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1 week ago | 
decanter.com | Clive Pursehouse
The Puget Sound is a part of the Salish Sea, a marginal sea, off the Pacific Ocean, which also includes the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia, extending north of Vancouver, British Columbia. The Puget Sound, which stretches from Deception Pass on Whidbey Island in the north to Olympia at the southern end, maintains a moderate maritime climate, creating wines that are uniquely distinct within the state of Washington.
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2 weeks ago | 
decanter.com | Clive Pursehouse
As Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) enters its 22nd year in 2025, it continues to reinforce its reputation as the world’s leading wine competition. This year’s edition saw wines submitted from 57 countries, underscoring the competition’s role as a global benchmark for wine quality and excellence.
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2 weeks ago | 
decanter.com | Clive Pursehouse
Don and Wendy Lange found a 30-acre (12 ha) parcel on the eastern knoll of the Dundee Hills, which did not become an appellation until 2005. They set down roots, planting their first vines in 1988, and establishing Lange Estate. The Langes’ journey to become one of the early pieces of the Willamette Valley wine puzzle was a circuitous one.
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3 weeks ago | 
decanter.com | Clive Pursehouse
Valle de Guadalupe, a 90-minute drive south of San Diego, California, has winemaking roots in the 17th century and accounts for about 80% of Mexico’s total wine production. The region is still on the rise internationally. Today, the valley is home to more than 150 wineries. One of its top names is tucked away amid vineyards and olive groves just off the dusty roads that lead through the heart of Valle de Guadalupe’s wine route.
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1 month ago | 
decanter.com | Clive Pursehouse
There are many terms for wine barrels in the many languages of wine. Whether called a ‘barrique’, ‘cask’, ‘foudre’, or ‘botte’, these terms refer to wooden vessels that both store and shape the wines within them. The main reason for the use of barrels in winemaking is a process called micro-oxygenation. This means that a small amount of air passes through the grains in the wood and softens or ages the wine inside. What is a wine barrel?
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1 month ago | 
decanter.com | Clive Pursehouse
I did a lot of tasting in March that doesn’t really count towards my own tally. I one instance, I was backing up our Napa Correspondent, Jonathan Cristaldi, at Heitz Cellars, with an epic vertical of about 45 wines, which you’ll hear more about later this year. I also helped out our Sonoma Correspondent Ana Carolina Quintela on the Sonoma Coast. We tasted about 85 wines in one day with some of the region’s top producers. For my own reviewing, I just about hit 150 wines in March.
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2 months ago | 
decanter.com | Clive Pursehouse
As you can no doubt imagine, our editorial team receive lots of wines for review. It was a banner February for me. With very little travel, I found myself tasting a lot of wine – nearly 250 different wines from the West Coast in fact, the vast majority of which were from Washington and Oregon.
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2 months ago | 
decanter.com | Clive Pursehouse
The 2014 vintage in Washington State marked the beginning of evident warming trends in the region and beyond. It was a growing season that would break records for heat, but those records would be surpassed just a year later in the record-shattering 2015 vintage. For those who cellared wines from the 2014 vintage in the Columbia Valley, now is the time to open them. In the words of Kenny Rogers, knowing when to hold them and when to fold them is key when it comes to cellaring wines.
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2 months ago | 
decanter.com | Clive Pursehouse
‘The whole thing started in [19]99 when I was visiting Oregon’, says Ernst ‘Ernie’ Loosen, explaining the origin of the Eroica collaboration with Washington’s founding winery, Chateau Ste Michelle. Having embarked on a joint venture with the Antinori family in 1995 at Col Solare on Red Mountain, Ste Michelle had shown an aptitude for international collaboration.
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Jan 31, 2025 | 
decanter.com | Clive Pursehouse
Besting last year’s record, the 2025 Naples auction raised just over $34m. Unique wine experience lots fetched in the range of $500-800,000 and a package with a wine-coloured Bentley netted $1.7m. Top wine lots included a curated trip provided by Napa’s Staglin Family Vineyard. Two couples will join the Staglin family on a tour of Switzerland – an experience complete with luxury nights, Michelin-star meals in Geneva and Chamonix and a custom Panerai watch for each guest.
