Carménère: The Grape Presumed Extinct For 100 Years

An entire country's wine industry was selling the wrong grape for over a century, and didn't find out until a DNA test said so.

Wine From Scandinavia?

A warming climate, unusually long summer daylight, and a grape bred for exactly this problem — how Denmark, Sweden and Norway ended up making genuinely good wine.

Languedoc-Roussillon: The "New World" Wine Region Of France

France's old bulk-wine engine room reinvented itself with science and scale rather than tradition — the opposite instinct to Bordeaux and Burgundy, without leaving the country.

Does The Shape Of Your Wine Glass Actually Matter?

A little, physically, in ways you can reason about. A lot less than an eight-glass matched set would have you believe.

Why Are Wine Bottles 750ml?

Not a litre, not a pint, not a tidy fraction of anything obvious. Three competing explanations, and all three probably played a part.

Why Would You Make Wine From Rotten Grapes?

A fungus that ruins grapes in the wrong conditions concentrates them into something extraordinary in exactly the right ones.

Better than Champagne? A Guide To English Sparkling Wines

Same chalk, same grapes, same method as Champagne — just a few hundred miles north, and only ripening properly since the climate warmed up.

How Climate Affects Wine

Same grape, same winemaker, wildly different wine — just move the vineyard a few thousand miles and change the weather.

How To Order Wine At A Restaurant

The list is built to overwhelm you into pointing at something familiar. Here is how to read it properly instead.

Are Older Wines Always Better?

A vintage on the label is not an achievement by itself. For most wine ever made, ageing it is just a slow way to ruin it.

How To Read A Wine Label

Old World bottles look like they are hiding something. They are — it is just hidden in the label, in plain sight, in French.