Hi subscribers, I've been working on www.sustainablewine.co.uk as a replacement for the blog. A more substantive and useful website in the future, I hope! So you'll see posts from there from now on, and this blog will go dormant. If you happen to be in London on November 4th, (or can get there!) please do…
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The Future of Wine Forum – Nov 4, London
Good morning all. Over the last few years it's been a fun journey learning about how sustainability has changed the wine sector over the last few years and hearing some of the leading winemakers speculate on what may lie ahead. So now I've decided to turn it into a business. Together with my friend Agatha…
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Wilco Lam, winemaker at cult NZ producer Dry River, on sustainable wine making in New Zealand
In early June 2019 I sat down in the wine library at 67 Pall Mall in London with Wilco. We talked about how he ended up in New Zealand, the wines he makes at Dry River, reductiveness in wine making, low oxygenation and phenolic compounds, his views on what sustainability means in the vineyard and…
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What does sustainability mean in Montalcino?
Q&A with Cristina Mariani-May, family proprietor of Castello Banfi estate in Montalcino and president and CEO of Banfi Vintners. Agatha Pereira recently interviewed her at the Climate Change Leadership conference in Porto, Portugal. AP: Everyone's talking about sustainability in wine these days but definitions vary a lot. What is your definition? CMM: My definition is really to be…
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Morgane Fleury on making Champagne sustainable
I recently met with the delightful and charming Morgane Fleury in London. We spent half an hour or so discussing sustainable champagne. How you define it, how you make it, and how you can sell it at 22-25 Euros a bottle and still make a living. She and her family are biodynamic and sustainable pioneers…
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Quick Q&A on sustainable wine with Gilles Descotes, chef de cave at Champagne Bollinger
My friend and colleague (in sustainable wine) Agatha Pereira was recently a guest of the Porto Climate Change Leadership conference. She did a few interviews for the blog whilst she was there, including this Q&A with Gilles Descoteschef de cave at Champagne Bollinger. It's a brief Q&A, but for me, it shows how what you might call…
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How can climate models and forecasting help winemakers beat climate change?
Albert Soret Miravet and Marta Terrado from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center recently discussed with me, how computer-based climate and weather modelling and predictions can help agriculture tackle volatile weather patterns and manage against climate change. The audio interview with them is below, and there's a short video on what they are doing for grape growers in…
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Some of the best Bandols you can buy
I had a conversation with a fellow Bandol fan last night, at 67 Pall Mall in London. We exchanged ideas on the great wines of Bandol and the incredible differences between the wines, particularly interesting given the AOC is not large. We talked soil, and producers and years, decanting times and how wonderful Mourvedre is.…
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Anna Chilton on sustainability in wine, soil health and more
Here's a recent interview I did with Anna Chilton, who is studying to be a master of wine, and works for an agricultural producer, Camellia. In the podcast we discuss what sustainability means in wine today, soil health and better practices, and what other industries, particularly in agriculture, might learn from the studies and practices…
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Meeting the mad professor of far-north winemaking
If you want to make wine north either Copenhagen or Edinburgh, you should speak with Martins Barkans. He is the man who makes wine on the 57th parallel. That's 57 degrees north. Yes, 57 degrees north. He's spent eight years experimenting with 40 varietals, to make a drinkable wine from his three and a half hectare…
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