Grapes & Corks

16/11/2025

Photo taken on a wine tour a few weeks ago of the Sancerre vineyards in their Autumn glory with the town of Sancerre in the distance. blanc

15/11/2025

A wonderful tribute to a great wine maker who almost single- handedly raised the appellation Pouilly-Fumé to new heights.

Hommage au petit prince du vin, au regretté Didier Dagueneau. Vigneron surdoué et personnalité hors norme, il fut le premier à faire confiance à LOTEL DU VIN...

08/11/2025

Harvest time at the Domaine de la Romanée Conti in Burgundy

Aubert de Villaine nous accueille au domaine de la Romanée-Conti pour suivre les vendanges et la vinification du plus mythique vin de Bourgogne … Une visite ...

16/10/2025

It's not only the Pinot Noir varietal that makes age-worthy wines in Burgundy. Was it good? You bet. Still felt youthful so I will try the second bottle in 10 years' time.

24/09/2025

That is one hell of a wine! No wonder Raveneau's wines are so highly prized. All silky fruit and intense minerality. How does he do it?

15/09/2025

A naturally sparkling wine from one of my favorite estates in Sancerre, Domaine Fousassier. Highly recommend trying this delightfully fresh and fruity wine. And even if you are not a great fan of effervescent wines, this one may just make you change your mind!
Pét-nats are sparkling wines made in a manner that predates the “traditional method” used in Champagne. Rather than induce a second fermentation in the bottle to create the bubbles, as Champagne producers do, makers of pét-nat simply bottle the wine before the initial fermentation has ended. The result is slightly fizzy, sometimes lightly sweet from residual grape sugars, usually hazy with unfiltered yeast particles, and clean and precise.
Though this approach to making fizzy wine originated in southwestern France in the 1500s, these wines can be made from any grape variety.

31/05/2025

What a treat! An extraordinary 1990 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains signed Domaine Brocard. Beautiful to behold with a rich golden robe and a distinguished subtle nose of mushrooms, dried fruit and nuts backed by an ever so slight oxidative whiff. Very mouth-filling with surprisingly good acidity for a white wine of this age and a remarkable salinity on the finish. The guests won't forget this one in a hurry!

17/03/2025

For all you Burgundy wine lovers here's a rare one. A deliciously thirst-quenching pinot from the region's northernmost wine-growing district, the Jovinien. This Côte Saint-Jacques from the superb south/south-east facing slopes overlooking the riverside town of Joigny, is signed Alain Vignot. The soils are predominately clay with a high percentage of flint. This 'cuvée' is hand picked, and then half the the wine is raised in oak of different ages and half in stainless steel vats before being blended and bottled. The wine boasts loveLy aromas of ripe red fruit such as raspberries and cherries; and just a hint of smokiness (perhaps the flint?). The wines from this vineyard can typically age from 5 to 10 years, according to the vintage. The 2023 which I sampled was already drinking well but could probably go another 5 to 7 years easily.

07/03/2025

29/01/2025

2 for the price of one. Natural w**d control and natural fertiliser at the same time!

15/01/2025

Démarrage du projet viti-foresterie au domaine Brocard : 30 000 arbres plantés d’ici 2030 !
Les premiers 4000 arbres ont été plantés sur une parcelle de bourgogne chardonnay. 🌳
L’agroforesterie en viticulture, fréquemment appelé viti-foresterie, est une pratique agricole durable qui consiste à la plantation d’arbres au cœur des vignes afin de recréer des réseaux de vie.🌳🌱💧🐝🐛🐌

Ces réseaux permettent aux arbres et aux vignes de communiquer, de partager des ressources et même de s’entraider. Ils favorisent également la biodiversité en fournissant des habitats écologiques pour une multitude d’espèces. Ce qui amène de la diversité dans une aire d’appellation de monoculture et favorise la dynamique du vivant.
Grâce à leurs racines profondément ancrées, les arbres jouent un rôle crucial dans la régulation de l’eau de notre écosystème.
Ils protègent les parcelles contre l’érosion éolienne en ralentissant le vent. L’érosion solaire sera gérée par des couverts végétaux.
Start of the viti-forestry project at the Brocard estate: 30,000 trees planted by 2030!
The first 4000 trees were planted on a plot of Burgundy Chardonnay.🌳

Agroforestry in viticulture, frequently called viti-forestry, is a sustainable agricultural practice that consists of planting trees in the heart of vineyards in order to recreate networks of life.🌳🌱💧🐝🐛🐌

These networks allow trees and vines to communicate, share resources and even help each other. They also promote biodiversity by providing ecological habitats for a multitude of species. This brings diversity in a monoculture appellation area and promotes the dynamics of life.

Thanks to their deeply rooted roots, trees play a crucial role in regulating the water of our ecosystem.

They protect the plots against wind erosion by slowing the wind. Solar erosion will be managed by plant covers.