Chenin Blanc

The four wines that make up the Art Collection, are a Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and two new additional varieties in their wine portfolio — a Shiraz and Chenin Blanc. The Shiraz label has been designed by Maity and the Chenin Bland by Bhattacharya. They are all priced between Rs 480 and Rs 558.

The four wines that make up the Art Collection, are a Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and two new additional varieties in their wine portfolio — a Shiraz and Chenin Blanc. The Shiraz label has been designed by Maity and the Chenin Bland by Bhattacharya. They are all priced between Rs 480 and Rs 558. "The Art Collection is the brainchild of my brother, architect Karan Grover. Our rationale behind this range was to give our bottles a distinct identity and also to give our customers an opportunity to enjoy buying wine and owning a piece of art at the same time”, says Kapil Grover, director of Grover Vineyards. “The artists we worked with were all very excited by this idea of creating art labels and each one of them has created a veritable masterpiece,” he adds. Grover Vineyards was established in 1988 on the outskirts of Bangalore.

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Full Story: Intoxicated by fine art - Hindustan Times

World Cup competition comes to South Africa in June. Start the celebration of soccer's ultimate event a little early with South African wines. In so doing, experience the country's past, present and future.

Winemaking in South Africa dates back 350 years to the time Dutch settlers first occupied land around the Cape of Good Hope near the southern tip of the African continent. Before the abolition of the racial segregation policy known as apartheid, South African wines were the pariahs of the world's wine market, subject to the same global economic boycott as the rest of the country's goods.

With the dismantling of apartheid and democratic elections in 1994, South Africa was welcomed back to the community of nations. Sales of South African wines began to grow around the world as wineries adopted a more international style of winemaking.

Full Story: South Africa: Land of variety - Chicago Tribune

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Chenin Blanc is among world’s most planted, most versatile, most delicious wine grapes, and one you probably only experienced at its worst.

The grape’s character largely depends on terroir and vineyard management. Growers must prune the floridly promiscuous vines to intensify flavor and bring out the taste of the land. Winemakers then use simplest techniques: no oak, no malolactic fermentation, no artifice. Bottle age is the key to superior chenin blancs. Young, they are awkward, hard, acidic. With bottle age, however, fruits, honey, and delicious complexities develop.

While winery work is simple and straightforward, winemakers can make chenin blanc into almost anything: crisp, dry table wines, sweeter whites, sparkling whites, novice-drinker-pleasing rosés, nectar-like dessert wines that can age a century, a blending wine, even brandy.

Full Story: GUS CLEMENS: Chenin blanc is what the winemaker makes of it - San Angelo Standard-Times

Curiosity and the promise of participation in a grape harvest had brought us to this upland region about three hours’ drive from Bangkok. Here, on the fringes of the Khao Yai National Park, three trend-setting wineries offer a glimpse into Thai winemaking.

THE idea for making wine began here in 1997, when visiting friends from France urged Khun Virawat to grow wine grapes, apart from the estate’s regular crop of flowers, exotic fruits and Arabica coffee beans. Set about 500 meters above sea level, the vineyards are mostly devoted to Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. The early-morning mists singular to the region inspired the winery’s premium range—Château des Brumes (brumes is French for “mists”)—varying blends of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon aged in new French and American oak barrels. Jacques Bacou, a ninth-generation winemaker from the Corbières, supervises the night harvest every February and the winemaking operations in an underground stone winery. Immediately after the night harvest, the grapes are transported to the winery to be prepared for fermentation, with the sorting and crushing accomplished well before dawn. The first vintage was in 2002.

Mr. Virawat had so generously offered us a taste of almost all of the estate’s current releases at lunch and at the postnight harvest dinner. Standouts were the Château des Brumes La Fleur 2004 (62-percent Shiraz, 38-percent Cabernet Sauvignon), with its generous aromatics and flinty, earthy profile; and the Ma Chérie Rosé 2009 (100-percent Shiraz), crisp and dry, its raspberry-strawberry finish a delightful counterpoint to the warm afternoon and the subtly spiced roasted pork belly at lunch.

Full Story: High on Thai wine - Business Mirror

If you have been following the wine press you will have already heard that the British now drink more South African wine than French. South Africa has swept the board with sales up 23% by volume over the last year, pipping the French to the post by some 4,000 cases. And we haven't even got to the World Cup yet.

A lot of this is down to cheaper high street brands - such as First Cape, which saw an increase of 73% by value and almost 80% by volume last year; and Kumala, Arniston Bay, Two Oceans and KWV - but mid to higher end brands are making their mark, too. South Africa is working its way into our shopping baskets - and increasingly onto our restaurant lists, achieving "must list" status.

Ouch. The French won't like that. Just 20 years ago 95% of the wine we drank was European - and look at us now, waxing lyrical about Robertson, and in raptures over Swartland. These are South African wine regions, of course, which have been busy setting out their stall - Chardonnay for Robertson, and Syrah for Swartland - but also still frantically working out what works best where.

Full Story: Rising stars - South African wines - CatererSearch