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Wine Knowledge
To understand wine is to grasp its connections: why Riesling from blue slate tastes different to that from red, what makes a vintage great, and when a bottle is ready to drink. Here we gather the wine knowledge accumulated through our daily work with biodynamic estates across Europe.
Each article is independently researched and fully sourced, covering everything from soil and cellar to the question of which wine pairs best with which dish.
Terroir & Soils
Long before any decisions are made in the cellar, the soil has already spoken: four deep core samples.
Wine from Slate: Red, Grey, Blue
This fissile rock forces roots metres deep into the stone and stores the warmth of the day. How to taste its colours in the glass.
ReadLlicorella & Co: Europe’s Slate Wines
Black slate in Priorat, iron-rich soils in Bierzo, steep terraces in the Douro: the southern, red-hued facet of this remarkable terroir.
ReadTerroir of Priorat & Montsant: Core and Ring
Llicorella at the centre, sand, gypsum and limestone forming a ring around it: why just a few hundred metres can determine a wine’s character.
ReadTerroirs of the Rheingau
Quartzite terraces in Rüdesheim, phyllite slate in Rauenthal: a geological stroke of fortune along the bend of the Rhine.
Read
Vintage charts
Four regions, read year by year: weather patterns, character and drinking windows, with named sources from the Consorzio to international critics.
Piedmont
Barolo and Barbaresco year by year: weather patterns, character, drinking windows.
To the chartBrunello di Montalcino
Pure Sangiovese, with Consorzio stars and the great tasters, open even where they disagree.
To the chartRhône
North and South read separately, from Hermitage to Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
To the chartChampagne
Why Champagne declares only selected years as vintage and which of them turned out to be great.
To the chart
Understanding Champagne
Champagne in four chapters: from chalk soils to bottle fermentation and the final decision before corking. Plus a comparison with Crémant, Sekt and Pét-Nat.
The Méthode Champenoise
The second fermentation takes place in the very bottle that will later appear on your table. The entire process, step by step.
ReadDosage: from Brut Nature to Demi-Sec
The final intervention before corking: how much sugar goes into the bottle and what it does to the style.
ReadThe 7 grape varieties of Champagne
Everyone knows Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier. The regulations permit seven, and the four forgotten ones are a story in their own right.
ReadThe terroir of Champagne
34,400 hectares at 49° north: chalk, climate and slope gradient at the limit of viticulture.
ReadChampagne, Crémant, Sekt, Pét-Nat
Four sparkling wines compared: how the bubbles get into the bottle, how long the wine rests on its lees and where the grapes come from.
Read
Natural Wine & Biodynamics
The concepts behind our range: how our winemakers work and what ends up in your glass.
Biodynamic Viticulture
The vineyard as an organism: the preparations, the rhythms, and the Demeter, Biodyvin and respekt-BIODYN certifications.
ReadNatural Wine
Add nothing, take nothing away: wild yeasts, unfined, unfiltered, with little or no sulphur.
ReadPét-Nat: Pétillant Naturel
Naturally sparkling, finished fermenting in the bottle: what lies behind these two intriguing words.
ReadSulphur-Free Wines
No added sulphur at any stage: the strictest approach and how it transforms what is in your glass.
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Regions with Character
Beyond the famous names: three portraits of regions that follow their own rules.
Jura: France’s Most Idiosyncratic Region
Vin Jaune beneath its living veil of yeast, straw wine, Savagnin and a natural wine scene that draws pilgrims.
ReadTokaj: Furmint, Aszú, Eszencia
Classified since 1737, long before Bordeaux was codified: the art of noble rot, now far more than just sweet.
ReadOrganic Lugana from Lake Garda
Turbiana from the southern shore of the lake: Marangona’s organic Lugana, awarded the Tre Bicchieri by Gambero Rosso.
Read
Reference
Two everyday reference guides: every grape variety, every dish.
From Reading to Your Glass
Everything we write about here can be found in our range: almost 3,000 wines, more than 800 of them from biodynamically certified estates.
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