Andrew Jefford is one of the world’s most prolific and seasoned wine writers. Read Vino Venture’s 2016 interview in this link to the Wine Scholar Guild website.
Category: Wine Education
The Answer is 33. What is the Question?
How many Grand Cru vineyards are there in Bourgogne? The answer is not as straightforward as you might think!
Book Review: Passion for Wine
Book review: Passion for Wine (The French Ideal and the American Dream) by Jean-Charles Boisset and Marnie Old.
Iconic Italian Wine Regions
A short guide to the top wines of Tuscany and Piedmont, plus help navigating Italian wine labels!
Barbaresco vs. Barolo: What’s the Difference?
Learn how to compare similarities and differences between the Nebbiolo-based premium wines of Barolo and Barbaresco.
Italian Wine Labels
What’s actually in the bottle? Does the wine label tell you the place, the grape, or both? Demystify the various ways Italian wine labels explain the product within.
What Makes a Super Tuscan?
There were “Super Tuscans” even before the term was coined in the 1970s to explain and classify the blending of native with international varieties. Bolgheri is best known as home to Ornellaia (featured here), Sassicaia, and other big-name brands.
Touring Southwest France: A Hidden Treasure
In this third and final piece about Southwest France, my goal is simple: introduce you to the little-known quality wine appellations that comprise the discontinuous set of AOCs known collectively as Southwest France, and inspire you to experience these surprisingly good, reasonably priced, wines on your own. Here are links to the first two stories about Southwest…
Traditional Southwest France: Malbec and Tannat
Political History The political history of wine in Bordeaux explains in part why the appellations of Southwest France’s “high country” are hidden in its popular shadow. At times called Gascogne (including Béarn) and Aquitaine, today Southwest France is called l’Occitainie administratively. Bordeaux was controlled by England from 1154 to 1453. This period proved to be…
Southwest France: Diverse by Design?
Southwest France (Sud Oest) is best known for what it isn’t. Frankly, and unfortunately, it’s not widely recognized at all. With an accompanying eye-roll, I must report that many people have asked me – quite genuinely – “where is Southwest France?”! Let’s get positioned on the map. Sud Oest is the deepest rural France, la…