Our Wine Culture is in Better Shape Than Ever

Published 21st February 2025

Whoever said young people in 2025 don’t drink wine probably hasn’t spent much time around young people — or good wine, for that matter. Yes, global alcohol consumption is down, and industrial brands are suffering losses. But from the day some 12 years ago that we published the first issue of Noble Rot we’ve been riding a wave of profound changes sweeping the world of artisanal wine, capturing the imagination of more budding winos than ever. Today, there’s nothing more satisfying than hearing our twenty-something sommeliers, customers and readers talk passionately about their love of wine, or witnessing the growth of a thriving bar à vinsscene everywhere from Melbourne to Manchester. In reality, as Jon Bonné outlines in our 37^th instalment, our beautiful wine culture isn’t so much waning in popularity as in better shape than ever. 

Also in issue 37…

… we have dinner with Benedict Cumberbatch with Curnonsky’s Five Greatest Whites (Château-Chalon, Château-Grillet, Château d’Yquem, Coulée de Serrant, and Montrachet). The problem is that he only really likes drinking red.

… Irvine Welsh reviews an eclectic selection of wines, from La Mission Haut-Brion (“This one has the moves!”) to Mateus Rosé (“In its iconic flask-shaped bottle, smooth shoulders tapering from a long neck into that cerise dress, is this tipple as seductive as ever? You bet!”).

… Kwame Onwuachi travels to Jamaica to uncover the origins of jerk, and Slutty Cheff visits an abattoir to watch a cow being killed.

… Levi Dalton profiles Domaine Dujac founder Jacques Seysses (who besides making legendary Burgundies mentored a who’s who of other vignerons), and Alice Feiring meets Josimar Yacuta Verduzco, an illegal Mexican immigrant who joined the French foreign legion before finding his métier making Cornas.

Plus: we shine a spotlight on Jura Ploussard, Cahors, Beaujolais, F.T. Marinetti’s 1932 Futurist Cookbook, wine memes, XL Recordings’ co-owner Martin Mills and Spain’s Camino de Santiago pilgrimage reimagined as a wine tour, among much more.

Cover by Hattie Stewart.

 

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