Visit to Tenuta Luce in the hills around Montalcino for the 2023 Harvest, set among the Tuscan hills. Full article: https://secretsommelier.com/wine-posts-reviews/red-wine/644-tenuta-luce-vintage-tasting Nick Breeze speaks with winemaker Alessandro Marini about the vintage, climate change, potential new grapes and the wines of Tenuta Luce.

I am holding a glass of Contra Soarda’s elegantly perfumed ‘Terra’, produced within the vicinity of Bassano del Grappa. Terra is a wine blended from Merlot and Marzemino Nero. Marzemino is a very old grape variety first mentioned as part of a banquet wine list served to Pope Gregory XII on the 6 June, 1409 in Cividale, Friuli. Despite such fine lineage, ‘Terra’ is finding prestige as Europe’s first ‘carbon negative wine’. Before considering the quality of Terra, or even the ‘how’ in the...

The London Wine Fair 2023 (LWF23) is partnering with the Porto Protocol and Sustainable Wine Solutions to collect data by analysing the estimated 30k empty bottles consumed at the fair. The data sample will be used to inform reusable wine bottle schemes, in an effort to reduce carbon emissions. Reusing bottles is not new but is currently underutilised. It is also a pragmatic way to engage wine producers and consumers in moves towards sustainable and circular economy based solutions. Visit:...

In this final Sustainability in Alentejo episode, I speak with João Barroso, manager of the Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Programme (WASP). We discuss how the programme evolved from a need to respond to worsening climatic conditions, into a solid certification programme to help communicate the measured results of producers who take sustainability seriously. João also discusses how the programme consciously developed a knowledge-sharing network to accelerate the uptake of best...

In this episode, I am speaking with Luis Patrão, director of enology and viticulture at Coelheiros, a stunning 800 hectare, historic estate, north of Evora, in the centre of Alentejo. When I visited the estate, Luis gave me a guided tour to demonstrate how the 600+ hectare cork oak forest, 50 hectares of vines, and the 40 hectare walnut orchard are being transformed into a regenerated resilient, and balanced ecosystem that is simply glorious. It wasn’t always like this. The estate had more...

In this interview with climate and wine scientist, Professor Kimberly Nicholas, we discuss the urgency of the climate crisis and the need to scale up mitigation and adaptation in the wine industry and beyond to avoid catastrophic impacts of climate heating. Kimberly is originally from Sonoma in California’s wine country and is currently based in Sweden at the University of Lund. She has also recently published a book titled ‘Under The Sky We Make’ highlighting the agency available to all of...

In this episode of Sustainability in Alentejo Wine Series, I am speaking with João Roquette, CEO and Chairman of the Esporão group about the company’s transformation to organic and resilient production. Esporão is one of the most famous brand names in Portuguese wine and especially in Alentejo. João has played a leading role driving the company’s move towards organic viticulture. During my visit I saw huge amounts of effort going into researching indigenous varieties for adaptability to the...

During my trip across Alentejo, it was a pleasure to visit the cooperative Adega de Borba. Winemaking in and around Borba has a long pedigree and is even mentioned in ‘Murray’s handbook to Travels in Portugal’, published in 1864, with reference to ‘A considerable quantity of wine is produced at Borba..’ Visit: https://secretsommelier.com/wines-alentejo-sustainability And so it is to this day with Borba producing around 10 million bottles per year. The co-op is also renowned for its quality...

Mouchão is a great example of an integrated estate in Alentejo where different flora and fauna are interwoven to create the whole. The Sobreiro, or cork oak trees, are an integral part of the history of this region and yet, as Iain tells us, climate is one of the drivers that is causing a substantial die-off against which he and his team are fighting. For reference, the Arroba, mentioned in this recording is actually a measure used for weighing cork, equivalent to 15 kilograms. The story...

In the second episode of the Alentejo climate and sustainability series, I’m speaking with winemaker and climate scientist Dr. Greg Jones, who has co authored climate and wine research papers looking at the vulnerability of certain regions to climate change. One in particular that is relevant to this series titled ‘Climate Change & Global Wine Quality’, published in 2005 states, “Other regions currently with warmer growing seasons, i.e. southern Portugal may become too warm for the...

This podcast media series focuses specifically on sustainability in Alentejo, a wine producing area covering nearly all of southern Portugal. The project includes interviews with a number of winemakers including Iain Richardson from Mouchão, the team Herdade dos Grous, Luis Patrão from Coelheiros, and João Roquette from Esporão. I also speak with Helena Ferreira, Director of Production at Adega de Borba, where a thousand families are dependent on the sustainability of the cooperative, as...

Tenuta di Arceno is situated just north east of Siena and south of Florence in the Municipality of Castelnuovo Berardenga in the Chianti Classico region. The area is picture book Tuscany with rows of vines, orchards and a relentless daubing of Cyprus trees completing every perspective of the landscape. Visit: https://secretsommelier.com to view the full article and also watch the video version. We are in Sangiovese country but as with all things modern, diversification is much in evidence...

In this short interview with Ventoux AOC President, Frederic Chaudiére, we discuss the climate imprint so far and also the efforts that are now underway to join global efforts to reduce carbon emissions. View on Secret Sommelier: https://secretsommelier.com/wine-and-climate-change/617-ventoux-interview-president Frédéric Chaudiére: So the DNA of our terroir is very much linked to our mountain, and that mountain creates a kind of cooler climate all around the AOC.

This interview with Pasqua Wines CEO, Riccardo Pasqua, was recorded in Verona during VinItaly Special Edition, last October in 2021. View more on SecretSommelier.com During the wine show, Pasqua collaborated with an art collective to put on a large scale installation, demonstrating that wine can express itself as a collaborator in the arts as easily as it can in a tasting note. The company has been developing a longstanding engagement with creative projects that include podcasting,...

Stefano Girelli | Sicily, expressed in enchanting flavour In this interview and tasting I speak with Stefano Girelli, owner of two estates Santa Tresa and Cortese, in the southern part of the Sicily, Vittoria. We discuss the island’s potential for organic produce and why it is so exciting as a 21st century wine producer. Today, as the southern gateway into Europe, Sicily is both vibrantly awake and celebrating its wealth of flavours and human activity, coupled with the tense interplay of...

Welcome to wine on the frontline where in this episode we discuss Biodynamics & Ancient Soils in the context of producing fine wine in a changing climate In this interview with award winning winemaker, Peter Fraser of Yangarra Estate, McLaren Vale, in Australia, we discuss how using organic and biodynamic techniques has boosted biodiversity and, hopefully, resilience against climate extremes in the vineyard. I also taste four wines: the 2020 Blanc, a blend of 5 Rhone grape varieties,...

This interview with Christian Seely, Managing Director of the esteemed Quinta do Noval estate and owner of Quinta do Romaneira, close by in the Douro Valley, was not originally intended for podcast use, however, in listening back after the call it felt a shame not to use it. Anyone who has visited the Douro valley and is stained by the sheer intoxicating beauty of the place, probably, like me, seeks it out in every sniff and taste of wine from the region. Noval is certainly one of the...

In preparing to speak to Bruce Jack for this interview there were very apparently too many avenues to explore. Thankfully, Bruce doesn’t shy away from engaging and digging deep on subjects that one might not expect to cover in a wine orientated interview. Instead of transcribing, that would take me forever, I have tidied up the interview for Youtube and as an inaugural podcast for the SecretSommelier podcast channel (I will not be waxing lyrical about anything on the channel but will be...