Category: <span>ABOUT WINE</span>

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:6 April 2018

iDealwine at The City Wine Show

On Friday 13th and Saturday 14th April, iDealwine heads to the City Wine Show in London. This event in the heart of the city is a great opportunity to chat with producers from all over the world. We’ll have our own stand too so be sure to come and say hi! With delicious wines open to try, you’ll want to pay a visit to the iDealwine stand! Come and have a taste of the magnificent Château Haut Marbuzet 1996 or the Domaine du Tunnel Cornas 2014. We’ll also be pouring: Bret Brothers Pouilly-Vinzelles…

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:6 April 2018

Champagne exports in 2017: a record year

The Comité Champagne (Comité interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne) has announced that Champagne has set a new record for turnover in 2017, with sales reaching €4.9 billion. This strong progression has been fuelled by a growing international market and a subsequent increase in exports. Last week the trade association Comité Champagne revealed the impressive Champagne sales figures for 2017. At €4.9 billion, 2017 has been a hugely successful year for Champagne producers. This is thanks mainly to an increase in exports which registered a 6.6% rise compared to 2016. The Comité Champagne also…

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:5 April 2018

RECORD: German Riesling from Egon Müller fetches €12,160 at auction

It’s record after record here at iDealwine! First, we saw a bottle of Hermitage Cuvée Cathelin from Domaine Chave go for an impressive €8,512 at auction. This time, it was the exceptional Trockenbeerenauslese 1976 from Egon Muller that reached new heights: this German Riesling was cinched by a Chinese wine enthusiast for €12,160. Egon Muller’s superbly light sweet wines have become renowned for their finesse to the extent that they are now prized the world over. This domain has remained in the family since it was first founded in 1797. Jean-Jacques Koch’s (Egon…

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:6 March 2018

Champagne: all change at Pol Roger

The current cellar master at renowned Champagne house Pol Roger, Dominique Petit, will retire next month, his shoes being filled by former director of the Goutte d’Or cooperative, Damien Cambres. Dominique Petit’s roots are in Champagne and his father, grandfather and great grandfather were all winemakers. It’s little surprise therefore that Petit became such a talented cellar master. Since his birth in 1954, Petit has lived in the little village of Verzy in the Reims Mountain. Receiving his oenology degree at the age of 23, he then started working at Maison Krug, where…

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:5 March 2018

Les Vignes de Paradis, a Savoie domain that goes against the grain

Dominique Lucas has a 7.5 hectares plot in Haute-Savoie. In an effort to keep his freedom, he has ventured into biodynamics and rid himself of the constraints that come with making appellation wine. We were itching to know more about why this Burgundian decided to call Savoie his home… The domain is a stone’s throw from Thonon-les-Bains, south of Lac Léman near the Swiss border. The vines are situated in three appellations: Crépy, Marignan and Marin. Dominique Lucas made the decision to downgrade to the ‘IGP’ (Indication géographique protégée) ‘Vin des Allobroges’, a…

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:26 February 2018

The fabulous destiny of Château Lafite Rothschild

You don't need to be a wine buff to know that Château Lafite has quite the reputation. Once the tipple of choice of Louis XIV, this illustrious cru now welcomes in a new tandem to take over the reins in 2018. We take a look at the history of this prestigious domain... Where it all began The Lafite seigneury (in Gascony "la hite" means “mound”) dates back to the 13th century and hails originally from the north-west of Pauillac. Here the estate produced wheat and wine across their 110 hectares in Milon, Loubeyres, Anseillan and Pauillac. During…

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:23 February 2018

Vineyards of the world: South Africa, Australia, New Zealand

Wines from South Africa Although vine cultivation has a much longer history in this country, the wines of South Africa rose to world fame thanks to Klein Constantia, the wine drunk by Napoleon during his exile on St. Helena. However, the country's vineyards have endured many hardships since then. Firstly, because of the commercial embargo as a result of apartheid; and secondly, because of a national fall in wine consumption. The wine industry has succeeded in its move upmarket, and South Africa has regained its previous status. The country's vineyards are located mainly…

Post author:iDealwine
Post published:19 February 2018

Vineyards of the world: US, Chile and Argentina

If there's one area where the French can't claim the grass is greener elsewhere, it has to be wine. And yet there are some fabulous wine regions all around the world. The problem is, it's always hard to know where to start. So come with us, and let iDealwine take you on a guided tour of the world. It's a simple fact that the vineyards of France are full of hidden gems, and a single lifetime isn't long enough to discover them all. So we'll have to plead guilty to not being exhaustively…