Wine Assemblage & Editorial Restraint
The value of what stays out.
Ridge’s account of the 2025 Monte Bello blend makes exclusion visible. An individually promising lot may still be wrong for the wine being assembled.
LATEST / IN VIEW
The latest from WHV.
New discoveries, considered objects and developments worth following.
A different way into the archive.
54 stories · Page 4 of 5
Liqueurs & Places of Production
The palace behind the bottle.
At Fécamp, Bénédictine joins a liqueur, a distillery and an art collection in one extravagant place. The nineteenth-century story is more revealing than a medieval-looking facade.
Sherry & Seasonal Bottling
A season in a glass.
Tío Pepe en Rama 2026 turns attention to a moment in the cellar. The spring cask selection opens a conversation about flor, timing and the people choosing the wine.
Calvados & Orchard Knowledge
The orchard in a glass.
Christian Drouin VSOP makes the route from cider apples to copper stills and used casks visible. A bottle can become a way to understand a place.
Sand-Grown Vineyards & Regional Continuity
The vineyard in the sand.
Arenae Ramisco begins with an unusual vineyard practice near the Atlantic. The sand, labour and cooperative are part of the bottle.
Sake & Fermentation Knowledge
The work before the fermentation.
Daishichi Junmai Kimoto asks us to look before the finished drink. Its starter method makes microbial knowledge part of the flavour story.
Lebanese Wine & Cellar Decisions
The years before release.
Château Musar Red spends years in the cellar before it reaches the shelf. Its value is easier to understand by following the decisions in that interval.
Rhum Agricole & Place
The cane before the cask.
Rhum J.M Blanc 50° offers a different entry into rum. The source of interest is fresh cane and distillation, not an impressive age statement.
White Rioja & Cellar Knowledge
The time before you buy.
Viña Tondonia White Reserva asks you to reconsider what a white wine can be. Much of its story has already happened before the bottle reaches your table.
Whisky & Production Knowledge
The work before the bottle.
Springbank’s interest begins on the malting floor in Campbeltown. Its core ten-year-old is a doorway into a production culture, not a reason to chase a resale price.
Madeira & Fortified Wine
Madeira without the auction room.
Blandy’s 10 Year Old Malmsey is an obtainable way into a wine culture shaped by time, blending and a very different relationship with ageing.
Armagnac & Single-Estate Spirits
Read the second date on the Armagnac.
Darroze’s Domaine de Rieston 1996 shows why the estate, vintage and bottling date belong in the same sentence.