Jefford on Monday

Farewell Jef

[Andrew Jefford] Any accidental, premature death is always tragic, but this one seems to me unusually bitter.

I ended my last trip to Champagne secretly impressed with the sophistication with which those who make these wines come to think about their creations, and the articulacy with which they express those thoughts.

The négociant who never came

[Andrew Jefford] Like the magical but shrinking wild ass’s skin of Balzac’s 1831 novel Peau de Chagrin, the more success Gayral has with his wines, the fewer remain for him to sell.

The soft-fingered giant

[Andrew Jefford] The fact that the cool-climate, northern European white has been the dominant aesthetic model worldwide over the last couple of decades is just silly.

Disobeying the prefect

[Andrew Jefford] Is Emmanuel Giboulot a selfless idealist, fighting for agricultural freedom and new solutions to vineyard challenges or a biodynamic fundamentalist making life difficult for his neighbours, friends and colleagues?

Grey’s anatomy

[Andrew Jefford] Ask British wine drinkers what their favourite grape variety is, and almost a quarter of them will reply Pinot Grigio.

Among the spell weavers

After a visit to Champagne, Andrew Jefford brought us a bagful of dispatches from the land of foam and fortune.

Shades of orange

[Andrew Jefford] The point here is that this is not avant-garde posturing or even radical experiment, but rather a return to deep local traditions and a logical response to a singular set of grape varieties.

Crimea’s crisis

[Andrew Jefford] Has Ukraine lost its most significant wine-producing region? Quite possibly.

The way we live now

[Andrew Jefford] The wine world’s new movers may eventually prove to be some of its most effective and helpful shakers.