The World of Fine Wine - Issue #77

The World of Fine Wine Issue #77 is a quarterly wine journal, heavily illustrated and bound like a book.

Geology and geography lead here: Alex Maltman on five fabled vineyard soils, György Márkus on thirty years of Tokaj's revival, Amanda Barnes on South American winemakers, and Miquel Hudin on Ricard Rofes. Raymond Blake argues that wine should come off its pedestal and be drunk, David Williams interviews Andrew Jefford on discovery over mastery, and Barry C Smith writes about what losing smell during Covid revealed. Tasting reports cover dry Loire Chenin, Barossa Valley Shiraz, and Champagne grown organically and biodynamically. The contributor list runs from Hugh Johnson and Michel Bettane to Terry Theise and Rob Walters.

The Barossa Shiraz report alone earns it a place on an Australian shelf, and the soils essay is the piece to read before the next conversation about minerality. Pitched at people who want to know why, not simply what to buy next.