Around 450 different sparkling wines from classic bottle fermentation were put into the glasses at the Meininger German Sparkling Wine Award. The upward trend continues, and the sparklings are becoming increasingly high-class - and bold.

Reading time: 1m 15s

After decades of writing about wine and editing and judging other people's words on the subject, Robert Joseph wonders whether there will ever be a vocabulary that works for everyone.

Reading time: 4m

Held in Wiesbaden, Germany, the MW Symposium brought together luminaries of the wine world, for four days of ideas, tastings and networking. Meininger's was there.

Reading time: 7m

The wine industry focuses a lot of attention on the way wine performs in blind tastings and less on the way it is perceived by the people who actually drink it - and why. Top researchers are conducting studies but Robert Joseph impudently wonders if they are asking the right questions.

Reading time: 4m 45s

7,568 wines from 44 countries - one even from Afghanistan - were in line for the MUNDUS VINI spring tasting. 242 jurors from all over the world awarded prizes to the best wines. As a premiere, the category "alcohol-free" was tasted for the first time, with 131 still wines and 56 sparkling 'wines'.

Reading time: 2m 15s

Fresh from his experience at the 2023 ASI Meilleur Sommelier du Monde, Robert Joseph suggests that wine service professionals now know more about the drinks industry as a whole than almost anybody else.

Reading time: 4m 15s

Robert Joseph wonders if younger consumers - and sommeliers - are growing more tolerant of volatile acidity than older experts.

Reading time: 3m 30s

Has Barolo gone out of fashion? For our sister publication WEINWIRTSCHAFT it is clear after this tasting that the Piedmontese classic has lost none of its relevance. Clemens Gerke exalts the wines.

Reading time: 4m

Wine tasters rely on the reliability and accuracy of their sense of smell. How many, Robert Joseph wonders, have been impaired by the pandemic.

Reading time: 4m 15s