Adam Lechmere

Publishing director, Academie du Vin Library; freelance wine journalist; general manager, Academie du Vin Foundation

London

Adam Lechmere

Publishing director, Academie du Vin Library; freelance wine journalist; general manager, Academie du Vin Foundation

London

The Rise and Rise of Jesse Katz
by Adam Lechmere Winemakers love to speak in metaphor, and Jesse Katz’s image of choice is the rabbit hole. The first time he disappeared down that tunnel of discovery was when he was doing a stage in Bordeaux. He’d become entranced by the whites of that
Jane Anson - Inside Bordeaux
Stone, spirituality and science: Mendoza’s innovative winemakers
We all had a strong urge to touch the rock in the cellar of Zuccardi’s winery in Mendoza. It’s the size of a small car, surrounded by a ring of wine racks, the bottles pointed inwards like acolytes, and it has a magnetic quality. My colleagues and I ran o
Club Oenologique
Promontory, vine energy, and the condition of art
A radically intimate attention to the different behaviors and needs of every individual plant is right at the heart of everything the Harlan family does at their Promontory project in the Oakville district of Napa Valley, says Adam Lechmere. In a recent i
World Of Fine Wine
‘The most improbable project ever’: Will Berliner on Cloudburst
Will Berliner says he didn’t drink wine until he was in his 50s. There might have been the odd bottle of Thunderbird in his teens – he’s a New Yorker by birth – but that was all. ‘All I knew was that white wine was for girls and red wine was for guys. I n
Club Oenologique
The Sonoma Winery Where Art is as Important as Grapes
Sonoma on a perfect June evening: The sun’s still strong but the vineyards are freshened by a delicious breeze. On a gentle slope, a circle of chairs surrounds a monolithic sculpture, 25-ft tall, gleaming deep black in this half-wild, light-saturated land
Elite Traveler
Bordeaux business: Peter Kwok on a life in claret
Peter Kwok uses the word ‘invest’ a lot and he’s not always talking about money. I get the impression that the most important investments he has made since he left Vietnam at the age of 17 are in himself. ‘Since I was 17 or 18, I always had a 10-year plan
Club Oenologique
Meeting the makers of modern Georgian wine
‘Every Georgian wants to make wine,’ Sandro Kurdadze tells me when I ask what inspired his father to plant grapes. Spend any time in this extraordinary, fertile country and you realise the answer was obvious. Kurdadze, a slightly built classical philosoph
Club Oenologique
Wildness captured: tasting 14 vintages of Promontory
There are times when you put a question to a winemaker and he puffs out his cheeks and rubs his chin and you know he’s thinking, ‘Journalists.’ When I ask Promontory’s David Cilli what exactly is meant by ‘interpretation of terroir’, he courteously descri
Club Oenologique
Obituary: Steven Spurrier, 1941-2021
Steven Spurrier, who has died aged 79, was a revered figure in the international wine world. Adam Lechmere looks back at the colourful career of a man who never lost his curiosity and his zest for life A few years ago, Steven Spurrier, in Washington DC to
Club Oenologique
Three decades of Napa’s Harlan Estate
As perhaps befits a man on the brink of his 9th decade, Bill Harlan measures time not in weeks, months or even years, but decades, half-centuries, centuries. It seems natural, sitting as we are among the grand oak fermenters at Harlan, having finished a t
Club Oenologique
Napa's New Elegance
In search of wines with a lighter touch, Adam Lechmere encounters a trendsetting breed of Napa winemaker. A diverse bunch, they are all following a path that favours restraint over opulence, and are all worth seeking out
Decanter
Honest Grapes
Where do cashed-up wine lovers go to engage with wine? Adam Lechmere reports on Honest Grapes, the company that aims to offer wine with something extra. image: Tom Harrow (left) and Nathan Hill
Meininger's Wine Business International
Chateau Palmer: Dancing to its own tune
Sexy, seductive and singular, Château Palmer is being led to new heights by chief executive Thomas Duroux. Adam Lechmere meets the man making music with wine – and whose cows are part of the performance.
Le Pan
Alto Adige - Italy's Border Region
Alto Adige sits at the intersection of the Alps, and the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas. Its nationality is Italian, its language German. Adam Lechmere samples the wines
Meininger's Wine Business International
Heitz - California with restraint
Adam Lechmere visits Heitz Cellars in the Napa Valley, whose commitment to elegance, regardless of the dictates of fashion, is being recognised once again.
Meininger's Wine Business International
Spain: New Horizons
Spain is the world’s largest exporter of wine. While a lot of that success comes from bulk sales, Rioja and Cava, Adam Lechmere finds winemakers are turning their attention to new varieties and new markets
Drinks Business

About

Adam Lechmere

Adam Lechmere has been writing about wine and wine people since 1999, when he joined Decanter magazine as launch editor of decanter.com. He has written for many publications and media outlets including the BBC, the Guardian, Elite Traveler, World of Fine Wine and janeanson.com, covering the wine regions of the world and profiling dozens of the industry’s leading figures. He founded Club Oenologique magazine in 2017; California is one of his specialities.