Enjoying wine – Page 30 – Le blog iDealwine

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:5 April 2018

The principle grape varieties of France | Part 1: Bordeaux

Welcome to the iDealwine guide to the grape varieties of France! We’ll take you on a tour of all the finest French winemaking regions, explaining the key differences between the most commonly found grapes and their specific characteristics, with a little bit of history thrown in too. First stop, the legendary vineyards of Bordeaux. Petrus, Château Margaux, Château Mouton-Rothschild, Château d’Yquem… These domains are emblematic of this great region. Bordeaux is the second biggest winemaking region after the Languedoc-Roussillon and is divided into three different areas stretching across the Garonne and the Dordogne…

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:27 March 2018

Champagne: the sublime camouflages of Lui Bolin for Ruinart

Source: Maison Ruinart Champagne house Ruinart has collaborated with Chinese artist Liu Bolin for the 2018 instalment of its yearly art project and has unveiled a new collection of limited edition coffrets (wooden Champagne boxes) for their flagship Blanc de Blancs cuvée. To compliment the project, a series of photographic works were also released that centre around the camouflage of the artist. Take a closer look at these vines and you’ll see Chinese artist Liu Bolin and Ruinart’s cellar master Frédéric Panaïotis emerge out of the foliage. Founded in 1729, Ruinart is the…

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:7 February 2018

The 2016 vintage in France (part 2)

Following our round up of the 2016 vintage in the northern regions of France, this week we will be focusing on the southern regions including Bordeaux, the Rhône, the Languedoc, Roussillon, Provence and Corsica. Bordeaux Left bank reds: 19/20 Right bank reds: 17/20 Dry whites: 16/20 Sweet whites: 16/20 2016 was a vintage of contrasts in Bordeaux. Many different climatic conditions came together to make this vintage all in all quite difficult. The weather in the first part of the year was (too) humid and the region saw 850mm of rainfall during this…

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:6 February 2018

What do you and Churchill have in common?

If you’re an oenophile, you might find that you have more in common than you think with the late Prime Minister… What with the release of Joe Wright’s latest film Darkest Hour (a must see!), we thought we’d spare a moment to reflect upon that true love of Sir Winston Churchill: no, not Mrs Churchill, but rather Champagne. In our favourite scene of the film, Churchill is asked what he is going to do now that he has been elected. His response? “Drink a glass of Pol Roger”. Quite right too Prime Minister!…

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:26 January 2018

Mixed case of 2010 Romanée-Conti goes for €36,723 at auction

A case of Romanée-Conti Grands Crus sold for €36,723 at auction at iDealwine on 18th January, a sale that sees a price increase of 30% for each wine. This case included some of the most sought-after wines from the legendary Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in Vosne-Romanée. This lot started the New Year off in style and sets the tone for 2018 auctions. No doubt the vintage of these wines affected the price enormously as 2010 is now being considered one of the strongest in France, especially in Burgundy. 2010 produced high quality wines…

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:26 January 2018

The 2016 vintage in France (part 1)

It’s here! The long awaited 2016 vintage is starting to appear on the shelves and, apart from having to endure a few freaks of nature, it was another good year in keeping with the excellent 2015 This week we are focusing on how the northern French regions fared from Alsace, Jura, Savoy and Burgundy to Beaujolais, Champagne and the Loire Valley. Alsace Dry whites: 16/20 Sweet wines: 14/20 Reds: 15/20 2016 will go down in history as an as unusual year, particularly concerning the staggering of the harvest from mid-September until the beginning…

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:18 November 2017

Champagne Roederer: exceptional tasting discovering the Cristal Vinothèque

The Roederer house organized a few days ago a breath taking vertical tasting of several vintages of the Cristal cuvée, in white and rosé. At the centre, the latest creation of the smart cellar master Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon: Cristal Vinothèque 1995, a wine aged for 20 years in the cellars of the house. A legendary moment, enhanced by a lunch concocted by chef Thierry Marx at the Mandarin Oriental. And with the complicity of the brilliant chef sommelier David Biraud to ensure a service of wines in perfect conditions. The opportunity to revive the…

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:30 October 2017

Natural wine, Isabelle Legeron MW

Today "natural" wines are moving things and divide connoisseurs. Yet, these wines have their share of mystery. What is basically a natural wine? Isabelle Legeron’s approach is, in this respect, very interesting. This Master of Wine went in the domains, in the fields to lead the investigation: in the light of her tastings and meetings in the French vineyard and around the world, she reports in this book her journey and provides an independent and convinced perspective. Master of Wine Isabelle Legeron is above all a natural wine lover. That's why she wanted…

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:26 October 2017

Alcohol easing foreign language conversations

Who hasn’t already felt a little more comfortable speaking a foreign language over a drink? It seems that with moderate consumption, science validates this hypothesis. Alcohol helping you to speak a foreign language? This is what Dutch researchers have tried to prove. First of all, don’t worry; we are talking about small quantities of alcohol, of course: this study was conducted with people who had consumed a pint of beer or two glasses of wine. The idea was clearly not to make them drunk, which has rather the opposite effect on your fluency…

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:13 October 2017

2015 wine: great scores for Northern French regions

The long-awaited 2015 wine announced as exceptional, is now bottled, and can be bought. To guide you through your purchases, iDealwine reviews the situation region by region. And we start with the vineyards from the north of the hexagon, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Champagne, Alsace, Jura and Savoie. Red Burgundies at the top Like almost everywhere in France, in 2015, Burgundy benefited from good weather conditions. The tone was set in spring: the vintage will be precocious. Flowering took place early June, announcing grape harvest late August and early September. A year also marked by…