From the ‘most drinkable address in the world’ – as Winston Churchill described Avenue de Champagne in Épernay – to the lush green hills of the Côte des Bar, follow our trail through the vineyards of Champagne.

You can feel the tension in the Bordeaux wine world in the run-up to the 2025 update of the Crus Bourgeois classification. The five-year review, managed by the Alliance des Crus Bourgeois, raises questions among producers, consumers and market players. The significance of the classification, the benefits it offers and the recent controversies surrounding it are all topics that need to be explored to gain a better understanding of the issues involved in this wine industry tradition.

He made a name for himself as the hammer-wielding super hero in the ‘Thor’ saga, or more recently by firing a machine gun all over the place in ‘Mad Max Furiosa’. In real life, the Australian film star seems to enjoy wielding a cork screw, using it inevitably to uncork the amazing wines from the Barossa Valley. It’s all about keeping it local!

Some say Shiraz, some say Syrah. That is the catchy tagline that the Shiraz Association of South Africa has adopted to illustrate how the styles produced here oscillate between the Old and the New World. Some wine-producing countries might even find themselves glancing enviously at the southern tip of Africa, where diverse award-winning Rhône-style wines are proudly catapulted into the world from its continental, coastal, and Mediterranean climates.

Why not try a forthright Blanc de Blancs Champagne with floral and fresh hazelnut notes to accompany this appetiser?

Times have certainly changed since the Adega do Cartaxo co-operative winery, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary, was founded. From a business with 22 vine growers mainly selling its wines in bulk, it now boasts 168 partners with revenue in the millions and wines that sell across the globe. We take a look back over this Portuguese success story.

The vineyards of Provence extend over 200 kilometers, through the departments of Var, Bouches-du-Rhône and part of Alpes-Maritimes. Basking in virtually uninterrupted sunshine, the scenery is breathtaking and setting foot in the vineyards alone is enough to create a true holiday feel.

It’s an open secret that the United States – and many other countries – are in the grips of a neo-prohibition movement that has the potential to undermine the future of wine consumption. But trade and marketing organisations in the US are fighting back, as evidenced by the ‘Come Over October’ campaign that launches on October 1.