WELCOME TO WINE TERROIRS & TALES

Waiting to go into the Pavillon Ledoyed for the tasting of Domaines Familiaux de Bourgogne It is a rare privilege for Burgundy lovers to secure an invitation to the annual tasting of the Domaines Familiaux de Bourgogne at the very posh Pavillon Ledoyen, a Michelin starred restaurant in Paris, so I thought I might post a few thoughts. I’m not going to give a list of tedious tasting notes on mega label wines, nor a bunch of photos of me trying to hobnob with some of the greates

Yacoraite vineyards Jujuy is the region of a million photos, from the crazily coloured chevroned mountains of Hornocal to the turquoise and glistening white Salt Plains next to Bolivia, in the Atacama Desert. The play of light on the ever-changing palette of the Andes would drive Claude Monet to distraction. It is beyond spectacular, the textures, shade and brilliance shifting at every bend in the road. Throw in llamas and guanaco (in the cactus-strewn fields, or the wool sho

El Nevado de Cachi Cachi. It’s a beautiful small town high up in the Andes full of picturesque white adobe buildings and molle  trees on every street corner with their cascading garlands of (false) pink peppercorns like miniature bunches of scarlet grapes. It’s known for its red peppers (paprika) and spices and, of course, for wine. As I look out from our favourite hotel (El Merced del Alto), over and beyond my glass of Torrontes towers the Nevado de Cachi, 6400m of mountain,

2001 Chateau Rayas There have been many obituaries, eulogies and just RIPs to Emmanuel Reynaud since his much too young passing in November 2025. So it seemed the right moment to broach one of those iconic bottles that I am now too scared to uncork. Impossibly unaffordable to replace, dangerous to open in case a disappointment leaves you thinking just how much you could have sold it for. The conundrum that is the modern world of cult wines. I have drunk two bottles of Chateau