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    People: Producer
    Elderton Wines

    Meet the Ashmeads: Barossa royalty & rise of Elderton Wines

    Although its original vineyard was planted 130 years ago it wasn’t until 1980 that Elderton Wines really started – when a real estate agent offered Neal and Lorraine Ashmead 72 acres of vineyard for free if they bought the farmhouse. Having brought the vines back from the brink, the couple won Australia’s top wine trophy 10 years later and have never looked back. Now under the ownership of sons Cameron and Allister, Elderton is on an ambitious growth programme, changing the style of the wines, and looking to invest in its future. The good news is that the wines are back in the UK. Peter Dean caught up with Cameron and tasted through the new vintages.

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    Amarone

    Justin Keay on Amarone’s future in the face of changing tastes

    Valpolicella is another wine region that has started listening to the changes in consumer taste – from making big, bold extracted wines with immense concentration and alcohol, to wines with greater elegance and finesse. So how are producers changing style and what does this mean not only for Valpolicella but also the future of one of Italy’s greatest red wines, Amarone? Justin Keay talks to Stefano Cesari owner of Brigaldara and also discovers the part that expanded production in the region and how it is having a detrimental effect.

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    sardinia wow

    Why Sardinia’s winemaking scene deserves more attention

    Sardinia, best known for blue seas, white sandy beaches and unlike the UK right now, warm sunshine. Located 150 miles off the west coast of Italy, Sardinia is the second biggest island in the Mediterranean. At around 9,300 square miles ‘Sardegna’ as the locals say is just fractionally smaller than Italy’s famous southern island, Sicily. Here Abbie Bennington reports on the exciting new wine and food scene on the island and a growing winemaking community. 

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    Gérard Bertrand

    Gérard Bertrand, a winter pruning celebration and Vanina the mule

    Pruning 4 million vines across 2,420 acres is the task set for the vignerons at Gérard Bertrand’s Languedoc empire. We travel to the city of Narbonne to see how they do it with the aid of seven mules, get the lowdown behind the world’s most expensive rosé and hear from the man himself, both his philosophy of winemaking and also why he had to tell rugby legend Tendai Mtawarira of South Africa, aka ‘The Beast’ to stop calling him on the phone.

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    Sicily

    Best of new Sicily: Montecarrubo, Planeta, Feudo Maccari & Giasira

    Most wine buyers know that Sicily is one of the most exciting wine regions in Italy right now. If they don’t they should, argues Geoffrey Dean who visits Montecarrubo, Planeta, Feudo Maccari, Giasira and Zisola to discover a range of exciting wines, 10 of which he highlights for your list. Whilst in Sicily Dean meets up with wine aristocracy in the form of Peter Vinding-Diers and Alessio Planeta who was named winemaker of 2023 by Wine Enthusiast.

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    Sugrue South Downs

    The rebirth of Dermot Sugrue – Britain’s finest winemaker

    With the purchase of Bee Tree Vineyard in East Sussex, new financial backers and a whole range of new projects afoot, 2024 will be the year that Sugrue South Downs will finally and indelibly be put on the map. Run and co-owned by Ana and Dermot Sugrue – the most famous and finest winemaker in the history of English winemaking – the team are turning their backs on contract winemaking and concentrating on their own portfolio which will include Dermot’s first still wine, a Pinot Noir from Essex fruit, a first Blancs de Noirs, a gin and a perpetual reserve with an undisclosed gameplan called Bonkers. But first, there’s the no-small matter of expanding a very muddy building site into a fully-functioning winery.

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    Duca di Salaparuta

    Duca di Salaparuta and the renaissance of Sicily’s viticulture

    Celebrating its 200th anniversary next year Duca di Salaparuta is a major wine producer on Sicily which embodies this island’s variety of terroir, indigenous grape varieties and styles of wine, and is a key part of Sicily’s viticultural renaissance. Duca di Salaparuta is owned by the Reina family, the largest private wine group on the island, and comprises two wineries and three unique estates across the island, with a range of exciting wines as Justin Keay discovered when he visited wine fair Assovini Sicilia and had a tasting with the domaine’s winemaker Barbara Tamburini.

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    Maurizio Lunetta, Director of Etna DOC and his partner Margriet own Casale 120

    The best way of selling Nerello Mascalese from Etna DOC

    In an era where the fervour for terroir-driven wines shows no signs of waning, the site-sensitive Nerello Mascalese, cultivated on the ever-changing terroir surrounding Europe’s largest active volcano, Mount Etna, continues to captivate wine enthusiasts. With its somewhat challenging pronunciation and intricate terroirs, selling Nerello Mascalese to average consumers doesn’t appear to be a straightforward task. During a recent visit to Sicily for the ‘Etna Day 2023’ event, Leona De Pasquale spoke with Maurizio Lunetta, the director of the Consorzio Tutela Vini Etna DOC, to find out how it’s done.

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    chateau clarke 1

    Château Clarke captures Edmond de Rothschild’s global strategy

    The Listrac-Medoc is one of the smaller and less renown Bordeaux appellations and home to Château Clarke that is celebrating its 50th birthday by having a €18 million facelift funded by its owners Baron Edmond de Rothschild and the Edmond de Rothschild Heritage group. The results speak for themselves and put the estate in a position to fully maximise the potential of its land and the Rothschild name, according to Boris Bréau, managing director of Edmond de Rothschild Heritage Wines, who tells Abbie Bennington the work being done at Château Clarke reflects the strategy of the group at all its estates around the world.

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    las vegas grand prix

    Las Vegas was toast of Ferrari Trento’s Formula 1 sponsorship  

    Whatever happens in the race one thing is for sure the Ferrari name will be celebrating on the winners’ podium at this weekend’s inaugural Las Vegas Formula 1 Grand Prix. The event is arguably the pinnacle of the Lunelli Group’s bold decision to partner with Formula 1 and have its Ferrari Trento sparkling wine as the “toast” for every Grand Prix held around the word. Here Abigail Bennington sits down with the Camilla Lunelli, the producer’s head of communications, to look back on how the sponsorship has gone, and reflects on another major deal – the signing of Champagne  winemaker, Cyril Brun to the group.

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    vilafonte series c

    Vilafonté’s 21 year tasting shows future of South African fine wine

    South Africa is rightly praised and respected around the world for how far its wines have come in the last 20 years, but it is still not seen as a major fine wine producing country. Vilafonté is looking to change that. A high-end South African wine brand, based on premium Bordeaux-style blends that, in its own words, has “an uncompromising determination to produce wines which stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the great wines of the world”. To help prove the point, and to set the scene for the imminent release of the 2021 vintage, it recently held a 21-year vertical tasting of every vintage of Vilafonté Series C all the way back to 2003 at a special event in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The invited tasters could go at their own pace, aided and abetted by head winemaker, Chris de Vries. Malu Lambert was one of those invited to attend and here she catches up with Mike Ratcliffe, one of the co-founders and lead champion of the Vilafonté brand, where they discuss ancient terroir, new irrigation technologies, the state of fine wine in South Africa, and his 100-year plan.

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    family moutarde

    How Lanchester Wines & Famille Moutard forged a family alliance

    A heritage Champagne producer with a history of family ownership dating back to the 17th century and a County Durham-based wine business, established in its founders’ front room 40 years ago, might not – at first glance – seem to have much in common, but a meeting at ProWein between Famille Moutard and Lanchester Wines has inspired a new partnership, built on a shared family ethos, which promises to surprise and delight in equal measure, with a distinctive and different range of top end Champagnes and on trend Pet Nats, as David Kermode reports.

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    calvados apples

    World Calvados Week: what to know about apples & Calvados 

    As spirits go Calvados is as sustainable as they come as it only requires apples, water and bees for pollination. A drink that stretches back to the 16th century from the rolling hills of Normandy, France, where apple orchards stretch as far as the eye can see and wooden barrels await to turn those bountiful apple harvests into Calvados, the world’s favourite apple brandy. As we look to celebrate World Calvados Week here’s what you need to know about what Calvados is all about. 

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    Château D’Esclans

    How Whispering Angel’s Château d’Esclans hopes to own premium

    There have been many estates in recent years that have tried to push rosé into the premium category, but few have been as successful as Château D’Esclans, Sacha Lichine’s Provence estate that is in the final throes of a takeover by LVMH. To try and unravel some of the secrets of its success, both with Whispering Angel and its super-premium wines including Rock Angel, Château D’Esclans, Les Clans and Garrus, The Buyer’s Victor Smart travelled to St Tropez to meet up with global marketing director Paul Chevalier and taste and rate the new wines.

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    Last year's Les Grands Chais de France tasting allowed the group to show its extensive range of wines to buyers in one location

    How Les Grands Chais is a one stop shop for France & worldwide

    Les Grands Chais de France certainly lives up to its name when you consider it has producers and vineyards in every major region of France and can supply buyers with every possible style of French wine. But it does not tell the full story. For this is a still very much a family business that is becoming a “Grands” player in an increasing number of countries around the world, including South Africa, Chile, Spain, Germany and Hungary. Here we talk to Chris Davies, UK sales director for the on-trade and independents, about how it hopes to bring all aspects of Les Grands Chais de France to what is its third Private Wine Day and a chance to wines from across its growing portfolio in London on October 17.

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    tue rita winery

    How Tua Rita is taking Super Tuscan wines to another level 

    It’s nearly 40 years since the Tua Rita brand and estate was founded on the back of just two hectares of vineyards in the heart of Tuscany. It’s now in a position that it has to release its wines en primeur into key markets around the world – most noticeably the UK through Armit Wines – as demand for its high 90+ Super Tuscan wines increases every year. Richard Siddle talks to owner Stefano Frascolla about how far Tua Rita has come and what he hopes its wines can offer the premium on-trade in the years ahead.

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    Lageder

    Visiting magical Alois Lageder, Bibendum’s Südtirol gem

    Finding unique wines with a story to tell is the meat and drink of the on-trade. Few, though, are as good as Bibendum, argues Lisse Garnett, in unearthing idiosyncratic winemakers who like to push boundaries to the limit. To prove the point, the importer invited Garnett to visit one of the many jewels in its crown – the 13th Century estate of Alois Lageder, who is making biodynamic mountain wines in the fairytale world of Alto Adige, complete with Alpine cows in the vineyards and barrels of wine being played the music of Bach, from a wind-powered sound system no less.

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    biologist ukraine 1

    How Ukraine’s Biologist winery was inspired by biodynamics

    Inspired by tasting Michel Chapoutier’s biodynamic wine at ProWein in 2019, Ukrainian winemaker Ihor Petrenko set out to make his own biodynamic wines at the Biologist winery close to Kyiv. He has followed a hard but hugely rewarding winemaking journey since. His conversion to biodynamics is a story that is also the inspiration for this award winning article by Victoria Makarova in the biodynamics category in the WebWineWriting competition organised by Hungarianwine.eu. A story we are pleased to share for you on The Buyer. 

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    mossman horse

    How reviving Chile’s old vines has been a force for good

    The world over winemakers are increasingly turning to the benefits of working with old vines helped enormously by the research, insights and leadership of initiatives like the Old Vine Project in South Africa and the Old Vine Conference. One of these winemaking pioneers is Derek Mossman Knapp and his Garage Wine Co in Maule in Southern Chile who is taking the old vine movement one step further by not just reviving old vineyards, but doing so in a way that ensures the local rural community also has a long term source of sustainable income. He explains to Richard Siddle why working hand-in-hand with old vines and local communities are ineluctably entwined. 

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    Galoupet

    Can LVMH make sustainability a lure in selling Galoupet rosé ?

    ‘The new luxury’ is the tack being taken by LVMH to make sustainability synonymous with desirability – ensuring that its luxury goods will be lapped up by eco-savvy millennials. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the thinking behind Galoupet, the ultra-premium Provence rosé brand it acquired four years ago. Victor Smart travelled to rosé country, talks to managing director Nadine Fau-Santucci about the changes since the buy-out and samples both the new 2022 vintage and the just-pressed juice of the 2023 wine.

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