Jancis Robinson

I'm not sure I agree with you that all cheap wine is bad wine. I recently tasted quite a lot of stuff at the very bottom of the market (a recent posting on the wine news section of my website) and I believe that, thanks to improved technology and that grape glut, it's MUCH better than it's ever been. Probably better value in real terms too. Can't quite see new producing regions suddenly deciding to trim production. After all, they're likely to be the ones with the biggest debts to pay off. I think there are already two major impetuses for the new wine producer a) to make a standout wine that will make a splash and get talked about b) make a wine that matches up to an already proven market success that sells in volume Most producers decide to go one way or the other. I agree that those who follow track b) don't set the world alight but you can see how they manage to raise the capital to do it. I actually do think this grape glut is good for us consumers and I'm delighted there are signs of prices in that vast middle to top quality area softening too. (Isn't it amazing that global corporations jump into wine at the very worst time, just as a glut is about to manifest itself?) Or perhaps not. I think, as you hint, the range of 'generic crowd pleasers' is widening, with Chardonnay's domination weakening. Hoorah.

Very wide variety but German and sometimes Aussie Rieslings figure large, as do some of the better NZ Pinots - plus Chianti and lesser Piemontese reds. (This is for relaxed drinking rather than serious entertaining of fellow wine fanatics - right?)

There was a very good article about natural cork in our Independent newspaper last week (you can find the reference on jancisrobinson.com) which, for once, was admirably objective. (So much of the fire and brimstone on this topic is supplied by those who have made up their minds either one way or another.) The pro-cork gist was eloquently and dispassionately put - all that stuff about natural eco-systems in S Portugal being destroyed. Now of course that is not sufficient argument for us all to continue with natural cork if it results in a significant proportion of tainted bottles but it is one factor to bear in mind (even though it is my belief that because so much more wine is sold in bottle rather than bulk nowadays, global demand for natural corks is still rising quite significantly). I would advocate hanging on to natural cork for some wines only if it were proved that this was a sensible thing for wine quality. Unfortunately, the only serious scientific study of different closures so far undertaken over any length of time has been for quite simple white wines (AWRI who when I last asked weren't planning a similar one for oaked whites or reds). My comparative tastings suggest that screwcap/Stelvin is excellent for aromatic unoaked whites but the jury is out on oaked wines. These are much less transparent anyway and tend to exhibit TCA taint less, but I wouldn't mind betting there is some qualitative benefit, as yet under-explained, of aging serious, oaked wines under natural cork over the long term. In the mean time, I'm naturally prejudiced in favour of producers who risk consumer disapproval by putting any sort of wine under screwcap.

Firstly, hello one and all and thank you very much for some seriously interesting questions. Secondly, I apologize in advance for the many typos I'm doubtless about to inflict on you. I'd like to answer as rapidly as possible to as many qs as poss but my poor old keyboard has been worked so hard that only a few keys still have their letters on them... Now, as a lifelong fan of top German wines, I'm hardly likely to agree this is a US flash in the pan, am I? I see a similar phenomenon in the UK, and in Australia the local Riesling is far more sought after than it was a few years ago. (I realize I'm straying off the point here a bit.) I'm sure it has helped that Pierre Rovani seems much more enthusiastic about this style of wine than Parker has been, which has presumably fanned the flames in the US, but I do believe that more and more wine lovers on this side of the Atlantic are making space for German wines in their cellars - in fact I can't understand why the fine wine traders round London aren't more active in this market.