Stories & Insights from the World of Wine

Frankland River, Western Australia Swinney is a family farming operation in Frankland River, in the remote southern reaches of Western Australia's Great Southern, that has become the most closely watched producer of Rhône varieties in...

Ambonnay, Champagne, France Egly-Ouriet is a grower-Champagne estate based in Ambonnay, one of the seventeen Grand Cru villages on the Montagne de Reims. The domaine is now in its fourth generation under Francis Egly, who...

McLaren Vale, South Australia Bekkers is a small McLaren Vale estate founded around 2010 by Toby and Emmanuelle Bekkers, and it occupies an unusual position in the Australian fine-wine landscape: a young label, without inherited...

The case for Frankland River as one of Australia's most significant wine regions is no longer a speculative one. It is increasingly made by the wines themselves, and by the international critical attention those wines...

For anyone who has been buying wine seriously for a while, the basic mechanics of a label — vintage, variety, region, producer — are well understood. What gets less attention is the information embedded in...

Most serious wine buyers end up with a cellar by accumulation rather than design. A few allocation wines here, a couple of cases bought on a good trip to a region, a dozen bottles from...

In February 2026, the European Council formally adopted a sweeping reform of the regulatory framework governing wine production and trade across the European Union. The regulation was published on 26 February 2026 and takes effect...

Grenache spent most of the 20th century in Australia as a supporting act. It arrived in the country in 1832 as part of James Busby’s vine collection and became one of the most widely planted...

There is a wine crisis in Australia, and it is real. But it is also, in large part, happening to a version of the industry that the customers of premium wine merchants have very little...

Swinney Grenache Frankland River 2024, Western Australia | 100% Grenache | 13.8% alc The estate Grenache is where most people first encounter what this vineyard does with the variety, and for many it’s the wine...

Swinney Syrah Frankland River 2024, Western Australia | 100% Syrah | 14.0% alc The estate Syrah sits below the Farvie in the hierarchy but draws from many of the same sources — Wilson’s Pool and...

2024 Swinney Farvie Mourvèdre Frankland River, Western Australia | 100% Mourvèdre | 13.6% alc | Allocation only Of the three varieties that make up the Farvie lineup, Mourvèdre is the one that most people know...