was a child. It’s in my blood.’ Her Bordeaux was one scarred by the vine-root louse phylloxera, two world wars and low demand. ‘I understood not just the wines but the climatic problems and economic…

A toast to the happy couple TINA GELLIE Weyborne Estate general manager Ben Abric shared a charming analogy for the difference between the still-maturing 2022 vintage of the West Sussex sparkling estate’s Oriana cuvée and the Oriana Golden Spur, the early release of the same wine. ‘The Golden Spur is your daughter celebrating her engagement. And then in a few months she will celebrate her wedding!’ With low stock of the inaugural 2018 and awarded Oriana 2019 (Silver at DWWA 2025; £46.99 Hay Wines), and no wines released in 2020 and 2021, Abric admitted there was pressure to get a new wine to market. ‘But in tastings we realised Oriana 2022 was at a point of its lees ageing – a fresh, bright point – where we thought it offered…

For many, the Douro’s fortified wines are synonymous with red grapes. The region’s viticulture, however, has a more complex history, with field blends dotted with white varieties. Mostly harvested together, they played a balancing role in red Port and contributed to its complexity and ageworthiness. White grapes-only vineyards, and hence white grapes-only Port, accounted for a minimal share of production. Beyond viticulture and tradition, another factor was at play: with many Port shippers also trading in Sherry, the latter made up the ‘white’ share of their portfolio. Focusing on red Port meant a clear commercial message and a neat split. Houses with a historical specialism in white Port – notably Kopke – remained curious outliers. Then, the turn of the third millennium brought a new generation of winemakers and blenders…

From informal gatherings to indulgent dinners and New Year’s Eve parties, this festive season offers a wonderful opportunity to discover exciting traditional-method sparkling wines from across the globe. Champagne itself will always be a beacon for sparkling lovers, but a host of top medals at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2025 recently showcased stunning work by producers in California, the UK, Spain and Italy, plus those in up-and-coming Tasmania and lesser-explored corners of the vinous universe, such as China’s Ningxia region – to name a few. While styles and grape varieties vary, traditional-method sparkling wines all undergo a secondary fermentation in the bottle, followed by a period of ageing on the lees (the spent yeast remaining in the bottle), in a process similar to Champagne. Many bottles develop enthralling complexity…

RICHARD WOODARD Who? A widely published wine and spirits writer and editor, Richard has been a contributor for more than 20 years to numerous respected trade and consumer titles in the UK and overseas. A Keeper of the Quaich, he was formerly magazine editor for scotchwhisky.com What, & why read? Few people know as much about whisky as Richard, and here he brings his impartial expertise to play in a shopping list of 10 great bottles to seek out this winter season TINA GELLIE Who? Tina is Decanter’s Content Director, overseeing editorial production across the brand. After a 10-year career as a newspaper journalist in Australia and London, she found herself in wine publishing in 2003 and has now worked for Decanter for 18 years What, & why read? What…

A gift has many purposes, the least important of which is the recipient. A great gift highlights the giver’s virtues: generosity, sophistication, emotional intelligence, environmentalism. A first edition of Ulysses is a great gift. A Murano glass dish is solid. The right bottle of wine is better. Unfortunately, you do need to think a tiny bit about the people you’re gifting to. Do they know anything about wine? Do they only like certain types of wine? Are they a recovering alcoholic? Luckily, you can rule out certain bottles right away. Even though people make this mistake all the time, don’t gift a mass-market luxury wine. It’s a commodity, so everyone knows its price. A bottle of Veuve Clicquot in that yellow box might as well be a $60 Amazon gift…

Few names are as synonymous with contemporary St-Emilion as Château Pavie – one of just two St-Emilion estates currently with the top rank of premier grand cru classé A – and Gérard Perse, its late owner and former self-made supermarket mogul turned wine empire builder. An unrelenting dream with quality and hospitality at its heart has seen the Perse universe evolve and expand from wine estates to hotels, restaurants, brasseries and now even an ice cream parlour all nestled among the cobbled streets of the medieval village, the crown jewel of the Right Bank region. It’s not hard to see Pavie’s clear terroir credentials, given that vine cultivation here dates back to the 4th century – supposedly the oldest alongside Château Ausone. It’s a rare and relatively extensive single block,…

If Sauvignon Blanc built New Zealand’s reputation, Pinot Noir is where it intends to cement its fine wine credentials. That much was clear at the industry’s flagship event, Pinot Noir New Zealand 2025 (PN25), held in Christchurch earlier this year – the first since 2017 after a pandemic-related hiatus. Over three days, producers presented their wares for debate, tasting and scrutiny by local and international critics and trade. The verdict? The wines are more exciting than ever, but the category faces a defining moment: push harder for global recognition or risk fading into the background of the fine wine conversation. Many international attendees were struck by the stylistic shift. The glossy, oak-sweetened Pinots of the early days are largely gone, replaced by wines of greater finesse, freshness and site transparency.…

Although Chardonnay is a mainstay of Champagne today, making blanc de noirs – or ‘white from black’ – from black-skinned Pinots is written in the region’s DNA. The practice of gently pressing the bunches whole in order to extract almost no colour from the skins was a speciality in the time of Dom Pérignon (17th century), and today the Pinot Noir and Meunier grapes – especially (but not uniquely) from the regions of the Montagne de Reims, Marne Valley and Côte des Bar – yield a fantastic diversity of styles. Among the wines scoring 90 points or more in this tasting were plenty of familiar growers and small houses. Yet it was also exciting to discover the fine performance of lesser-known, limited-edition cuvées such as those from Boizel (see opposite),…

M&S, Rockferne Brut, England 2020 £28 Ocado This classy English sparkler, made by Roebuck Estates, spends at least 42 months on lees. Creamy baked patisserie aromas lead to a delicate palate with fresh citrus, stone fruit, buttery croissant and a hint of mushroom, all driven by bright acidity and a lively mousse. JS Alc 12% M&S, Delacourt Brut, Champagne, France NV £25 Ocado Includes 40% reserve wine, adding depth and complexity to the 2020 base. Crisp and fresh, with lively lemon and grapefruit citrus, rounded out by stone fruit, honey and nuts, with brisk acidity and lovely honeyed toast aromas, too. JS Alc 12.5% Dr Edge, Chardonnay, Tasmania, Australia 2024 £29 The Wine Society Fermented in oak puncheons and amphora, with eight months on lees, this is textured and juicy,…

Epic US auction features legendary wines A large single-owner collection spanning vaunted wine world creations has been sold in the US, amid a busy auction scene. US auction house Hart Davis Hart offered the Bowen Collection in early November, describing it as one of the greatest cellars its team has encountered. Legendary wines were part of the sale. Highlights included six magnums of Napa Valley’s Heitz Cellar, Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1974, which sold for an aggregate price of $77,675, including buyer’s premium (hammer price $65,000; high estimate $55,000). From Bordeaux, six magnums of Haut-Brion 1989 sold for $47,800 (hammer $40,000; high e $32,000); six bottles of Lafite Rothschild 1959 sold for $33,460 (hammer $28,000; high e $26,000); one jeroboam (five litres) of Pichon Comtesse 1982 sold for $10,755 (hammer…

Vinte Vinte x Taylor’s Port Chocolate Cup Pack Indulge a sweet tooth with this pairing of Taylor’s LBV Port (a half bottle) and eight 58% dark chocolate cups. A fun new way to discover the classic Port and chocolate combo, this would be perfect as a stocking filler or to round off a festive dinner party. £20-£24.95 Independent wine merchants, Amazon The Coravin Wine Journal Coravin’s new wine journal is a great gift for users of the preservation system. The smart faux-leather-bound book allows you to record up to five ‘experiences’ (including tasting note, occasion and pairing) for more than 60 wines. Also included are bottle stickers for logging pour dates and cross-referencing your notes. £29.99 coravin.co.uk Sommify blind tasting game and bags According to the somms who created it,…

‘When done well, sweet wines are among the most thrilling that money can buy’ In the run-up to the festive season, sweet wines ought to be on every wine lover’s shopping list. But this can be a difficult category to understand, with wines grown all round the world, many different styles and varied production methods, leading to a daunting spectrum of flavours and sweetness levels. Consumers sometimes shy away from wines that aren’t dry, perhaps fearing sugary concoctions that are difficult to match with food. Yet, when done well, sweet wines are among the most thrilling that money can buy. It’s a mystery why estates continue to produce sweeter styles, given the costs involved. And the increasing unpredictability of the climate means heightened risk of adverse weather drastically reducing quantity…

It was a golden but un-signposted road that led Sandra Lodi, owner of Tenuta Gacci in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, to the stable of the Prancing Horse, and to becoming a renowned figure in the world of Ferraris – one that earned her, along the way, the honour of Cavaliere dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana for her work representing Italian excellence abroad. ‘I was born in a castle near Ferrara, where my father was the estate manager and owned a vineyard,’ she says. ‘I was never expected to work for a living.’ But the free-spirited Sandra left home at 18 to see the world. Along the way, she made a friend who owned a Morgan – an early British-made sports car. ‘That was the beginning of my love for cars,’ she…

AskDecanter Each month our experts answer your burning wine questions. Email your queries to editor@decanter.com Speaking loud and clear Q After reading the article on orange wine in last month’s issue, I wondered whether orange wines express terroir any less than other wine styles? Peter Atkinson A Simon Woolf, Decanter contributor and author of Amber Revolution: How the World Learned to Love Orange Wine, replies: Our perception of terroir expression is based to a large extent on familiarity. If you’ve tasted hundreds of wines from Bordeaux, you may be able to hone in on the differences between each appellation and even each village. Orange wines are no less able to express their origin than any other style. They’re skin-fermented, just like red wines, so why should they be any less…

There’s so much history associated with Cabernet Franc. The monks at Bourgueil abbey in the Loire valley began cultivating the grape in the 11th century. By the 18th century, it was renowned for producing exceptional wines in Bordeaux. Fast forward to today and, following our tasting of 112 examples from the southern hemisphere, Eugenio Egorov could hardly contain his enthusiasm: ‘This tasting was a revelation; there were so many great wines.’ The statistics support his excitement. Ten wines were rated Outstanding and 64 wines Highly recommended – an impressive performance, especially for a variety that historically often played a supporting role in blends. Roger Jones concurred: ‘In the past, Cabernet Franc was herbaceous, rustic and challenging. However, this new wave of styles from the southern hemisphere is exciting.’ As illustrated…

Charles Lafitte, Grande Cuvée Brut, Champagne, France NV V £46.50 Ocado Exclusive to Ocado in the UK, this is mouthfilling and elegant, with attractive, spicy red apple fruit. Slightly honeyed and smoky, it lingers on the finish. An ideal choice for sipping on Christmas morning with smoked salmon canapés. AW Alc 12.5% Domaine Guiberteau, Brézé Saumur Blanc, Loire, France 2021 O £48-£55.83 (ib) Avint-Garde, Berry Bros & Rudd From an organically farmed, family-owned estate founded in the early 1900s. Expressive aromas of poached pear, white blossoms and cold smoke. Rich, saline and mineral with a vibrant lemony tang. Superb with poultry, pork or cheese. VD Alc 12.5% Les Parcellaires de Saulx, Bourgogne Chardonnay, Burgundy, France 2021 £34.10 Private Cellar Made with fruit sourced from vineyards around Rully, barrel fermented and aged…

CHOCOLATE & WINE MATCH Chocolate type Highpercentage dark (80%+) Wine style Fortified or full-bodied reds Why it works During the holiday season, many of us will be reaching for bigger reds – Shiraz, Amarone, Douro, for instance – or fortified classics such as Madeira and Port. To stand up to their power, go for high-percentage dark chocolate. These bars bring tannin, grip and complexity in spades, and the wine match will highlight everything from the nutty depth of Brazilian beans to the red-fruit vibrancy of Ugandan cacao. Cocoa Runners bars to try Svenska Kakaobolaget Semuliki Dark 90%; Baianí Vale Potomuju Dark 88% Test your wine knowledge: Port Easy question What does LBV stand for when it comes to Port? Hard question What is colheita Port and how long is it aged…