Issue 82 2023 CONTENTS
Features
108 FACE TO FACE FEDERICO GRAZIANI COUPS DE FOUDRE How did the child of an accountant and a shopkeeper from Ravenna become a champion sommelier in London and a leading winemaker on Mt Etna? Margaret Rand discovers and shares his story.
114 BURGUNDY PORTRAIT MARC-OLIVIER BUFFET Jon Wyand photographs the winemaker at his domaine in Volnay.
116 FERMENT RENDER UNTO CAESAR THE THINGS THAT ARE CAESAR’S The transformation of top Burgundy into an investment vehicle is all but complete. But, in the more affordable wines offered by less celebrated winemakers, villages, and crus, there’s hope—and value for money—for savvy drinkers yet, says Roy Richards.
120 ASSYRTIKO: A GREAT GREEK GRAPE COMES OF AGE Both on and (increasingly) off its original volcanic island home of Santorini in the Cyclades, the Assyrtiko grape variety makes ripe, razor-sharp dry whites as good as top Burgundy and Riesling, says Panos Kakaviatos, who picks out some of the best of these spine-tingling modern classic wines.
128 SINGLE-QUINTA VINTAGE PORT: 100 PERCENT TERROIR Much more than second-best wines from lesser vintages, single-quinta Vintage Ports are the Douro’s ultimate expression of place, says Axel Probst, who reviews some exceptional bottlings from a range of vintages.
134 A WORD TO THE WINES: TOWARD A LITERATURE OF TASTING Inspired by his belief that the experience of tasting wine is more complex than conventional modern tasting notes can encompass, Terry Theise considers, via encounters with some of his favorite wines, a “phenomenology of wine.”
150 VERAISON LES DEUX COLS: TWO AND A HALF IRISHMEN Raymond Blake on the romance and reality of a collaboration that began as a partnership between French sommelier Charles Derain and wine distributor Simon Tyrrell in Dublin and, after the addition of a third partner, Dublin merchant Gerard Maguire, is now producing increasingly refined wines in the Rhône Valley.
154 ALBION AWAKES THE GRANGE: BARING UP WITH HAMPSHIRE SPARKLE A multitalented family have moved into wine on their estate in a beautiful corner of Hampshire. Margaret Rand visits an exciting young project which is already producing some world-class sparkling wines.
8 | THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 82 | 2023
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