Wine guides
Every wine guide in one place — 32 in all. Read the overviews for free; the deeper material comes with a subscription.
Regions
Alsace
A study guide to Alsace — the four noble grapes, the label system from Edelzwicker to Grand Cru, Vendanges Tardives and SGN, and Crémant, behind the Vosges rain shadow.
Read guide →Beaujolais
A study guide to Beaujolais — Gamay, the ten crus, carbonic maceration, and how Nouveau, Villages, and cru wines differ in the glass.
Read guide →Bordeaux
A study guide to Bordeaux — Left Bank vs Right Bank, the key grapes, the 1855 classification, and how it all shows up in WSET exams.
Read guide →Burgundy
A study guide to Burgundy — the four-tier appellation ladder, the Côte d'Or villages, Chablis, and the climat idea, with maps of the key vineyards.
Read guide →Champagne
A study guide to Champagne — the traditional method step by step, the history behind the bubbles, and how to taste it against Prosecco and Cava.
Read guide →Loire Valley
A study guide to the Loire — one river, three climates, four vineyard clusters, from Muscadet's sea-salt whites through Chenin and Cabernet Franc country to Sancerre.
Read guide →Northern Rhône
A study guide to the Northern Rhône — Syrah on granite, Viognier in Condrieu, and the six AOCs from Côte-Rôtie to Cornas, hill by hill.
Read guide →Southern France
A study guide to Southern France — the Languedoc-Roussillon arc and Bandol, two winds, the IGP-to-cru ladder, old-vine Carignan, Picpoul, and Mourvèdre by the sea.
Read guide →Southern Rhône
A study guide to the Southern Rhône — Grenache blends, galets and the mistral, the Côtes du Rhône pyramid, and the crus from Châteauneuf-du-Pape to Tavel.
Read guide →Southwest France
A study guide to Southwest France — Cahors's black wine, Madiran's Tannat, Bergerac and Monbazillac on the Dordogne, Jurançon, and the two roads to sweet wine.
Read guide →Varietals
Aligoté
A study guide to Aligoté — Burgundy's "other" white grape, its razor of acidity, the Kir cocktail, and its rehabilitation from vin ordinaire to serious Bouzeron.
Read guide →Cabernet Franc
A study guide to Cabernet Franc — the aromatic parent of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, its leafy-and-raspberry core, and how it tastes in the Loire, Bordeaux, and California.
Read guide →Cabernet Sauvignon
A study guide to Cabernet Sauvignon — its accidental Bordeaux parentage, the cassis-and-cedar core, and how it tastes across Bordeaux, California, Australia, and South Africa.
Read guide →Carignan
A study guide to Carignan/Cariñena/Mazuelo — from the engine of Europe's wine lake to the Languedoc's old-vine cult grape, and how carbonic maceration redeemed it.
Read guide →Chardonnay
A study guide to Chardonnay — the winemaker's white grape, its Burgundy home, and how oak, malolactic and place drive it from steely Chablis to buttery Meursault.
Read guide →Chenin Blanc
A study guide to Chenin Blanc — the high-acid shape-shifter behind Vouvray, Savennières and the Layon, and South Africa's old-vine treasure.
Read guide →Cinsault
A study guide to Cinsault — the drought-proof grape behind the world's rosé, Pinotage's parent, and the pale, perfumed red rediscovered from Lebanon to South Africa.
Read guide →Gamay
A study guide to Gamay — its exile from Burgundy, the granite-and-carbonic Beaujolais style, and how it tastes as cru, Nouveau, in the Loire, and in Oregon.
Read guide →Gewurztraminer
A study guide to Gewurztraminer — lychee and rose in a golden, low-acid frame; the pink-skinned Savagnin mutation that found its true home in Alsace.
Read guide →Grenache
A study guide to Grenache/Garnacha — the Mediterranean's warm-climate engine, from Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Priorat to Rioja, old-vine Australia, and Banyuls.
Read guide →Malbec
A study guide to Malbec — the black wine of Cahors, its rebirth at altitude in Mendoza, and how the French and Argentine styles differ in the glass.
Read guide →Merlot
A study guide to Merlot — its Cabernet Franc parentage, the plush plum-and-chocolate core, and how it tastes across Bordeaux, California, Chile, and Washington.
Read guide →Mourvèdre
A study guide to Mourvèdre/Monastrell/Mataro — the sun-worshipping, tannic heart of Bandol and the structural spine of GSM blends worldwide.
Read guide →Muscat
A study guide to the Muscat family — the only wine that smells of the grape itself, from bone-dry Alsace to Asti's froth and the fortified sweets of Beaumes-de-Venise and Rutherglen.
Read guide →Petit Verdot
A study guide to Petit Verdot — Bordeaux's late-ripening "seasoning" grape of colour, tannin and violet perfume, and how it tastes solo in warm regions.
Read guide →Pinot Gris
A study guide to Pinot Gris/Grigio — one grape, two personalities; the grey-skinned Pinot Noir mutation behind Italy's crisp Grigio and Alsace's smoky, honeyed Gris.
Read guide →Pinot Meunier
A study guide to Pinot Meunier — Champagne's quiet workhorse, the floury-leafed Pinot mutation that keeps non-vintage blends fruity, supple, and safe.
Read guide →Pinot Noir
A study guide to Pinot Noir — the thin-skinned "heartbreak grape," its ancient Burgundy roots, and how it tastes from the Côte d'Or to Oregon, Sonoma, and Central Otago.
Read guide →Riesling
A study guide to Riesling — the world's most terroir-transparent white, from bone-dry Alsace and Australia to the Prädikat ladder of the Mosel, plus the petrol question.
Read guide →Sauvignon Blanc
A study guide to Sauvignon Blanc — the aroma chemistry of pyrazines and thiols, Sancerre vs Marlborough, and how one grape became the world's freshest white.
Read guide →Syrah
A study guide to Syrah/Shiraz — its Rhône parentage, the black-pepper signature, and how one grape splits into two styles across the world's climates.
Read guide →Viognier
A study guide to Viognier — apricot-and-honeysuckle perfume, famously low acidity, Condrieu at its heart, and a near-extinction story with a happy ending.
Read guide →