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Country and Region Guide

A guide to popular Countries and their best wines! 

ARGENTINA 

Argentina & Chile are often thought of together but have very different climates and wines. Argentina is a relatively hot and arid country which relies on meltwater from the Andes, distributed by a system of canals and reservoirs, to irrigate the vines with life-giving water. It produces some of the most interesting and good value-for-money wines available on the UK Hight St. It has a trump card in the delicious Malbec grape (originating from Bordeaux) which produces wines which range from early-drinking soft & fruity numbers all the way up to serious wines from old vines grown at high altitudes. Argentinian Malbec is one of the worlds great wine bargains. It also makes a wide range of wines from all the usual suspects of Cabernet, Merlot, & Syrah as well as some superb whites from Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, & its own varietal - Torrontes ( a highly perfumed floral wine reminiscent of a Gewurtztraminer) tasting of rose petals and turkish delight! Try this wine with Thai food it is a perfect match! Keep an eye on our Chile & Argentina Evenings & Courses to taste your way around these 2 countries.

AUSTRALIA

Australia is home to a huge and growing diversity of wines. Regionality is a word that is increasingly being used to describe Australias best wines. The cooler parts of Australia such as Tasmania, and coastal regions around Melbourne (such as Yarra Valley) produce some of OZ's best sparkling wines. If you like New World Rieslings (if you havent tried them yet - please do - they are deliciously dry zesty sharp white wines that are great with Asian food) try wines from Eden & Clare Valley.

The quintissential OZ grape is Shiraz grown in all manner of climates from the hot Barossa Valley to the cooler climates of Western Australia - if you would like to compare the taste of many different Shiraz wines - look out for our Australian Wine Courses & Tastings.

Western OZ is home to 2 delicious blends - a white produced from Semillon & Sauvignon Blanc, and a delicious Bordeaux-style red from Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot - if you would like some recommendations as to where to get some cracking examples - please Contact Us & we would be deligted to point you in the right direction !

Many More Countries Coming Soon !

• Australia banned from using Champagne, Sherry and Port on labels
  Australian winemakers have been banned from using the words Champagne, Port and Sherry on their labels under a major EU deal.
• Nine new Masters of Wine announced
  Nine new Masters of Wine have been announced today, including three Decanter World Wine Awards judges and one DWWA regional chair.
• English sparkling beats top Champagnes at Decanter World Wine Awards
  East Sussex winery Ridgeview took the top sparkling wine trophy at last night's Decanter World Wine Awards ?? to the amazement of its owners.
• Galilean winery in Rhone triumph
  A winery in Upper Galilee beat some of the world's most renowned producers of Syrah and Shiraz at the Decanter World Wine Awards.
• Diageo calls for taxation shake-up
  Drinks giant Diageo is calling for all drinks to be taxed at the same rate per unit of alcohol, regardless of whether they are beer, wine or spirits.
• Bordeaux harvest starts this week at Carbonnieux
  Chateau Carbonnieux in Pessac Leognan is due to begin picking its Sauvignon Blanc grapes at the end of this week after a 'roller-coaster' season of highs and lows.
• Dubai airport breaks duty-free wine sale record
  A fine wine store at Dubai Airport is claiming a world record after a customer spent a total of US$107,000 on eight bottles of wine.
• 'Perfect' auction lot to be offered at US wine festival
  The Naples (Florida) Winter Wine Festival will offer an unprecedented auction lot of 100 bottles of 100-point wines at its annual event in January.
• Thierry Manoncourt dies
  Thierry Manoncourt, the owner of Ch??teau Figeac in St Emilion, has died aged 92.
• DWWA medal winners touch down in Argentina
  More than 50 Argentinian sommeliers attended the first-ever Decanter World Wine Awards tasting in Argentina.
• New York harvest earlier, larger than 2009
  New York anticipates a larger and much earlier harvest this year than it had in 2009.
• Canadian harvest begins
  The Canadian harvest started today in Ontario's Niagara region, the earliest commercial picking there in more than 20 years.