The Wine Independent

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The Wine Independent

TWI is a fiercely independent wine review publication for lovers of fine wine all over the world. At TWI, there are no backroom deals, no premium subscriptions.
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Our review section is led by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, one of the industry's top critics. The photos are taken by Johan Berglund, the industry's best-known and most-loved visual storyteller. Our promise to subscribers is that we will always be independent, completely unbiased, and 100% on your side. Just honest reviews that empower you to make the right choices at the right time. We also promise to

entertain you with a steady stream of rich and uplifting content. We'll bring you insights into the people and places behind the wine you love, their hardships, their history, their struggles, and their success. Prepare to be stimulated and surprised every time you visit The Wine Independent.

09/09/2024

PasttoPresent - Tasting the new releases of Sine Qua Non, The Third Twin, and Next of Kyn with owners Elaine and Manfred Krankl and checking in on some of the older Sine Qua Non vintages from the early 2000s to see how they have developed. The Krankls arranged a tasting of twelve wines from 2000 to 2008, including some of their most collectible labels to date. The fruit sources, winemaking facilities, and techniques have changed over the last quarter of a century, yet Manfred Krankl’s creative blending and pedal-to-the-metal style remains at the core of each singular wine from past to present. Sine Qua Non lovers know that most of the releases are out-of-the-gate decadently delicious, but is it worth cellaring these densely layered, hedonic creations, or is it better to drink them on the young side? Find out in today’s article ‘ The Aging Conundrum’.

The Wine Independent

06/09/2024

🍷🇦🇷With the 2021 Cheval des Andes being released this week, Lisa recently spoke with dedicated winemaker Gérald Gabillet and the managing director of Château Cheval Blanc, Pierre-Olivier Clouet. For the last eight years, they have been aiming to give their Argentine estate in Mendoza a new identity, edging it closer to the family values and expression of its Bordeaux namesake. “It was Pierre-Olivier’s idea to apply some Cheval Blanc ideas to what we do,” said Gérald Gabillet. “So, we tried to go back to the roots of this project. Ultimately, we want to let the natural balance of the grapes come through in the wines.” This 2021 is an impressive step in that direction.

The Wine Independent

03/09/2024

Unless you live up there, getting anywhere on Howell Mountain is a journey. Remote though it may be, seeing the Howard Backen designed Outpost Estate Wines is worth the trek. And the mountain-top vineyard, well, that’s a Cabernet fanatic’s wish come true. Today’s article is about Frank Dotzler’s wine journey from Chicago to Howell Mountain in the late 1990s and early 2000s which has resulted in one of Napa Valley’s most exciting vineyard revivals in recent years: Outpost. Frank and his wife Kathy bought Outpost from the Pringles in the early 2000s, and they set about building a new winery. A little more than a decade later, in 2018, AXA Millésimes, made the Dotzlers an offer they couldn’t refuse. “When I first met Christian Seely (Managing Director of AXA Millésimes), he said that AXA wanted to make Outpost a part of the group but also leave us to work autonomously,” Frank tells me. “Christian hoped to find a property that complemented what they were doing in Bordeaux—making a world-class Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine from a great terroir. This is what he saw in Outpost.”

The Wine Independent

30/08/2024

6 top gin picks for wine lovers! We’ve just published our first article about gin, just in time for Labor Day Weekend in the USA. Our critic, Lisa, likes to think of gin as the white spirit designed for wine lovers. Each uniquely blended, aromatic concoction of fragrant botanicals is akin to discovering a new singular wine expression. What’s more, many of the international style craft/artisanal gins emerging from around the world today go a step further and use locally grown or foraged ingredients that, similar to wine, can transmit a sense of place and transport you. Apart from their quality, these story-telling gins are the types Lisa believes could be most interesting to wine lovers, which is why she’s chosen to highlight them, KI NO BI The Kyoto Distillery, Silk Road Gin, JCB Collection, Gray Whale Gin, Tin City Distillery.
Happy Gin Hunting!

The Wine Independent

23/08/2024

“At first, I wasn’t convinced about Coombsville Pinot,” laughs Nico when I ask what lured him from Sonoma to the dark side. “But then I saw this place.” "The soils here are some of the most extraordinary soils I’ve encountered." Haynes Vineyard was among the first commercial vineyards in one of the valley’s coolest sub-regions: Coombsville. The fruit from this site was sold to local wineries for nearly fifty years. And so, until recently, it never had a chance to reveal its voice. However this has changed. In 2019 Gaylon Lawrence purchased the site and Carlton McCoy, MS, CEO and managing partner of Lawrence Family Wines, coaxed Kosta Browne’s Nico Cueva over as winemaker to help this singular site find its own voice. Haynes has been producing its own label since the 2020 vintage and we tasted the current releases, including their three 2021 Chardonnays and the 2022 Pinot Noir and Syrah.

The Wine Independent

08/08/2024

in our Cépages magazine - This week, we feature another beautifully written wine story by our contributor, R.H. Drexel about Ward Four Wines, created by Justin Michelle Ward Trabue in 2021 with a modest twenty-five thousand dollars.
“My motto is wines of joy, no fuss. That encapsulates me as a person, ”says Trabue. "I have wines for every drinker.”
This feature follows the fascinating journey of Trabue, 29-years old, from Washington, D.C. to California, following her dream with so much positivity that her wines shine.

Like a Natural Woman Text: R.H. Drexel Photograhy: Christoffer Lomfors "If we opened people up, we’d find landscapes." - Agnes Varda "I was around wine since before I was born." - Justin Michelle Ward Trabue The wine business is presently so obsessed about whether Gen Z and Millennials are drinkin...

05/08/2024

🍾 Champagne Louis Roederer’s new releases, including Collection 245, 2017 Rosé, 2016 Vintage Brut, and 2016 Cristal, are set to hit retailers around the world soon. In July, Lisa tasted the wines and asked Chef de Cave Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon to give his take on these releases and the 2016 vintage. He also compares the 2016 vintage to the 2015 vintage and discusses the Roederer style. Keen Champagne buyers will want to check this article out. ⬇

The Wine Independent

02/08/2024

The first in a series of lawrencewineestates articles to come, today we are chronicling the journey of Joe Heitz and one of Napa Valley’s most historically important wineries: Heitz Cellar. Heitz Wine Cellars was born in 1961 from humble beginnings. Today, however, vintages of the wines he crafted are among the world’s most sought-after and collectible wines. A protégé of André Tchelistcheff, Joe became one of Napa Valley’s most legendary figures, helping to build the region’s reputation today. He was the first to put the name of a single vineyard on a label of a Napa Valley wine—1966 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard. In 2018, the Heitz family sold Heitz Cellar to agricultural magnate Gaylon Lawrence, who partnered with Master Sommelier Carlton McCoy who is relatively new to Napa Valley but not the USA food and wine scene. We spoke to Carlton about making this big life change and tasted the new line-up of current releases with Carlton and winemaker Brittany Sherwood, who has been with Heitz since 2012.

The Wine Independent

26/07/2024

Casting a spotlight today on one of the best-value classified growths out of Bordeaux: Château Lagrange in the far southwestern corner of the compact commune of Saint-Julien.

In 1983, when the Japanese company Suntory purchased Château Lagrange, it was on its last legs. With this purchase, the company blazed the trail for Asian investment in the region and set a high benchmark for transforming under-performers into over-achievers. The Japanese drinks giant purportedly invested more than three times the purchase price on buying contiguous vineyard land and replanting within the first couple of years just to get the property back to its fighting weight. But, as anyone involved in wine production knows, these investments would take many years to show in the wines. The estate has been slowly evolving into a singular expression that embraces multicultural influences as well as history and heritage. Read on to discover how those changes are now revealing a new face of Château Lagrange. Includes our tasting notes from our vertical 2000-2019.

The Wine Independent

19/07/2024

John Kongsgaard grew up in a Napa that existed before the glamorous Michelin-star restaurants, luxury hotels, and elaborate tasting room experiences. He remembers the construction of this region’s wine industry infrastructure well, having paved many of those roads himself.
The first vintage of “Kongsgaard” was in 1996 and the focus was . Today Kongsgaard The Judge has become one of the most sought-after and expensive (on the secondary market) Chardonnays in the world, which makes it an impressive anomaly, considering that Napa wine is now almost exclusively about Cabernet Sauvignon. John’s son Alex looks after The Judge Vineyard now. “As the second generation, I see it as my role not to change the wines but to refine them,” Alex interjects. The Chardonnay success route at The Judge Vineyard is as much about vision sparked by an edifying formative experience as it is about the importance of mentorship, family, hardcore farming, and evolution. This week’s feature is a deep dive into the story of John Kongsgaard and his family’s impact on Napa Valley, past and present. ⬇ All Roads Lead to Kongsgaard

The Wine Independent

15/07/2024

For the last couple of decades, the usual way of doing business has not panned out for Sauternes producers as consumers continue to turn away from sweet wine styles and the sales of Bordeaux’s liquid gold shrivel. Changes have been afoot however over the last decade at Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey since Silvio Denz purchased the property in 2014. Where others saw doom and gloom, Silvio saw opportunity. He increased the volumes of Lafaurie-Peyraguey’s dry white wine while seeking to make less of the grand vin Sauternes, focusing on quality rather than volume for its flagship. He also diversified the business, adding hospitality to wine production, proving that there is still gold in the region. Read more in today’s article ‘Panning for Gold’. Includes new reviews of 19 vintages from before and after Silvio’s purchase.

The Wine Independent

11/07/2024

⛰🍷Why would anyone have built a winery 135 years ago in a near-impossible-to-access site in an isolated location high on Mount Veeder?
Today, we are heading off the beaten trail and diving into Napa Valley history with a story about the Mayacamas Vineyards estate which has changed hands several times since it was built by John Henry Fisher in 1889. Initially named the Fisher estate, he planted the vineyards with Zinfandel, as was the fashion of the day. In 1941, Mary and Jack Taylor bought the old Fisher estate and renamed it Mayacamas Vineyards, replanting the vineyards with Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. They created the iconic label used today, which features two lions within the letter “M.” However, it was Bob Travers who purchased the property in 1968 who put the winery on the map. His slow-wine-movement style appealed to those who followed the call of that tense, sturdy, wild mountain character. In 2013, Bob sold the estate to the Schottenstein family and Braiden Albrecht was hired as winemaker. Read on to discover how this remote vineyard is both a reminder of Napa’s past and a guidepost for the future. Includes reviews of current releases by Braiden Albrecht and older vintages made by former owner Bob Travers.

The Wine Independent

03/07/2024

As the 🇺🇸 USA gears up for July 4th, we have an American Dream story, accented with a streak of electric tension. It’s been nearly nine years since Lisa last visited Blankiet’s picturesque site. Named Paradise Hills, the vineyard is spectacularly situated in Yountville. And yet, more vivid than the view, Lisa remembers the feeling of the place as clearly as a familiar smell - that electric tension.
Blankiet Estate was a virgin piece of land, forged from scratch in the mid to late 1990s by Claude Blankiet and his wife, Katherine. Claude was not born into a wine family, but throughout his youth he was surrounded by wine. He came to the USA in the 1970s to live the American Dream and that he did. He first created what became the largest denim finishing company in the world before setting his sights on acquiring vineyard land in Napa which he did in January 1996. He hired Helen Turley, the most sought-after winemaker in Napa Valley at the time, and the estate’s first release 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Paradise Hills Vineyard received critical acclaim. But, whenever strong minds clash, and they inevitably will, there is bound to be tension. Today, it’s the talented winemaker, Graeme MacDonald, who is at the helm.
Read on to discover how the concept of tension, in its many guises, plays an important role in the singular personality of this extraordinary estate.

The Wine Independent

28/06/2024

While the 2022 vintage from Sonoma is very different from the bright, intense 2021 vintage, quality remains just as high for most 2022 Chardonnays and many Pinot Noirs.
As Lisa continues to taste the new/upcoming 2022 Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs emerging from Sonoma, she is increasingly impressed by the quality coming from what is a notoriously challenging vintage for California. Growers were thrown a heatwave curve ball during the first week of September, however many Pinot and Chardonnay sites were ripe/harvested before or as the heat came. Lisa has also found that Chardonnay is surprisingly resilient to these heat events. Indeed, it’s as though these grape varieties are from another 2022 world. Prime examples include the line-ups from Kistler Vineyards and DuMOL Winery.
Check out our mini report on the 2022 vintage in Sonoma for Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs with complete reviews for Kistler and DuMOL.

The Wine Independent

24/06/2024

Back on Lisa’s home turf in Napa Valley she has been sampling a great value, feel-good range of wines called Trois Noix Wine. For a lot of emerging, budget-conscious wine consumers seeking to explore the world of site expression, the gate to Napa Valley is locked. Prices of Napa wines, especially single vineyard wines, have rocketed in recent years. Ten years ago, you could still just about get a decent Napa Cab for around $100. Now, the starting price for a vineyard designate example is more like $200, rising to $600+ for superstar names. However, industry insider Jaime Araujo is bucking the elitist trend and unlocking Napa’s gate with Trois Noix, a brand aimed at sustainably producing fun, single-site wines that are honestly made and affordably priced. "Trois Noix is about vineyard designate and lighter, modern, younger styles with more accessible price points," Jaime Araujo explains as we sit to taste through her range.

The Wine Independent

20/06/2024

Today our 🍾 Champagne reviewer, Sarah Mayo, weaves a tale of how it’s the small things that count at Champagne Billecart-Salmon. “If you do the small things right every day, then ultimately, things will come good, ” says CEO Mathieu Roland-Billecart, the seventh generation to lead Billecart-Salmon. For this champagne house that has included banning all w**d killers, ensuring grapes don’t travel more than 30 minutes before being pressed and working with families who are as serious as they are. Today the House owns one-third of its annual grape production and controls another one-third (100 hectares) with viticulture management contracts. These arrangements are less about profit (as Billecart still buys the grapes) and more about quality control. Mathieu explains, “The money goes into vineyard management but allows us flexibility to change course if we decide to.” In challenging vintages, like 2023, this counts. Read more about how Billecart-Salmon's dedication to small details and quality control ensures their Champagnes stand out and why they prioritize drinkability, pleasure, and aging to achieve exceptional Champagne.

The Wine Independent

15/06/2024

We’ve added a new decade of vintages : 1991-2000 to our Opus One article, following a tasting conducted with winemaker Michael Silacci at the winery earlier this year. Also included are reviews of current/upcoming releases: 2020, 2021, and 2022 (from barrel), making a complete collection of recent reviews in our database from 1991 through 2022.

The Wine Independent

14/06/2024

Lisa’s trip to a few months later was one of the most memorable vineyard visits of her career. Every now and then, Lisa tastes a modestly priced wine from a newly established vineyard possessing a tingle of singular magic usually only found in well-known, illustrious, far pricier labels. Recent vintages of Château Montlandrie, from Bordeaux’s emerging Castillon region, elicit that tingle. But this is not so surprising when you consider Montlandrie was the last creation of Denis Durantou.
Denis tragically passed away in 2020, leaving his vineyards in the hands of his young daughters. Noëmie is co-manager and winemaker/vigneron and Constance oversees sales and marketing and heads up their olive oil and truffle oak projects at Montlandrie. Read on to discover the beautiful story about this extraordinary vineyard and how Denis’ daughters, Constance and Noëmie, are keeping his dream alive. Includes reviews from 2009 (the first vintage of the newly formed Château Montlandrie) up to 2020.

The Wine Independent

06/06/2024

– “We have about 50% of a normal crop in 2022,” said Peter Michael’s winemaker, Robert Fiore, as Lisa sat to taste the new releases. In 2022, poor weather at flowering in parts of Sonoma led to shatter (failure of berry/bunch development) in Chardonnay, shrinking Peter Michael’s already tiny production of the Old Wente Clone selection Chardonnay. Quality is impressive, yet production levels are likely to render annual allocations of the 2022 Chardonnays as rare as hen’s teeth. The same goes for the Pinot Noirs and production of the Cabernet Sauvignon is relatively small too. Check out our reviews of the new releases from , including the 2022 Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs and 2021 Bordeaux varieties reds. ⬇️

The Wine Independent

03/06/2024

– “Matt Morris is on a mission,” writes Drexel. “He has pinned his hopes on Charbono, an obscure red grape variety that claims only sixty-five acres of plantings in the entire United States.” Our contributor R. H. Drexel is back with another beautifully crafted article. This time it’s about Matt Morris, a small producer in Napa Valley. Morris is perhaps best known for his work as a photographer and filmmaker, but this is the story about how he fell in love with wine, how he genuinely loves what he does, how his two passions for wine and film were intertwined, the encounters he has made along the way and ultimately how Mat Morris wines were born. Hunker down with cup of coffee or a glass of wine for a journey into the unknown and wonderfully uncommon with R. H. Drexel : The Unrelenting Call of Charbono.

The Unrelenting Call of Charbono Text: R.H. Drexel Photograhy: Johan Berglund "If you set out to make something that everyone will like, you will quickly find yourself making something that no one cares about. If you do have a point of view, and it’s singular, and you’re about serving your i...

30/05/2024

In Napa Valley, 2021 and 2022 are two very different vintages. It was the best of times followed by the worst of times for many estates, including Dominus. Today we are checking out the new releases from Dominus Estate, diving a little deeper into the details of what it means to dry farm (farm using no irrigation) in Napa Valley and how this amplifies the expression of terroir in a fabulous vintage like 2021. Tod Mostero, the estate’s director of viticulture and winemaking, also speaks about the very difficult 2022 vintage in Napa, which was tracking to be another great year until the devasting heat event in September. This is a tale of the best of times vs the worst of times. We’ve also got a few words on a new(ish) Dominus Estate wine being released in the States this year : Othello.

The Wine Independent

28/05/2024

Neotempo – This is a brand-new beat worth checking out!
Lisa recently visited Neotempo’s owners, Kia Behnia and Tracy Borman, at their house and vineyard, Kiatra, located off Silverado Trail. Purchased in 2011, it was completely replanted in 2012 with the help of Mark Neal of Neal Vineyards and has a sustainable ethos using organic and biodynamic methods. Anthony (Tony) Biagi came on board as the winemaker in 2021 and Neotempo was launched last year with its first release of the 2021 Kiatra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. It offers a distinctive flavor rhythm from the familiar Napa Valley sound machine and innovative packaging that is practical, sustainable, and gorgeous.
If you are ready for a brand-new beat check our review and find out how you can get your hands on this vintage.

The Wine Independent

25/05/2024

is the source of one of California’s most impressive Merlot-based wines. “The situation here for growing Merlot is legitimately unique. It was Jean Phillips (the founder) who decided to put Merlot here,” winemaker Nick Gislason told Lisa. “It wasn’t an obvious choice,” he says. But it was a key one for Screaming Eagle. Today’s story focuses on the Merlot (and not the Cabernet Sauvignon) at Screaming Eagle and the creation of one of Napa’s most iconic wines. Read more about this Napa winemaker below. Includes reviews of the 2018, 2020, and 2021 vintages of Screaming Eagle and The Flight.

The Wine Independent

18/05/2024

Structured, energetic, tight-knit, and minerally. This is the style of the 2021 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon that Lisa recently tasted with brothers Alex and Graeme MacDonald when she dropped into their little cottage nestled within Napa Valley’s To Kalon Vineyard. The 2021 takes a 180-degree style turn from the 2019 reviewed last year, which is bold, exotic, forward, and opulent. Discover the full review and tasting notes at the link in our bio. And read more about these two brothers who used what little money they had to purchase a small amount of fruit from their family for the first vintage of MacDonald and now have more than a dozen vintages under their belts. "To make great wine, you need to have full cultural and stylistic control," says Graeme.

The Wine Independent

16/05/2024

Tropical Paradise - 2023 Primeurs

The steamy, tropical September conditions interspersed with bouts of rain made the red wine harvest tricky, but it was paradise for noble rot in Sauternes. Warm, humid temperatures throughout the second half of September and early October resulted in swift, widespread Botrytis infection, producing super-concentrated berries and seductively opulent wines. The only downside to 2023 is that the yields were on the low side this year. So, should you buy yourself some tropical paradise in a bottle? Now's the time for Sauternes lovers should read the reviews we’ve just published and discover Lisa’s four great reasons to buy now.

The Wine Independent

09/05/2024

Bordeaux 2023 Primeurs - Welcome to the jungle!

The impacts of this unusually tropical growing season caught a lot of growers and winemakers off-guard, finding themselves thrown into a chaotic, untamed jungle fraught with unpredictability. It was not a “classic” great growing season nor a consistent one, yet some classically styled wines at the pinnacles of greatness have emerged from the 2023 Bordeaux jungle.
After a lot of detective work, weighing in at nearly 5000 words and over 600 tasting notes, and with a collection of very impressive original photos by we have just published our in-depth analysis of the 2023 growing season in Bordeaux. A growing season with three major factors affecting quality : mildew, late-season heat waves, and harvest decisions. We hope this helps you better understand the hows and whys of the wine styles and quality levels across Bordeaux in 2023.

The Wine Independent

02/05/2024

🎬 Take Two - the 2021 vintage Cathiard Vineyard is soon to be released, more clearly revealing the extraordinary potential of this estate. The first vintage off the estate was the 2020, which was a tough year to kickstart this venture due to the wildfires that year. However, the team the Cathiards have put in charge of winemaking at this historic winery is impressive, Justine Labbé is the general manager and winemaker, aided by Fabien Teitgen, winemaker at Château Smith Haut Lafitte, and Michel Rolland, consultant winemaker. The Cathiards have established three labels : a flagship “Cabernet Sauvignon”, “Founding Brothers” and “Hora,” and this second vintage comes highly recommened.

The Wine Independent

29/04/2024

🆕 Our preliminary 2023 Primeurs report is out! This initial report features reviews of the first wave of releases coming out over the next nine days (44 wines). With quality more irregular on the Left Bank than the Right Bank Lisa gives a great summary of the different styles you can expect from this vintage as well as the types of yields you can expect from the different appellations and estates in 2023.
🔜 We are still finalizing our in-depth growing season analysis which will be published on Thursday, May 9th.
✅ Still, in the meantime, we’ve got producer profiles from the major releases coming out this week and early next week: Château Léoville Las-Cases, Château Pontet-Canet, Château Lafite Rothschild, Chateau L'Évangile, and Château Mouton Rothschild. They provide some great insight into the difficulties encountered from the military operation of fighting mildew to the rainfall, two heatwaves, hard blending decisions, and more.

The Wine Independent

25/04/2024

in bottle – Some 600 reviews of the Bordeaux 2021 wines in bottle have just hit our database, following Lisa’s trips to Bordeaux in December 2023 and in January/February 2024.
Some of the 2021s in-bottle surpassed initial predictions, others were in anticipated score ranges, and a few didn’t live up to their promises. This report comes with a Swiftly written Modest Proposal, offering a solution to Bordeaux’s perceived pricing problem that has escalated since the 2021 vintage Primeurs campaign, causing much friction between the classified growths of Bordeaux and the negociants/merchants that buy and sell them. As readers will note, this introduction is just for fun, yet behind the satire is a serious message regarding the forthcoming pricing of the 2023s. With release prices due to start rolling out fast and furious next week, there is much at stake for the future of Bordeaux futures. For more on this, the major issues with the 2021 reds and the results of our 2021 Bordeaux in-bottle tastings, read below.

The Wine Independent

22/04/2024

- Pilcrow Wine is among an emerging set of Napa Valley’s throwback producers. These are young winemakers who were first smitten by tasting Napa wines from the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. “Our goal is to make the best Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon of the 1950s,” says Jonah Beer, co-founder with his wife Sara Beer - a Napa Valley wine label entering its tenth year of production.
In pursuit of saving an old soul, and coupled with their love for the valley, Jonah and Sara decided that they should write and add their own chapter to the valley’s story. In today’s article we uncover the importance and significance behind the pilcrow name which reflects their beliefs and their less is more approach to farming and winemaking. Read on for the full story of these old Napa vibe 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines and reviews of the 2021 and 2022 vintages. For all you lovers of the Napa throwback style, this is a mailing list to jump on now.

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🍷25% off a subscription to The Wine Independent with promotional code TWI25. Treat yourself or a wine friend this holiday season to independent, timely wine reviews, deep-dive reports, beautifully penned stories, and captivating photography. For a limited time get 25% off a personal or gift subscription to #thewineindependent. ⏳Offer ends 31 December 2023. ❓How do I get the 25% discount? 🔝Head to the 25% off Subscription link in our bio. Simply enter the promotional code TWI25 as you subscribe. And that’s it! Happy #WineReading and Happy Holidays . . . . . #winesubscription #winesubscriber #winegifts #christmasgiftideas #christmasgifts #christmasmood #winedeal #wineoffer #winewebsite #winediscount #winepromotion #wineenthusiast #wineaddict #winepassion #winegeek #winelover #wineadvocate #winereading #winestories #winestorytelling #winephotography #winetasting #winereviews #instawine #winereel #thewineindependent #fiercelyindependent

🍾Top 30 Champagnes for Under $100. ‘Tis the Champagne Season and time to get those bubbles flowing! Check out our recommendations of wonderfully tasty and not cost-prohibitive champagnes. The recommendations are Free for all to Access, in Cépages, our online magazine on thewineindependent.com, which you can find at the link in our bio. We are here to help you find a not-too-pricey bottle to trigger festive joy while taking the mystery out of what might be discovered in the glass. Our critic Sarah has recommendations for readers in five stylistic categories: 🥂 Classic, Lively, Opulent, Gastronomic, and Rosé. Many of these non-vintage cuvées are based on the warmer 2019 and 2020 vintages and are ideal for near-term drinking, like right now. Also included are a couple of well-priced vintage Champagnes, particularly from 2013, that she found scintillating and elegant. We hope these recommendations bring you, and those you share them with, an abundance of joy and plenty of happiness for the holidays, too!

The berries have been sorted and emptied into the stainless-steel vats at @chateautroplongmondot. The next step of the winemaking process has begun. See more images of the Bordeaux and Northern California Harvest 2023 in our #FreeToView Photo Essays on thewineindependent.com . . . . . #chateautroplongmondot #troplongmondot #senseofplace #saintemilion #harvesttime #harvest2023 #vintage2023 #harvest #merlot #instawine #wineoclock #thewineindependent

#HarvestTime – Château Clos Fourtet. Matthieu Cuvelier is so happy with the 2023 harvest. He qualifies it as a generous vintage in terms of quantity and quality. Beautiful Merlot with a high potential. #chateauclosfourtet #saintemilion #merlot #vintage2023

#HarvestTime– Château La Pointe in Pomerol Eric Monneret at Château La Pointe is happy with the result of this 2023 vintage and the quality of the vintage can be seen in his smile. Despite rain and mildew this summer, the leaves are green, and their #agriculturalpractices help the soil to be alive and the vine to be in good shape. #chateaulapointe #pomerolwine #bordeauxwine #vintage2023

#HarvestTime - Château Pontet-Canet in Pauillac. For Mathieu Bessonnet, the Technical Director at the estate, the growing season was good. The wine is expressing a lot of fruit with good acidity and starting to express tannins. The result is looking good. #chateaupontetcanet #tesseronfamily #biodynamicwine #pauillac #harvest

#HarvestTime– Château La Conseillante in Pomerol. Château La Conseillante expects a balanced wine with good acidity and not too high alcohol for this 2023 vintage. So far, so good and it reminds Marielle Cazaux , the Managing Director and Winemaker, of the 2005 profile. #laconseillante #pomerol #pomerolseduction #pomerolwine #winelovers #thewineindependent

#HarvestTime - Château Figeac in Saint Émilion. Early harvest this September Chateau-Figeac for the #Merlot with all the bunches really well balanced. Romain Jean-Pierre, Technical Director here believes this announces very good things for the next period of the harvest. On to the plots of #CabernetSauvignon and #CabernetFranc.

#HarvestTime – Château Barde-Haut in Saint Emilion. Day 2 of Harvest at the estate. The #Merlot is beautiful, and the quantity is great.

#HarvestTime - L’Église Clinet in Pomerol. Perfect weather for harvesting at #chateauegliseclinet and amazing #berries. Noëmie Durantou, believes it could be an amazing #vintage if they do the right work at the winery, so they are working on that! Noëmie, daughter of the legend Denis Durantou, whose portrait we can see in the background, stepped up to take over after her father passed away in 2020.

Manual Grape Sorting at @chateau_pontetcanet in Pauillac. The team here is busy sorting the grapes by hand at the sorting table. Leaves and materials other than grapes are being removed. The grapes are meticulously inspected for grape imperfections such as sunburn, rot, and uneven ripening. Any grapes that are not of top quality are removed. The grapes are then destemmed using hand meshes in an effort to reduce the winery’s environmental footprint. More about this year’s harvest in Bordeaux is to come in our dedicated report. #chateaupontetcanet #pontetcanet #tesseronfamily #biodynamicwine #organicwine #environmentalfootprint #grapesortingtable #destemming #redwine #medoc #pauillac #grapes #harvest #harvesttime #harvest2023 #vintage2023 #merlot #wineteam #thewineindependent

#HarvestTime– Château Canon in Saint Emilion. General Manager and Winemaker Nicolas Audebert predicts a fantastic 2023 vintage in pure Canon style. The #Merlot berries are extremely ripe and dense with a lot of fruit while keeping freshness and vibrancy.

#HarvestTime- Château Troplong Mondot - Saint Emilion. It’s harvest time at Château Troplong Mondot. For Aymeric de Gironde, the Managing Director here, the grapes are looking healthy, and the quantity is good. He’s very happy with it and hopes the harvest continues this way. #chateautroplongmondot #troplongmondot #senseofplace #wineinterview

#HarvestTime - Chateau Clinet, Pomerol On this second day of the harvest, the #grapes are being hand-picked at one of the oldest plots in the #vineyard, planted with #Merlot in 1950. For Ronan Laborde, Managing Director and Owner at the estate there is a good crop in quantity and quality. Rendez-vous at #enprimeur 2024 to taste the 2023 vintage.

#Harvest2023 Bordeaux - #chateaupalmer in Margaux. What do Bordeaux Winemakers have to say about this year’s harvest? What is their outlook for the next vintage? Throughout September we are catching up with #winemakers in the Bordeaux region to find out how this year’s #harvest is going and what we can expect from the 2023 vintage. First up is Thomas Duroux, Director of Château Palmer in #Margaux who is enthusiastic. You can expect beautiful quality, full ripe #merlots, full of aromas, and very nice acidity which is a very good thing for the harmony of the wines.

Join us this March in the French or Swiss Alps while mingling with winemakers from Bordeaux, Champagne, and Napa Valley, sipping wines directly from their cellars. 📍Val-d’Isère 3-10 March 2024 Charles Thomas, commercial director @cosdestournel, Bruno Borie, owner of @chateauducrubeaucaillou, Henrique Da Costa, family representative from @chateaupavieofficial, Alfred Tesseron, owner of @chateau_pontetcanet, and Aymeric de Gironde, president of @chateautroplongmondot. 📍Verbier 10-17 March 2024 Nicolas Audebert, managing director at @chateaurauzansegla and @chateaucanonofficial Frédéric Engerer, President & CEO at Château Latour, @eiselevineyard, and @champagne_jacquesson and Philippe Bascaules, managing director at @chateaumargaux For both events our critic @lisapbmw welcomes you to a series of winemaker dinners created by two-Michelin-starred chef @matsvollmer. To Register of for more information, check out the link in our bio. . . . . . #cosdestournel #chateauducrubeaucaillou #chateaupavie #chateaupontetcanet #chateautroplongmondot #chateaurauzansegla #chateaucanon #eiselevineyard #champagnejacquesson #chateaumargaux #vollmers #michelinchef #tailormadeexperience #foodandwinepairing #worldclasscuisine #foodandwineevent #frenchwine #bordeauxwine #napawine #champagnelovers #winesummit #alpinesummit #wineevent #wineconnoisseur #verbier #valdisere #luxurychalet #luxuryskiing #skiandwine #winelovers

🇺🇸#Dallas – 2 legendary evenings of legendary wines. We are delighted to announce our latest #twisummit taking place on the 23 and 24 of June.

🇺🇸#Dallas – 2 legendary evenings of legendary wines. We are delighted to announce our latest #twisummit taking place on the 23 and 24 of June. 📍23 June: Truly a once in a lifetime event Join Pierre Lurton, Director of Château d'Yquem and Lisa Perrotti-Brown, our Bordeaux critic, for a truly once-in-a-lifetime dinner with 15 legendary vintages going back to the 19th Century. Spaces are extremely limited for this 5-course meal specially created and paired with an incredible line-up of fifteen rare vintages of Châteaud'Yquem. ❗️12 seats only. 📍24 June: A night with the White Horse We are rolling out the red carpet with a vertical of Château Cheval Blanc. In true Texan style, this dinner will be held in one of Dallas’ foremost steak houses and again led by Pierre Lurton, director of Château d’Yquem, along with our founder and Bordeaux critic Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW. ❗️24 seats only for this special night. 📧l If you would like to join us for either or both nights, please register here: bit.ly/3WO68xx

#Winetasting with a view. Some fantastic #vineyardviews during our #enprimeur tastings in Pessac-Léognan. . . . . . #winetastingroom #winearchitecture #bordeauxvineyards #bordeauxwines #wineviews #frenchchateau #vineyardvines #winetime #winewinewine #bordeauxenprimeur #wineculture #winelovers #winesofinsta #sunnydays #springintheair #fiercelyindependent #thewineindependent @smithhautlafitte @chateau_lescarmeshautbrion @chateaulamussionhautbrion @chateauhautbailly @couhins_lurton

Try our 6-Day FREE Trial Private Subscription and give yourself the time to discover all our #onlinepublication has to offer. With timely reviews and tasting notes from top critics @lisapbmw and @susanhulmemw, excellently penned articles from R.H. Drexel, and captivating photography from @johantheberglund and @svanteornberg this is your chance to take a trial run and decide if you are ready to subscribe annually. You’ll have unlimited access to all areas of the website, and you can cancel your subscription at any time during your trial period and you will not be charged. This is a limited-time promotion and will run until 10th May 2023. To start your free trial today head over to the link in our bio. . . . . . #winelovers #winegeek #winenerd #wineaddict #winesubscription #winepublication #wineconsumers #consumeradvocate #winepromotion #winearticle #winereview #tastingnotes #winestories #winestorytelling #winephotography #winegram #winestagram #fiercelyindependent #thewineindependent

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🇺🇸#Dallas – 2 legendary evenings of legendary wines. We are delighted to announce our latest #twisummit taking place on the 23 and 24 of June.

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