The latest installment of our JamesSuckling Interviews series features Valentina Argiolas, the co-head of the Argiolas winery in Sardinia, who tells Susan Kostrzewa about her vision for the family-owned business.

Margaret River has seen the highs and lows of extreme weather conditions over the past few vintages, yet it continues to produce wines of exceptional clarity, precision and sense of place. But what does the future hold for Australia’s premier wine region?

From the vineyards surrounding Lake Caldaro to the slopes above Sant’Appiano, neatly pruned vines reflect perfectly Alto Adige’s identity: a region of vintners obsessed with precision. It’s a place on the brink of a new leap forward – one driven not by volume, but by place, detail and quiet confidence.

For a long time, Monterey County was known more for the volume of grapes it grew than the quality of wines produced from them. Over the past several decades, however, it and neghboring Santa Cruz have emerged as a source of a highly successful range of varieties from pinot noir and chardonnay to syrah, sauvignon blanc and beyond.

Bastille Day saw the main street of the Champagne city of Epernay filled with people holding Champagne flutes and drinking from late afternoon until the early hours of the following morning. And it’s a good time to be celebrating, too, with the quality of wines from the region higher than ever on the strength of two superb vintages – 2018 and 2019 – and a third, 2020, showing promise.