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Australia's most well-known winery releases the final edition in the multi-vintage G series. Wine chief Peter Gago tells us why there won’t be another.

The post Make room in your cellar for the most collectible wine this year, the Penfolds G5 appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Australia's most well-known winery releases the final edition in the multi-vintage G series. Wine chief Peter Gago tells us why there won’t be another.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

A respected and renowned connoisseur, Grégoire Verdin is the global brand ambassador, associate vice president of tastings and marketing of Sula Vineyards. Growing up in the French countryside of Burgundy, he has been close to nature and believes that the earth deserves to be preserved – a thought that resonates very closely for Sula Vineyards […]

Are you a wine connoisseur who appreciates a relaxing weekend at scenic vineyards? Or are you fascinated by the delicate processes that go into making your favourite glass of vino?

If so, we have curated a list of the world’s most exclusive wine destinations to plan your next trip. These vineyards are not only renowned for their reds, whites, sparkling, and rosé, but also for their picturesque estates nestled among rolling hills and lush green valleys.

Since it is not the best time to travel right now owing to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, you can bookmark these places for a future adventure.

Most stunning vineyards in the world -

Montes Wines, Chile

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Located in the heart of picturesque Apalta, the Montes estate was designed using the principles of Feng Shui. Their goal is to produce luxury wines while being socially responsible, protecting the biodiversity in the region and supporting the local community. Viña Montes offers tours to explore the vineyards, and while there, we highly recommend dining at the Fuegos de Apalta restaurant (operated by one of Argentina’s most famous chefs, Francis Mallmann), located in the middle of the estate. Guests can also try their Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon, the first wine they created here, which was also recognised as the first premium wine from Chile. Fun fact: You can also spot llamas and sheep grazing in their Marchigüe vineyards.

Find out more here

Montes S.A., Apalta Winery, Parcela 15 - Millahue de Apalta, Santa Cruz – Chile

Sula Vineyards, India

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Sula Vineyards is located in the grape capital of India, Nasik, where 80 percent of the country’s wine is produced. They produce one of India’s finest wines through sustainable viticulture and organise a vineyard music festival called SulaFest every year. Enjoy their delectable wines — red, white, sparkling, and rosé — at their own (and the country’s first) luxury vineyard resort called Beyond, which boasts an infinity pool, spa, gym, and restaurant.

Find out more here

Gat 36/2, Govardhan Village, Off, Gangapur-Savargaon Rd, Nashik, Maharashtra 422222

Zuccardi Valle de Uco, Argentina

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Named the “World’s Best Vineyard” in 2019 and 2020 (by The World's Best Vineyards Academy, comprising over 500 leading wine aficionados and sommeliers), this wine estate is nestled in the foothills of the Andes at a high altitude of 3,609ft (1,100m) above sea level. The ultra-modern winery is an architectural feat, made of natural stones and cement, where visitors can learn about the process of winemaking and take guided tasting tours. We also recommend enjoying the four-course lunch at the Piedra Infinita Cocina restaurant there, which offers a seasonal menu and wines for pairing, along with picturesque views of the Andes. Guests can also try the Emma Zuccardi Bonarda wine, made from the indigenous grapes of Argentina.

Find out more here

Costa Canal Uco s/n - Paraje Altamira, San Carlos, Mendoza, Argentina

Hatten Wines, Indonesia

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The first winery in Bali, Hatten Wines is famous for their fresh, signature rosé that’s served chilled. Their locally grown grapes are considered among the best in the region, owing to the warmth of the sun, soil rich in nutrients, and plenty of spring water. You can enjoy a wine tasting at the vineyard’s Cellar Door, a private dining room and wine education centre. Some other wines they produce are Two Islands and Dragonfly Moscato (made from Australian grapes), and Brem, a Balinese rice wine.

Find out more here

Jl. By Pass Ngurah Rai No.393, Sanur Kauh, Denpasar Selatan, Denpasar City, Bali 80228, Indonesia

Aythaya Vineyard, Myanmar

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Myanmar’s first vineyard is located in the Inle Lake area, and they only grow noble grape varieties for their wine. The high altitude paired with abundant rainfall is ideal for producing great quality wines, especially their house whites. Some of their signature wines include Aythaya Red, Aythaya Rosé, and Aythaya White. The estate is perfect for a romantic getaway — after a long day of touring the vineyards and wine tasting, you can book a room at the Monte Divino Lodge, and enjoy dinner with a beautiful view at the Sunset Wine Garden restaurant, which serves European cuisine.

Find out more here

Htone Bo, Taunggyi 11181, Myanmar

Bodega Garzón, Uruguay

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This is the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified winery in South America. They focus mainly on Uruguay’s flagship grape, Tannat (for reds), and also produce other grape varieties such as Albariño, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir and others. You can be part of the exclusive Garzón Club to access special experiences such as winemaking seminars, private dining at the Bodega Garzón Restaurant, and privileged access to the Bulgheroni Family Portfolio wineries around the world. They also host some non-wine related activities such as hiking, equestrianism, hot-air balloon rides and picnics across the sprawling vineyards.

Find out more here

9 km. 175, Garzón, Departamento de Maldonado, Uruguay

Monsoon Valley, Thailand

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The Monsoon Valley vineyard in Hua Hin was once home to wild Asian elephants. As a result, today one can find some of these elephants roaming the vineyards — they help in the cultivation process. Some of the varieties of wines of note include the Shiraz, Colombard, Chenin Blanc, Dornfelder and Sangiovese. Apart from the usual wine tasting and tours, you can participate in unique activities such as mountain biking, a wine safari (which takes visitors wildlife watching at the Kuiburi National Park), and visiting elephants at the Baan Khok Chang Elephant Sanctuary. Onsite, they also have a flagship restaurant called The Sala Wine Bar and Bistro, which serves European cuisine as well as Thai dishes, paired with their vineyard wines.

Find out more here

1 Moo 9 Baankhok Chang Patana NongPlup HuaHin District, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand 77110

Robert Mondavi Winery, US

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Situated in wine country Napa Valley, the To Kalon vineyard (planted in 1868) produces some of the world’s finest Cabernet, as well as Sauvignon Blanc grapes. Owner Robert Mondavi created his signature Fumé Blanc from the latter, which is known for its bright and fruity flavours. Guests can enjoy an in-depth winery tour and a walk through the vineyards and cellars, before the guided wine tasting. However, in order to get the best of the Mondavi experience, one must participate in the Four Decades Dinner, which allows you to taste vintage wines from each of the last four decades, followed by a four-course dinner.

Find out more here

7801 St Helena Hwy, Oakville, CA 94562, United States

(Main and featured image: Maja Petric on Unspash)

The post Where to Find the Most Stunning Vineyards Around the World appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

India’s most awarded wine producers and pioneers of wine-making – Grover Zampa Vineyards have recently launched a premium range of International wines under their flagship La Réserve label in collaboration with Chateau D’ Etroyes – an estate deeply rooted in the fabric of French winemaking. Under this partnership, the two novel additions – La Réserve Chardonnay and La Réserve Pinot Noir take […]

The post Grover Zampa, Exploring India’s Finest Vineyards appeared first on Upscale Living Magazine.

The Peak speaks to Marie Barbe, winemaker and technical director.

The post Nascent winery Bodega Son Mayol is making world-class wines in the Balearic Islands appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

The Peak speaks to Marie Barbe, winemaker and technical director.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

Israelis drink as much wine as Argentinians. Wine tourism is becoming increasingly popular. There are over three hundred wineries in Israel compared to forty boutique breweries. Israeli wines are consistently winning awards. Winemaking in ancient Israel peaked during the Second Temple period when it was a major export. After the Jews were forced into exile,  […]

The post Carmel Winery has become Israel’s Largest Historic Winery appeared first on Upscale Living Magazine.

Israelis drink as much wine as Argentinians. Wine tourism is becoming increasingly popular. There are over three hundred wineries in Israel compared to forty boutique breweries. Israeli wines are consistently winning awards. Winemaking in ancient Israel peaked during the Second Temple period when it was a major export. After the Jews were forced into exile,  […]

The post Carmel Winery has become Israel’s Largest Historic Winery appeared first on Upscale Living Magazine.

Israelis drink as much wine as Argentinians. Wine tourism is becoming increasingly popular. There are over three hundred wineries in Israel compared to forty boutique breweries. Israeli wines are consistently winning awards. Winemaking in ancient Israel peaked during the Second Temple period when it was a major export. After the Jews were forced into exile,  […]

The post Carmel Winery has become Israel’s Largest Historic Winery appeared first on Upscale Living Magazine.

It was May 24, 1976, when a simple, blind wine-tasting changed the world of wine forever. Organized by an English wine merchant in celebration of the American Bicentennial activities in Paris, the tasting, known as the Judgment of Paris, pitted high quality French red Bordeaux and white Burgundies against California Cabernet Sauvignons and Chardonnays. The […]

The post Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars enters its Golden Anniversary this year and celebrates its 50 years with a renewed commitment to producing complex and age-worthy wines.: Fifty Years of Excellence appeared first on Upscale Living Magazine.

This year I’m celebrating 10 years as an independent wine critic – and nearly 40 years evaluating wine professionally. In the last decade, I’ve tasted more than 100,000 wines with my team at JamesSuckling.com, and visited hundreds of wineries and winemakers across the world.

Given the improvements in viticulture, technology and winemaking knowledge across so many wine regions, identifying those individuals that represent the best of wine during that time is inevitably difficult. However, it’s not an impossible task. In my view, since 2010 there’s one wine, one winery and one winemaker that stand apart from all others and represent pinnacle achievements in the wine industry.

Wine of The Decade: Almaviva Puente Alto 2017

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Vintage after vintage over the last 10 years, Almaviva has been quietly and consistently establishing a track record as one of the greatest wine producers in Chile if not the world.

The estate, a joint venture between Château Mouton Rothschild and Concha y Toro, has been striving for perfection since its launch in 1998. And, with the Almaviva Puente Alto 2017, it’s achieved it.

With such supreme quality and an astronomic growth in reputation, this Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend scored a rare 100 points – Almaviva’s second perfect score, following the 2015 vintage – and I described it as “full-bodied, tight and chewy” with “wild and exotic” aromas of blackberry leaves, iodine, mussel shells and earth. “It’s structured and powerful. Dense and very, very deep.”

The wine has been a labour of love by chief winemaker Michel Friou, a Chilean-industry veteran and native Frenchman who joined the single-wine estate in 2007.

The intensity and structure of Almaviva 2017 come as a particularly pleasant surprise given the hot and dry conditions during the growing season. Yet the winemakers overcame the dramatically lower yields and an early harvest that took place three weeks ahead of schedule. Even with the odds against them, Friou and his team produced yet another superb vintage that embodies the estate’s first-growth expertise from Bordeaux and exceptional New World terroir – the best of both worlds.

“We have the luxury of wonderful terroir in Puente Alto [the wine region in which Maipo Valley is located]. It’s very close to the Andes, which means we’re always a few degrees cooler than the rest of the valley,” says Friou. “This makes a difference in terms of the ripening process – we can get ripeness and freshness as well as very elegant, fine-quality tannins.”

Winery of The Decade: Masseto

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If there’s one winery in Tuscany that contends with the chateaux in Bordeaux and Burgundy, it has to be Masseto. It even sells a large proportion of its production through Bordeaux wine merchants. Set in the sunny Bolgheri region, Masseto’s vineyard stretches across a gently sloping valley, where greyish-blue clay lies underfoot and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west ricochets light across the vines.

It wasn’t until last year that Masseto – owned by the Frescobaldi Group since 2005 – finally opened its own winery. Before that, the wine was produced from its vineyards in the cellars of Bolgheri’s famous estate of Ornellaia, which also shares the same owners.

Opening prices for new vintages reach as much as US$800 a bottle, which sell out within weeks. This unbelievable demand and superb quality make it one of the cult wines of a generation.

The winery produces superb, pure Merlot vintages that consistently taste fresh, structured, soft yet powerful. I was one of the first American wine critics to recognise the winery’s magical Merlot, having awarded three Masseto vintages – 2001, 2011, and 2016 – perfect 100-point scores. When I tasted a vat of pure Merlot in the 1980s with then owner Lodovico Antinori, I told him the wine could be “the Petrus of Tuscany” if he bottled it separately.

The best vintage is the monumental 2001, a perfect 100-point wine and arguably one of the greatest wines ever made in Tuscany. It’s balanced with fascinating rosemary and dark-fruit character that turns to plums and light chocolate. The undertones on the nose remind me of walking through the Masseto vineyard during a cool summer’s morning.

“Nothing is missing, and there’s no more than necessary,” says Axel Heinz, winemaker and estate director of Masseto. “Our winemaking is about reducing the process, reducing intervention, with a ‘less is more’ philosophy.”

Winemaker of The Decade: Philippe Dhalluin

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Winemaker Philippe Dhalluin has probably made more perfect wines than any other person of his generation, from the 2010 Château Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux and 2013 Opus in Napa Valley to Almaviva 2015 and 2017 in Chile.

When asked about these incredible wines, the 62-year-old simply shrugs his shoulders and says, “I make the best wines possible as a winemaker.”

Born in 1957 in Valenciennes, in northern France, Dhalluin moved with his family to Bordeaux at the age of 16. A bottle of Châteauneuf du Pape 1970, given to his parents from a family friend, was the pivot in his career.

“At the time, I was most familiar with Bordeaux wines, along with a few Burgundies,” Dhalluin says. “When I drank Châteauneuf du Pape, I had a revelation, an epiphany. It was an exceptional wine, so different from anything I’d tasted until then and, above all, so extraordinarily explosive that even now it seems like I can remember each mouthful!”

With this talent for precision, passion and dynamism, he was recruited in 2003 by the late Baroness Philippine de Rothschild as managing director across the Rothschilds’ various chateaux, where he introduced ever more precise vinification techniques. The result in 2006 was what many critics called the “wine of the vintage” from Château Mouton Rothschild.

From there he took his precise style to Napa Valley in California, working as wine director at Opus One, and later to Chile, where he regularly works with head winemaker Michel Friou at Almaviva (and helped create our Wine of the Decade, above).

“My work is a constant quest for balance between richness, freshness, density and charm,” Dhalluin says.

The post James Suckling on The Decade’s Best Wines, Winery and Winemaker appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.