BlogOctober 2020

he charismatic and talented Alvaro Palacios is one of nine children born to the owners of Rioja’s respected Palacios Remondo. He later studied enology in Bordeaux while working under Jean-Pierre Moueix at Chateau Pétrus, where he learnt about “the importance of great wines.” He could have returned to his family’s domaine, but he struck out on his own in the 1980s and found the largely abandoned, ancient vineyards of Priorat. Some 60 miles from Barcelona, Priorat was once one of Spain’s important pre-Phylloxera wine regions, and Alvaro believed it was time again to make incredible wines here.

Organic and biodynamic wines are really having a moment, but how much do you actually know about them? Wineries all over the globe have been growing wine organically since the early days, so no, they're not just a fad. In fact, many of the finest, most authentic wines happen to be organic and biodynamic (read our interview with Champagne Tarlant). This short guide will give you a short introduction into them, the processes involved, and some of the wineries doing it best.

Happy Dragon Boat Festival! Did you know: it's also called the Dumpling Festival, since the Chinese stuff their faces with the delicious glutinous rice dumplings known as bak chang (meat dumplings).

This year's festival falls today on 25 June, so we thought it would be a good time to share our wine pairing tips for the different types of bak chang available, as some of them are more savoury, sweeter, or even oilier than others. Even if you didn't manage to get your hands on the greasy leaf-wrapped dumplings this time, you'll still be able to find rice dumplings in speciality stalls around Singapore throughout the year. Shall we begin?