Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2025 i Decanter

Do you like your red wines sappy and linear, verging on tart, as UK wine retailer Doug Wregg does? Or ripe and soft with ample structure, like Andrew Jefford, Decanter columnist and author of our long read this month on alcohol levels in wine (see p20)? Is a wine’s abv a significant factor when deliberating over your purchase? Or are you relaxed about drinking wines at any percentage alcohol? We all know that wines can be balanced even at high alcohol, but there is something about seeing 15% on a label that can be off-putting to many. And wines at 15% abv are becoming more common as climate change has led to warmer temperatures in many historically cooler regions. How are winemakers coping? And how should wine lovers approach these…

Familiar friends, landmarks in the wine world, gateways to pleasure: that’s how we think of grape varieties. Varietal thinking is treacherous… but it seems to be conceptually necessary for us. How else can we keep the worrisome chaos of the wine world at bay? Once we start tasting, those familiar friends begin to swap clothes and identities, those landmarks turn up in the wrong places and those gateways open on strange, unexpected vistas. We taste, we drink, we relish. And then we ignore what we’ve just experienced. We go running back to our myths of varietal primacy and segregation – just so that we can keep our heads well organised. All of this kept tickling me a little earlier this year during the Chenin Blanc International Celebration, held in early…

AskDecanter Each month our experts answer your burning wine questions. Email your queries to editor@decanter.com Lost in translation Q What does ‘Pieve’ mean, when seen on Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wine labels? Oliver Frampton A Michaela Morris, Decanter Italy correspondent, replies: A pieve is a parish church in Italian. The link to wine isn’t a stretch given its relationship with religious ceremony. Italy’s first DOCG and one of Tuscany’s lauded Sangiovese-based appellations, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano has adopted the term to identify its new geographical sub-division – akin to Chianti Classico’s UGA. A total of 12 pievi (plural for pieve) correspond to historic precincts centred around local churches. The category simultaneously represents a quality designation, sitting at the summit of the denomination’s pyramid, above riserva. Stringent production regulations require grapes…

The Valpolicella Classico production area begins some 20km east of lake Garda, where the river Adige bends eastwards above Verona. The Classico zone centres on three main valleys, running from west to east: Fumane (relatively tight, spicy wines), Marano (more open and vibrantly fruity) and Negrar (fuller-bodied and slightly rounder). The further from the lake, the incrementally warmer the temperatures become. The ‘altitude effect’ is omnipresent: in broad brushstrokes this means the higher the vines are grown, the lighter the body and the lower the alcohol, while acidity levels tend to increase. This enjoyable tasting focused on two of the area’s five separate denominations: regular Valpolicella Classico (aka ‘annata’, the standard wine of the vintage) and the more ambitious Classico Superiore, which has higher alcohol levels and is aged for…

Ayala, Brut Nature, Champagne, France £34-£46 Widely available Ayala’s Brut Nature is the same base wine as its Brut Majeur, yet with four instead of three years on the lees and with zero dosage. It’s pure and fresh, with clean citrus threaded throughout. A crisp, stony Champagne with subtle hints of toasty complexity. Great value. NE Alc 12.5% Domaine Giachino, Altesse, Roussette de Savoie, France 2022 B £36 Dynamic Vines A gorgeously ripe and plump white from this domaine, which works biodynamically. It’s tantalising, with its dried pear and sweet candied fruit, and a puff of icing sugar on the nose. Although there’s a richness to it, it finishes firm, citrussy and mineral. Aged on lees. NE Alc 13% Claude Riffault, La Noue Sancerre Rosé, Loire, France 2023 B £27.50-£31.99…

Celeb watch Meghan Markle Who and what? With rosé featuring heavily in her Netflix series With Love, Meghan, it was only a matter of time before the Duchess of Sussex released one of her own. Part of her lifestyle brand As ever, the wine is made in collaboration with Fairwinds Estate in Calistoga in Napa Valley, California, which has previously made wines for the likes of John Wayne’s estate and Barry Manilow. The 2023 vintage of Markle’s Provence-inspired pink – a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvèdre, Grenache and Syrah – proved so popular it sold out in under an hour. Fortunately for fans, the 2024 vintage has just been released. A Champagne-method sparkler from Napa is also in the works. Is it any good? An almost whispering pale pink, it’s…

Anselmo Guerrieri Gonzaga Owner, Tenuta San Leonardo, Trentino ‘One of my most treasured food and wine pairing memories involves a bottle of San Leonardo, Vigneti delle Dolomiti 2011 (£40.70/37.5cl Honest Grapes), shared during a simple evening with close friends. We had prepared a classic homemade parmigiana di melanzane, rich with layers of fried aubergine, tomato sauce, Trentin Grana – our local substitute for Parmesan – and fresh basil: simple, soulful, deeply satisfying. The 2011 vintage was in a beautiful stage of evolution, showing remarkable finesse and balance. With notes of ripe red fruit, Mediterranean herbs, sweet tobacco and a gentle balsamic nuance, it offered silky tannins and vibrant freshness that paired perfectly with the richness of the dish. The wine wrapped around the flavours of the parmigiana with elegance, enhancing…

Western Sicily is never entirely at rest. The land is shaped by limestone plateaus that sit above subterranean pockets of fresh rainwater, while the ongoing tectonic tension between the African and Eurasian plates means that earth tremors are a familiar feature of life. The island of Sicily itself has undergone upheavals and constant evolution throughout its history, marked by centuries of conquests. At its far-western tip, the fortunes of Marsala (from Marsa Allah, meaning ‘Harbour of God’ in Arabic) were shaped by the seafaring empire of Britain, which brought its wines global reach during the 19th century before they began to fall out of favour in the latter part of the 20th. Today, like the land itself, Marsala is in motion once again, with a new generation of wine producers…

ROBIN KICK MW Who? A wine consultant, judge, speaker and educator, Robin is based in Lugano. Having changed career after taking wine courses in Burgundy and Rhône, she formerly worked at Christie’s in Los Angeles, then at London merchants Fine & Rare and Goedhuis & Co. She is a DWWA judge across several categories What, & why read? Most Swiss wines (a staggering 98%!) never find their way beyond the country’s borders, but they’re winning awards and making a name for themselves; increased demand will hopefully result in increased visibility. Robin, an MW based in Switzerland, is a perfect guide to the reds and whites worth trying BEVERLEY BLANNING MW Who? A widely published wine writer, author, educator and presenter, Beverley’s latest book is Wines of the Loire Valley (£35…

I’ve always been drawn to wines from fiercely independent regions fuelled by regional pride, from Spain’s Basque Country, Catalonia and Canary Islands to Italy’s South Tyrol, Sicily and Sardinia. This past summer, as the US edged toward authoritarian populism, I travelled to a French semi-autonomous wine region with the thought that a five-decades-past story of resistance might offer solace. Corsica’s jagged mountain peaks erupt from the sea and its steep hillsides teem with aromatic scrub. The region’s best wines are highly redolent of this maquis: eucalyptus, fennel, fig, juniper, laurel, mint, lavender, myrtle, rosemary, sage, strawflower, thyme. The Corsican people are famously intrepid, once known for their vendettas – bloody family feuds – and their mastery of the craft of knifemaking. From these people, this land and ancient Roman, Greek…

Wu Xiuyong is the winemaking talent behind one of the two Chinese wines named Best in Show – the top accolade, awarded to only 50 wines – in this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA). Head winemaker at Dongfang Yuxing in Hongsipu, Ningxia, Wu (this article follows the Chinese convention of placing the surname first) is proud of the success achieved by Geruihong Yeguangbei 2022, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Dornfelder and Cabernet Gernischt (Carmenère). She and her team also took home a Top Value Gold, awarded to just 30 Gold medal winners with a retail price under £15, for their Geruihong Marselan 2024. This has been the greatest achievement at DWWA for Chinese wines in more than a decade, and an eagerly awaited win for Hongsipu, the cooler, lesser-known…

1 Four Pillars Spiced Negroni Gin £37.49-£42.64/70cl Liquor Library, Spirit Store, The Bottle Club, The Whisky Exchange This Australian gin is hands down my all-time favourite for a Negroni, with botanicals including Tasmanian pepperberry leaf, cinnamon and ginger. Very fresh and punchy on the nose, with clean citrus; the palate offers an immediate spice hit, with cardamom and coriander seeds, and a lingering spicy finish. It makes my ultimate classic Negroni. Alcohol 43.8% 2 Junipero £42.50-£46/70cl Amathus Drinks, By the Bottle, Cask Cartel, The Champagne Company Originally created by San Francisco’s iconic Anchor Distilling Company and launched in 1996, Junipero was one of the first spirits to help kick-start the US craft gin scene. As you’d expect from the name, there’s lots of juniper here on both the nose and…

Great names of Riesling AMY WISLOCKI It’s never hard to entice wine writers to taste Riesling, and even easier when the wines are made jointly by two famous estates. Decanter Hall of Fame Award winner in 2005, Ernst Loosen heads up the famous Dr Loosen estate in Mosel, Germany. In 1985, he met Peter Barry of Jim Barry Wines in Australia’s Clare Valley. The two hit it off and in 2010, Peter’s son Tom travelled to Mosel to work a vintage with Erni. It was only a matter of time before the two estates decided to create a wine together. Fast forward to 2016, and the first vintage of the LoosenBarry, Wolta Wolta Dry Riesling, made in Clare Valley ‘in the way that my great-grandfather made Riesling’, Erni says. The…

New Zealand has built its reputation on wines defined by clarity, balance and purity. From the savoury Pinot Noirs of Wairarapa and Central Otago to the lively Sauvignon Blancs of Marlborough, precision and character run through every glass. At Decanter World Wine Awards 2025, the hallmark shone brightly across a wide range of varieties. When awarding top medals, judges looked for typicity and regional identity – and New Zealand delivered in abundance. Sauvignon Blanc remains the country’s calling card for whites, and Pinot Noir for reds. Yet with near-perfect growing conditions and increasingly refined winemaking, other varieties are also excelling – and often presenting exceptional value. ‘Sauvignon Blanc remains the country’s calling card for whites, and Pinot Noir for reds’ At the 2025 competition, elegant Pinot Noirs, vibrant Sauvignon Blancs,…

In a nation with a longstanding reputation for warmth, generosity and, at times, opulence in its wines, Etna emerges as a distinctive entity, offering a wine style that is more incisive, cooler and more structured. But is DOC Etna in Sicily genuinely leading the way in the shift towards elegance in Italian fine wines? Or is it merely the most appealing manifestation of a more extensive transformation that is already in progress? Spread around the flanks of the world’s most active stratovolcano, Etna’s vineyard area spans about 1,300ha, spread across 142 contrade – a fragmented landscape characterised by lava flows, elevations and exposures that exhibit a dynamic evolution, mirroring the restless activity of the volcano itself. To walk among these vineyards evokes a profound sense of the presence of the…

Château Laf leur to leave Pomerol appellation Top Bordeaux producer Château Lafleur has made the seismic decision to leave the Pomerol appellation, in order to give it more freedom to attempt to tackle climate change in its vineyards. Lafleur said that its 2025 vintage would be labelled simply ‘Vin de France’, after withdrawing from the Pomerol and Bordeaux appellation systems. Such a move from one of the Bordeaux Right Bank’s most vaunted producers is likely to intensify a pre-existing debate about the need for, and ability of, France’s wine appellation system to adapt to help winemakers cope with rapidly changing climatic conditions. ‘[The] climate is changing fast and hard, that much is clear,’ said Lafleur in a letter released in August. ‘The vintages 2015, 2019, and above all 2022, were…

‘A good restaurant lives or dies by the quality of its house wine’Ronan Sayburn MS My boyfriend is thirsty and the sommelier has handed me, an oenophile, a wine list the size of an A4 box file into which I’m about to disappear as if on the beach with a good novel. This isn’t a scene from my recent life. I like to think I’ve learned a thing or two over the years and one of them is that the clock is running from the moment you pick up the wine list in a restaurant. The only exception is when eating out with a fellow wino. Then it’s fine to spend some time intricately hashing over your choices. Otherwise, it’s skates-on time. This is why I now look the wine…

Single malt Scotch has been on something of a journey over the past decade. First, rising demand and diminishing stocks led to the appearance of so-called no age statement whiskies; producers arguing that flavour was more important than a declared age statement. Out went the 10- to 21-year-old expressions and in came assemblages designed to give Master Blenders freedom to play with stocks. Now the age statement is back. And how! In the past two years, a growing number of Scotch and Irish distillers have delved into the far reaches of their warehouses to reveal something extraordinary: whiskies aged for 40, 50, 65 and even 85 years. These hyper-aged expressions have captured the imagination of collectors and connoisseurs alike, offering a window into whisky-making history. Whisky of the last century…

It may not sound politically correct, but German wine regions are still benefiting from climate change. Spätburgunder – literally translated as ‘late-ripening Burgundy’, otherwise known as Pinot Noir – is one of the main winners in the rising temperatures. Warm vintages such as 2018, 2019 and 2020 have already brought noticeable ripeness and a marked rise in quality. The 2022 vintage was another standout, with German Spätburgunder earning recognition among the world’s best. ‘The wines from the 2022 vintage in particular were outstanding today,’ said Stefan Neumann MS after tasting these 58 Spätburgunder wines. Unlike Riesling, Spätburgunder is still a ‘niche product’ in Britain, according to Mark Dearing. This is despite the fact that Germany cultivates 11,519ha of Pinot Noir, according to the Federal Statistical Office. With a total cultivation…

M&S, Etoile de Timberlay Crémant de Bordeaux Brut, France NV £10 Ocado A blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Semillon. Appealing toasty aromas of lemon tart, red apple and croissant, with a lively mousse. Airy and lifted citrus palate, with honeyed tones adding complexity and creaminess. JS Alc 12.5% Casal de Ventozela, Vento’z Alvarinho, Vinho Verde, Portugal 2024 £10 Waitrose Straightforward, bright Alvarinho. Gentle minerality and seductive aromas. Pear, peach and yellow apple coated in creamy citrus and lined with exotic, floral details. A crowdpleasing aperitif that would also work with a shrimp quiche. IS Alc 12% Cestino, Pecorino, Terre di Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy 2024 £7.65 Co-op Fragrant herbs, white peach and lychee reveal green fruit freshness on the nose and palate. Saline and crisp, this Pecorino has a solid…

La Place new campaign: muted reception Early releases of international fine wines via La Place de Bordeaux in September saw a relatively muted buyer reaction, several merchants have said. Bordeaux négociants kicked off the annual September releases campaign with superstar names, including Napa’s Opus One 2022 (97pts, Decanter; £1,410 per 6x75cl in bond, Bordeaux Index), plus SuperTuscans Masseto 2022 and Solaia 2022. It was too soon to fully judge the campaign as Decanter went to press, but Miles Davis, market expert at Vinum Fine Wines, said initial demand was relatively muted. Last year’s Opus One 2021 release sold very well in a tough market, he said. ‘This year… we’ve sold a bit [of the 2022 vintage].’ He said some buyers also pounced on new stocks of Château Haut-Brion 2014, released…

MARISA FINETTI Who? An awarded writer on food, wine and travel, Marisa was previously a grape-grower in Sonoma County, California. Her work has appeared in US lifestyle titles such as Wine Enthusiast, Full Pour and Modern Luxury, and her latest book Tiny Tales of Umbria: Madrevite’s Storybook was published in late 2024 marisafinetti.com What, & why read? Say ‘Marsala’, and wine lovers will tend to think immediately of Sicily’s famed fortified wines. But producers in the island’s west are keenly opening up a new world in which savoury dry whites and cocktails are coming to the fore, as Marisa reveals DEMET GÜZEY Who? A food and wine writer based in Verona, Demet has a PhD in food science. She lectures university courses on food and culture, the wine business and…

BUDGET CHOICE: UP TO £20 La Gioiosa, Asolo Prosecco Superiore Millesimato Brut, Veneto 2022 89 £14 Waitrose It’s worth looking out for Prosecco Superiore DOCG, which is generally drier and finer than Prosecco DOC. Located to the west of Conegliano Valdobbiadene, Asolo is a much smaller DOCG for top-quality Prosecco. The style is delicate, lacy and elegant – perfect as an aperitivo or with sushi. This vintage brut offers crystalline notes of melon, white tea, cucumber and apple blossom, with a charming interplay between chalky freshness and smooth, creamy bubbles. Drink 2025-2027 Alcohol 10.5% La Morandina, Moscato d’Asti, Piedmont 2022 91 £12.99-£14.45 Cuculo, Taurus Wines Few things are more delightful than good Moscato d’Asti DOCG, surely one of Italy’s most joyous sweet wines (not to be confused with the less…