Anson on Thursday
DNA mapping Bordeaux wines tantalizingly close
Ten years ago, the quays of Bordeaux were outcasts to the city proper. Buildings blackened from car exhausts and industrial waste, a line of warehouses blocking the view of the Garonne river that had nourished and supported the city for much of i
Bordeaux, R&D capital
2013 has begun with the death of one of the great, although unsung, names of Bordeaux wine: Bernard Donèche. Not an owner of any great Médoc chateau, nor the zillionth generation of a famous Bordeaux lineage, but an academic who preferred to rema
Wine resolutions
If you’re reading this in early January, thinking about your wine resolutions for 2013, you will not be alone. Most of us who love wine will spend at least a short time selecting a style or a producer that we would like to know better over the co
Lurton family wines
Family businesses, it seems redundant to point out, are something of a prized asset in French wine. You have the Pol Roger family in Champagne, which heads back to the early 19th century, the Hugels in Alsace, who can trace their roots back to th
Peter Kwok: the first Chinese purchaser in Bordeaux, 15 years on...
'When I first bought Château Haut-Brisson, back in 1997, I had no idea that 15 years later I would have quite so many Chinese neighbours.' Peter Kwok, speaking from his immaculate apartment in one of Hong Kong's most exclusive areas, smiles broad
The perfume of wine
[Jane Anson] We live in a largely visual world. Around 60% of our stimulus comes from sight, with 20% from hearing, 10% touch, 9% smell and just 1% from taste. This might seem to put wine tasters at a bit of a disadvantage, and is certainly why so we have
Musical chairs in Bordeaux
Two high profile departures from Bordeaux estates have been announced over the past month – Sylvie Cazes from Chateau Pichon Comtesse de Lalande and Jean-Guillaume Prats from Chateau Cos d’Estournel, both 2nd Growths from the 1855 classification.
What the sommelier saw…
After almost a decade of living in and writing about Bordeaux, there are certain things that are subtly but indisputably understood. And perhaps the most important is that the power of the market is sacrosanct. This is a place where the terroir,