By Rose Murray Brown MW  Published in The Scotsman 30 March 2024 On 2 February 1659, the first wine made from grapes grown in South Africa was crafted by the Governor of the Cape, Jan van Riebeeck.  He had planted vines four years earlier in the Company’s Garden near Cape Town from cuttings imported from France. Van Riebeeck’s first

By Rose Murray Brown MW  Published in The Scotsman 16 March 2024 Heatwaves and bushfires were very much on the agenda when I visited Chile last month as winemakers prepared for their 2024 harvest in blistering heat and drought, with a plume of smoke from the devastating fires lingering over coastal hills. Heat and drought are the greatest challenges

By Rose Murray Brown MW  Published in The Scotsman 9 March 2024 I have two glasses of Malbec in my hands from the same high-altitude vineyard in Uco valley in Argentina. I am in the Catena Institute of Wine in Mendoza with winemaker Agustin Silva.  He has asked me to taste the two wines, both from the 1500m high