At the southern edge of Chianti Classico, near Castelnuovo Berardenga, lies Fèlsina, one of Toscana’s most soulful estates. Founded in 1966, it bridges the classic and the modern with an unwavering respect for tradition — organic farming, old sangiovese vines, and limestone and galestro soils.
Their Vin Santo, made from dried malvasia and trebbiano grapes, follows a time-honoured method. The grapes are hung to dry for months, then pressed and fermented slowly in small caratelli barrels sealed with wax. There, in the quiet of the attic, the wine ages for nearly eight years, developing its complex, oxidative beauty before being bottled — unfiltered and full of character.
Vin Santo 2012 (Fèlsina)
Amber-gold in the glass. The nose opens with dried apricot, roasted almond, and honeyed orange peel. The palate is silky yet vibrant, balancing sweetness with fine acidity and a lingering finish of caramelised nuts and candied fruit. A contemplative wine, best enjoyed slowly, with aged pecorino or an almond biscotto, like we did.
Moravia is not the first place people think of when it comes to pinot blanc — yet from here emerge a really characterful version. The rolling hills of South Moravia, near the borders with Austria and Slovakia, are a mosaic of loess, limestone and clay, dotted with small villages, organic vineyards and a new generation of growers working with minimal intervention.
Milan Nestarec, based in Velké Bílovice, is one of the leading figures in this movement. His wines are raw and transparent, often unfiltered, and reflect a restless curiosity rather than a fixed style. He sees wine as “liquid food” — something that should feel alive and nourishing rather than polished or corrected.
Krásná Hora, located further east in Starý Poddvorov, share the same low-intervention philosophy but express it differently. Their biodynamic vineyards lie on loess- and limestone-rich slopes, producing wines of clarity and tension.
In Pinot Blanc Connection, Nestarec’s partly oak-aged 2022 component meets Krásná Hora’s crisp 2024 juice. The blend captures both sides of Moravia’s new identity: human-scale, collaborative, and driven by the wish to let the land speak.
Pinot Blanc Connection(Nestarec × Krásná Hora)
Pale golden. Complex nose of baked apple, quince and citrus peel, followed by hints of chamomile, honeycomb and raw almond. The palate is broad and textural, with a gentle waxiness and a bright acidity. Layers of ripe orchard fruit and light oxidative tones build toward a salty, slightly spicy finish that lingers with a touch of bitterness, reminiscent of grapefruit.
This is the last of a trilogy of white wines from Alentejo. Between Vidigueira and Cuba, Herdade do Rocim has become a key ambassador for vinho de talha — wine made in traditional clay amphorae, a method introduced by the Romans more than two millennia ago. The estate not only keeps this ancient practice alive but also celebrates it as the organiser of the annual Amphora Wine Day festival, dedicated entirely to talha wines.
This wine forms part of the Nat Cool movement — a collective promoting natural, authentic, and minimally handled wines. Under this banner, producers craft wines that express place and personality: low in alcohol, high in drinkability, and always sold in a generous one-litre bottle. Sustainability and transparency lie at the heart of the concept.
The wine is made from 100% rabo de ovelha, organically grown and fermented with native yeasts in clay amphora.
Fresh From Amphora 2024(Herdade do Rocim)
Pale golden yellow. Aromas of stone fruit and delicate flowers. Medium-bodied with lively citrus flavours, crisp acidity and a gently textured finish. Vibrant and refreshing.
From the ever-restless mind of António Maçanita, this is not your typical Alentejo white. Fitapreta is based at the restored Paço do Morgado de Oliveira, just outside Évora, where schist and granite soils at 400 metres bring freshness to the region’s natural warmth. Maçanita’s project has long been about rediscovering the forgotten grapes and traditions of southern Portugal – and giving them a contemporary voice.
A Laranja Mecânica (“The Clockwork Orange”) is a field blend from old vines, fermented on its skins for around 40 days and aged in used barrels. The grapes – including roupeiro, rabo de ovelha, tamarez, alicante branco and antão vaz – are handled with minimal intervention and no filtration.
A Laranja Mecânica 2023(António Maçanita, Fitapreta)
In the glass it’s deep amber ans slightly cloudy. Aromas of dried apricot, orange peel, chamomile and wild herbs, followed by a textured palate where grip meets juiciness. Saline, slightly bitter and very drinkable, full of sun and nerve.
This is the first of a trilogy about white wines from Alentejo.
Since taking over from her parents Carrie and Hans in 2019, Anna Jørgensen has reimagined the family estate as a living ecosystem — a polyculture where vines, olive trees, cork forest and grazing animals coexist. Farming is now regenerative and biodynamic in practice, with an emphasis on soil health, biodiversity and water preservation in this increasingly arid region.
This wine comes from a selection of the estate’s best vineyards across two sites. Alvarinho and sauvignon blanc are sourced from the coastal vineyards at Vila Nova de Milfontes, just three kilometres from the Atlantic, while the viognier comes from the inland vineyards at Vidigueira, grown on clay and limestone soils. Fermentation took place with native yeasts — partly in stainless steel for freshness, partly in neutral oak for texture — followed by ageing on fine lees to enhance complexity.
Branco 2023 (Cortes de Cima)
Straw yellow in colour. Subtle aromas of green apple, fennel and wild herbs. The palate is bright and balanced, with fresh acidity, fine minerality and good length.
Adega do Vulcão tells the story of a Florentine family who fell in love with the Azorean volcanic islands. What started as a retreat soon turned into a commitment to revive native grape varieties and produce wines influenced by Atlantic winds and volcanic soil.
At the heart of the project are two generations of Italian entrepreneurs with backgrounds in business and marketing. Their work is overseen by Alberto Antonini, the Italian consultant who has guided the project from the outset.
Cinzia Caiazzo and Gianni Mancassola
The winery, located in São Roque on Pico, is equipped with modern technology. It uses refrigerated concrete tanks and untoasted wood to preserve freshness and texture while allowing the volcanic character to shine through.
The project spans two islands, Faial and Pico, where approximately 20 hectares of vines are cultivated in two distinct volcanic soil types. The distinctive character of these wines is produced by combining these unique terroirs with the influence of the ocean, latitude and dedicated manual labour. The diversity of the soils is reflected in the wines produced, each with its own unique character.
The Pico seen from Criação Velha
On Pico Island, the vines are cultivated in currais — small plots enclosed by ancient dry-stone walls that protect them from the ocean winds. They are planted in lajido, the lava crust formed over centuries following volcanic eruptions. Production levels are low.
On Faial, the volcanic ash resulting from the 1957 Capelinhos eruption, has created a unique terroir with an exceptional mineral composition, excellent drainage and a distinctive microclimate, yielding wines of remarkable purity and minerality.
From the black volcanic lajidos of Criação Velha on Pico, this wine is made from predominantly arinto dos açores vines aged 70 to 90 years. The grapes are hand-selected in the vineyard and gently pressed in a vertical press under inert atmosphere, followed by a pre-fermentation maceration and spontaneous fermentation in temperature-controlled cement tulip vats. Aged 12 months on the lees.
Pé do Monte 2021(Adega do Vulcão)
Pale golden. Aroma of pear and white peach, lime peel, flint and hints of iodine. Medium-bodied with tension, a vibrant acidity and a long salty finish. It really speaks of the island and the sea.
6 October is International Orange Wine Day, a celebration of a style that is both ancient and newly revived. By fermenting white grapes on their skins, winemakers create wines that blur the line between white and red: textured, often amber-hued, and full of unexpected aromas. What was once an old tradition in parts of Georgia, Friuli and beyond has become a contemporary expression of artisanal winemaking worldwide.
Catalonia, with its patchwork of landscapes and long history of experimentation, has embraced this revival with conviction. The region’s native grapes reveal strikingly different characters when handled as orange wines. Malvasía de Sitges, often floral and delicate, transforms into something more savoury, saline and spiced, its aromatic charm shaded by texture and grip. Macabeu, usually restrained and discreet in cava and still whites, gains depth and a surprising nutty, almost oxidative complexity. Garnatxa blanca, typically generous and rounded, might take on a more energetic profile, showcasing both a redish colour, a tannic backbone and subtle bitterness from the skins. A forth grape, xarel.lo, is not present here. That grape is worthy of a thematical evening of its own.
Tabla Rrasa Nèc-Tar 2021 (Portal del Priorat, Alfredo Arribas) Montsant – malvasía, seven days’ skin maceration, stainless steel
Golden, amber hue and slightly turbid, with a faint natural spritz that lifts the aromas. The nose recalls ripe apple, mango and wild herbs, with a faintly spicy edge. On the palate it is bright and linear, its high acidity wrapped in a fine, lightly phenolic texture. A whisper of bitterness on the finish gives it definition and length. This is a vivid, energetic take on malvasía, where the variety’s usual floral charm gives way to something more tactile and savoury.
Brisat del Coster 2020 (Josep Foraster) Conca de Barberà – macabeu, low yield, 21 days’ skin maceration
Deep golden in colour, with aromas of orange peel, chamomile and yellow orchard fruit. The palate is dry and quietly firm, with a gentle tannic frame and notes of citrus peel, quince and a touch of butter and almonds from the long maceration. Structured yet understated, it shows how macabeu can move from neutral backbone to expressive texture when treated as brisat – the Catalan word for orange wine.
Trementinaire 2019 (Herència Altés) Terra Alta – garnatxa blanca, macerated during fermentation, then pressed and aged 22 months in used oak
Pale gold with amber glints. The nose opens with orange zest, dried herbs and toasted nuts. Broad and glyceric on the palate, yet balanced by a subtle salinity and a delicate bitterness that keeps it taut. Layers of hazelnut, honeycomb and iodine unfold with air, giving a sense of power and maturity. A contemplative wine.
Orange wine is, after all, about rediscovery — of grapes, of methods, of flavours once thought forgotten. In Catalonia, that rediscovery feels both rooted and new. Here’s to continued curiosity — and a happy International Orange Wine Day.
Muchada-Léclapart is a fascinating partnership between Alejandro Muchada, a grower from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and David Léclapart, the biodynamic Champagne vigneron. Together they have carved out a unique space in the Sherry district, where their wines explore the terroir without fortification, expressing the albariza soils in their purest form.
This wine comes from a single vineyard called La Platera, a 1.6-hectare plot in the western part of Pago Miraflores, just outside Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The palomino vines are more than seventy years old, massal selections rooted in pure albariza – a mix of tosca and lentejuela that gives both finesse and tension. Farming is fully biodynamic, and the work in the cellar is equally gentle: spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts in used French oak barrels, followed by ageing on fine lees, without fortification or additives.
Lumière 2023(Muchada-Léclapart)
Pale, almost crystalline gold with silvery glints. The aromas open with lemon peel, grapefruit pith and white flowers, followed by hints of chalk dust and a whisper of sea breeze. On the palate it is taut and linear, with a fine, almost chalky grip that frames the fruit. There is a marked salinity, echoing the Atlantic winds, and a cool herbal note that brings freshness.
The reborn La Riva label has its origins in 1776. For over a century it was known for wines from the great pagos of Jerez, until the brand was absorbed into Domecq in the 1970s and gradually disappeared. In 2016, when it seemed destined to be forgotten, Willy Pérez and Ramiro Ibáñez brought it back as both homage and statement – a return to the vineyards (pagos) as the true source of identity in Jerez.
The two friends met while studying oenology in Cádiz in the mid-2000s. Ramiro went on to taste and vinify fruit from almost every single vineyard in Sanlúcar and Jerez while working at the local co-op, an experience that convinced him the secret lay in the diversity of albariza soils. Willy returned to his family’s bodega, where his father Luis Pérez had already turned away from industrial sherry production in favour of traditional viticulture and forgotten grape varieties. Both became convinced that terroir – not cellar technique – is Jerez’s real strength.
La Riva embodies this philosophy. The goal is not to craft wines shaped by fortification or blending, but to let each vineyard’s chalk speak clearly. In a region long dominated by winemaking style over viticulture, this approach is both controversial and groundbreaking – but it is also the path to the future of sherry.
Rancho Riquelme is a 5-hectare site on the eastern edge of Pago Burujena, facing north with steep slopes and little topsoil. Here the bedrock of barajuelas lies close to the surface, its chalk laced with diatomaceous silica. This combination brings both intensity and freshness to palomino fino, yielding wines of tension and clarity.
The 2023 was harvested by hand in late August, the grapes pressed as whole clusters and fermented in 500-litre butts at ambient temperature with natural yeasts. Ageing took place for 12 months under flor, giving subtle biological character without losing purity. 12.5% alc..
Burujena Rancho Riquelme 2023 (La Riva)
In the glass the wine is straw yellow. The nose shows chalk, fennel, alnond and a whisper of sea breeze. In the mouth it is full (glyceric) and concentrated, marked by citrus zest and a salty mineral backbone, with a lingering finish.
From the remote volcanic slopes of Tenerife, Envínate brings us this wine – a pure expression of the island’s high-altitude vineyards. The wine is made mostly from misión (also known as listán prieto, 90%) with a dash of tintilla, grown on ungrafted vines at over 1000 metres above sea level in sandy, volcanic soils.
Hand-harvested, naturally fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in neutral vessels, the wine speaks of its terroir. Envínate, founded by four friends in 2005, has become a benchmark for authentic Atlantic wines, working with forgotten sites across the Canary Islands and mainland Spain.
Benje Tinto 2023(Envínate)
A translucent ruby hue in the glass. Aromas of redcurrant, strawberry and wild herbs mingle with a touch of volcanic smoke. On the palate it is vibrant and linear, with delicate tannins, a saline lift and a long, mineral finish.
