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6 days ago | 
decanter.com | Natalie Earl
Irrational fears aside, bees are an important part of any ecosystem, including vineyards. I spoke to beekeepers and vineyard owners to find out why. ‘There isn’t a direct link between the vine and the bee,’ says Victorine Fraisse of Domaine de Villeneuve in Pic St-Loup, north of Montpellier in Languedoc. Her father has been a beekeeper since 1989 and the estate has about 1,000 bee hives.
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2 weeks ago | 
chicagomaroon.com | Natalie Earl
It is time to get excited for spring! Our beautiful campus is beginning to bloom, and the days will (hopefully) be warmer from here on out. Most importantly, ducks have officially returned to the Botany Pond, and UChicago’s resident expert, professor emeritus in the Department of Ecology and Evolution Jerry Coyne, assured the Maroon that they are here to stay. Jerry, as he introduced himself, has been the pond’s official “duck master” for the past eight years.
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2 weeks ago | 
chicagomaroon.com | Natalie Earl
The UChicago South Asian Students Association (SASA) held their annual cultural show on Saturday, March 29, at 8 p.m. in Mandel Hall. The show was accompanied by an art display outside the hall that showcased SASA members’ visual art, poetry, and photography.
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3 weeks ago | 
decanter.com | Natalie Earl
After studying viticulture and oenology, he worked in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, in the Rhône valley, at Domaine de Beaurenard, followed by stints in New Zealand, Languedoc and Luberon. The Piwi adventure started in 2021 when he returned home and realised that fungal vine diseases were a big problem in his region. ‘All my friends were already losing 80%-100% of their production,’ he tells me.
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2 months ago | 
decanter.com | Natalie Earl
Naturally, it’s aimed at wine producers, importers, exporters, retailers and wholesalers. I’m none of those, but I read it anyway, because as a wine drinker, I also have a strong interest in the container that gets this precious liquid cargo safely from the winery into my hands. I care what it looks like, how it’s presented, but I also know that its environmental impact can be significant.
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2 months ago | 
decanter.com | Natalie Earl
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti has released its 2022 wines in bottle and the UK wine trade and press were the first to taste them in London last week. The domaine’s co-directors Perrine Fenal and Bertrand de Villaine were present, alongside UK agent Corney & Barrow’s managing director Adam Brett-Smith. Following cripplingly low yields in the frost-stricken 2021, the 2022 vintage delivered an abundance of healthy grapes.
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2 months ago | 
decanter.com | Natalie Earl
There may be answers, however, in young companies such as EthicDrinks. A Bordeaux-based, new-wave négociant that sources organic wines from across France and further afield, it supplies retailers using a transparent, ethical, sustainable, plastic-free, decarbonised supply chain. Too good to be true? It recently launched a wine with UK retailer Laithwaites packaged in the lightest glass bottle on the market, at just 300g.
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Jan 19, 2025 | 
decanter.com | Natalie Earl
The river Loire drains into the Atlantic ocean on France’s western coast just south of Brittany. Stretching between the coast and roughly 120km inland are the vineyards of the Nantais. This area comprises four Muscadet appellations (Muscadet, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, Muscadet Coteaux de la Loire, Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu), along with the three lesser-known APs of Gros Plant du Pays Nantais, Coteaux d’Ancenis and Fiefs Vendéens. Muscadet’s popularity boomed in the 1980s, notably in the UK.
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Dec 28, 2024 | 
decanter.com | Natalie Earl
Decanter’s expert writers and contributors awarded 95-points or more to almost 3,000 wines in the 12 months to October 2024. While they have all appeared in the pages of Decanter magazine and online on Decanter Premium and in our decanter.com database, there were too many to reproduce here for a seasonal wrap-up.
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Dec 27, 2024 | 
decanter.com | Natalie Earl
In the US, Oregon has a significant network of B Corp wineries, including A to Z Wineworks and Et Fille. EPI Group’s three Champagnes – Piper-Heidsieck, Charles Heidsieck and Rare – were the first in the region to be certified. The UK’s Ridgeview was an early adopter and, more recently, Domaines Barons de Rothschild Lafite has joined the fray.
