Margaret Rand

3 weeks ago | worldoffinewine.com | Margaret Rand

It is,” I said to my friend Clare, with whom I had a coffee after visiting Gutter & Stars, “about from here to that wall.” She burst out laughing; I was quite close to the wall. “It” is Gutter & Stars’ urban winery, all 38 square yards (32 sq m) of it—though they should probably be octagonal yards. Yes, the winery is octagonal. It’s in the basement of a windmill; the ceiling is 6ft (2m) high, give or take a bit, and the walls slope gently inward.

1 month ago | worldoffinewine.com | Margaret Rand

Margaret Rand meets Herbert Hall owner Nick Hall and winemaker Kirsty Smith. Kent, in southeast England, has always been beautiful—and it still is. But it used to look rather different: There were hop fields everywhere, and what wasn’t given over to hops grew apples and pears and cherries. Nicholas Hall, owner of sparkling-wine maker Herbert Hall, remembers road signs in the spring pointing motorists toward the blossom tours. People came to Kent to see the fruit blossom.

2 months ago | timatkin.com | Margaret Rand

When did winemakers become philosophers? Is it that if you charge more than a certain amount for a bottle of wine you have to justify it by some intellectual heft, because – as we know – flavour is, above a certain level, not the major determinant of price? Or do some producers feel that if people are prepared to pay that much for what they produce from the land, then what they produce from their heads must have some value too, and should be shared with the world?

2 months ago | worldoffinewine.com | Margaret Rand

There is a bit of perhaps unintentional humor in the substantial art collection at 4 Rue des Crayères, a revamped property of Ruinart in Reims. You approach the entrance via the Chemin des Crayères, a passage through high walls of hacked-out chalk just like the chalk in the crayère cellars beneath your feet—except that it isn’t. It’s concrete, painted white. And you think, The one thing they’re not short of around here is chalk; what is going on?

2 months ago | the-buyer.net | Margaret Rand

How to encompass Alsace in eight wines? At first glance it doesn’t look that difficult – but then you think of a wide range of grape varieties and hundreds of different terroirs, and – well…Alsace is evolving in the face of climate change and fashion. Pinot Blanc is often making way for Pinot Noir, led by demand for the grape and the wish of Alsace producers to make some red wine. Pinot Gris can have an acidity problem in hot years, though we tasted some splendid ones, with no lack of balance.