Bordeaux Basics
Ask nearly anyone in France where the best wines in the world are made and they will say, “France. ” Except for two groups of people who will give you a different answer. 1.
Curious Wine Chatter
Curious Small Sips #27: Abruzzo
Abruzzo lies between the Adriatic Sea and the Apennines in the cradle of the two massifs of the Gran Sasso d’Italia and the Majella. The land can be roughly divided into two areas: the mountainous interior, which constitutes over 65% of the entire regional territory and the coastal region.
Curious Small Sips #26: Casablanca Valley
The Casablanca Valley is an important wine growing region situated between Santiago and the port of Valparaiso and is officially part of the Acongagua region of Chile, although the wines are very different here than in the northern vineyards.
Curious Small Sips #25: Sangiovese
This ancient variety dating back to the Etruscan era is Italy’s most planted grape and is particularly common in Tuscany in Central Italy, down to Campania and Sicily in the South.
Curious Small Sips #23: Wine Lake
It sounds idyllic doesn’t it? Who wouldn’t want a dip in an antioxidant-rich body of violet-tinged Cabernet Sauvignon or slightly sparkling Chenin Blanc? Alas, the real wine lake is actually far less glamorous than that and won’t offer any anti-ageing solutions.
The New Classics: Why the Rheingau Riesling is Always in Style
During the late 19th century you would be hard pressed to find a more expensive or highly regarded bottle of wine outside of Bordeaux’s classed growths than that of the Rieslings of Rheingau.
The Art of Ageing Gracefully – Rioja Style
Most people will have tasted Rioja, a wine made in both red and white styles from the regions of La Rioja, Navarre and the Basque province of Alava. It is a region with a large geographical, geological and climatic diversity with a length of about 100km and a width of 50km.
Spotlight on Bodegas Pinoso
Bodegas Pinoso stands in the town of Pinoso, about 56 km west of the city of Alicante, southern Spain. Pinoso is a mountainous, traditional Spanish town renowned for production of rock salt, marble and, of course, fine wine.
Ten Years of the Mad Hairy Fella
One of our most iconic wines, I first met El Gorú, not tramping the rocky, Mars-like terrain of Jumilla as I'd prefer to when wine sourcing, but running out the door of Prowein, Europe's biggest wine show, in 2013.
Wine on tap: new 3 litre bag in box organic Tempranillo
Most of you will be familiar with the bag in box concept, that staple of festivals and student life back in the day where you had plonk on tap in an easy to carry package.
So you think you know (New Zealand) Sauvignon?
Although it feels like the 70s only happened twenty years ago it might come as a surprise to learn it is actually closer to fifty years ago (proving that you are older than you think).
Wine Made by Women — meet the pioneering female winemakers in Rueda, Aragon, Bardolino and Champagne who are changing the landscape.
International Women’s day is a perfect opportunity to celebrate the successes and achievements of a number of brilliant women at the helm of innovative, sustainable and design-led premium wine estates.
Enter the stylish world of organic Veneto winemakers, Terre dei Buth.
Veneto winery Terre dei Buth, purveyor of organic, vegan, fresh and fruity Prosecco, and elegant Pinot Grigio, is making a splash with a strong, clean design aesthetic and a genuine environmental sensibility. These factors combined make it one of a growing number of sustainable wine estates to watch.
How do you solve a problem like Sylvaner? (Clue: it might involve superstar premium Rheinhessen winery Bischel)
At the beginning of Argentinian French novelist Julio Florencio Cortázar’s experimental novel 62 Modelo para Armar, the protagonist and intellectual, Juan, asks himself the question ‘And why did I ask for a bottle of Sylvaner?’ You might wonder why indeed, as it seems like an inauspicious ..
Digging for buried treasure in Piedmont with Bosio Family Estate’s Barbera blend, ‘Truffle Hunter’.
What is it about the mysterious tuber-like truffle that seems so luxurious compared to its more pedestrian cousin, the humble mushroom? The truffle belongs to that top-tier of niche culinary curiosities which also includes famously rare delicacies such as Beluga caviar, Iberico ham and Foie gras.
Drinking Wine in Rioja with Enrique Paternina & Carlos Serres
In the town of Haro, in Spain’s famous La Rioja region, lies a historic region often described as Haro’s ‘open air’ museum where at almost every corner you are greeted by bronze and stone statues depicting traditional trades.
Careful now: it’s wine but not as we know it
I met a mate yesterday for an old catch up and chat about business and family and other things. He 'confessed' to picking up a bottle of red wine in one of the low cost German supermarkets last week. "It was their cheapest bottle", he told me, "I was just Curious to try it".
Exclusive 1970s Rioja Gran Reserva Release
Probably the most exciting release and buying opportunity we’ve had the privilege to present in our 13 years in business. Bodegas Corral is the winery behind Don Jacobo, the Rioja wines a lot of you are familiar with from the last year or so since we started importing and distributing them.
Los Corrales de Moncalvillo and the curious tale of the Maturana Tinta of Navarrete
This is the sort of wine we exist for and precisely why we aspiringly named ourselves Curious Wines back in 2008. This is Maturana Tinta de Navarrete, a grape deemed lost to history until modern testing revealed it to be unique and unrelated to anything else grown in Rioja.
The beautiful hill (and wines) of Colli Orientali del Friuli
Colli Orientali del Friuli (free-oo-lee) is the most renowned DOC in the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region of north-east Italy, its calcareous and sandstone soils combined with Alpine geography and altitudes making it capable of producing world class white wines and some of the very best in Italy.
Taste the Gravels: the new world classics of Hawke’s Bay
The last of the new finds for this year, from one of the world's furthest wine outposts (well from Cork anyway) and New Zealand's oldest winegrowing region, Hawke's Bay.
L'Ecriture Terrasses du Larzac – in 30+ Michelin starred restaurants!
Le Mas de l’Ecriture ('ecriture' means 'scripture'), run by Pascal Fulla (who enjoyed 20 years as a 'juriste', or legal expert, before, in a carpe diem moment, turning to wine) and his daughter Lea, is situated in the south of France, a short drive from Montpellier.
Finding the Holy Grail
In search of the grailWE OFTEN TALK IN CURIOUS about finding the grail in wine terms - those wines that look great, massively over-deliver for their price point, and give us something resembling a religious experience on drinking.
Bleasdale's Aussie vineyards welcome winter flooding!
Hotker gushes over timely floods(Dispatch from South Oz: weather update via Bleasdale Winemaker Paul Hotker. )Hi Curious!Hope all is well and you’re enjoying summer. We’re having an excellent winter and have had the best floods for years.