The grape variety, known today as Malbec has a rich and strange history. It almost disappeared, several times, but always came back. On this page, I will tell you the story of Malbec. The origin of what we call, today, Malbec, is mysterious. It is the cross between an ancient red grape variety from Gaillac (south West of France), the Prunelard, and an almost extinct red grape variety recently identified (1992) in Britanny, near Saint Malot, and strangely called Magdelaine Noire des Charentes.

It is the fall (or autumn on this side of the Atlantic), the season of wine fairs and other wine-related events. Maybe you will buy an unknown bottle or a new vintage from a winemaker you know. But you may have one question that comes back often; can I age the fantastic wine I got from the last natural wine fair? If yes, how long? That is what I will explain here.

Words like Chardonnay, Gamay, Sauvignon Blanc, or Merlot seem to have a clear definition. These are the names of grape varieties, “Cépage” in French or “Vitigno” in Italian. Most people have the same idea about grape variety, similar to race in the animal kingdom, which shares the same properties worldwide and during the time. A Chardonnay is a Chardonnay, after all, they sold bottles of Chardonnay and Merlot, and it should be the same things.

If you are interested in wine, whether it is your hobby or profession or you want to pass the WSET or any other wine-related exams, you may need to read some books. But what kind of book? There are plenty of books about wine and winemaking. So I wanted to share with you some of the books I have. Wine Atlas If you study wine, you must have a wine atlas.

I wanted to share something different you may not find elsewhere: a journey on the Lot Valley in France and its wine. Most of the time, books will teach you about the South West region as if it were a single terroir. This is not the case. South West is a mosaic of terroirs, but some of them share something special. This is the case for the Lot Valley. The Lot River run from the Massif Central in the East to the Garonne River in the West.

There are some myths about sulfite in the wine culture so wrong that they must be busted. Sulfite makes you sick, gives you a hangover, and leaves you with a bad headache. Sulfite harms your health. Natural wine is, only, a sulfite-free wine. These are lies or half-true. I will try to show you why. What are sulfites? Not to be confused with sulfide, are several compounds with an ion sulfate V (often noted SO2-).

It is spring! Well, almost. With the rising temperature comes the desire to drink something lighter than red wine and fruitier than white wine, what about a rosé? But how to choose? Unlike red or white wines, rosé wine has some singularities, starting with the color, rosés come with a large palette of colors than any other wine, from grey to clear red. There are so many appellations and tastes. How to see things more clearly?

Recently, someone asked me for some advice about taking some courses for WSET and I found myself disarmed. To be honest, I never paid attention to it before migrating to Amsterdam. With My formal education in biology, history, history, art, and finally enology, I didn’t feel the need to have a specific curriculum for wine. I’m France, where I come from, you can have a primary or professional education in wine at all levels, from vocational schools to universities.

I have written a few blog posts about the adverse effects of climate change on wine Production. From Champagne to Bordeaux, not to forget Bourgogne. Several adverse effects can impair conventional and natural wine production, drought, late frost, and limited availability of indigenous yeast. Some research papers suggest that the wine will change, with lower acidity and higher alcohol level. Some of these papers suggest that in some wine regions of the world, making wine could be economically challenging.

Bordeaux, the renowned French wine region, finds itself at a crossroads. Last year, 10 percent of the 110000 hectares of vineyard were doomed to uprooting. Many winemakers struggle to survive, and the prices of ordinary Bordeaux wines have plummeted. Shockingly, some supermarket shelves now display bottles priced at less than four euros—a disheartening reality when you consider that the bottle alone costs more than one euro. These economic woes have even sparked farmer protests in the region.